Today was rather uneventfull. We rode a very, very easy 50 miles. The "hard part" was a 400 foot climb over a span of 11 miles. Anywho, there's nothing really interesting to say. In the middle of nowhere today, rode past custre reenactment site. By far the best part of the day was biking with my new pal Doug. He lives in Portland. So going to school I will have a new friend. He's a gem dealer to tiffanys and by far one of the least judgemental people I have ever met.
Until then,
-ride hard
Monday, July 7, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Day 13: dont worry, today was an easy day.
Nothing to exciting to report to everyone today. However, our fourth of july was definitely something to remember. We were camped next to the rodeo that happened to be going on in town. Today small town, redneck America. It was sort of terrifying. To give you an idea of what is sounded like, "Now im handing the microphone over to Ashley so we can all hear the greatest song ever written...Oh say can you see..." Oh yeah...thats where we were.
The best part about small town America is that they have no rules about fire works. We mine as well have been lighting off quarter sticks. You know the fireworks you see at a display in a city? Thats what we were lighting off. By the end of the night, we had collectively lit off $200 worth of fireworks. It was amazing and so much fun. A true bonding experience.
Anywho, we didnt get to bed until about 12:30, leaving us with about 4 hours of sleep. Its a great way to go into another century. When we woke up in our luxurious motel room that a few of us decided to split, we headed down to camp only to find out that there was no breakfast or cue cards due to locals that decided to loot our truck. Oh well. Instead we were treated to a delicious diner breakfast. the downside to that is we didnt hit the road until about 8:30.
After the yesterday, I decided that I could afford to take it easy. I road with the back pack and sang my way into the rest stop. It was alot of fun; a nice leisurely pace with alot of singing and fun people.
Well thats all for now. Just a heads up; my phone is broken and I might not be able to blog during the week until I get it fixed. Ill update you when I know more.
Until then,
-Ride Hard
The best part about small town America is that they have no rules about fire works. We mine as well have been lighting off quarter sticks. You know the fireworks you see at a display in a city? Thats what we were lighting off. By the end of the night, we had collectively lit off $200 worth of fireworks. It was amazing and so much fun. A true bonding experience.
Anywho, we didnt get to bed until about 12:30, leaving us with about 4 hours of sleep. Its a great way to go into another century. When we woke up in our luxurious motel room that a few of us decided to split, we headed down to camp only to find out that there was no breakfast or cue cards due to locals that decided to loot our truck. Oh well. Instead we were treated to a delicious diner breakfast. the downside to that is we didnt hit the road until about 8:30.
After the yesterday, I decided that I could afford to take it easy. I road with the back pack and sang my way into the rest stop. It was alot of fun; a nice leisurely pace with alot of singing and fun people.
Well thats all for now. Just a heads up; my phone is broken and I might not be able to blog during the week until I get it fixed. Ill update you when I know more.
Until then,
-Ride Hard
Friday, July 4, 2008
Day 12: Tailwind...there you are...oh wait...nevermind.
There are only a couple of really strong riders on the trip, myself being one of them. But so far one rider has made it back to camp first everyday: Chuck. I woke up this morning and decided that today would be the day that I make it to camp first. Lucky for me Chuck only got two hours of sleep last night due to the torrential downpour. Anyhow I started off the day relatively slow. I left camp close to last and had a lot of ground to make up...I was in for a rough day (it was a century by the way).
The ride started off with a nice and breezy 12 mile climb. Its not as bad as it sounds though: it was pretty slow and steady. It took my legs a good 45 minutes to really wake up, but once they were nice and warm I was off. Within an hour I had already took the lead of the pack. Not bad for a youngster like myself. After the long climb we had a nice long and stead descent...and guess what...we had a tailwind! It only lasted for bout 25 miles, but it was by far the greatest part of the trip.
I made it to the second sag stop, 40 miles in, and was already 15 minutes ahead of the group. From there out it was a piece of cake. The day really didnt get rocky until I hit mile 93. I "bonked" in cycling terms. This means that your blood sugar is too low and you were working to hard. Essentially you start to get loopy, light headed and have slightly distorted vision. I got off my bike and rested for a while. I chugged some gatorade, ate some cookies and managed to make it the last 7 miles in to camp.
I managed to make it back by 1:00. That means I pulled 100 miles in 5.5 hours! The next riders didnt arrive until 3:00. The group was pretty impressed by that to say the least. I got a few high fives and some major street cred. Our ride leader Daniel gave me one of the biggest comliments I have ever recieved. "Dude your form is amazing. When you do climbs you look like some of the pros that ride for Toyota United." He said that at the end of the trip, hes going to hook me up with the Toyota United Racing Team! This is big! Hooray! A pretty big self-esteem boost to hear something like that from a seasoned rider.
Well thats about it for now. The computer im using is about to die. Thanks to everyone who has been leaving comments. Its really nice to hear from you all.
Until then,
-Ride Hard
The ride started off with a nice and breezy 12 mile climb. Its not as bad as it sounds though: it was pretty slow and steady. It took my legs a good 45 minutes to really wake up, but once they were nice and warm I was off. Within an hour I had already took the lead of the pack. Not bad for a youngster like myself. After the long climb we had a nice long and stead descent...and guess what...we had a tailwind! It only lasted for bout 25 miles, but it was by far the greatest part of the trip.
I made it to the second sag stop, 40 miles in, and was already 15 minutes ahead of the group. From there out it was a piece of cake. The day really didnt get rocky until I hit mile 93. I "bonked" in cycling terms. This means that your blood sugar is too low and you were working to hard. Essentially you start to get loopy, light headed and have slightly distorted vision. I got off my bike and rested for a while. I chugged some gatorade, ate some cookies and managed to make it the last 7 miles in to camp.
I managed to make it back by 1:00. That means I pulled 100 miles in 5.5 hours! The next riders didnt arrive until 3:00. The group was pretty impressed by that to say the least. I got a few high fives and some major street cred. Our ride leader Daniel gave me one of the biggest comliments I have ever recieved. "Dude your form is amazing. When you do climbs you look like some of the pros that ride for Toyota United." He said that at the end of the trip, hes going to hook me up with the Toyota United Racing Team! This is big! Hooray! A pretty big self-esteem boost to hear something like that from a seasoned rider.
Well thats about it for now. The computer im using is about to die. Thanks to everyone who has been leaving comments. Its really nice to hear from you all.
Until then,
-Ride Hard
Thursday, July 3, 2008
day 11: "i wanta, i wanta, i wanta take you higher!"
Today was a great day for riding. A nice and easy 60 miles, cool in the morning and only a high of 80 in the afternoon. Not to mention that today we crossed the continental divide! Hitting a high of 6500 feet, a 4 mile climb, followed by a 12 mile descent. Today was by far the easiest ride of the trip.
After reaching the top of the pass we went to tha scenic overlook. The view was absolutely fantastic; a 360 degree view of the mountains, the forest and the valley. Hopefully ill be able to get pictures online soon.
Aside from the big climb and reaching a top speed of 45 mph oh the descent, today was a short and breezy day. Expect to hear a little more tomorror with the century we are riding.
Until then,
-ride hard
After reaching the top of the pass we went to tha scenic overlook. The view was absolutely fantastic; a 360 degree view of the mountains, the forest and the valley. Hopefully ill be able to get pictures online soon.
Aside from the big climb and reaching a top speed of 45 mph oh the descent, today was a short and breezy day. Expect to hear a little more tomorror with the century we are riding.
Until then,
-ride hard
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
day 10: next time im going east to west!
Everybody I told about this trip told me it was the way to go. "oh don't go east to west, you'll have headwind the entire way!" boy were they wrong. These past few days have been headwind the entire way. But this isn't any headwind, this is a damn stiff one. The fact that we had a century today wasn't helped by The fact that the headwind was relentless.
I've been looking back at some of my other posts and have noticed one common theme: every day sounds grueling and not very fun. I can't tell you how far from the truth that is. The sights combined with the pure challenge of this ride make it worth it. Not to say that I really dislike parts of my day on the road.
Part way through the day today I stopped to take a picture. While I was looking out across the plains, the magnitude of what I'm doing hit me. All of the sudden I started getting anxious and jittery. "40 more ducking days of this!" I thougt to myslef. And then just like that I realized, "wait, 40 more days of this!" I can't tell you how humbling cycling is. One moment you want nothing more than to quit, and the next second you want nothing more than...more! Its realizations like these that make me get back on my bike. I can't even begin to imagine how much stronger this will make me: ohysically and mentaly.
Well I hope those words of wisdom are what you all were hoping for. Its certainly what I was hoping for.
Until then,
-ride hard
I've been looking back at some of my other posts and have noticed one common theme: every day sounds grueling and not very fun. I can't tell you how far from the truth that is. The sights combined with the pure challenge of this ride make it worth it. Not to say that I really dislike parts of my day on the road.
Part way through the day today I stopped to take a picture. While I was looking out across the plains, the magnitude of what I'm doing hit me. All of the sudden I started getting anxious and jittery. "40 more ducking days of this!" I thougt to myslef. And then just like that I realized, "wait, 40 more days of this!" I can't tell you how humbling cycling is. One moment you want nothing more than to quit, and the next second you want nothing more than...more! Its realizations like these that make me get back on my bike. I can't even begin to imagine how much stronger this will make me: ohysically and mentaly.
Well I hope those words of wisdom are what you all were hoping for. Its certainly what I was hoping for.
Until then,
-ride hard
day 10: next time im going east to west!
Everybody I told about this trip told me it was the way to go. "oh don't go east to west, you'll have headwind the entire way!" boy were they wrong. These past few days have been headwind the entire way. But this isn't any headwind, this is a damn stiff one. The fact that we had a century today wasn't helped by The fact that the headwind was relentless.
I've been looking back at some of my other posts and have noticed one common theme: every day sounds grueling and not very fun. I can't tell you how far from the truth that is. The sights combined with the pure challenge of this ride make it worth it. Not to say that I really dislike parts of my day on the road.
Part way through the day today I stopped to take a picture. While I was looking out across the plains, the magnitude of what I'm doing hit me. All of the sudden I started getting anxious and jittery. "40 more ducking days of this!" I thougt to myslef. And then just like that I realized, "wait, 40 more days of this!" I can't tell you how humbling cycling is. One moment you want nothing more than to quit, and the next second you want nothing more than...more! Its realizations like these that make me get back on my bike. I can't even begin to imagine how much stronger this will make me: ohysically and mentaly.
Well I hope those words of wisdom are what you all were hoping for. Its certainly what I was hoping for.
Until then,
-ride hard
I've been looking back at some of my other posts and have noticed one common theme: every day sounds grueling and not very fun. I can't tell you how far from the truth that is. The sights combined with the pure challenge of this ride make it worth it. Not to say that I really dislike parts of my day on the road.
Part way through the day today I stopped to take a picture. While I was looking out across the plains, the magnitude of what I'm doing hit me. All of the sudden I started getting anxious and jittery. "40 more ducking days of this!" I thougt to myslef. And then just like that I realized, "wait, 40 more days of this!" I can't tell you how humbling cycling is. One moment you want nothing more than to quit, and the next second you want nothing more than...more! Its realizations like these that make me get back on my bike. I can't even begin to imagine how much stronger this will make me: ohysically and mentaly.
Well I hope those words of wisdom are what you all were hoping for. Its certainly what I was hoping for.
Until then,
-ride hard
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Check This Out
This is the blog written by John, the biker that I mentioned in a previous entry. Hes biking from Fairbanks, Alaska to Fort Collins, Colorado by himself with his dog. He has some great stories on there, you all should read a couple.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=3618&v=Bx
-Ride Hard
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=3618&v=Bx
-Ride Hard
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