Big Thicket Bike Tour - report

Yesterday's ride was fun and enjoyable, but I'm not likely to ride it again....

Apparently I misread the registration form. My buddy, Wyatt picked up a form from Memorial park, which stated the race started at 7am. We arrived at 6:30 after a 2-hour drive from Kingwood for early registration. To our surprise, we could not find the start. Actually, we found the location, but no one was there. We drove around Beaumont, trying to locate the sponsoring bike store. When we found the empty store we decided to "give up and go home". The route we were taking back home happened to take us by the original start point (HEB). A final glimpse revealed a pop-up tent that was not there before. My watch read, 6:52. I told Wyatt, lets see if we have enough time to register. Come to find out, the race did not start until 8am. Dang. The paperwork stated, "Registration and check-in starts at 7am". All I read was, STARTS AT 7am". Oh well, better to be early than late!

We took the opportunity to socialize with a few other bikers from the area. The small crowd of fifty riders seemed equally mixed between serious cyclist and casual riders. The tour consisted of four distances; 69, 60, 42, and 28. Wyatt and I are just entering the bike scene, so we chose the 28-miler.

The RD released all the riders by distance with a 3-4 minute separation. Our wave of ten riders were the last to take off. Wyatt and I took the lead and were cruising 17 mph, at a conversational pace. After a couple miles we made a turn, which put the wind in our face. We stayed at a conversational pace, but our speed dropped to 15 mph. Then the ride got 'scary'....

The road surface turned into an asphalt-gravel mix. Not only did we slow way down (10 mph), but we took a beating on that surface! Wyatt and I wondered how long this might last when all of the sudden the route took another turn for the worst. In order to cross a river, we had to enter and ride on a highway. Yes, a highway... full of cars traveling 70-80 mph. The entering and exiting ramp did not have a shoulder, so we were actually sharing the road with the traffic. The bridge had a shoulder, but it was full of road debris and large cracks in the surface which kept the speed below 10 mph.

After the bridge we had another mile of asphalt-gravel mix surface. When we finally hit normal roads again it was like a DREAM. Wyatt and I picked off numerous riders along the way... all from the prior waves. The 29-mile course was an out and back, therefore all four distances made it to the first stop at 14 miles. We also knew what to expect on the return trip.

We kept the rest stop short and sweet. Wyatt and I were the "big boys" and we proved it by helping them with their surplus of aid station cookies.

Wyatt and I noticed a pod of 3-men riding back after the aid station. We were confused how they got in front of us. Later we realized they had left in a prior wave. No big deal, but we made it our mission to catch them. The wind wasn't completely at our back, yet it wasn't in our face either. This seemed to help our tiring legs. After a little work we caught them on the bridge and tagged along for the ride for a couple miles. They were cruising 15-16 mph with hardly no effort. Wyatt kept wanting to pass them, but I told him it was not smart to flex any muscles, as these guys would surely "school us" on biking. With 2 miles to go, Wyatt couldn't resist the urge and took off and like an idiot.... I followed. We maintained a solid 19 mph pace for the majority of the time. Sure enough, with half a mile to go, two of the three men blew by us like we were sitting on the curb. I told Wyatt this would happen, but he didn't believe me. The first sign was the ease at which they were riding. The second and probably bigger sign was the Colnago bike. Weekend warriors such as ourselves don't ride $5,000 bike's.

All in all, it was fun and we both had a good time. Unfortunately, the safety issue with cycling on a busy highway outweighed our "fun" level.

Stats:
Mileage: 29.10
Time: 1:56:10 -- avg. 15.0 mph

Slacking

I feel the need to blog something. In reality there isn't much worthy of posting. Let's see....

Yesterday I took my bike trainer to work and did 30 minutes. I purchased a used trainer on ebay a month ago and this was the first time I used it. It wasn't too bad. I could easily see myself utilizing the trainer more in the future.

Saturday morning a buddy and I are riding on the "Big Thicket Bike Tour" outside of Beaumont. Should be a lot fun.

I'm still seeing Caryn Honig. We are working on "Initiative Eating". This is a completely different world to me. Way too much to blog. I'm happy with my progress and the changes we hope to make.

Preston and Alison are good. Poor Alison comes home mentally exhausted everyday. Who knew kindergarten would drain those endless batteries of hers?? Oh yeah, Tuesday was her birthday. We had a small celebration at home, but her birthday party will be this Sunday at Mountasia at 5pm. All my running friends are invited. Preston 's young life consist of; sleep, cry, poop, cry, pee on everything within 5 ft of him, cry. Then the cycle repeats itself.

Erin is doing well. She is running some low-mileage stuff here and there.

I haven't read much from Vic. Wonder how he is doing with his running and weight loss?

Okay, that is all the update I fell like typing. This blog is boring me! ;-)

DNS CCR due 2 DL

FYI:
Our CCR team (Kingwood Striders) was short a runner due to Lynn's nagging foot injury. The doctor told her it was best to stay off of her foot and she was also advised not to run for awhile. Steeve sent me a possible replacement via email, which I didn't get before Saturday due to a double shift at work. If that wasn't enough, I hurt my back doing some landscaping Saturday morning, which took me out of the mix. Erin and Kevin crumbled as well after a discussion of our options.

Sorry!?!?!?!?
Hope all of you had fun!

I might have found my 'Weigh'

...pun intended. More on that shortly.

I've been really busy around the house, which is why I haven't blogged much. To be honest, there hasn't been a hell of a lot to talk about. Today Steve Cantu and I squeezed in a short mountain bike ride with tons of quality.

Stats:
Mileage: 6.83 miles
Time: 30:28 -- avg. 13.6 mph

Rather impressive considering we were riding on the greenbelts, which has tons of twist and turns plus a lot of stopping when crossing the road(s).

In other news:
I had my first consultation at, "The Healthy Weigh". After years of yo-yo dieting I've decided to tackle the behavioral relationship I have with food.

Sadly, I can say I have lost and REGAINED 50 or more pounds five times in my life. Finding myself only 20 pounds short of an all time high made me come to the realization that I am in serious need of help. Not only do I need help, but I WANT help.

The visit went very, very good... nothing what I expected. I feel great! I was sent away with homework and a new found sense of hope. As I have said so many times before..... wish me luck.

Vintage video

If the video link below doesn't get you excited, then you might possibly be DEAD. Enjoy!

Video: 1964 Olympic 5,000 Meter

Little Pre

This is my attempt to trump Dirt Runner's cute baby picture. Yeah I know... we're both winners!

One mile

Busy day at work. Still managed to put a single mile in the log book. It felt good. Wish I had time to do more.

Stats:
Mileage: 1.25 miles (four laps around the station)
Time: 13:15

Erin said she ran on the treadmill, but had to take a couple walk breaks due to her knee discomfort. I'm not sure what the problem is. Time to start a stretching regimen with her and rule-out anything simple.

Erin Stats:
Mileage: 1.25 miles
Time: Unknown

Mountain Biking

Woke up sore from yesterdays run. Even more proof that I am officially out-of-shape.

A couple of buddies and I went mountain biking. Half on the greenbelts and the other half on trails. It was fun and I'm not sore anymore.

Stats:
Mileage: 12.13 miles
Time: 1:08:32 -- 10.6 mph

Erin went cycling before bed. Both her knees are bothering her, but she insist she doesn't have any sharp pains. When looking at her bike time, don't forget that she is riding a "beach cruiser" type bike.

Erin Stats:
Mileage: 4.0 miles
Time: 30:02 -- 8.0 mph

Race, Fired Up 5k

Substituted my weekend long run for the Fired Up 5k race. The total distance was 1.5 miles longer than scheduled, yet I jumped that the opportunity to join Vic for a run. We both had a wonderful run, even though the humidity was awful.

Speaking of Vic... he is the owner of a brand-spanking new 5k PR! And not just any PR, but a MAMMOTH PR. He improved his 2006 Fired Up race time by nearly 6-minutes. Imagine what he's going to do when the weather cools off! Great job, Vic. As I said on your blog.... you ran every inch of that course... no one else ran it for you, it was ALL VIC. Glad I was there to witness your accomplishment.

Erin and the kids also made the trip South. Erin watched the kids while I ran, then I watched the kids while she ran the 1.5 mile family walk. She needed an extra mile, so she jumped on the treadmill as soon as we got home.

Mileage: 3.99 miles
Warm-up: 0.89 mile
Race Spits: 11:18, 11:15, 11:13, and 1:21 (0.15 mile)
Total time: 48:55 -- 12:16 pace

Erin Stats:
Mileage: 2.5 miles
Time: Unknown

After reading Steve Bezner's blog, I'm reminded of the awesome stuff I got at the race; bag, water bottle for my bike, energy bars, and SOCKS (Strider PERK). We're talking good socks, not those cheap-ass cotton socks. It goooood to be a Strider.

bike and a conversation

My legs took a whooping from the Thursday 30/30 workout. It's funny that I'm sore from 6-minutes of running! Either way, I felt it on today's ride.

Steve Cantu and I rode a different route, which took us over the Lake Houston bridge twice. Apparently there was a head wind, because it was all I could do to maintain 12 mph on the out bound trip. The ride was uneventful. I didn't feel like riding due to an upset stomach, but it dissipated half way into the ride.

Stats:
Mileage: 31.11 miles
Time: 2:07:22 -- 14.66 mph

Erin rode her bike around the neighborhood last night.

Erin Stats:
Mileage: Unknown
Time: 30 minutes

Steve and I had an interesting conversation near the end of the ride. He asked me if I was dieting. I told him, "No, don't you see how I eat around the station?". He's a good friend, so I elaborated a bit and told him that I've been posting gains for more weeks than I care to count. Steve followed my confession by asking, "Why do you think you are gaining weight? Are you eating bad?". I quickly replied back, "Absolutely. Lately, everything I eat is a poor choice". Then the meat of the conversation started (and ended). Steve said, " QUIT IT! Don't eat bad stuff and you'll stop gaining weight". I thought to myself... NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!

Well, I pretty much stopped talking after that. I spent the final three miles thinking how I know as much or probably more about nutrition than the average person. I can tell you what to eat, when to eat it, and why. I also kept thinking; its 7:30 am, I'm on a 31 mile bike ride, and all I ate for breakfast was a Slimfast. Maybe that's why I was so offended. Its not like I don't try. My issue is, as is many others.... the behavioral relationship I have with food.

This is one of those post I make and wonder why. I guess I have a point to make. Rather, I have a point I want heard. ITS NOT THAT SIMPLE. If you maintain your weight with ease, consider yourself lucky. For some of us, food is a vice. Some people smoke, some snort cocaine, while others drink, but I eat. On good days its easy, but most days are not. If you've known me for any length of time you have seen my struggles.

Consider this: When a person has a problem, they might not be looking for answers. More times than none, they simply want someone to listen and possibly sympathize with the issue. As I sit here typing I wonder what the correct response from Steve should have been. Maybe something like this:

It must be tough struggling with food issues. I never thought about that, but I got an idea that might help. When we're on duty, we can prepare healthier meals as a group and start keeping smarter snacks available for those times when you are struggling with food choices. This might not help you on your off days, but its a start in the right direction.