The 50 Mile Barrier

This past Saturday we broke the 50 mile barrier.  The total length of this ride was 56ish miles.  To accurately depict our morning, I'm going to go back a day or two to set the scene.  The day before the ride, I decided to wash the Equinox since it was coated in pollen from the spring tree blossoms. That morning, like every other, was a mad rush around the house to eat breakfast, grab all of our gear, and run out the door.  Jenelle grabbed a Chobani and mixed in some granola, I have no idea what I ate, probably some leftovers.  We get in the car and head down the road.  All of the sudden I hear something land on the roof, I check the rear view mirror and see what appears to be a pterodactyl sized dump running down the rear window.  Come on!  I just washed the car.  Then Jenelle said, oh crap!  Where is my yogurt?  Yes.  Jenelle's Chobani mixed with granola was now running down the back of our freshly washed car.  Nice.  We had some extra time, since we were running around like crazy in the morning. So I stopped by a gas station and bough a gallon of water and some napkins to rinse off the yogurt. I didn't want to be scraping dried yogurt and granola bits off later.

Believe it or not, that was the only mishap of the day for us!  The day only got better.  We all met at a local elementary school in the Elizabethtown area.  Then we found out that this was a special day, because five cancer survivors came to the team ride to hang out.  They thanked us donating our time and money for an organization that is truly saving lives through cancer research.  Thanks again to all of our generous donors. You can see the impact you are having on these guys lives below!

These are survivors that joined us for our ride.

Once we got on the road it was smooth sailing, for most of us. One of our teammates, Loren, finished the day with one blown tire and three blown tubes. Jenelle, Shelly, Dave, Rich, and I got back to the parking lot first. Somehow Loren managed to finish 10 or 15 minutes behind us, which is no small feat given all of the issues he was having. He's a machine.

Rolling through the Etown countryside.

Also of note, I've built up enough confidence on my bike now, that I feel as though I can operate my cell phone/camera at the same time without crashing. See my handy camera work below. :-) Look for more in the future.

Again, I forgot to turn on my GPS until about 2 miles in... so the starting point is not correct.

Click here to see the ride!

Total distance: 90.03 km (55.9 mi)

Moving time: 3:55:22

Average moving speed: 22.95 km/h (14.3 mi/h)

Max speed: 58.00 km/h (36.0 mi/h)

Elevation gain: 1267 m (4156 ft)

Last Week's Saturday Ride

Last Saturday, we completed one of the toughest rides physically that we've faced so far. It was littered with hills and snaked through southern York county. Our day started at a coffee shop by the York Hospital. It was a beautiful ride, that tested every ounce of effort and training that we've put into this endeavor up until this point.

At the end of the day, depending on who's GPS you were reading, we climbed between 3,600 and 4,400 ft. This is extremely close to the total elevation we'll face in Tahoe, over a total of 100 miles. At the end of the day, Jenelle and I hobbled in just behind the fastest riders of our group. Luckily, we made it through another ride without any issues!

Click here to see the ride!

Distance: 48.41 mi

Moving Time: 3:24:20

Avg Moving Speed: 14.2 mph

Max Speed: 39.7 mph

Elevation Gain: 3,600 ft - 4,400ft

Last night I went for a 16 mile training ride with the team, followed by an attempt at a 2 mile run. I say it was an attempt, because after about 300 yards I collapsed with one of the most painful calf muscle cramp ever. It was one that feels as if your muscle is going to come right through the skin. After some helpful hysterical laughter and stretching tips from coach Shelly, eventually I was able to stand and continue on to complete some of the rest of the run. They call it a Brick when you ride then run... I'm not entirely sure, but I think that must be because your calf muscles turn into bricks if you don't stretch properly. :-)

Anyway... I'm looking forward to our ride tomorrow with the team. Right now I'm on the train back from Philly. Had a great meeting with my east coast AArete family. Chris brought Morning Glories for me to take home to Jenelle! Thanks buddy... you're the greatest.

The view from our office today. Not too shabby.

Riding past TMI at the moment! Almost home.

Sixth Group Ride

TNT 2012

This past Saturday afternoon we went out for our sixth team ride... it's hard to believe we only have eight more to go before the big day. This was a special group ride because all of the TNT 2012 members (cyclists, runners, walkers, and triathletes), met in Colebrook for some group training followed by a picnic in the park.

We hit the road quickly and headed to Mt. Gretna, and unfortunately the rain started shortly after. It was our first time riding in the rain and it was a learning experience. The first thing we quickly learned about "wet riding" is that you cannot draft in the rain.  If you are drafting all you get is a face full of water and dirt from your partner's rear wheel. Second, don't slam on the breaks. You need to ease onto the brakes and give yourself plenty of time to come to a stop. Third, make sure you bring food with you. Luckily our friend Denise was kind enough to offer me her Luna bar during our short break at a random stop on the side of the road.

The rain kept coming during the entire ride, and only decided to stop once we got back to the cars.  It's hard to tell in the picture below, but we were drenched!

Click here to see the route!

Ride Stats

Total distance:  44.90 km (27.9 mi)

Moving time:  1:56:10

Average moving speed:  23.19 km/h (14.4 mi/h)

Max speed:  61.00 km/h (37.9 mi/h)

Elevation gain: 683 m (2242 ft)

This week we already did two shorter training rides in our area. Both were roughly 13 miles long, and took us through the local farms along Limekiln and Sheepford roads close to our house. We even had Kui and Shelly join us for one of these rides. One of the benefits of riding is getting a chance to see beautiful farms along the way.  I never would have known that these guys live just a few miles from us if it hadn't been for riding. 

During on of the shorter training rides I managed to avoid a catastrophic crash. I was cruising down Slate Hill on Lisburn road going roughly 35+ mph, when my front wheel began to shake uncontrollably. I almost lost control completely. I instinctively veered off into the grassy field. If I was going to crash I wanted to do it in a field, not on the pavement.


My decision to go off-road turned out to work very well. The long grass in the field slowed me down and I was able to regain control, without crashing at all. It all happened very quickly, but needless to say it was extremely frightening since I was moving so fast. At first I thought I blew a tire/tube, but there was nothing visibly wrong with my bike. After a slow restart, everything seemed fine. I took my bike to World Cup today, and it turned out that my tires needed to be re-seated and the wheels weren't exactly true. They fixed me up right away and now I'm ready to go again on Saturday when we will climb (and descend) King's Gap!

Fifth Group Ride

This past Saturday afternoon we went out for our fifth team ride (only nine more to go), affectionately called the Cornwall Cannon Ball loop. According to coach Tom, the name has something to do with the fact that George Washington's cannon balls for the Revolutionary War were made along the route. I was a little curious if he was just making it up, so I checked it out on Wikipedia (also an extremely valid source). It turns out that Wikipedia backs him up, apparently Cornwall Furnace was operated during the revolution and was a major arms providers to George Washington.

It truly was a beautiful day in the Palmyra and Lebanon area. With temperatures around 70, and the sun shining, it was great to get out there and enjoy the summer weather in mid-March. We were missing our good friends Kui and Shelly but they were in D.C. with TNT running a Saint Patty's day half marathon. Luckily for them and for us, the chance of thunderstorms didn't materialize and I actually got a slight sun burn during the ride. You typically don't think about needing sunscreen in March, but we do this year.

We rode through acres and acres of Pennsylvania farm land. The smell of the freshly plowed soil was in the air, which brought back memories of living on the old farm growing up. Some of my first memories are from living in the Fisher-Crouse house in Hanover. It was right in the middle of a large farm at the end of Wilson Ave. Anyway... back to the ride. Farmers were plowing their fields using equipment from another era. As we rode past the fields, every so often you could hear a large stone hit one of the tilling discs.

Thankfully there were no major mishaps with our ride this week.  Jenelle's bike is running smoothly again. No matter how hard I tried to lose her every time I turned around to check on her she was right behind me, except in a few instances where she ended up in front of me. I have no idea how that happened. :-)

I can really say my only issue was a mild sunburn. Don't forget the sunscreen next time!

Click here to see the route!

Ride Stats

Total distance: 52.77 km (32.8 mi)

Moving time: 2:19:34

Average moving speed: 22.68 km/h (14.1 mi/h)

Max speed: 52.00 km/h (32.3 mi/h)

Elevation gain: 608 m (1996 ft)

Spinnerette

Today we had our first Team In Training spin class at the West Shore Y. We've been frequenting the LA Fitness classes, but it was our first with other members of the team. It's great to meet other team members working to help the LLS. And of course, class is always better with Kui and Shelly. Last I heard, the number of people from central PA signed up for the Tahoe ride was 24 and growing. Its going to be a great year for the LLS.