Wonderful, unremarkable ride

Got on my steed and headed out on Blue Diamond towards Red Rock. Noticed right away how awesome my ride felt.  The new tires and wheels gave a smooth and stable ride.  The gatorskins had noticeably less rolling resistence.

Funny but it was a great ride primarily because nothing remarkable happened.  The winds were in the 10 MPH neighborhood the sun was shining and temps in the low 70's.

The above picture shows the road looking towards Red Rock by Blue Diamond.

Yesterday I did a quick 10 laps around the block as a test to gauge what the 100 Miles Of Nowhere was going to take.  The 10 laps netted 4.71 miles which means it will be 212 laps to hit the 100 miles on June 1.

Before that, though I have the Tour De Cure coming up on Saturday.  30 miles with 1960 feet of climbing.  It will be a challenge, but I'll do it.  Join me in fighting Diabetes by making a donation on my page.

Thank you.

Easy or Hard????

How should I push myself - Easy or Hard?

I am looking ahead to a couple of organized rides this fall.  The first is put together by our Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) and is called Viva Bike Vegas.  In the past it has been held in October, but this year they moved it up to the Middle of September to coincide with the Gran Fondo Pinarello and Interbike, and it is being held on September 22.  What attracts me to this ride is the opportunity to actually ride the Las Vegas Strip.

The second organized ride is BIKE:MS Vegas Challenge  which will be held November 10 & 11.  Thee are ride options on both Saturday and Sunday and the proceeds of the fundraising go to the National MS society.

Both rides look to be well organized and well run.  They both offer options as to length of ride as well.  Viva Bike Vegas has 4 options 17, 75, 102and 122 miles.  BIKE:MS has 3 options on day 1: Century, Metric Century or 30 miler, and 2 options on day 2: 50 and 30 miles.

This is where the question comes in:  Do I go the easy route and look at the shorter options, or do I really push myself and try for a longer option?  My first instinct has been to ride the 17 mile route for Viva Bike Vegas and the 30 mile on Day 2 of the BIKE:MS. Of course that was before I read some of the recent blog posts by Fatty, Sarah, Fizzhog and Steve.  Now I am starting to question if I should push myself harder.

One huge consideration is my current fitness level, likely quantity of riding to prepare for the events.  Another is whether or not anyone is going to be accompanying me on the ride(s).  I would love to have some company!

OK, I’ve made up my mind and will shortly be putting my money where my mouth is as I actually register for these 2 events.  I am going to do the 17 mile route for Viva Bike Vegas.  If they had a 50 mile route, I would be tempted to do it as it is just after my 50^th birthday, but I think the 17 miler will do nicely.  I’ve also decided to do the 30 mile ride on both days of the BIKE:MS event. (watch for more information so you can donate to help support this great cause)

So, I now have a plan and will ride fairly easy, but tending towards hard as I get more miles under my belt.  Anyone want to join me at either event????

A call to action

One of my inspirations for starting to ride my bike is the blog written by Elden aka the Fat Cyclist. He has teamed up with the Livestrong Foundation in their fight against cancer on several rides this year. I have become a virtual team member for the ride in Austin and am doing what I can to try and raise funds in support of this fight.

It’s funny, I tend to normally donate a few dollars to most of the fundraising requests that come my way, but I never really went looking for donations myself. I always figured that if I ever did put out the call, then those around me who heard would immediately answer and donate, even just a dollar or two. I have to say that I’ve found that hasn’t been the case so far.

I know there are lots of very good people out there and I know that we are all bombarded with requests on a daily basis, but I hope this is one that those who read this blog will respond to.

My wife’s mother passed away from lung cancer which spread to her brain. This happened before I even met my wife, but I was touched by it as it touched my wife and daughter so deeply having lost her.

My mother is a cancer survivor having had colon cancer and beat it.

My favorite Aunt who is a bladder cancer survivor.

A family friend recently had breast cancer and had a mastectomy and chemo and so far is cancer free.

These are all reasons that I ask you to please follow this url (http://tinyurl.com/2a3hbx9) and make a donation to the Livestrong foundation to help those who have been touched by this dreadful disease.