Since I did't want to risk getting bored, I ran the Gaurd House 4.5 miler in reverse. I was told that the reverse run might be a little easier, but running in 40 degree weather is never really easy, although more tollerable than cycling in it. In the end my time was about the same.
Of special note, I mentioned in the last post that this is a hilly run. The reverse run allows for a better view of the hills for some reason and I've got to say that this must be the biggest hills in NC outside of the Smokey Mountains. I'll try to post some pics soon.
If it doesn't get snowed out, I plan on riding with the Thorns and Roses on Saturday.
Off to buy more Christmas presents, have a great weekend.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Running again
I'm starting to feel really good in my runs. I did the SAS "Gaurd House" run at lunch today. Basically it takes you to all three gates at SAS using roads and jogging paths. The total distance is about 4.5 miles and my time was 39:30. I've been told that this is a really slow route due to the large number of hills so I feel pretty good about my time. Plus I really wasn't pushing myself too much since I hadn't done the route before. 
Hopefully this is a good trend as I'll need to run more as the days get shorter and colder.
- Dwight.
Hopefully this is a good trend as I'll need to run more as the days get shorter and colder.
- Dwight.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Post Jimmy V Ride 2009
Great ride. Ended up with 76.4 miles at an average pace of 17.6.
According to repeat offenders, the turn out was a little low this year. My guess is somewhere around 100 cyclists doing either 25,50,75 or 100 mile routes. Not sure why the turn out was low but the weather combined with a change in the time of year might have played a part. Several cyclists also joined Dwight in recommending that the event get better promotion next year. From the outside it seemed that both the Cary Cycling Celebration and the Jimmy V Ride were counting on the other one to promote. In the end there was not enough information "out there" to drum up the support from local cyclists. Cary is a huge cycling community, there should have been several hundred people there. (In my humble opinion.)
Now for the ride...
Not having a riding buddy, Dwight started out toward the front of the group trying to find the right pace makers. After a few miles, he took his first drink from his water bottle and lost it while putting it back in the cage. :( Hopefully this was not a sign of things to come. Luckily it was a 2 year old bottle that probably needed to go anyway, just didn't need it to happen on a 75 mile ride.
The front group stayed together for quite some time and Dwight enjoyed the scent of the perfume coming from a cyclist a few rows ahead. It was a lot better that the usual smells during the Thorns and Roses rides so he kept his spot in the pack to enjoy the change of pace.
The course was well marked for the first 10 miles but then the peloton got to a T and there were no markings plus they had to turn onto a gravel road. Five cyclists went right and about 10 left. Finally someone who sounded like they knew what they were talking about shouted go left, so everyone went. The gravel slowed the pace considerably as cyclists tried to maintain a good line and stay out of the really loose stuff. Plus most still were not sure that they were on the right road!
Finally, the Peloton was back on pavement and the Jimmy V markers were pointing the way.
The first rest stop came at about 17 miles and Dwight hadn't planned on stopping, but with only one water bottle he figured he'd top off. Once off the bike, the chill set in and a biology break was in order. This delay worked out perfect however because as Dwight got back on the bike a group of 5 cyclist were taking off and all were going the 75 mile route. Dwight finally had his riding buddies!
Of course names were not exchanged, men in general aren't that great at it and Dwight is especially bad, but the group gelled with the new rider and set a nice pace.
Somewhere around the 40 mile mark, 2 of the 6 cyclists started dropping back and after slowing for a while the other 4 decided to continue ahead, with Dwight in tow. After about 5 miles Dwight's chain popped off the outer ring making it impossible to get it back on while still riding. (whoever the guy was from the Trek - Raleigh booth at the start of the ride you owe me one). While he yelled out "Chain" the group didn't hear, and kept going. While Dwight was fixing the chain the 2 that had dropped off earlier passed him. Now he was way behind and in no-mans land.
So he had 3 options:
Within a few minutes Dwight can see the two that got dropped so he now has his first goal. Because of their lower speed, Dwight is able to easily catch and pass them. Now to find the first group. With no rest stop coming up anytime soon, Dwight's only hope was to keep going all out.
Luckily there was a really nice downhill with some cool twisties that both broke up the monotony of the solo ride and provided a chance for Dwight to push the speed faster than the group would likely go. It worked. After coming out of the turns and climing the hill that followed Dwight could finally see his group in the distance. Unfortunately they didn't see him so he still had to chase them for a good 20 minutes.
Now back in the group, Dwight says, "Man you guys are hard to chase down", to which they reply, "we didn't know what happened to you. We thought you were going back to join the other 2." "Nope", Dwight said, "just dropped my chain off the big ring". Appologies all around with jokes about Dwight pulling up the next hill, but they thankfully slowed their pace a little.
Of course after all of this, the group hit the second to last rest stop on the day and Dwight declared lowdly that they HAD to stop at this one.
This stop allowed one of the other two that had been dropped to rejoin the group so they now had five to go the rest of the way.
The pace over the last 15 miles was a lot slower with several complaints after each hill, but the group stayed togther and decided to skip the last rest-stop (although Dwight was getting nervous about only having one water bottle).
With about 2 miles to go the pack saw a lone rider in the distance and decided to give chase, but then slowed at the very end when they realized he was on a mountain bike and had taken one of the shorter routes.
The cyclists were met with cheers, free food, drinks, massages and water bottles; good thing for Dwight because his was empty.
According to repeat offenders, the turn out was a little low this year. My guess is somewhere around 100 cyclists doing either 25,50,75 or 100 mile routes. Not sure why the turn out was low but the weather combined with a change in the time of year might have played a part. Several cyclists also joined Dwight in recommending that the event get better promotion next year. From the outside it seemed that both the Cary Cycling Celebration and the Jimmy V Ride were counting on the other one to promote. In the end there was not enough information "out there" to drum up the support from local cyclists. Cary is a huge cycling community, there should have been several hundred people there. (In my humble opinion.)
Now for the ride...
Not having a riding buddy, Dwight started out toward the front of the group trying to find the right pace makers. After a few miles, he took his first drink from his water bottle and lost it while putting it back in the cage. :( Hopefully this was not a sign of things to come. Luckily it was a 2 year old bottle that probably needed to go anyway, just didn't need it to happen on a 75 mile ride.
The front group stayed together for quite some time and Dwight enjoyed the scent of the perfume coming from a cyclist a few rows ahead. It was a lot better that the usual smells during the Thorns and Roses rides so he kept his spot in the pack to enjoy the change of pace.
The course was well marked for the first 10 miles but then the peloton got to a T and there were no markings plus they had to turn onto a gravel road. Five cyclists went right and about 10 left. Finally someone who sounded like they knew what they were talking about shouted go left, so everyone went. The gravel slowed the pace considerably as cyclists tried to maintain a good line and stay out of the really loose stuff. Plus most still were not sure that they were on the right road!
Finally, the Peloton was back on pavement and the Jimmy V markers were pointing the way.
The first rest stop came at about 17 miles and Dwight hadn't planned on stopping, but with only one water bottle he figured he'd top off. Once off the bike, the chill set in and a biology break was in order. This delay worked out perfect however because as Dwight got back on the bike a group of 5 cyclist were taking off and all were going the 75 mile route. Dwight finally had his riding buddies!
Of course names were not exchanged, men in general aren't that great at it and Dwight is especially bad, but the group gelled with the new rider and set a nice pace.
Somewhere around the 40 mile mark, 2 of the 6 cyclists started dropping back and after slowing for a while the other 4 decided to continue ahead, with Dwight in tow. After about 5 miles Dwight's chain popped off the outer ring making it impossible to get it back on while still riding. (whoever the guy was from the Trek - Raleigh booth at the start of the ride you owe me one). While he yelled out "Chain" the group didn't hear, and kept going. While Dwight was fixing the chain the 2 that had dropped off earlier passed him. Now he was way behind and in no-mans land.
So he had 3 options:
- Ride at his own pace and hope to get caught up in another pack
- Speed up a little and ride with the 2 that got dropped earlier
- Really speed up and get back with the 3 that left him.
Within a few minutes Dwight can see the two that got dropped so he now has his first goal. Because of their lower speed, Dwight is able to easily catch and pass them. Now to find the first group. With no rest stop coming up anytime soon, Dwight's only hope was to keep going all out.
Luckily there was a really nice downhill with some cool twisties that both broke up the monotony of the solo ride and provided a chance for Dwight to push the speed faster than the group would likely go. It worked. After coming out of the turns and climing the hill that followed Dwight could finally see his group in the distance. Unfortunately they didn't see him so he still had to chase them for a good 20 minutes.
Now back in the group, Dwight says, "Man you guys are hard to chase down", to which they reply, "we didn't know what happened to you. We thought you were going back to join the other 2." "Nope", Dwight said, "just dropped my chain off the big ring". Appologies all around with jokes about Dwight pulling up the next hill, but they thankfully slowed their pace a little.
Of course after all of this, the group hit the second to last rest stop on the day and Dwight declared lowdly that they HAD to stop at this one.
This stop allowed one of the other two that had been dropped to rejoin the group so they now had five to go the rest of the way.
The pace over the last 15 miles was a lot slower with several complaints after each hill, but the group stayed togther and decided to skip the last rest-stop (although Dwight was getting nervous about only having one water bottle).
With about 2 miles to go the pack saw a lone rider in the distance and decided to give chase, but then slowed at the very end when they realized he was on a mountain bike and had taken one of the shorter routes.
The cyclists were met with cheers, free food, drinks, massages and water bottles; good thing for Dwight because his was empty.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Jimmy V Ride 2009
The ride is finally here. Of course I just found out that the "75 mile ride" is actually 76.76. All this time I've been training for 75!! What will I do? :)
The weather should be awesome, cloudy and 70 degrees. Looking forward to great time. Just need to find some other cyclists who want to average about 17 mph so I don't have to ride alone for 4 and a half hours!
If you're driving in the Cary Area, please be especially kind to the big Cajun on the Fuji Team bike. :)
The weather should be awesome, cloudy and 70 degrees. Looking forward to great time. Just need to find some other cyclists who want to average about 17 mph so I don't have to ride alone for 4 and a half hours!
If you're driving in the Cary Area, please be especially kind to the big Cajun on the Fuji Team bike. :)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
47.5 miles, a dog chase and a Baptism
Saturday was a great day for a ride. A high school friend of mine, fellow Cajun and now Godfather to our third child, was in for the weekend. We headed out to meet the Thorns and Roses at 7:50 ish, and rolled into the Caribou Coffee parking lot just as the cyclists were pulling out, so no time for the usual meet and greet.
Andre (sporting my borrowed orange 97 steel LeMonde) pulled alongside Love Train and got acquainted with the rules of the ride as Love Train shouted / sang his own rendition of "I'm an inconsiderate cyclist" when a car had to pass him by going into the other lane. Dwight shuffled back and forth between his guest and the other cyclists as he tried to find out the plan for the morning. Captain Carbon uncommittingly said we'd likely split into two groups once we reached the lake, however with only 10 in the group and lacking most of the Hammerheads, Dwight figured we'd stay together.
As the Thorns and Stems pulled onto Carpenter Upchurch, Andre was surprised that the group was double file on such a narrow road with the speed of the cars coming by. Dwight noted that this happened quite a bit that day, even on some of the highways, and the group might need a "talking to" by GOG.
With the sprint line in sight several cyclists pushed to the front to get the first race underway but Dwight spoiled the party by jumping way too early with only Captain Carbon chasing him down. Of course Captain caught up and taunted Dwight all the way to the finish. - GOG owes Captain $100.
The ride made the usual route from there going up Upchuck, Dwight opted out of that one, and on toward the lake.
At the rest-stop the group discussed what they would do with their winnings on the day, and Captain Carbon was strong-armed by Patti-melt and her minions into doing Col de Lystra.
Everyone made it, with Andre bringing up the rear due to the extra 10 pounds of steel he was pulling. :)
On the way back to the lake Dwight decided the group needed another sprint and designated the Bridge as the finish line. Since he was the only one that knew about this new sprint he won easily! - GOG owes Dwight $100.
Right before the Jig-jog at the strawberry patch Andre hit a wall and Dwight slowed to pull his buddy back to the group. At that point a dog came running down a drive after the two of them. (Likely stirred by Lovetrain) They both hit the gas but the dog was gaining fast and as it caught up to Andre the strangest thing happened. Going against it's "survival of the fittest" instincts, it passed up Andre and kept running for Dwight. It must have been the bright blue socks. :) Of course the dog could only run for so long and eventually pulled off leaving Andre and Dwight to catch up with the group.
On the last county-line sprint several Stems went into cahoots and successfully blocked-in Captain Carbon so that he couldn't win the sprint - again. - GOG owes someone else $100.
On the way back, Dwight and Andre left the ride a little early to get back to the family that was preparing for the Baptism that night.
Andre (sporting my borrowed orange 97 steel LeMonde) pulled alongside Love Train and got acquainted with the rules of the ride as Love Train shouted / sang his own rendition of "I'm an inconsiderate cyclist" when a car had to pass him by going into the other lane. Dwight shuffled back and forth between his guest and the other cyclists as he tried to find out the plan for the morning. Captain Carbon uncommittingly said we'd likely split into two groups once we reached the lake, however with only 10 in the group and lacking most of the Hammerheads, Dwight figured we'd stay together.
As the Thorns and Stems pulled onto Carpenter Upchurch, Andre was surprised that the group was double file on such a narrow road with the speed of the cars coming by. Dwight noted that this happened quite a bit that day, even on some of the highways, and the group might need a "talking to" by GOG.
With the sprint line in sight several cyclists pushed to the front to get the first race underway but Dwight spoiled the party by jumping way too early with only Captain Carbon chasing him down. Of course Captain caught up and taunted Dwight all the way to the finish. - GOG owes Captain $100.
The ride made the usual route from there going up Upchuck, Dwight opted out of that one, and on toward the lake.
At the rest-stop the group discussed what they would do with their winnings on the day, and Captain Carbon was strong-armed by Patti-melt and her minions into doing Col de Lystra.
Everyone made it, with Andre bringing up the rear due to the extra 10 pounds of steel he was pulling. :)
On the way back to the lake Dwight decided the group needed another sprint and designated the Bridge as the finish line. Since he was the only one that knew about this new sprint he won easily! - GOG owes Dwight $100.
Right before the Jig-jog at the strawberry patch Andre hit a wall and Dwight slowed to pull his buddy back to the group. At that point a dog came running down a drive after the two of them. (Likely stirred by Lovetrain) They both hit the gas but the dog was gaining fast and as it caught up to Andre the strangest thing happened. Going against it's "survival of the fittest" instincts, it passed up Andre and kept running for Dwight. It must have been the bright blue socks. :) Of course the dog could only run for so long and eventually pulled off leaving Andre and Dwight to catch up with the group.
On the last county-line sprint several Stems went into cahoots and successfully blocked-in Captain Carbon so that he couldn't win the sprint - again. - GOG owes someone else $100.
On the way back, Dwight and Andre left the ride a little early to get back to the family that was preparing for the Baptism that night.
Upcoming Rides to remember:
- Friday October 2nd - LIVESTRONG Day ride starting at SAS for SAS employees with all others joining along Weston Parkway for 20 to 25 miles through Cary and Morrisville. For more details visit http://www.livestrongaction.org/node/191464
Thursday, September 24, 2009
LIVESTRONG DAY EVENT
Fellow Cyclists,
I’m adding the SAS Friday Ride on October 2nd as part of LIVESTRONG Day – a global day of action to spread the word about the impact of cancer and push for more resources to eliminate the disease.
This is our normal Friday ride, but let’s wear yellow to raise awareness.
Please pass this on to any and all cyclists in the community.
Here is the link to the “event”: http://www.livestrongaction.org/node/191464
*****
A message from Livestrong:
Cancer has a huge impact on communities all over the world – all of us know someone whose life has been touched by the disease. But we’re not doing enough to combat cancer effectively. That’s why we’re hosting an event on LIVESTRONG Day – to join an international grassroots effort to push for change.
I’m excited about LIVESTRONG Day and this important event, but it won’t be a success if you don’t join me! Here are the details:
SAS Friday Ride
Join in Via Weston Parkway
Cary
Oct 2, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
The Livestrong Foundation is tracking the event so please RSVP – it only takes a few moments and a few clicks:
http://www.livestrongaction.org/node/191464
*****
Thanks and remember to forward this to everyone with a bike and the guts to join us.
I’m adding the SAS Friday Ride on October 2nd as part of LIVESTRONG Day – a global day of action to spread the word about the impact of cancer and push for more resources to eliminate the disease.
This is our normal Friday ride, but let’s wear yellow to raise awareness.
Please pass this on to any and all cyclists in the community.
Here is the link to the “event”: http://www.livestrongaction.org/node/191464
*****
A message from Livestrong:
Cancer has a huge impact on communities all over the world – all of us know someone whose life has been touched by the disease. But we’re not doing enough to combat cancer effectively. That’s why we’re hosting an event on LIVESTRONG Day – to join an international grassroots effort to push for change.
I’m excited about LIVESTRONG Day and this important event, but it won’t be a success if you don’t join me! Here are the details:
SAS Friday Ride
Join in Via Weston Parkway
Cary
Oct 2, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
The Livestrong Foundation is tracking the event so please RSVP – it only takes a few moments and a few clicks:
http://www.livestrongaction.org/node/191464
*****
Thanks and remember to forward this to everyone with a bike and the guts to join us.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Col de Lystra
I finally did it. There's been so much talk about the Lystra hill since I moved here that I finally had to do the ride to see what all the fuss was about. Before I get to Lystra though let's back up a bit.
I want to thank V. for holding down the fort so that I could ride on Saturday. Since the Saturday Thorns and Roses rides are usually longer I don't go so that I can help around the house with projects, kids etc. With the long weekend going on, Saturday was not as a big deal and the weather was absolutely perfect.
At 7:15 I rode to Caribou's and had plenty of time to chat with the group since our leader GOG, was a little slow on getting ready. The group was HUGE this week. Almost rivaling the Cycling Spoken Here Sunday ride. There was no way he was going to get everyone's name down, although I think he tried. One rider of note was visiting family from my old stomping ground, Winston Salem. He's on the Wake Forest race team so we were looking forward to some good sprints.
We all headed out by about 7:40 and stayed together until Carpenter Upchurch. The high speeds kicked it and since I tried to stay up front I didn't notice that the group had completely splintered. By the time we got to Morrisville Carpenter only half the group was left, with the others no where to be seen. Unfortunately, Wake Forest opted to stay back with his family, so the anticipated sprints weren't going to happen. Sporadic Steve decided to stay back and try to get the second group to catch up while Captain Carbon lead the rest of us out to Lystra at a slower pace. Eventually we realized that the second group wasn't coming so we picked up the pace and opted to wait at the designated rest stop.
After 10 or 15 minutes at the store, GOG and the group pulled in and we decide to spit in two again with one group doing the Col de Lystra and the other opting for a less hilly return.
So we started the climb.
It really wasn't as hard as everyone was trying to make it out to be, but was definitely steep, forcing everyone to stand on the pedals to get to the top. I made it to the top in the middle of the pack, too far back to see who got the mountain points for the morning.
Now it got interesting. As soon we reached the light at the top of Lystra it changed leaving half of us stuck. A few risked running the light but this was a highway, so me and 3 others waited a bit. After we finally crossed we could still see the pack ahead so I wasn't too worried. Then I realized that we weren't going fast enough to catch up and about the time I was going to say something the guy up front took a right that I wasn't expecting. The second guy in line said, "aren't we supposed to go back to the store?" The guy out front had no clue what we were talking about ... he wasn't part of our ride!
Joe (new Motobecane) and I had mistakenly teamed up with a different set of riders and were now on our own. Initially we tried to go all out to get back to the store and catch up but apparently Capt'n Carbon hadn't noticed that he left two of the troops on the wrong side of the HWY and had pushed the group onward. Joe and I decided to take a slightly shorter route home but still ended up with about 45 miles on the day.
Instead of going back to Caribou's, I headed home and got started on a great 3-day weekend with the family. Hopefully Joe was able to give Cope some grief for leaving us hanging. :)
- Dwight
I want to thank V. for holding down the fort so that I could ride on Saturday. Since the Saturday Thorns and Roses rides are usually longer I don't go so that I can help around the house with projects, kids etc. With the long weekend going on, Saturday was not as a big deal and the weather was absolutely perfect.
At 7:15 I rode to Caribou's and had plenty of time to chat with the group since our leader GOG, was a little slow on getting ready. The group was HUGE this week. Almost rivaling the Cycling Spoken Here Sunday ride. There was no way he was going to get everyone's name down, although I think he tried. One rider of note was visiting family from my old stomping ground, Winston Salem. He's on the Wake Forest race team so we were looking forward to some good sprints.
We all headed out by about 7:40 and stayed together until Carpenter Upchurch. The high speeds kicked it and since I tried to stay up front I didn't notice that the group had completely splintered. By the time we got to Morrisville Carpenter only half the group was left, with the others no where to be seen. Unfortunately, Wake Forest opted to stay back with his family, so the anticipated sprints weren't going to happen. Sporadic Steve decided to stay back and try to get the second group to catch up while Captain Carbon lead the rest of us out to Lystra at a slower pace. Eventually we realized that the second group wasn't coming so we picked up the pace and opted to wait at the designated rest stop.
After 10 or 15 minutes at the store, GOG and the group pulled in and we decide to spit in two again with one group doing the Col de Lystra and the other opting for a less hilly return.
So we started the climb.
It really wasn't as hard as everyone was trying to make it out to be, but was definitely steep, forcing everyone to stand on the pedals to get to the top. I made it to the top in the middle of the pack, too far back to see who got the mountain points for the morning.
Now it got interesting. As soon we reached the light at the top of Lystra it changed leaving half of us stuck. A few risked running the light but this was a highway, so me and 3 others waited a bit. After we finally crossed we could still see the pack ahead so I wasn't too worried. Then I realized that we weren't going fast enough to catch up and about the time I was going to say something the guy up front took a right that I wasn't expecting. The second guy in line said, "aren't we supposed to go back to the store?" The guy out front had no clue what we were talking about ... he wasn't part of our ride!
Joe (new Motobecane) and I had mistakenly teamed up with a different set of riders and were now on our own. Initially we tried to go all out to get back to the store and catch up but apparently Capt'n Carbon hadn't noticed that he left two of the troops on the wrong side of the HWY and had pushed the group onward. Joe and I decided to take a slightly shorter route home but still ended up with about 45 miles on the day.
Instead of going back to Caribou's, I headed home and got started on a great 3-day weekend with the family. Hopefully Joe was able to give Cope some grief for leaving us hanging. :)
- Dwight
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