Another Registration...

When I was looking for rides this year, this one particularly caught my eye.  Its called the BIKE MS Vegas Challenge and it is a 2 day event on November 9 & 10.  The goal of the ride is to raise funds in the fight against MS.  If you would like to donate, here is the link.  It is a very worthy cause.

I liked this ride when I saw it as it is multiple days and it is a distance I feel I can manage.  On Saturday there are several ride options - a 100 mile, 65 mile or 30 mile route.  I decided the 30 mile route is for me.  Here is a link to a map of the route.  What I like about this route is the chance to ride along the strip, even if its not at night like the Viva Bike Vegas ride.

On Sunday there are 2 routes, a 50 mile and a 30 mile route.  Again, with my current fitness level I figured back to back 30 mile rides would be great.  Here is a link to the Sunday 30 mile route map.  What I like about this route is that it heads out to my old stomping grounds along Boulder highway up into Henderson.

While MS has not touched me personally, I have known a couple of people that it has touched and this disease is one of the worst out there.  It is dastardly in that it affects the body and makes it impossible to accomplish even simple tasks, but leaves the mind sharp so that the afflicted know full well what it has done to them.

Please take a minute and donate what you can so that a cure can be found.  In case you missed it at the top, here is a link to my donation page.

Enjoy life, get on your bikes and RIDE!!!!

August Challenge Day 29 Ride 29

Well, the month is almost over and I'm happy to say that I've ridden 29 out of 29 days so far.  I was up and out at just after 4:00 am and had a pleasant and pretty unremarkable ride.  No wildlife.  No inconsiderate drivers.  I did see the honeydew wagon, but he must have done his job right as I didn't smell him.

One thing I want to mention is that I've registered for the Bike MS Las Vegas challenge ride in November.  I hope you will help to raise funds to fight MS, but I'll post more on that later.

Today's stats:

10.4 Miles
44:39 elapsed time

Month to date:

29/29 rides
216.7 Miles
17:09:22 Elapsed Time

Get on your bikes and RIDE!!!!!

August Challenge Day 28 Ride 28 and a question of etiquette

It was another lovely morning for a ride.  I've been very lucky this month with my morning rides.  The temps were in the low 70's and there was a light southwest breeze.

I saw a rabbit again this morning.  He was sitting in the middle of the street as I turned onto Westchester.  He sat frozen for a minute trying to decide if I was real I think, then decided I was and went running under the bushes.

The three women walkers/joggers were out again this morning.  The were actually out on my first lap.  This is where the question of etiquette comes in.  They walk the same basic route as I ride, but in  counter clockwise direction while I am riding in a clockwise direction.  Obviously this means we pass each other frequently depending on timing.  This morning it was 8 times as on two of the laps they were on the walking path between the subdivisions while I was on the street.

Now the first time we usually say good morning to each other and once or  twice it might be a "good job" or "well done", but on many of the other occasions we end up smiling and nodding to each other.  The last time we pass we usually say "have a good day" and that's it.  My question is in regards to those times in between when we pass and really don't have much to say during that 2 to 3 second encounter.  What should I do?  Do I continue to nod and smile like and idiot?  Is there some point of etiquette that I'm missing that says what should happen on those other passes?

I would love feedback as to what others do in this situation.  I can't be alone in this.

Oh yeah, this morning takes me over 200 miles for the month!!!

As for stats:

10.4 Miles
45:12 Elapsed Time

Month to date:

28/28 rides
206.3 Miles
16:24:43 Elapsed time

Get on your bikes and ride!!!!

August Challenge Day 27 Ride 27

Cool but humid morning this morning.  69 degrees with 71% humidity.  The original forecast last night said there might be showers this morning, but they were nowhere to be seen for which I am happy.

From my analysis this month, I've decided that Monday night must be a big party night here since Tuesday morning has the most traffic heading home between 4:00 and 5:00 am.  There must have been 12 or 13 cars making a left into the subdivision this morning.

I was up just a bit early this morning so I decided to extend the ride to 12 laps.  Felt good.

This morning's stats:

12.5 Miles
54:47 Elapsed Time

Month to date:

27/27 rides
195.9 Miles
15:39:31 Elapsed time

I hope you are able to Get On Your Bikes And Ride!!!!!

August Challenge Update - Rides 23, 24, 25, and 26

I have been remiss in my updates and for this I apologize.

Its been a rather busy few days and the good news is I have gotten in a ride everyday. I am still on track to ride all 31 days in August. The bad news is my oldest grandson went home to Michigan on Saturday. It was really tough this year as he has grown and matured so much. We were going to do a last ride on Saturday morning before he left, but it didn't happen as he slept a bit later and then had to get to the airport.

Friday's ride was a ramble to look at all the streets in the subdivision and the one next door. Sad to say after 3 years of living in the house there were streets in our small sub I hadn't been on. One interesting note, one of the bordering street has a single house on it, all alone. The other houses around it all face into the subdivision and are accessed off the internal roads. A nice, private oasis.

Saturday was a couple of laps around the block with Dillon, Nick and Ceanna, who only made it part way up the block and was too tired.

Sunday Dillon was the only taker and we re-rode most of the streets in the subdivision since he hadn't been down them.

This morning it was back to the usual 4:00 am ride of 10.4 miles. It was nice seeing the 2 women who were walking last week were back and they had a third woman with them. We exchanged greetings on one lap. 2 laps later the woman who seemed to be the leader was jogging while the others were walking.

So, month to date we have:

26/26 rides
183.4 miles
14:44:44 elapsed time

Hope you are able to Get On Your Bikes and RIDE!

Registration complete...

Well, now its official.  Both myself and my dad are registered for Viva Bike Vegas on September 21st.



I am so happy and proud of my dad who hasn't ridden more than a couple of miles in the last 30 years, until he thought he might try riding more this summer.  It will be so cool to ride the strip with him that day.  I'm glad its not a race and we can take our time and enjoy the sites.

Anyone else going to be here in September for the ride????

BTW here is the route:

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide

August Challenge Day 22 Ride 22

This morning as I got on my bike I decided that I was getting just a bit bored doing the same loops morning after morning.  I had found and ridden a couple of other Strava segments in the neighborhood as I wrote about here, so I decided to see if I could do better on 2 of them.  I wanted to add a bit of variety to keep it interesting.

So I headed out and rode.  I refused to look at my Garmin the whole time I rode this morning.  I really didn't know how far I had gone, nor how fast, nor how long I'd been on the bike.  I wanted it to be a surprise.

I rode those different roads and threw in a couple of laps around my usual loop just to get in the miles.  One interesting note was that the 2 women were out walking again this morning.

When I decided I'd had enough for the morning, I stopped, turned off the Garmin and put my bike away.

I then headed inside to see exactly what I had done.  I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged the Garmin into my laptop and Training Center showed that I had ridden 9.66 miles in 41:59 this morning.  I really had thought I had only done about 7 miles.

I then uploaded the data to Strava and learned that I had set a PR (personal record) on both of the segments this morning.  I am very happy with that.

So for the month I am now at:

22/22 Rides
166.6 Miles
13:09:52 Elapsed Time

Oh, one more thing.  I officially registered my dad and I for the Viva Bike Vegas Gran Fondo Pinarello 17 mile rides on September 21.  Anyone else want to join us???

As the very wise Freddie Mercury said:

Get On Your Bikes And RIDE!

August Challenge Day 21 Ride 21

Having been awake since 2:00 AM I wasn't feeling it when 4:00 rolled around and it was my normal time to get up and ride.  I thought about putting it off, but decided that since I was up I might as well go and get in at least a short ride.  When I went out, I had every intention of taking it easy and only doing a couple of miles.

That changed within the first few pedal strokes  I felt good on the bike and decided I should just go ahead and push it a bit.  So I did.

According to Strava I did my 3rd fastest loop at 4:01 for my first lap and the next was at 4:04.  Not bad at all.  My finishing time for the same 10 miles I rode yesterday was almost 5 minutes faster!

One interesting note was that where I saw several pedestrians yesterday - there was no one out there this morning.

This morning's stats:

10.4 Miles
43:44 Elapsed Time

Month to date:

21/21 Rides
157 Miles
12:27:53 Elapsed Time

Do something good for yourself - Get on your bike and ride!!!!

August Challenge Day 20 Ride 20

Warm, humid start to the day.  I checked my tires before the ride as usual and was concerned when I found my front tire at less than 40 psi.  It seemed the issue was with the valve and not with a puncture.  I tightened the inner valve and pumped up the tire and it seemed to be holding air, but I didn't have faith in its staying inflated so I stopped a few times during the ride to check it out.

Overall it was a good ride.  It was interesting in that there were very few cars, but there were several pedestrians this morning.  Two women were out walking laps.  I passed the 4 or 5 times.  A gentleman was walking his dog and on the last last there was another man out for his morning exercise.  That's more people out and about in one morning than I've seen the rest of the month combined.

This morning's stats:

10.4 miles
48:33 elapsed time

Month to Date:

20/20 rides
146.6 miles
11:44:09 elapsed time

Heading into the home stretch of the challenge.

Get on your bikes and ride!!!!

August Challenge Day 19 Ride 19

The rain persisted on and off until about 3:30 this morning.  I know because it was raining at 10:00, it was raining at 2:00 and it was still sprinkling at 3:20 when I looked at the radar loop on my phone.  I was thinking that I would wait until after work to get my ride in today as I lay back down to try and get some sleep.

I kept thinking about how yesterday's ride was so short and mainly a token effort.  I thought about how the weather forecast was for more thunderstorms this afternoon and in all likelihood I would end up making only a token effort today.

I decided that for good or bad, I was getting up and riding this morning.  I am glad I did.

The roads were still wet when I got out there a little later than usual, but I decided to just start out nice and easy and see what I could do with the time I had.  There was a lot of sand and grit on the roads, especially on Quarterhorse by the construction site.

I did my first lap and thought to myself, "this isn't too bad."  The temperature was 73, and although a bit humid, it was nice riding weather.

I know I was slower than usual as I was taking it easy, but I decided 4 laps in that I could make the scheduled 10 laps in what time I had.  And that's what I did and I am happy.

Today's stats:

10.4 miles
48:31 Elapsed time

Month to date:

19/19 rides
136.2 Miles
10:55:36 elapsed time

Get on your bikes and ride!

August Challenge Rides 17 & 18

Its been a busy weekend with my wife and the grandkids.  Saturday was a long day strting at 5:30 am with getting set for a garage sale and watching the grandkids.  Then it was time to get cleaned up to head to Chuck E Cheese for a birthday party for Jacob and belatedly Nicholas.  Once we were home from there it was prudent to relax a bit, waiting for the temps to cool off at least a bit  Finally at 7:30 it was time for a quick ride to get it done.

Sunday I was just as occupied for the day and then it started raining this afternoon with thunderstorms moving through the area.  Finally at 8:00 I decided it was going to need to be a lap around th eblock in the rain, so that's what it was to keep the challenge alive.

Month to date:

18/18 rides
125.8 miles
10:07:05 Elapsed time

August Challenge Day 16 ride 16

The plan last night was to get up this morning and go for a ride with the grand kids.  I was thinking we would get out pretty early to try and beat some of the heat.  Normally the kids are up by 7:00 or 7:30 so I was thinking if we rode by 8:00 or so it would be good.

Finally at 9:15 I said it was time for them to get up so we can go.  We got out there at 9:28 and it was already hot.  Jacob, Dillon, Nicholas and PT all went with me.  We did a nice ramble around the neighborhood and rode by the house about 1.9 miles into the ride  The kids wanted a break so PT and I went on a quick trip around the block while they came in and got a drink.

When e got back to the house.  Nick was inside and not going any farther.  Jacob, Dillon, PT and I took off for another "lap" but just at the corner, Jacob decided he was done and headed back to the house.

Dillon hung in there and completed a total of 4.1 miles today in the heat.  PT and I completed 4.6 miles.

I am proud of all of them for how far they went.  They are all riding better and better.

Today's Stats:

4.6 miles
33:29 elapsed time

Month to date:

16/16 rides
123.5 miles
9:54:21 elapsed time

Get on your bikes and ride!!!!

August Challenge Day 15 Ride 15

It was a little warmer this morning in the mid 70's and the humidity was up a bit as well to close to 30%.  I can hear everyone from other parts of the country say "you call that humidity?"  Just remember this IS the desert. My legs were feeling a bit tired and heavy as well.

I did see a rabbit twice this morning.  Not sure if they were 2 different rabbits or the same rabbit both times as the sightings were about 20 minutes and a quarter mile apart.  Traffic was also the lightest its been all week during my early morning, but there were a couple of drivers who slammed on their brakes at the last minute, obviously used to sailing through the stop signs.

I also saw a teenager on a mountain bike with a back pack.  Not sure where he was going to or from, but he was headed south on El Capitan Way at just the wrong speed where I had to slow way down to keep from impacting him as I made my turn onto Mackanos while he continued south.  He never knew I was there.

Stats:

10.4 miles
46:02 elapsed time

Month to date:

118.9 miles
9:20:52 elapsed time

Keep those pedals turning!

August Challenge Day 14 Ride 14

Feeling pretty good about the August challenge at this point.  Its been 14 days and I've ridden every one of them.  A couple of items to note regarding this morning's ride and they both have to do with distance.  This morning's ride took me over 100 miles for the month, but more importantly it took me to 567 miles for the year which surpassed last year's total of 566 miles.

I'm riding more this year and I'm feeling good.  The bike is working well as well.

Today's stats:

10.4 miles
44:21 Elapsed time

Month to date

108.5 miles
8:34:50 elapsed time

How are you doing this month?

Keep those pedals turning!

August Challenge ride 13

Before I talk about this morning's ride I want to wish my eldest grandson Jacob a Happy Birthday!!!  Today he turns 11.

Only 3 things to mention about this morning's ride - some wind,a rabbit and some creaking.

This morning there was a southwest wind blowing 12 to 15 mph which meant I was cycling into the wind on the slower parts of my route.  It was definitely a bit more work.

On my 4th lap as I was heading north on Quarterhorse, a rabbit almost committed suicide by running across in front of me.  He timed it poorly, though and successfully made it across with a couple of feet to spare.  I guess he misjudged how fast I was in fact riding.

At about the 9 mile mark this morning, I started to notice a creaking coming from the left pedal and/or bottom bracket area.  It seemed to only do it when I was pushing the left pedal so I need to look at it this evening.  To avoid possibly damaging anything I took it really easy on the last mile this morning.

Today's stats:

10.4 miles
47:09 elapsed time

Month to date

98.1 miles
7:50:29 elapsed time

A side note, as of yesterday both my mom and dad were still in the challenge having walked and ridden everyday so far in August respectively. I believe my dad was even slightly ahead mileage-wise for the month.  I am so proud of them!!!!

Keep those pedals turning.

August Challenge Rdies 11 and 12

So far so good on the August Challenge.  12 days - 12 rides.  Not a bad streak but I'm not even halfway there yet.

These 2 rides happened almost exactly 9 hours apart.  Ride eleven was a fun little ramble around the neighborhood with the grand kids.  We had fun and I'm amazed at how quickly they are progressing.  Where a few weeks ago they would complain and want to take a break before we completed one lap, yesterday they were raring to go for multiple laps.  The 3 boys actually did 4 or 5 laps and were doing great!

Stats for ride 11:

3.0 miles
0:21:45 elapsed time

This morning it was back at it - up at 4:00 and out riding by 4:07.  There were a few remarkable things about this morning's ride.  The traffic was awfully busy for that time of the morning.  I must have been passed by 20+ cars. I know that's not a lot for most people, but that is one of the reasons that I like the early morning rides - virtually no traffic.  Among the cars were an NHP cruiser and about 10 minutes later an LVMPD cruiser.  What was remarkable was they both headed in the same direction - south on Pebble towards Durango.

I also saw a group of 4 riders headed north on Pebble towards fort Apache all decked out in their matching kits.  I couldn't read what they said but they were all while and green.

One other item to note was I saw a young boy - probably 11 or 12 riding a much too big bike with no lights.  He slowed and was waiting to turn onto El Capitan Way, but I slowed to wait for him to see if he was all right, but he disappeared.  Not sure if he changed his mind about turning or rode into the new sub on the corner, but I couldn't find him.  He just seemed out of place at that time of the morning.

Ride 12 stats:

10.4 miles
0:46:31 Elapsed time

Month to date:

87.7 miles
7:03:20 Elapsed time

Keep those pedals turning!

August Challenge day 10

Today is the 10th day of August and I did my 10th ride for my August Challenge.  I'm glad I made this challenge as it has gotten me on my bike a couple of times when it would have been easy to just say I'll ride tomorrow there's no time today.

I decided it was a good day to head out towards the Gypsum mine by Blue Diamond.  Its just over a 12 mile round trip.  I felt pretty good on the ride and decided to spin along at an easier pace in my middle ring on the uphill away from home.  It seemed to work pretty well in terms of tiring out, but it did knock my pace down slightly.

There were a good number of cyclists out this morning taking advantage of the light winds and cooler morning temps.  It did warm up quickly, though and was 88 by the time I got home.

So the stats for this morning:

12.4 miles
1:05:14 Elapsed time

Month to date:

74.3 miles
5:55:04 elapsed time

How are you doing this month???

Keep those pedals turning!

August Challenge rides 8 & 9

So the weekend is starting off on a busy note starting yesterday.  I managed to squeeze in a quick ride in the morning before doing my errands for the day.  Today I just rode around with the grand kids - not far at all, but it was fun getting them out there.  Unfortunately it started getting dark so we couldn't go very far.

So, some stats:

Ride #8
3.3 Miles
15:15 Elapsed time

Ride #9
1.8 miles
13:01 Elapsed time

So far this month:

61.9 Miles
4:49:50 Elapsed Time

There have been challenges getting a couple of my rides in, but having this challenge has been enough to make sure I'm at least on the bike daily.

Keep those pedals turning!!!!

August Challenge Day 7

Its 4:00 am on a work day in August so I'm getting up and heading out on a ride.  I normally have a routine I follow which involves a trip to the restroom, but I changed it up slightly this morning and that impacted my ride.

The temperature was a reasonable 80 degrees with a light Southwest breeze.  A good morning for a ride.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention yesterday, I passed the 500 mile mark for the year with yesterday's ride.  It took me until September 22 (the Viva Bike Vegas ride last year) to pass that mark.

I was feeling pretty good out there especially considering this is my seventh consecutive day of ride.  That is until about 4.5 miles into the ride I started to feel some rumblings in my intestinal tract.  Things weren't too bad and I convinced myself to carry on, which I managed to do until about 2 miles later when the rumblings became quite insistent and the call of nature was quite urgent.

I made it back to the house, having completed only 7.2 miles, but it was enough for this morning.

Stats:

7.2 Miles
32:22 Elapsed time

Month to date:

56.8 miles
4:21:36 Elapsed time

Keep those pedals turning!

August Challenge day 6

This morning I'm 6/6 for rides in August.  I'm very happy with my progress so far and have to admit there have been a couple of days I wouldn't have ridden but for this challenge.

The thing about this morning's ride is there was very little remarkable about it.  no exciting encounters with traffic, no wildlife, no overpowering smells, no real struggles, nothing.  It was a good ride which challenged me and helped me to build my fitness.

Here are the stats:

10.4 Miles
46:16 Elapsed Time

And totals for the month to date:

49.6 miles
3:49:14 Elapsed time

Keep those pedals turning!

August Challenge Day 5

Just a quick post  on this morning's 4:00 am ride.  It was dark, I was running on very little sleep but I knocked out a few miles:

10.4 Miles
46:44 Elapsed Time

Total for August to date:

39.2 Miles
3:01:58 Elapsed Time

One other note, my dad has ridden every day in August so far, and my mom has wlked on the treadmill.  I am so proud of both of them!!

Keep those pedals turning!

August Challenge Day 4

Got up this morning and wanted to get out earlier to try and beat the heat.  That didn't work so well.

I decided to head in a direction I hadn't gone for a few months - out Blue Diamond Road towards Blue Diamond.  As I got going I noticed that my legs weren't feeling the freshest.  They felt heavy and I had very little energy.  Looking back, I'm guessing I ate too little yesterday.  I only had a bucket of popcorn and a couple of chicken burritos after yesterday's short ride.

Anyway I was going along in an easier gear than normal and I noticed that I wasn't feeling any wind while I was moving.  Basically the wind was 5 to 10 mph from the ESE which meant a tailwind as I headed west.  All that really meant is I had no airflow cooling me off as I rode.

The heat was building, the sun was beating done and I was getting HOT.  With no shade I was really starting to feel it. (When I checked at home it was already 93)

When I got to the traffic information sign just before Hwy 159, I decided to stop in the little shade it provided for a minute.  He is what the view was looking towards the west:

After a couple of minutes I pushed on, but I knew I was just going to make it to HWY159 and turn around.

When I did then the fun started as it was all downhill back towards home.

One thing I noticed was the amount of debris and gravel on the Eastbound shoulder.  The westbound wasn't near as cluttered.

I got home and drank a liter of water to help cool off.

Totals for today:

9 miles
46:32 elapsed time

Total for August:

28.8 miles
2:16:14 elapsed time

How is everyone else doing this month?

Keep those pedals turning!

August Challenge Day 3

Its a busy day with activities this morning, so just time for a really quick ride.  I did see this on the ride, though:

 

 

So, stats for the day:

 

2.8 miles

13:40 elapsed time.

 

Month totals:

 

19.8 miles

1:29:42 elapsed time

 

I am so proud of my dad for accepting this challenge and for getting ready to do the Viva Bike Vegas ride with me next month!

 

 

 



August Challenge Day 2

Today is day two of my August Challenge I mentioned here.

I had hoped to get out and ride before it got too hot, but there was a delay. So it was after 11:00, 92 degrees with a 14 mph wind gusting to 22.  At least on part of the ride the wind helped to cool me off a bit.  I didn't have a plan on where to ride today, so I just picked some roads in the neighborhood and did a couple of meandering loops.  In the end I did:

6.6 miles
30:30 elapsed time

Totals for the month:

17 miles
1:16:02 elapsed time
One item to note is that my dad has accepted my challenge and is ridingevery day in August as well. So far his total is 16.3 miles for the month.  We'll see who has more miles at the end of the month.

Day one of the August Challenge

Today is day one of my August Challenge I mentioned here.

I figured I needed to start the month off right, so I set my alarm for 3:55 am.  Didn't want to take any chances.  Of course that meant I woke up 3 times through out the night to look at the clock since I didn't want to over sleep.  Amazing how we stress ourselves about things sometimes.

Anyway I got my ride in bright and early.

10.4 miles
45:36 elapsed time

Totals for the month:

10.4 miles
45:36 elapsed time

A couple of interesting things I noticed on this morning's ride were the smells and the traffic.

Most mornings when its fairly still I can smell various things like when someone passes me smoking in their car, or smoking out in front of their house.  I can also smell the water from sprinklers.  This morning, however there was a new smell.  As I turned onto Pebble for my first lap I passed a honey dew wagon heading to the construction site to service the porta-potties.  For the next 6 laps that was the predominant smell for the entire lap.  I'm not sure if he spilled some of the waste or it was just a matter of the suction, but the smell was pretty strong!

The second thing I noticed again this morning was heavier traffic.  In fact on 4 of the 10 laps I had cars pulling out of the subdivision that I ride around.  3 of the 4 were very courteous and stopped and waited for me.  The fourth, however pulled out as if I wasn't there.  Fortunately I assume they cannot see me whenever I encounter traffic and had my defensive maneuver planned and executed with not harm.  I just find it hard to believe they didn't see me with my light, wearing white and as large as I am.

How did everyone do on day one of the challenge????