Don't do it, just sayin'...DON'T!
I hope this
guy gets his bike back!!
6 months ago
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Longhorn Prevew, aka 'The ride that wasn't meant to be'
Due to awful weather last weekend, we postponed our lovely 56 mile Longhorn route preview bike ride to this past weekend. I, although nervous about it, was READY (or so I thought!) to give it my best shot. My goal was to finish feeling great and to finish averaging about 16.5 mph. Slow, but steady and good enough for my legs to feel “OK” on the half marathon afterwards (woof!)
After a rather restless night (would rather not go into WHY right now, but it was a valid, work-related reason!) I head out with a teammate and take my time getting ready. Everything looks great, I have enough water, Chamois Crème, snacks, etc…and that’s where the fun ends. Right off the bat, we get lost. Then I hit a crack in the road JUST big enough to fit my little 650c tire. Oh man, we were pacelining too, so when I hit it, certainly I thought “There goes my collarbone” and “I hope the girl behind me steers left.” I managed (by a huge miracle and catlike reflexs) to roll out of the crack, remain upright and ONLY manage a flat tire.
Normally, a flat tire isn’t the end of the world. However, after carefully and recarefully checking and then almost freaking out, I realize I lost EVERYTHING in my toolbag with the exception of a spare tube, patch kit and a singular tire lever. Goodbye, sweet and expensive ’18 in one (plus bottle opener!!!) multi-tool to the stars’…luckily, the girl behind me was able to signal to the group to stop, and a fellow by the name of JP (I believe!) helped me out with a spare Co2. Man, close call there. Had I been alone (which I usually AM on these longer rides), it would have been a long wait for a sag ride home…
Luckily I had my cell phone, although some how a little later in the ride, I also dropped that AND my bike computer!!!! Then, add to the craziness and madness of the morning, I lost almost all of my water. That’s right, on a course that only has one gas station for over 50 miles, I went from 4 bottles to 2!!! Ughhh…the ride that was not meant to be. And add there that we got lost 2 other times…ANNNNNNNNND this all happened within 20 miles of the start!!!!!
Luckily, (yet again), I did catch up with random other folks (including the Emerge team) and finished the ride out without any other major incidences, but not before I got chased by one of the hugest dogs I have ever seen, UPHILL for ½ mile at the very very end of the ride!!!!!!! Ughhh, can I ever catch a break!?!
So I finished the ride finally, being so glad to be done that I almost threw my bike down. I guess it’s better everything (AND I MEAN EVERYTHING) happened today. So I guess that means I will have the best 70.3 race ever now! (Or at least, I SHOULD!) glad training is almost over. A month is left and I am ready to do this thing NOW!
Due to awful weather last weekend, we postponed our lovely 56 mile Longhorn route preview bike ride to this past weekend. I, although nervous about it, was READY (or so I thought!) to give it my best shot. My goal was to finish feeling great and to finish averaging about 16.5 mph. Slow, but steady and good enough for my legs to feel “OK” on the half marathon afterwards (woof!)
After a rather restless night (would rather not go into WHY right now, but it was a valid, work-related reason!) I head out with a teammate and take my time getting ready. Everything looks great, I have enough water, Chamois Crème, snacks, etc…and that’s where the fun ends. Right off the bat, we get lost. Then I hit a crack in the road JUST big enough to fit my little 650c tire. Oh man, we were pacelining too, so when I hit it, certainly I thought “There goes my collarbone” and “I hope the girl behind me steers left.” I managed (by a huge miracle and catlike reflexs) to roll out of the crack, remain upright and ONLY manage a flat tire.
Normally, a flat tire isn’t the end of the world. However, after carefully and recarefully checking and then almost freaking out, I realize I lost EVERYTHING in my toolbag with the exception of a spare tube, patch kit and a singular tire lever. Goodbye, sweet and expensive ’18 in one (plus bottle opener!!!) multi-tool to the stars’…luckily, the girl behind me was able to signal to the group to stop, and a fellow by the name of JP (I believe!) helped me out with a spare Co2. Man, close call there. Had I been alone (which I usually AM on these longer rides), it would have been a long wait for a sag ride home…
Luckily I had my cell phone, although some how a little later in the ride, I also dropped that AND my bike computer!!!! Then, add to the craziness and madness of the morning, I lost almost all of my water. That’s right, on a course that only has one gas station for over 50 miles, I went from 4 bottles to 2!!! Ughhh…the ride that was not meant to be. And add there that we got lost 2 other times…ANNNNNNNNND this all happened within 20 miles of the start!!!!!
Luckily, (yet again), I did catch up with random other folks (including the Emerge team) and finished the ride out without any other major incidences, but not before I got chased by one of the hugest dogs I have ever seen, UPHILL for ½ mile at the very very end of the ride!!!!!!! Ughhh, can I ever catch a break!?!
So I finished the ride finally, being so glad to be done that I almost threw my bike down. I guess it’s better everything (AND I MEAN EVERYTHING) happened today. So I guess that means I will have the best 70.3 race ever now! (Or at least, I SHOULD!) glad training is almost over. A month is left and I am ready to do this thing NOW!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Austin tri--2:57 baby!!!!!
Preparation yields success, and this race was complete and amazing success, and has proven how hard and smart training yields amazing results.
Felt great going into this thing, a few nerves, but once I got my brain into it, everything else fell into place. The swim (sans wetsuit…boo) was uneventful, other than a girl smacking me a few times and causing me to swim off-course a little. I gave her a dirty look. I felt efficient in my stroke though and never really tired. Yes, I’m still slow, but dammit, I went out there and did it and STILL took almost 4 minutes off my swim time from last year.
Not wearing a wetsuit saved me a minute in transition. Not too shabby either. Then took another 3 minutes off on my bike time. Didn’t hammer as much as I would have liked, but still, to come out with 18 mph PLUS on those little wicked S. Austin hills felt pretty good. Hydration and nutrition this year was better than last year’s race. Ate 3 small fig bars and drank 2 bottles of Nunn water.
Legs felt actual decent (although a little fatigued-completely normal) going into the run. However, this is like the FLATTEST 10k in Austin, so how can you not pound it out?! I hit the halfway point at 24:00 even and finished in a cool 49:07, an average of 7:55/mile. I would like to thank Dave from Tsunami Cycles for helping me push the last quarter mile. It felt great to run hard and finish even stronger. In fact, I don’t think anyone passed me the last 5k, which is saying a lot when that was all that happened to me on the swim and bike.
(Plus, the best part is passing all the people that are WAYY WAYYYYY in front of me from previous in the race)…well and having a goal to finish under 3 hours is something to push up against, as well.
A quick rundown of the run placing looks like I was 4th in our age group for the run…ahhh to be a mildly-fast runner. And then get everyone (and I mean everyone) pass me up in the first two sports. I believe my focus next year will be on the bike…stay tuned. Must.get.stronger.and.then.i.will.get.faster. Must.get.stronger.and.then.i.will.get.faster. Must.get.stronger.and.then.i.will.get.faster…etc, etc.
Overall, a terrific race, and just the confidence booster I need for Longhorn next month (40 days away…ekkk!) Although my goal will be to finish…Would love to see 6’ish hours as a secondary goal :P thanks to all for cheering and support!!! You rock!!!!!!!!
The Stats:
41:02 1500m swim
3:34 T1
1:21 40km Bike (18.2 mph)
2:18 T2
49:07 10km run (7:55/mile)
=2:57.35
21st out of 62 in the 25-29 age group
(click for the nerdy results version)
My Chip Time
Kiki-the first timer! we are grand champeens!!!!!!!!
Preparation yields success, and this race was complete and amazing success, and has proven how hard and smart training yields amazing results.
Felt great going into this thing, a few nerves, but once I got my brain into it, everything else fell into place. The swim (sans wetsuit…boo) was uneventful, other than a girl smacking me a few times and causing me to swim off-course a little. I gave her a dirty look. I felt efficient in my stroke though and never really tired. Yes, I’m still slow, but dammit, I went out there and did it and STILL took almost 4 minutes off my swim time from last year.
Not wearing a wetsuit saved me a minute in transition. Not too shabby either. Then took another 3 minutes off on my bike time. Didn’t hammer as much as I would have liked, but still, to come out with 18 mph PLUS on those little wicked S. Austin hills felt pretty good. Hydration and nutrition this year was better than last year’s race. Ate 3 small fig bars and drank 2 bottles of Nunn water.
Legs felt actual decent (although a little fatigued-completely normal) going into the run. However, this is like the FLATTEST 10k in Austin, so how can you not pound it out?! I hit the halfway point at 24:00 even and finished in a cool 49:07, an average of 7:55/mile. I would like to thank Dave from Tsunami Cycles for helping me push the last quarter mile. It felt great to run hard and finish even stronger. In fact, I don’t think anyone passed me the last 5k, which is saying a lot when that was all that happened to me on the swim and bike.
(Plus, the best part is passing all the people that are WAYY WAYYYYY in front of me from previous in the race)…well and having a goal to finish under 3 hours is something to push up against, as well.
A quick rundown of the run placing looks like I was 4th in our age group for the run…ahhh to be a mildly-fast runner. And then get everyone (and I mean everyone) pass me up in the first two sports. I believe my focus next year will be on the bike…stay tuned. Must.get.stronger.and.then.i.will.get.faster. Must.get.stronger.and.then.i.will.get.faster. Must.get.stronger.and.then.i.will.get.faster…etc, etc.
Overall, a terrific race, and just the confidence booster I need for Longhorn next month (40 days away…ekkk!) Although my goal will be to finish…Would love to see 6’ish hours as a secondary goal :P thanks to all for cheering and support!!! You rock!!!!!!!!
The Stats:
41:02 1500m swim
3:34 T1
1:21 40km Bike (18.2 mph)
2:18 T2
49:07 10km run (7:55/mile)
=2:57.35
21st out of 62 in the 25-29 age group
(click for the nerdy results version)
My Chip Time
Kiki-the first timer! we are grand champeens!!!!!!!!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
This is messed up!
just saw this...everyone be careful out there!!!!
Alert: Legal help needed for out of town cyclist hit and jailed by police at Critical Mass ride
Shared via AddThis
--
Edit:
Richard got bailed out by an awesome lawyer here in town. Follow updates on the case here: www.atxbs.com.
Thanks to Jason for keeping us cycling folks in the loop!
just saw this...everyone be careful out there!!!!
Alert: Legal help needed for out of town cyclist hit and jailed by police at Critical Mass ride
Shared via AddThis
--
Edit:
Richard got bailed out by an awesome lawyer here in town. Follow updates on the case here: www.atxbs.com.
Thanks to Jason for keeping us cycling folks in the loop!
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