I didn't catch him.
No, the strong wind was too much for me to overcome with the trailer in tow. Instead, my heart was pounding and my face was flushed, and now I had left my beautiful bride in dust with no one to ride with, and to no one's surprise she lacked desire to chase after an overly-competitive husband.
Pedaling into the wind.
Sometimes, we chase after things that have little meaning, and leave those we love in the wake of our foolish choices.
Solomon, the wisest man ever to live says this in Ecclesiastes 2:11 says: "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."
So what are we supposed to do?
Here is Solomon's solution: Ecclesiastes 2:24 So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?
How's pedaling into the wind working out for you? Try something different. How about living fully, for God, right here and right now in the present moment?
My wife Erin recently had our fourth child. Interestingly enough, her OB is a cyclist, and somehow the conversation of things, Erin told her that I was an avid cyclist myself, but that I was struggling to find anyone to ride with. She offered to get me on an email list of rides and riders in the Buffalo area.
I got the first email 2 weeks ago about a Sataurday spring training ride. It was mapped out to be 70 miles of fun averaging 16-18mph. With a bit of anxiety, I accepted the invite. While I had been riding and training all along, it had been 2 years since I had been on a 70 miler.
I reached the parking lot to start the ride with really no time to spare. I had intentions of being there early and getting warm, but it just didn't happen. But the riders were pleasant and welcoming, and in a few minutes 8 of us were on our way.
The ride started out at a comfortable pace, riders exchanged pleasantries while I tried to memorize a slew of new names. The course was fun, it was quickly obvious that whoever mapped it out had spent a great deal of time riding the area. The first 10 miles consisted of country roads, narrow sidewalks, a section of rails to trails, and an off road section on an old railroad bed complete with railroad ties and downed tree branches. I was happy to be riding the least expensive bike in the bunch on this section, while the guys around me hurled insults and curses at the ride organizer for taking a road ride off the pavement.
15 miles or so in, we had reached the UB campus bike path, and had picked up the pace significantly. Unfortunately, the path had been recently resurfaced, and one of our riders went down on the slick surface while leaning in hard around a quick turn. I felt particularly bad for the fellow, because he had ridden his bike 12 miles to the starting parking lot, so he had that much further to go when we got back. His bike was ok, but his hip was now showing through his kit, and there was some blood cached on his elbow. He was in good spirits though, and after a few minutes for everyone I catch their breath, we continued on.
The course took some fun urban twists after that with a couple of fly by's on college campuses, the Buffalo Zoo, and even a section on cobblestone streets. We stopped for coffee and a muffin, then headed on for more. My spirits were high, and my legs felt good, bit so did everyone else's apparently, because the average speed kept creeping higher and higher.
We formed a pace line and worked it really well along the waterfront where the wind really started to pick up. I got my initiation as the new guy near Dicks bike shop along the waterfront when the wind really started picking up. It was my turn to pull, and I was determined to keep the pace steady... However, when I tried to peel off, with traffic around and stuff, it seemed like no one would let me off the front. I found out why a few seconds later when the pack raced by me to their favorite unspoken checkpoint, a rusty sign along the road. I had pulled them most of the way up the slight grade, then nearly fell off the back when the sudden acceleration attacked. I tell you what, when you see it on TV, it looks way easier to catch back up.
Then came the bad part of the ride...
We had made our way through the Tonawandas, and we were nearing Ellicott Creek Park, when the worst thing that happens on a bike happened.
We were lined up in two pace lines side by side whizzing along at 23-24mph, the last time I remember looking down. The road got rough. Potholes were everywhere, and we were all doing our best to call them out to everyone. You see, when riding in a pack like this it is customary to call out debris in the road to those behind you, because essentially everyone is tailgating one another... within a few inches from the rear tire in front of you. If something happens, rarely is there enough time to react. There wasn't.
The lead rider in the left pace line pulled off and decided to ride in the opposing lane of traffic, because the asphalt was much safer. 2 riders joined him, but with traffic coming towards us a ways down the road, most of the pack remained. The potholes worsened, and the fluid pace-line fell apart. Then two riders in front of me collided.
The first rider was in red, (ill leave names out of it) and he hit a pothole that sent him into desperation mode. He was all out of shape, and appeared to be going down. The second rider was in blue, and he hit something milliseconds later that collided him with Mr Red. The collision righted Mr Red, but Mr Blue was thrown into a side whip that slammed him into the ground.
I was grabbing for brakes and looking for exit daylight along with everyone else at this point, but as I shot up into some ladies front yard, I heard a loud cracking noise. It may have been the sound of Mr Blue's bike hitting the deck, or his helmet smacking pavement, or his collarbone snapping, I'm not sure.... but I won't forget it.
As I came to a stop, Mr Blue was screaming out in pain, but quickly rolled himself to the safety of the shoulder of the road. He was in excruciating pain, and the sight was not pretty.
One of the riders immediately called 911 and we did all we could do to keep him comfortable until they arrived. Ironically, I thought about taking pictures at the time, but felt it was too much given the situation at hand, and the fact I didn't know these guys very well. In afterthought, I might take pictures if something like this happened again, just to help document the crash.
Mr Blue's helmet was severely damaged, but still intact. I believe his colarbone and a couple ribs were broken. His bike was scraped up, but not severely damaged... Handbars twisted slightly, the nose of the seat was facing almost straight down, suggesting his entire body weight must have slammed against it.
From the pothole that started it to the end of the crash site was 4-5 car lengths or more, which shows you how fast he was traveling. But it had all happened in a blink of an eye.
It had really shaken Mr Red. It had really shaken me. After waiting an hour or more to make sure Mr Blue was getting to the hospital safe, his bike taken care of, and his family notified... I had lost much of my motivation to finish the ride. Fortunately, so had every one else. We took a direct route home, only about 10 miles. This time, every hole was signaled, every piece of debris noted, and the speed in which we were traveling decreased.
It was a bad finish to a great day. Thankfully, the rider is recovering well, and should be able to get back out there before the fall months hit again. It is a good reminder to me how quickly things can change on a bike, and how much I need to pray for God to protect me. With what I saw happen, I believe it could have been far worse.
I went out for one of the Tuesday night rides at the Donaldson Center in Greenville. I have been thinking about doing the ride a number of times, but doing these things for the 1st time is always so much easier with a friend. In this case my riding buddy Andrew had called me and invited me to go along with him. I am so glad I did.
The Tuesday night rides are organized by ability groups. The cool thing is, that each group is still quite large because there are hundreds of riders that show up each week. I chose to ride in the C3 group. The "C" stands for country, and it is a 34 mile ride. The C1 and C2 groups would most likely be faster than i could handle. The "A" and "B" groups ride a 7 mile loop that they race around 5 laps on... very very fast. I didn't want to overestimate my abilities, so staying with the C3 group would be fine.
We didn't have much time to spare when we arrived. By the time we got the bikes unloaded the riders were about to go. Quickly we lined up and took off on our way. The group was quite large and I had an absolute blast. There were a few sprint points that the group surged out at 27-28 mph, then calmed down and spun along at a reasonable 18 mph pace.
I am looking forward to going again. I may have been in the upper portion of riders for the C3 group, but I haven't gotten the age and wisdom yet of some of these guys. They knew just when to attack, and just when to ride on my wheel and let me do all the work out front. I love it. The strategy of it all is addicting! Maybe the C2 group next time?
I started out the morning in good spirits, because I had laid everything out the night before, pinned my number on my jersey, stuck my bike number on the bike, and filled my bottles full of Gatorade. I found last year that doing these minor details on the morning of the ride take up a lot of prep time when you are so anxious about the ride.
Last year, in 2009 I did the Assault with Mark Pittman and Andrew Turner rode with us to Marion. This year however, i would be on my own the whole way. On my own that is, with a thousand other riders doing the same thing. My strategy in 2010 was different, in that I saw from last year that I had lost a great deal of time at SAG stops. This year I wanted to stop less, even if it meant riding slower so as not to get as fatigued. If my bike was rolling, I would be gaining ground. If I was at a SAG stop, I was gaining nothing. I also changed my nutrition this year. I brought most of the food I would eat with me. This included Cliff bars, Gatorade Gels, and a 5 hr energy drink.
In 2009 I took a bunch of cell phone footage of the ride, and tried to document the experience. I had every intention of doing the same thing in 2010, but I rode in large groups for much of the way to Marion, and I needed both hands on the wheel. After that, I was too focused on the climb to care.
The ride was much organized much more smoothly this year, and at 6:30am we promptly off on our way. No waves of ability riders or anything like that. This morning we were just told to go have some "fun." I tried not to get caught up in the adrenaline of passing too many people too early. I found this out a year ago as well. If you appear to be a strong rider early, a group will form on your rear wheel and let you do all the work for them until you tire out. I would not be the sucker doing all the work this time around. I did choose to bridge the gap forming early between the main pack and a fairly large group going out ahead. Once I used the burst of energy to do this, I just sat in easy in the middle of the new pack and tried to do as little work as possible.
Things were going good, and I was feeling great until BAM! I hit a pothole that sent one of my water bottles bouncing off into the grass. I though about it for only a split second, then eased off the road and ran back for it. If my goal was to not stop at the SAG's, then I would need every bit of Gatorade in that bottle. I couldn't believe how many riders went whizzing past in the 20-30 seconds it took me to retrieve the bottle. I bet 150-200 riders passed me, and just like that I was alone. Oh no!.... stopping may have been a huge mistake!
I got back up to speed, and began the work of reeling back in the fast moving pack disappearing ahead of me. I was not going to be able to catch them alone. I looked back to see the main field surging towards me about a half mile back. I decided to ease off and wait for them... I did not want to do all the work alone and tire myself out. I kept waiting and waiting, then when it was about to swallow me up I put my head down and pedaled as hard as I could to get up to speed. It is kinda like coming up the on-ramp on the interstate.... the hardest part is merging into traffic.
I was able to do it. I got into the top 15 in the pack anyway, and again tried to let my body recover from the toll it had taken on me to make it back into a group. We gradually picked up the pace, and started catching and passing riders who had fallen off the pack up ahead that I had been in previously... Then it became obvious that the riders up front were doing all they could to catch the other pack. More power to them! I would just let them do the work, and hang on as long as I could!
Then BAM! another bump, and my water went careening off the road again! Are you kidding me! I stopped again, now really unsure of what might happen. I ran to pick it up this time, so that I would be back on the road before losing any more time. Now, there were no more big groups coming. I did however, jump in with a group of 3 which became 4 then 6-10 riders. This was a much more manageable group, and we all had a similar pace that we wanted to ride. In this group I took my turn at the front, before returning back into the pace line and catching my breath.
I stayed with these guys until mile 42 where many off them pulled over at the SAG stop. Sticking to my plan, I rolled on past the SAG and connected back with some of the original riders I had been with. I stayed with them all the way to the top of Bill's Hill where I took my 1st SAG stop at mile 47. Bill's Hill wasn't nearly as bad this time around. I just pedaled through it and went on my way. I was reminded of 2008 when I was only going to Marion. That year I attacked the hill because I had nothing to lose, and passed riders all the way up the hill. That was fun! I held my stop to 4 minutes, got the fluids I needed and got right back on the bike. This is the hardest part. Getting on the bike when you know you haven't rested yourself yet. But really? How do you expect to get rested. You can't get on the bike and pedal.
From here it was rolling hills all the way into Marion. Around the 65 mile point I realized that the guys I was with were pushing it harder than I would be able to maintain. I also had a contact about to blow out of my right eye because of the wind in my face. I eased off, stopped quickly to readjust my contact lens, and rode into Marion alone. I stopped at the Marion SAG. This would be my 2nd stop, where I drank the 5 hr energy drink hoping to get a little boost up hwy 80. From here as you can see on the map below. It just goes up and up. I had taken me 4 hrs to cover the 75 miles into Marion, and it would take me almost that long to climb the remaining 25 miles or so.
From here, the story line gets really boring. I hit the base of the climb at Hwy 80 and tried to lock in at 6 miles per hour. Then, I tried to do this continuously for the next hour. Yup. That's right, struggle each pedal turn to keep moving at 6mph. Like how fast my girls could ride when they were 2 years old!
I took my final SAG stop at the Blue Ridge Parkway. From here the climb is not as steep, but fatigue had set in to the point that I could get over the 6mph barrier. Same story... just plod along hoping you don't give out before reaching the top. Some guys passed me like I was sitting still. Others passed me multiple times, because they would stop at the SAG's but I would keep on rolling.... Like the tortoise and the hare.
As the miles turned slowly over, I spent a lot of time thinking about Josiah. I remembered riding the Assault in 2009, 2 days before he would be born, and all the anxiety that surrounded his entrance into the world. Then I thought through all the "mountains" Josiah climbed in his short lifetime. I knew that no matter how hard this ride was for me, it is just a blessing that I am able to do something like this.
Erin's Dad likes to remind me that Josiah just kept pedaling. It didn't matter how steep the climb, how difficult the gears on the bike, or how tired or thirsty he might have been. Josiah just kept pedaling until the very end of his life. So... that's what I did. I pedaled harder faster and stronger. In the final 2 miles I began to realize I would still have gas in the tank at the end. I picked up the pace even more (like up to 9mph...wow we're flying now!) I began passing people in the final stretch. People who had gone by me even an hour beforehand. I stood up on the pedals for the final 500 yards and tried to push it through the finish.
I couldn't. I eased off 20 yards from the top, sat down and turned the pedals a few more painful revolutions. The clock read 7:46 - a personal best. Sure, tons of people beat me up the mountain, but I had a fantastic time.
Maybe I can use this verse in my post next year.
Isaiah 41:15 "Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And will make the hills like chaff."
This will be the 2nd year I have ridden the Assault on Mt Mitchell. I was very distracted a year ago, because the ride was 2 days before my son Josiah was born. I really had a hard time focusing on the training rides a few weeks before the ride, because in the back of my mind I was pretty certain that Josiah would be born early and I wouldn't even go out and ride at all. However, I was able to complete the Assault...in 8.5 hours. I was disappointed in my finish, but it was good to get out there and do it.
This year, I have trained better and ridden more. However, this week is Josiah's birthday which is a constant reminder that he passed away in January this year. The Mt Mitchell Assault is a week from today, and I hope to ride it well in honor of Josiah's life. Still, I expect it to be tough. I don't have anyone specifically that I am going to do the ride with, so it could turn out to be a lonely day. Hopefully, it won't be as long as last year...
I am riding the Assault on Mt Mitchell again this year. It is a 100 mile ride from Spartanburg SC to the top of Mount Mitchell on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC. With it looming just weeks away, I needed to get in a 100 mile training ride over the weekend. So, I mapped it out from my in laws house at Lake Keowee to my house in Greer. The ride is about 60 miles, so I would need to build in a detour to get the extra 40 miles. Therefore, I decided to alter my route over the infamous Caesar's Head, and send myself through Flat Rock, right near the Carl Sandburg home before returning home.
View 101 mile ride from Lake Keowee to Greer, SC 29651 in a larger map
This was a great plan on paper, but it was less than perfect in real life. The day started by my front tire exploding a flat, when I sat my apparently-too-fat-butt down on the seat to take off. Now I was down to having no spare tube, and hadn't even left the driveway. The rolling hills on Highway 11 took a much greater toll on me than I had expected, although the beautiful day kept my spirits high. I reached the base of Caesar's Head 30 miles in a little more winded than I would like.
I groaned my way to the the State park at the top. I needed to stop and buy some Gatorade, granola bars, and rest. I also drank a Pepsi on the suggestion of another rider there, and it did seem to rejuvenate me quite well. I rolled over the backside of the mountain freezing cold because of the sweat I had built up on the ascent. In time I would be sweating again.
After that, I spent the rest of the day talking my self into continuing the ride. I had totally wore myself out in the climb. I still had 70 miles to go, and I didn't feel like being on the bike at all. For this reason, I would never recommend to anyone to do a 100 mile ride solo. It just messes with your head way too much. After a stop in Flat Rock, and a 5 hour energy shot, my spirits began to improve. Then I reached Callahan Mountain followed by Pack's Mountain just a few minutes later soon after passing the 70 miles in mark.
I was spent. again I argued with myself about quitting. I rolled along painfully, trying to maintain a 18 mph pace on the flat and 10 mph on the climbs. I was miserable. Finally, at 96 miles I gave in. I quit, and threw in the towel. I called Erin to come and get me. I called her with only 4 miles to go. I just didn't want to do it. I am convinced I could have finished, but I had lost all desire to continue. When the desire is gone... what's the point? There is a life lesson in there somewhere, although I am not sure that I want to talk about it right now. You know, the life lesson about giving 110% effort every time? Today I settled for 96%
Andrew and I got up early on Saturday and went over to the sunshine bike shop's hour of power on Saturday morning. I admit, I was pretty intimidated going there, because I had heard and read a lot about it, so I didn't want to get there and not be able to keep up. So, I brought Andrew along so that if we both fell off the back we would have someone to ride with.
Fortunately the turnout Saturday wasn't too big, I think there may have been 10 riders. We left the bike shop at 8am, even though the website swore if everyone wasn't ready by 7:45, the train was leaving without you. Andrew and I both rode strong. We kept up with the group on all of the flat sections, and even led the way up some of the climbs. It was nice to ride with a group rather than being out there alone, and everyone was friendly and courteous just like it said they would be. We covered almost 30 miles in just under 2 hrs, and had quite a bit of climbing without even going out toward the really big hills. All in all, it was a great ride!
So, if you are intimidated like I was and like most people are their 1st time going to a group ride, find a friend to go with you, and give it your best. You might find it wasn't as scary as you had made it out to be!
Kinda like walking into a new church for the 1st time.... hmm...something to consider?
Doesn't it feel great to exercise? I love how I feel after a long day in the saddle, like I do when I have ridden 80-100 miles or more on the road. I love the days I have been able to spent 6 hrs or more traversing the incredible MTB trails and views at Dupont State Forest. It is this strange feeling of total exhaustion mixed with a adrenaline high, that I absolutely love.
I had lunch with some friends yesterday, and we got talking about some of the things - life long adventure goals we would love to do, but probably never will. John is a fishing and boating biff, and he wants to take a boat the length of the inter-coastal waterway. Don loves to hike, and wonders how far he could make it along the Appalachian Trail. I piped in that I would love to ride my bike from coast to coast someday. They all agreed that I should definitely do that.
Here's the the thing... when I am riding regularly, I get in an average of 400-500 miles in a month. Do you know how far I would need to ride to get across the United States? 300-600miles per week!
I accumulated 3.7 miles for the month of October. Right now I have the big goose egg for November. I got a long way to go. Anyone else feel my pain?
Well, here I am in Charleston SC and the biggest icon in this city is the Cooper River Bridge. So, I spent the 1st few days here in the waiting room at MUSC looking at maps, and trying to map out a safe way to come from our condo in Dunes West on Mount Pleasant, over the bridge, and down to the MUSC hospital. The other night, I gave it a shot.
I was super prepared. I had my headlamp on the helmet, the blinking taillight in place with fresh batteries. Lets do it!I rolled out from the condo, only to turn back after 100 yards because I realized I hadn't checked my tire pressure before leaving. Sure enough, the humidity and temperature difference in the low country compared to the upstate had had a significant impact on my tire pressure. I was down to 70lbs of pressure. I quickly pumped it back up to 115psi and was soon on my way.
I quickly noticed how incredibly flat this area is. Sure, you notice it while driving around, but something about rolling along on your own power makes it rapidly evident. I was hauling! I mean really moving! This flat stuff was fun!
Then I got winded... and fast. Apparently, the heat and humidity even at 10pm was something my body didn't like. I had to ease off of it a little bit. My average speed fell from 23mph to hover right around 20mph.
My route headed out east from Dunes West through the Park Wes community. I crossed over hwy 17 at the publix stoplight, then took the access road from there to the backside of walmart. From walmart I hooked up with Rifle Range Road which carried me down to Coleman Blvd and the Cooper River Bridge. From the bridge I picked up Bay St, then headed south on Calhoun
The climb over the bridge on a bike is really kinda disappointing. I have run the 10k Bridge run before, and that was some work! On the bike however, the incline came and went in just a minute or so. Then back to the flat again.
All told, I enjoyed the ride. I had one scare where I hit a pothole in the dark that nearly shook my teeth out of my head. I stopped on the next side street to make sure I had not damaged a wheel, pinched a flat, or lost a water bottle. This is the downside of riding at night. My headlamp is pretty high in lumen's, but at 20mph I feel like I am riding ahead the light at times... this is a bad feeling.
As many of you know mountain biking has been one of my favorite pastimes for the past 10 years. Many of my biking friends have tried to trick me in to road biking over the past few years with little success. This year I decided to join them, in the name of cross-training, so I borrowed a bike from one of my buddies. Somehow, I ended up registered for the 34th Assault on Mount Mitchell before I really had time to think it through. For those of you who might not be familiar with the Assault on Mitchell, www.freewheelers.info/aomm/, it is touted as one of the top 10 most difficult road biking events in the country. The ride spans a total 103 miles from Spartanburg, SC to the peak of Mount Mitchell, which is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. The ride is considered grueling not only because of the 100 plus miles, but the total cumulative elevation gain is over 12,000 feet. To make matters worse, over half of the elevation gain is in the last 25 miles!
After a few training rides and several interviews with past "Assaulters," I felt like I was ready for the challenge. I stuffed the pockets of my nifty road bike jersey with Hammer Gels and Power Bars, filled my water bottles with Heed Electrolyte Replacement Drink, and clipped in my pedals along with 1200 other bikers from all over the United States. We left the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in Spartanburg, SC at 6:30am on a Monday morning with the common opponent in mind … Mount Mitchell. This event is billed as a ride, not a race, but wouldn't you know that this year the organizers sold 1200 tickets and the Parkway Officials placed a limit of 750 bikes on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Do the math … this meant that 450 riders would ride over 80 miles and not be allowed on the Parkway to finish the ride. That pretty much makes it a race in my book.
I started with my friend Milo and we were able to hang in and draft with a fast group for the first 45 miles or so. We got separated at the top of Bill's Hill, where I stopped to fill a couple of my water bottles. As I was getting back on my bike, I met up with Quentin, another friend of mine, and we rode together with a different pack of fast guys until I got dropped from the group just before Marion NC. Tish met me in Marion with a new supply of Hammer Gels, Power Bars, Heed, and some much needed encouragement. I left Marion and headed up Hwy 80 alone before catching up with Milo at the first water stop on Hwy 80. Milo and I stayed together the rest of the day and we both crossed the finish line with a total elapsed time of 8 hours and 29 minutes! I'm not really sure how to describe the event, but I do know that "Fun" is not the word for it … really.
Next year, I will train harder, ride faster. I followed jonathan pait's advice and did all I could to stay with the pack into Marion. I nearly made it, but fell off some 8 miles short and never really recovered. Truth is, I didn't have enough base miles in, and I should't have been suprised that I didn't have enough gas to go with the big boys. This meant I had to suffer my way through Marion and up to the parkway before my body was able to recover.
I met up with Mark on the parkway, and we agreed there that we needed to work together rather than race each other, because neither one of us would be ending up with a great time anyway... we made it!
This year there was a huge fiasco with the bike returns. It took some people longer to get their bike back than it did for them to do the Assault. This is all some of them will remember about the day...
I on the other hand will remember very little about the day. Tomorrow is the birth of our 3rd child Josiah, who is going to have a major heart surgery minutes after birth... This is my Mt Mitchell, this is the hardest thing I have ever gone through. I am just looking forward to it all working out ok, and being over soon...