Here / Now -- Training Blog

New Blog Site

2007-10-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

All of the posts from this blog have now been incorporated into my new blog:
http://john-simons.com/

First Half Recap

2006-07-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a recap of the first half of the year:

January: 7:45:00 total time
February: 5:15:00 total time
March: 14:55:42 total time, 144.0 miles
April: 25:00:55 total time, 310.10 miles
May: 18:30:11 total time, 267.96 miles
June: 27:33:24 total time, 386.34 miles

Cumulative: 99:01:02 total time, 1108.40 miles --- wow!

Total time includes time on the trainer and time on the road. The miles are only on the road.

Riding, July 6, 2006 - Thursday Night

2006-07-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

I decided that this Thursday night, I was going to test myself and see if I had actually gotten faster or stronger. I was very pleased with the results.

I stayed with the A group until almost halfway out to the school. I then stayed with an A- group most of the rest of the way. I reached the school just before the B+ group came in. The A group had already left the school. I left with a small group, and we kept a good tempo all the way back. I averaged almost 19 mph on the way to the school. When we reached the back of the trail, I had an average of 19.3 mph. I then eased up most of the way through the trail, so my average dropped again.

I was impressed with my riding, so were several of the others.

Stats:
1:28:24
27.39 mi.
18.5 mph avg.
32.5 mph max.

HRM Stats:
1:36:23
162 avg. hr
188 max. hr

Now, I just need to work on getting a little faster, with a little more endurance. It is at least possible that I might be able to get strong enough to hang with the A group.

Riding, July 4, 2006 - Gainesville to Ocala

2006-07-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I reversed the route on my typical ride from Ocala to Gainesville. We had spent the night before with my mother-in-law and were going home. I had intended to get up early and ride, but I was too tired. When I did get up, around 8, it was almost time for the Tour de France to start on TV. I decided to watch the coverage.

I finally decided to ride home, so that I got some riding in. I didn't leave until about 2:45 in the afternoon. I would suffer with the heat. I drank lots of fluids, but still felt dehydrated when I got finished, several hours later.

49.91 mi.
3:30:25
14.2 mph avg.
29.8 mph max.

HRM Stats:
4:13:48
150 avg. hr
179 max. hr

It was a long, hot, hard ride. But, I felt stronger than I had before BRAG. And, it was good to be on the bike again.

Riding, July 3, 2006 - Blockbuster ride

2006-07-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I got back from BRAG, and did not have time to ride for the first two weeks. I was either too busy get caught up at work, or still recovering, or the weather wasn't good.

On Monday, July 3, I rode again. I had to return a video to Blockbuster, so I did it by bicycle. Sadly, I forgot my water bottles at the house. Otherwise, I would have ridden a little further.

14.18 mi.
0:55:03
15.4 mph avg.
24.2 mph max.

No HRM.

BRAG, June 17, 2006 - Day 7

2006-07-08T18:36:00.000-07:00

64.23 mi.
4:07:38
15.5 mph avg.
34.2 mph max.

I seem to have not saved my HRM data for this ride.

BRAG, June 16, 2006 - Day 6

2006-07-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

Once again, I was on a demo bike. Therefore, I don't have complete stats.

Here is what I have:
HRM Stats:
6:29:10
132 hr avg.
171 hr max.
69 mi.

As usual, the HRM includes all the rest stops, and finding my luggage before I remembered to turn it off. I probably averaged around 14.5 mph, maybe 15 mph.

BRAG, June 15, 2006 - Day 5

2006-07-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

For more details on this ride, click here.

Today's stats:
46.19 mi.
3:28:17
38.1 max.
13.2 avg.

HRM
5:37:59 (includes setting up camp)
131 avg. Hr
205 max. Hr

BRAG, June 13, 2006 - Day 3

2006-07-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

For more details on this ride, click here.

61.92 mi.
5:01:13
38.6 max.
12.3 avg.

HRM
7:56:33
133 avg. Hr
182 max. Hr

BRAG, June 12, 2006, Day 2

2006-07-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

For more details on this ride, click here.

With no computer on the demo bike, I do not have complete stats.

45.5 mi.
Avg spd, approx. 14-14.5 (est.)

5:25:19 (HRM Time, includes rest and starting to set up camp)
135 avg. Hr
204 max. Hr

BRAG, June 11, 2006 - Day 1

2006-07-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

For more details on this ride, click here.

Stats:
73.86 mi
5:25:12
13.6 mph avg.
37.8 mph max.

HRM (includes setting up camp)
8:30:58
141 hr avg.
180 hr max.

Riding, June 1, 2006 - Thursday Night

2006-07-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

Still trying to get caught up here.

I rode the Thursday night ride on June 1.

Stats:
1:36:35
25.64 mi.
15.9 mph avg.
30.6 mph max.

Riding, May 29, 2006 - Clermont, Hills, and Dehydration

2006-07-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

I am way behind on posting my rides. I did put up summaries of most of the BRAG rides over on the main blog. It is time to get caught up.

On Memorial Day, I drove down to Clermont to ride a route down there that is used for some of the longer triathlons. It includes several good hills. I figured that it would make for good training to prepare for BRAG. I brought along several bottles and tried to drink regularly. I thought that I was doing well, as I had to stop and relieve myself several times during the day. However, before I got back to the car, the hills and the heat got to me. I was either dehydrated, suffering mild heat exhaustion, or some combination of the two. I wound up getting off the bike to walk up one short hill, stopping frequently, then finally, I just laid down in the grass in somebody's yard, under the shade of a small tree. I finally got up the energy to finish the ride, and I was glad that it was over.

Along the way, I did see some very beautiful scenery, including the Monteverde school, Howey in the Hills, and some nice lakes and hills.

Stats:
4:31:22
56.01 mi.
12.3 mph avg.
39.3 mph max.

I have a GPS file with the hills and the map. Maybe I will create the images and post them in a few days.

Riding, May 18, 2006- Thursday Night

2006-05-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

It has been a week since I last rode--at the Thursday night group ride. I stayed with the B group early on, actually the B+ group. After we turned a corner and started riding, we realized that three of us had dropped the rest of the B group. After the next turn one of the other two decided to fall back to the B group. I and the other guy kept going. On the second hill, we were caught by a third guy, who set the pace the rest of the way to the high school.

At the school, I realized that my computer had reset. The mount had come loose on the ride, and I had been fiddling with it so I could monitor my speed. I must have accidentally reset it. So, I reset it again to track the speed going back.

The pace going back to the start was slower. It was probably a better pace.

The stats coming back were:
15.45 mi
0:58:51
15.6 mph avg.
24.3 mph max.

Total stats (approx)
30 mi.
1:48:00

Riding, May 16, 2006 - Tuesday Night

2006-05-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

I was back out with Bob on Tuesday night. We rode west on Hwy 27, back toward horse country, but we turned around at about the spot where the scenery would have turned really nice. We still had a good ride and a chance to enjoy some conversation. We also got in a couple of good hills.

Stats:
30:08 mi.
1:55:13
15.6 mph avg.
26.0 mph max.

Good ride.

Riding, May 13, 2006 - Horse Country and Hills

2006-05-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning on went on a little longer ride. I didn't get off to as early a start as I would have liked, so I didn't have time to ride as far as I would have liked. I did get a chance to ride through horse country, and through some nice hilly areas. The hills are good training for me.

Some of the scenery was fabulous. However, parts of the ride were strewn with litter. What a shame that such a beautiful county is ruined by all the litter.

Stats:
42.39 mi.
3:00:32
14.0 mph avg.
28.0 mph max.

HRM stats:
3:13:57
132 avg. HR
Max HR was thrown off by radio interference again.

In zone: 1:09:55
Above zone: 0:33:19
Below zone: 1:30:43
I had the zone set at 132/145, which is all sublactate.

Riding, May 10, 2006 - Wed. night

2006-05-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

I did a Wednesday night ride as I had plans for Thursday night. I rode solo and had a good time.

21.87 mi.
1:28:31
14.8 mph avg.
26.1 mph max.

Once I get caught up in logging rides, I will try to include more details.

Riding, May 9, 2006 - Silver Springs Shores

2006-05-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

I rode with one of the guys from church. We had a really good ride. We stayed at a reasonable pace and spent much of the time talking. I got to know Bob a little bit better, and really enjoyed the time. After the ride, he and his wife came over for dinner.

Stats:
27.29 miles
1:48:16
15.1 mph avg.
24.6 mph max.

Riding, May 5, 2006 - Thursday Night

2006-05-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Boy, am I behind in logging my rides. Thursday May 5 was a good ride. I stayed within my limits.

Here are the stats:
30.09 miles
1:51:24
16.1 mph avg.
27.5 mph max.

No HRM stats.

Riding, May 2, 2006 - Silver Springs Shores

2006-05-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

I went on a 30 mile ride tonight. I needed the extra miles for training. It was a good ride, but I was still tired from the headwinds over the weekend.

computer:
2:06:53
30.23 mi.
14.2 mph avg.
24.5 mph max.

HRM:
2:09:12
132 avg. HR
173 max. HR

Riding, Apr. 29 - Orange Lake

2006-05-03T12:21:00.001-07:00

I went back to Orange Lake on Saturday, riding the old Schwinn. The wind was really strong. The wind was at 10 mph, with gusts up to 20. I tried to find a route that would avoid headwinds, but I didn't do a good job. There were far too many headwinds.

I had replaced the tires and trued the wheels, so the bike rode better, but the wind wore me out. On the way back, I made a detour to add some hills. It was a mistake because we had plans for the evening, and it was beginning to get late. With the wind and the hills, my legs were getting wiped out. I wound up calling for help a few miles from home to avoid being late for our dinner plans.

It was a good ride, but very tiring. At the end, I had to keep stopping because I didn't have anything left. I hope that there are no heawinds on BRAG.

computer:
3:50:22
49.26 mi.
12.8 mph avg.
27.5 mph max.

HRM:
4:45:18
130 Avg. HR
The max HR was thrown off by radio interference. If it were accurate, I would be dead.

Riding, Apr. 27 - Thursday night

2006-05-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

I rode the Thursday night group ride. At the ride, I got the news that my wheel wasn't covered uner warrnay and that I would have to buy a new wheel. I was very frustrated. Angry, actually. I wound up taking out my frustration on the ride.

I was riding my old bike, left over from my college days. It is a Schwinn steel frame with downtube friction shifters. I have been using in on the trainer, in order to spare the tires on my regular bike. So, the tires were worn out, and in bad shape. It felt like the rear wheel was slipping during much of the ride.

With my frustration, I rode faster and harder than I should have.

1:37:54
27.58 mi.
16.8 mph avg.
28.0 mph max.

Riding, Apr. 23 - Lousy Ride

2006-05-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

I went riding last Sunday. It was very windy out. I was feeling good early in the ride, but it felt like my rear brake might be rubbing. As I got further north, I had a flat tire. I pulled over and fixed it fairly quickly. I started riding again. I stopped at a convenience store in Orange Lake to refill my bottles. After I refilled and took a quick phone call, I started south to return home. Very quickly, my rear brake began rubbing very badly, like the wheel was out of true. I pulled over again, to check the tire. I didn't have any spoke wrenches, but started looking any way to see what the problem was. It turns out the hub on my rear wheel had cracked, one of the spokes was flopping around, no longer attached at the hub. There was nothing I could do. I called in the calvary and sat down to wait for help.

The stats of the ride:
computer:
2:13:14
24.23 mi.
12.9 mph avg.
21.2 mph max.

HRM:
2:13:59
138 Avg. HR
164 Max. HR

I dropped the bike off at the bike shop the next day. They called Specialized to check if the wheel was still under warranty. It wasn't under warranty. Specialized wouldn't replace the wheel. That stinks.

No Ride, Apr. 20 -- Family instead

2006-04-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

It was Thursday night tonight, but I didn't ride. It was more important to do the family thing. We went to my youngest daughter's school program. Then I watched a movie with my son.

Good stuff.

So, insteady of the typical Thursday night ride, I am catching up on logging my recent rides.

Also, here is recap of the first quarter:

January: 7:45:00 total time
February: 5:15:00 total time
March: 14:55:42 total time, 144.0 miles

Total time includes time on the trainer and time on the road. The miles are only on the road. I may try to calculate virtual miles for my time on the trainer, if I ever have enough spare time.

Training, Apr. 18 -- Ben Hur

2006-04-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

I got back on the trainer after taking several days off. I knew that I would not have time to ride over the Easter weekend. I actually might have been able to ride on Easter Sunday, but I was tired, and had a muscle in my left calf that was bothering me. I decided it was better to take the day off.

So, I rode on the trainer, and watched the first part of the movie Ben Hur. I have never seen the movie before. I started to watch it once before, but got interrupted and never finished it. I made it through the scene of the galley battle. The next day, I discussed that I was watching it for the first time. My friend couldn't believe that I had never seen it. He is several years older than me, so it is closer to his generation. I hadn't even been born when the movie first came out. In fairness, I think it came out shortly before he was born as well.

So any way, I rode for an hour, and then spent a little time lubing the bike chain on my road bike. I rode:

1:00:01
131 avg. HR
148 max. HR.

a good recovery ride.

Riding, Apr, 14 -- Lake Weir x2 -- stinking dump trucks

2006-04-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

On Good Friday the office closed at lunch time. After lunch, I headed home and took a long ride, as the family was on a field trip that day.

I needed to get some serious distance, so I decided to go south, and then ride twice around Lake Weir. I had checked out an alternate route to get to Lake Weir, and decided to try it, so that my ride would not be an out and back kind of a route. Somehow, a loop just feels better.

The ride out and the first lap around Lake Weir went really smoothly. Around Sunset Harbor at the southwest corner of Lake Weir, I even got a thumbs up from a woman in an SUV. Having ridden at a reasonable pace yesterday, I felt good and was riding well up the hills.

There were some issues with motorists along the east and north edges of the lake. On the east side, one or two cars honked or rolled down a window to yell. Along the north edge, there is no shoulder and there was more traffic going towards town that I would have expected for that time of day. A couple of dump trucks and a truck carrying cement block came a little closer that I was comfortable with.

The second lap went smoothly. I got another thumbs up at Sunset Harbor, this time from a guy. That must be the most cyclist-friendly area of the county.

Along the eastern edge of the lake, I had a couple more rude cars. I came back up through Silver Springs Shores and bypassed the north side of the lake and the traffic.

The ride back was smooth. I used a little bit of the Baseline Trail to make sure that I hit my goal of 60 miles.

The family was home by the time I got there, and we enjoyed dinner together. A good way to spend the afternoon/evening.

Here are the map and profile:

And here are the stats:

Computer:
4:14:51
60.63 miles
14.2 mph avg.
30.8 mph max.

HRM:
4:33:26
144 avg. HR
169 max. HR
3:30:03 in target range
0:17:00 above target range
1:06:08 below target range

So, on a ride where at least the distance matches the typical day at BRAG, I was able to maintain a reasonable pace while riding solo. At the same time, I was able to do it at exertion levels that are maintainable. I don't know how the hills compare to what I will face in Georgia, but this route was not flat. I picked it because it has some rolling hills.

It makes me optimistic that I will be able to hold my own at BRAG. Now, I just need to keep developing endurance so that I will be able to ride like this for 7 straight days.

Riding, April 13 -- Thursday Night, Riding Smarter

2006-04-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday night I was back out at the group ride. This time I was intent on riding smarter. Last week I went out trying to keep up with the A group, only to get dropped and pay the price for it on my long bike ride over the weekend. This time, I teamed up with the B group from the start. The ride was much easier, and more fun. I spent a good part of the time helping out riders who got dropped on a hill, or who were tired to catch up, or to pace back to the finish.

Here are the stats:
Computer:
1:48:04
15.5 mph avg.
30.5 mph max.
27.96 miles

HRM:
2:02:23
141 Avg. HR
179 Max. HR

Obviously the HRM includes some of the time at the begining before the ride began, and some of the time at the halfway point waiting for the rest of the group to catch us. It doesn't include all of the stopped time, because I got tired of the thing beeping at me and stopped it, rather than just turning off the alarm. Maybe next time I will turn off the alarm.

Training, April 10 -- Jim Kallam, Jr.

2006-04-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

I was on the trainer for the second day in the row.

Having done recovery the night before, I wanted to work on intervals. The legs did not want to cooperate. There was still fatigue and lactic acid left in my legs from Thursday night and from Saturday going to Gainesville.

While riding I was listening to a sermon by Jim Kallam, Jr. It was from the book of 1 John. I have listened to several of his sermons and enjoy his teaching. He is the pastor at the Church @ Charlotte, in Charlotte, NC. You can find his sermons online here. He is currently teaching through the book of Hosea. I will have to check it out after I finish listening to his series on 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John.

Here are the relevant stats from the ride:
Total time: 45:02.0
Avg. HR: 153
Max. HR: 173

The breakdown:
Warmup: 10:00.7, 130 Avg. HR
Interval: 13:00.7, 166 Avg. HR
recovery: 2:00.7, 153 Avg. HR (my HR got back into the 130s)
Interval: 14:09.9, 164 Avg. HR
recovery: 5:49.9, 136 Avg. HR

Training, April 9

2006-04-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

I was on the trainer the other day. This was the day after the windy ride to Gainesville, and my legs were still fatigued. I simply did a recovery ride.

HRM Stats:
40:01.1
121 Avg. HR
137 Max. HR

Riding, April 8 -- Ocala to Gainesville

2006-04-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a day to pay the piper for going too hard on Thursday night.

The kids were in Gainesville, and we were going up to pick them up. Once again, I was riding up, with my wife meeting me at her mom's house with a change of clothes.

I changed up the route some. On the south end, I used a few more back roads. As I approached Gainesville, I made a detour to the east to add some miles. When I left home, I was hoping to put in 60 miles today. Once I got riding, there was no way that it was going to happen. The entire ride has headwinds and crosswinds. The winds were so bad that my wife pulled over when she caught me, just over halfway to Gainesville. She could feel the wind pulling at the car and wanted to make sure that I was doing okay.

With the winds and the extra work, I had already drained three water bottles. A couple weeks earlier, I had comfortably rode the whole ride on only two bottles. I stopped in Micanopy and bought enough Gatorade to refill all the bottles. After the long wait to check out, I was feeling fresh again, so decided to head off to the east to add the extra miles at the end. It didn't take long for the exhertion of the day and Thursday to catch up to me. I was prety wiped out by the time I reached the house.

Here is the map and profile:

None of the hills are truly huge on this route, but they are some of the better hills in this area. The uphill through Gainesville makes for a nice long uphill slog when your logs are approaching failure.

Here are the stats:
Computer:
4:09:05
56.49 miles
13.5 mph Avg.
27.2 mph Max.

GPS:
4:10:00 moving
19:08 stopped
56.1 miles
13.4 moving average
27.2 max spd.
12.5 overall avg.

HRM:
4:28:57
147 avg. HR
185 max. HR
In Zone: 3:05:25 (Aerobic to Sublactate threshold)
Above Zone: 42:10
Below Zone: 1:18:21

It was a good ride, but I was wiped out at the end. It felt really good to get off the bike and into the shower.

Riding, April 6 -- Thursday night at the races

2006-04-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

Now that it is Daylight Savings Time again, the regular Thursday night bike rides have resumed at the Baseline Trailhead. I did not get to ride much last year as I was recovering from shoulder surgery that I had in May, and never really got into the synch of riding regularly. I went out and rode.

I made the mistake of trying to hang with the A group. Apparently, a couple of them had conspired before hand to make everyone suffer, and they did this quite well. We turned a corner and started up a gradual hill when they really hit the accelerator. I had been gapped and was working as hard as I could. I looked at the computer and I was running about 27.5, except that I wasn't making up any ground. I saw a group behind me and decided that I needed to sit up. The group of 3 others caught me shortly and I latched on with them. It was a good decision.

As a group, we were running in the low 20s. I was able to maintain this pace without too much trouble. Except for the fact that my HRM was beeping that I was above my aerobic threshold level and running faster than I had intended.

On the way back, I switched to a slower group once we caught them and rode back with a friend. It was a much better pace, but the damage had been done, my heart rate was still higher than I wanted.

Here are the stats:
1:19:22
23.85 miles
18.0 avg
30.1 max (sprinting on a fairly level grade)
168 Avg. HR

Riding, April 1 -- Indianapolis

2006-04-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

From the start let me make it perfectly clear that I am glad that I live in Florida. I am in Indianapolis this weekend to attend the Final Four.

It is cold here! It has been really nice in Florida lately, great weather for riding. We got here Thursday. It was nice then. But, I am borrowing my brother's road bike, and it wasn't set up for me. I spent Thursday afternoon adjusting it, and doing a little light maintenance to get ready to ride. It rained all Thursday night, and most of Friday. It stopped raining shortly before we went into town to participate in the festivities. Now it is cold.

I decided to ride despite the cold weather. I brought what little winter cycling stuff I own with me, so I bundled up and headed out. The goal was to ride 50 miles, but I didn't make it. Between the cold weather, and the early hills, I was too tired, too cold, and too ready to quit. I wound up cutting the ride short, and doing 40 miles.

Here are the stats:
Dist. 40.1 miles
Time: 3:23
Avg. Speed: 11.8 (SLOW!)
Max. Speed: 32.3

The map of the ride:

The profile:

Notice that there are some healthy hills in the first part of the ride. I enjoyed the hills, but they sapped my legs of energy. On top of that, it was cold and windy. I was glad to get into a warm shower after the ride.

Training, Mar. 26

2006-03-30T19:15:00.000-08:00

I am still catching up on the training blog entries.

I was on the trainer on Sunday after riding on Saturday. I haven't been on the bike since.

Here are the stats from the HRM:
45:01.8
115 Avg. HR
128 Max. HR.

It was all recovery ride. I was working on my computer getting the sermon from church ready to put on the internet. I will post about that topic on my main blog.

Riding, Mar. 25 -- Silver Springs Shores

2006-03-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

I was back on the bike this past weekend. I just haven't had time to post any information about the ride. This will be brief. It is late, I am out of town, and need to get to sleep. I just want to get caught up.

I rode in the afternoon and headed from my house out to the baseline greenway and then through Silver Springs Shores. I rode a pretty good pace, but wasn't trying to go too hard. I must have had a tailwind on the way out because I averaged over 17 mph, without trying too hard. However, I then had to fight a headwind on the way back, and it slowed me down considerably. Overall, it was a good ride. Out where I turned around to ride home, there is a rifle range. It makes you paranoid to be on the bike and hearing gunshots, particularly in rural Marion County.

Here are the stats:
Computer
1:35:30
25.00 miles
15.7 Avg.
28.4 Max.

HRM
1:38:18
155 Avg. HR
206 Max. HR

Here is the map from the GPS:

And this is the elevation chart:

Training, Mar. 21

2006-03-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

I was on the trainer tonight doing a recovery ride. The same one that I have put off for the last couple of days. This is supposed to be a low key week. However, I need to get into the habit of riding more times every week. I doubt that I will have time to ride tomorrow. I will try to ride on Thursday. I am not sure about Friday, but hope to ride 20-30 miles on Saturday. On Sunday, I may have to ride on the trainer as my wife will be out of town and I will have the kids.

So tonight's stats:
Time: 30:04
Avg.: 122
Max.: 138

I had the mp3 player on, but listened to several shorter programs. Some stuff from NPR, and some Key Life by Steve Brown.

Riding, Mar. 18 - Ocala to Gainesville

2006-03-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

I rode yesterday to my mother-in-law's house in Gainesville. We were going up there to pick up the kids and watch the Gators' second round game in the NCAA tournament. Rather than riding in the car, I decided to get in my endurance ride for the week. You can see the route that I rode here, compliments of Google Earth:

The ride was great fun. I have ridden there before, but it has been a couple of years. I did not get in any really long rides last year. I had to recover from shoulder surgery, and was not riding much.

There was a headwind at some portions of the ride, but it was not bad. I like this route. There are some good rolling hills, but nothing that is too brutal. Here is the profile:

You can see that there are some hills as you come into Gainesville. In years past, I knew that I was always very tired riding through the middle of Gainesville. I always chalked it up to being fatigued from the longer than average ride. But now, seeing the profile, I am sure that the hills at the end had something to do with it.

I rode solo most of the way. As I came past Lake Wauberg, I was caught by a group of 4 other riders in a paceline. They were going faster than I was, but I felt like I could hang with them. I asked if I could latch on, they were happy to let me. It was really nice having some help to ride, after being 30 miles into the ride. My pace went from 15, riding solo to 21-23 riding in the paceline. As I began my second rotation onto the front, I realized that I was running close to Max HR, and was pushing very hard to maintain the pace of the group. As I rotated back and latched back onto the group, the effects of pushing so hard caught up to me. I decided it was better to drop off and recover for the final push through Gainesville. It was good to ride with the group and get the boost, but my legs were starting to toast because of it.

The paceline turned off of 441 shortly after Paynes Prairie, and I continued north on 441 into Gainesville. As I came up toward Tanglewood Village, I saw another cyclist turn onto the road. His bike was a full on touring bike. He had panniers on the front fork and on the back wheel. He also had a big backpack on. He looked like he was heading cross-country. When I caught up to him, he explained that he was a student working on his terminal project in urban and regional planning. He wasn't going on a trip, he was going to the computer lab to work on his project. We talked a little as we road. He was very friendly. It seemed like he thought I was old, because he kept calling me sir. Oh well.

Going through Gainesville, my legs were tired, but, they weren't as tired as the last time I rode this route. Two years ago, I could hardly turn the pedals as I worked through Gainesville. This time, I was tired, but I was able to ride.

Here are the obligatory stats:

Cyclocomputer stats:
3:12:24
Max: 28.0
Avg: 15.2
D: 49.09

GPS Stats:
3:12
Max: 28.1
Avg: 15.2
D: 48.9

HRM Stats:
3:15:55
Avg: 158
Max: 185
In zone: 2:05:11
Above zone: 1:05:57
Below zone: 0:044:37

This morning, my legs were very sore. I felt them with every step I took. As I made it through the day they got better. It helped that I knew that I am making progress toward being ready for BRAG. I had hoped to take a short recovery ride before it got dark, but alas it is already dark out. I will have to try to ride either on the trainer tonight, or tomorrow.

Training, Mar. 15

2006-03-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

I did a short recovery training session tonight.

I rode 30 minutes.
10 minutes recovery pace
1:30 right leg only
1:30 left leg only
1:00 right leg only
1:00 left leg only
15 minutes recovery pace

I listened to the FredCast Podcast while riding.

Training, Mar. 14 -- Erik Braun double shot

2006-03-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

Was back at Cruise Intervals again tonight. This time I upped the intensity a little bit by trying to maintain a HR within the Aerobic Capacity range (167-172 HR) for 12 minutes. So this was an increase in intensity and in length. The reason for this is that I am increasing intensity for three weeks. Next week, I will drop back and take a recovery week before starting to increase intensity again. Apparently, this is the way to increase fitness.

First, let me say that this workout was a challenge. There were a couple times that I was feeling a little light headed on the bike. I was able to finish all of the intervals, and felt okay, but tired afterwards.

Now the statistics:

Warm Up, 10 min., 119 Avg. HR.
Cruise Interval, 12 min., 165 Avg. HR.
Recovery, 2 min., 150 Avg. HR.
Cruise Interval, 12 min., 164 Avg. HR.
Recovery, 2 min., 148 Avg. HR.
Cruise Interval, 12 min., 165 Avg. HR.
Recovery/Cool Down, 10 min., 136 Avg. HR.
Total Workout, 1 hour, 152 Avg. HR, 172 Max. HR.

During the workout, I listened to not one, but two sermons by Erik Braun. The first was on the Word of God, the Church's Ultimate Authority. This was really an extension of the sermon I listened to last week on worship. Erik and I agree that the teaching of the Word is not distinct from worship. Rather, it is one expression of worship. The Word of God is also an authority for both the church and for individual believers. The commandments and ordinances within scripture should be seen within our lives. He made a point that I really liked. The measure for all churches is the standard within scripture. No church meets this standard. The goal for churches is not to compare our church with their church. Rather it is to compare our church with the standard of scripture, to realize that we are lacking and to endeavor to improve in our areas of weakness. Very good stuff.

The second sermon was The Community of Believers. In this sermon, Erik discusses the need for churches to "remain in brotherly love." He jokes in the sermon that we should all live in Philadelphia, but that is a rather stiff application of the phrase. We should have fellowship, evidenced by love, meeting needs, prayer, and support. The gospel compels us to love our brothers, and to love strangers. That is pretty much everyone. It is obvious that the church falls woefully short of this standard.

Riding, Mar. 12 - Lake Weir

2006-03-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

I rode back out to Grandpa's house again this weekend. I did the loop around the south side of Lake Weir. To add some miles, I added a loop on the north end through the Baseline Trail and through Silver Springs Shores. With the added loop, I wound up riding around 38 miles.

This time I had fresh batteries in the GPS. Here is the map:

Here is the profile. I think that you can tell that there were a few more hills this time. The biggest hills are still down around Lake Weir.

On this week's rides, I opened up the pace a little bit. Instead of trying to stay in the aerobic (132-145 HR) range, I increased it to try to stay under the Lactate Threshold (132-162 HR). I did get over the lactate threshold several times, especially on hills. Towards the end of the ride, I had a lot of burning in my legs from fatigue and was hard pressed to keep my heart rate low enough.

Here are the HR stats:
Time: 2:45:06 (HRM) 2:45:33 (cycle computer) 2:46 (GPS)
Avg. HR: 153
Max. HR: 175
Time in Zone: 2:08:30
Time above Zone: 0:29:55
Time below Zone: 0:06:41
Avg. Speed: 13.7 mph (cycle computer) 13.7 (GPS)
Max. Speed: 33.9 mph (cycle computer) 33.5 (GPS)
Distance: 38.05 miles (cycle computer) 37.8 miles (GPS)

I still have a long way to go to get ready for BRAG.

Training, Mar. 9 -- Erik Braun

2006-03-13T19:24:00.000-08:00

I spent 50 minutes on the trainer on Thursday night (Mar. 9). It has been busy since then, so I haven't had a chance to log the time until now (Monday night, Mar. 13).

The training was aimed at doing "Cruise Intervals." Now, just to be clear, I have not finished reading Friel's book yet. In fact, I have not had time to read it for a while. Instead, I have glanced ahead and looked at some of the workouts in the appendix. I have selected this workout because it focuses on a skill (Endurance) that I will need for BRAG. So, if anyone reads this who understands the dynamics of proper training, understand that I am trying to figure this out as I go. That said, Cruise Intervals involves working at a pace a little above lactate threshold for 10-12 minutes at a time. You then recover before repeating an interval. When doing these, the book says that you can go into superthreshold or even the aerobic capacity level of work. I tried to limit myself to working at superthreshold (163-166 HR).

So, here is the workout:

Warm up, 8 minutes.
Cruise Interval, 10 min., 162 Avg. HR.
Recovery ~2 min., 152 Avg. HR.
Cruise Interval, 10 min., 163 Avg. HR.
Recovery ~2 min., 152 Avg. HR.
Cruise Interval, 10 min., 161 Avg. HR.
Recovery/Cool Down, ~7 min., 136 Avg. HR.
Total Workout: 50 min., 151 Avg. HR, 170 Max. HR.

During the workout, I listened to a sermon by Erik Braun. Erik is the "senior" pastor of Four Oaks Community Church. Since he is younger than me, it is hard to think of him as a senior anything. I think that Four Oaks is one of the only redeeming qualities that I can think of in Tallahassee. Anyone who passes through Tally should stop in for church.

Erik was preaching on Worship. A very good sermon. Unfortunately, they no longer have a link for the sermon on their webpage. He gave the sermon on Sept. 11, 2005. He talked about worship as the ultimate commitment of a believer. You can find Erik's thoughts on worship here.

While I am giving Erik some props, you can find his blog here. However, not all is great at the blog. Erik has his settings so that he now moderates comments. While this keeps him from having comment spam, not every comment submitted makes it onto the blog.

Training, Mar. 6

2006-03-07T15:58:00.000-08:00

I was back on the trainer last night. I did 45 minutes total.

5+ minutes warm up
15 minutes at subthreshold pace
2+ minutes recovery at aerobic pace
15 minutes at subthreshold pace
7+ minutes recover at aerobic pace.

I listened to another Mars Hill Church sermon by Mark Driscoll. I am still trying to decide whether I am a fan or not. This was a sermon on church administration as much as anything else. It was from 1 Corinthians, where Paul says that he is a master builder. I think that he covered all of the points, but his sermon is not in the style of "classical" expository preaching, along the lines of John Piper. I plan on listening to one or two more sermons to see what I think.

Riding, Mar. 4 - Lake Weir

2006-03-04T20:40:00.000-08:00

I was out on my bike today, on real roads for the first time this year.

I rode south, down around Lake Weir. I then rode out to my grandfather's house for dinner, where the rest of the family met me. The total ride was 31.86 miles. I had jerry-rigged my Garmin GPS to track the bike ride. Sadly, the batteries died around mile 25. Here is a map of the route, until the GPS died:

Here is the profile of the route, again up until the GPS died:

These imaages are both from GPS Visualizer.

The goal of the ride was to build endurance, with a few hills. I tried to stay within the Aerobic Pace. I did some riding at Tempo pace. On a couple of hills, my HR got way to high. Towards the end, I was struggling to keep my HR below lactate threshold, and had some burning in the legs.

So, here are the stats:

Distance: 31.86
Time: 2:22:09
Avg. HR: 146
Max. HR: 229
Avg. Spd.: 13.4
Max. Spd.: 33.6

Overall, it was a good ride. I definitely need to ride along the east and south edges of Lake Weir again as I train for BRAG. The hills are good, but probably not as big as I will face in Georgia. I still need to work on my endurance and my power.

Training, Mar. 2 -- Mars Hill Church

2006-03-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

I worked on endurance tonight. I rode for one hour at Aerobic Pace (131-145 HR). Avg. HR was 136 for the hour. I spent 55:10 in the target zone.

During the ride I listened to a sermon from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I listened primarily out of curiousity. I have heard the name of the church several times lately, primarily in the blogs. I also found two other connections. I have been brushing up on my NT Greek. I have been doing this in part on the website zhubert.com. While checking out the site, I saw a reference that the creator of the site not only attends Mars Hill but is teaching New Testament Greek classes at the church. Now, I had thought that the church was probably like a lot of new churches, seeker sensitive and light on teaching. But, a church light on teaching wouldn't be likely to teach its members Greek.

The other place that I found it was when I set up a podcast for my church, Christ Community Church. Having found their podcast, I downloaded some sermons. I saw that the sermons were from 1 Corinthians and seemed to work sequentially through the book, which is a good sign for expository preaching, one of the best systems of good Biblical teaching. At some point, I need to put a post on my other blog site.

So I listened to the sermon and I am initially impressed. I have one more sermon on my mp3 player, that I need to listen to on my next ride. I will post more about it.

Training, Mar. 1

2006-03-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

I finally got back on the bike this morning. I had a better offer last night, so I didn't ride. Instead, I got up early this morning to ride for a little while. I have been trying to wake up earlier over the last two weeks with the hope that I would be able to start training some in the morning, since evenings are so busy in my life right now. This morning it paid off.

I rode on the trainer for 40 minutes. I worked on riding at a Tempo pace. According to Friel, this is 89-93% of Lactate Threshold HR. This translates into a HR range of 146-153. This is one notch up from the Aerobic pace (82-88% LTHR; HR 131-145).

I did 10 minutes of warm up at Aerobic pace. (131 Avg HR)
I did 10 minutes at Tempo pace (150 Avg HR)
2 minutes Aerobic (137 Avg HR)
10 minutes Tempo (149 Avg HR)
8 minutes Aerobic to cool down (137 Avg HR).

I could have ridden longer if time permitted, but work does beckon.

Training, Feb. 21

2006-02-21T20:57:00.000-08:00

It has been too long since I trained. It has been a full week. Wednesday and Thursday were busy days with nighttime activities that prevented riding. I began to feel sick on Thursday and I spent all day Friday in bed. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I had the kids at home, while my wife was out of town. We had full days on Saturday and Sunday. By Monday night, I was exhausted and still recovering from being sick. I needed more sleep.

So, tonight, I finally got back on the trainer. I really do need to get out onto real roads one of these days. I rode for an hour. The goal was to continue building an aerobic base. Once I get to the end of February, I will start increasing the intensity. I will have March, April, and May to build fitness and speed. I can taper for the first two weeks of June before I do BRAG.

Tonight's ride was:
10 minutes warmup (Avg. HR 123)
40 minutes at an aerobic pace (Avg. HR 141). Aerobic pace is 131-146.
then 10 minutes to cool down (Avg. HR 134). For most of the cool down, I stayed in the Aerobic pace, but on the low end of the spectrum. For the last 2 minutes, I fell into the high 120s.

Overall ride: 1hr.
Avg. HR 137.
Max. HR 148.

I began watching the Return of the King. I am trying to finish out the LOTR trilogy. I watched until the Rohirrim departed for Gondor. I will have to pick up the movie the next time I ride.

Speaking of which, this is not a very good week for riding. I will try to ride tomorrow night. Thursday, I am leaving town. If I work at it, I might be able to get in a ride before I leave. On Friday, I will be at a conference. The conference has a long break in the afternoon. I am debating bringing my bike so that I can ride during the break. Saturday, I drive home and have a family birthday party in the evening.

So, I will try to work hard to get in a couple more rides this week.

Training, Feb. 14

2006-02-14T19:39:00.000-08:00

I got to train tonight, even though it is Valentine's Day. My wife had things to do on the computer -- so, she sent me out to train for an hour in the garage.

The hour consisted of:
Warm-up 11 minutes, Avg. HR 104
30 minute time trial attempt:
First 10 minutes: Avg. HR 138
Last 20 minuets: Avg. HR 162
Cool Down: 19 minutes, Avg. HR 133
Overall session: 1:00:00, Avg. HR 138, Max. HR 171.

The purpose of the workout was to come up with an initial estimate of my Lactate Threshold HR. According to Friel, the avg. HR over the last 20 minutes of a 30 minute time trial is a close approximation of LTHR. This would put my estimate at 162. But, I don't think I went hard enough for it to work. I think I need to go harder over the first 10 minutes, and then try to maintain and see if my LTHR is closer to 170. According to my HRM, my theoretical HR Max. is 186. 162 is about 87% HR Max.

I was listening to Piper again. This was his second sermon on Rom. 1:19 (?) about God pouring out his wrath on mankind because they have denied the creator. He spent a significant portion talking about the philosophy of natural evolution and the intelligent design debate. This is a sermon that was given in 1998 or 1999, before the current controversy over intelligent design. His point was that evolutionary theory is one way that humankind denies God.

He then stepped back and made the best part of the sermon in 4 steps.
1. Everyone is made by God.
2. Everyone knows of God, even if they deny him.
3. The problems that we see around us--i.e., crime, homelessness, illness, poverty, drug addiction--are the evidence of God's wrath being poured out.
4. If we don't reach out to the people around us, then we are denying God by denying his creation.

I think that I have made his points in the same basic ideas that he made them. He made the sermons much more eloquently.

(Not) Training, Feb. 10-11

2006-02-11T22:31:00.000-08:00

I am a slacker. I just posted goals on Thursday. I now have to admit that on Friday and Saturday, I have not met my goals. I have not ridden yesterday or today. Now it is 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, and I am not riding tonight/this morning.

Need to get back to more serious training next week.

Training, Feb. 9

2006-02-10T17:58:00.000-08:00

I finally had the chance to ride again last night. I was on the trainer in the garage. I had wanted to ride my bike into my office, where I needed to pick up my car. My wife insisted that I let my mom drive me and then ride after I was back. I guess it was just as well, it was pretty cold last night.

I decided to try to understand what recovery pace should be. I still have done any baseline testing, but I tried to keep my heart rate under 100. That is in the 55-60% of Max HR range. My heart rate did spike up to at least 130, but my average was 98 for the hour of riding. It felt very slow. I did not sweat much, if at all. I guess that to recover, you really need to slow down. As I work my way through the Cyclist's Training Bible, I will have to see if this is actually the right pace. It feels too slow.

I listened to a John Piper sermon on Romans 1:18. The thesis is that God is pouring (active verb) out His wrath. Piper highlighted three ways that Romans talks about the wrath of God: death, futility, and degradation. Death (both natural and spiritual) is the result of sin, particularly original sin. Futility talks about the frustration that we face as things do not go our way. Degradation refers to the fact that God gives people over to their sin when they refuse to do what is right. Romans refers to each of these as a consequence of sin.

The good news is that God speaks with two voices. In Romans 8:20, when Paul discusses futility, he also talks of God subjecting the world "in hope." So in the midst of God pouring out wrath, He also speaks hope and salvation.

Great workout. Great sermon.

Training Goals: Feb. 5 - 11

2006-02-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Well, it is late in the week. The goals won't be much at this point.

There was no time to ride Sunday - Wednesday.

Thursday: 1 hour, easy spin
Friday: 1 hour, easy spin
Saturday: 30 minutes - 1 hour, spinning

I have a copy of the Cyclist's Training Bible. It was given to me for Christmas. [Thanks Brian!] I am just starting to read it. As I read, it looks like I need to slow down a little and build a better base before I get too into speed work. I am trying to ride mostly recovery pace this week so that I get exercise, but have a chance to read more of the book before I make any major gaffes.

Training Recap: Jan. 29 - Feb. 4

2006-02-05T22:36:00.000-08:00

I was not able to train over the last couple of days. We had too much going on. The first half of next week will be busy too. I may need to do a light week. It will be good on my legs anyway. After the first dose of strenght training and then a marathon ride on Thursday night, a lighter week will be good for me.

I spent a total of 4 hours and 10 minutes on the trainer last week. I had hoped to hit 4:30 or even 5 hours, but that will have to come later. Sometimes life interferes with my goals, but that is okay. I have higher priorities than riding the bike.

I will post goals for next week in a couple of days. I won't be riding tonight. I need to schedule a time to ride next. Maybe Monday or Tuesday.

Training Feb 2

2006-02-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

Rode tonight. The goal was 1:30 to 2:00.

Total time riden was 2:45. Not all in one block though.

Breakdown:
0:35:00 Had to stop to change the entertainment. The original show I had on was too boring. I put on Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. It was much better for the remainder of the ride.

1:00:00 Had to stop to refresh my drink, have a snack, and have a short rest. I also put in some laundry. I also set up to burn some sermon CDs for Christ Community Church. I burned the CDs while I rode. I setup the laptop on a table next to the trainer and switched out CDs from the bike.

0:30:00 Time to change the laundry into the dryer. I also printed the labels for the CDs and affixed them.

0:40:00 Time to end, during the midst of the battle for Helms Deep.

I am tired. It is time to shower and go to bed. Once the battle is over.

Training Jan. 31

2006-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

Last night's training:

Cross training - played basketball with the youth team. We didn't scrimmage the whole hour like we have been doing recently. We did some much needed work on fundamentals first. Then scrimmaged at the end, but I got some exercise in.

Cycling - the goal was 45 minutes, working on strength. To work on strength, I increased the resistance on the trainer by one notch, and then did intervals. I warmed up for 15 minutes, then did three five minute intervals that consisted of 1 minute standing at higher resistance, 1 minute sitting at higher resistance, and 3 minutes of recovery. After the last recovery, I did 15 minutes of spinning to finish the 45 minute workout.

I listened to a John Piper sermon on Romans 1:16-17. The sermon dealt with salvation for the believer being in the future and as a result of being justified by faith. It also dealt with the phrase "from faith to faith." According to Piper, the phrase means that we are saved by faith at the beginning, but also by persevering in our faith. That initial faith then increases our faith. By living in faith every day, we receive more faith to continue.

This morning I finally dropped below 200 lbs. for the first time in a couple of months. The holiday feasts were not kind to my waistline. I need to lose more weight to get into shape for BRAG.

Training Jan. 29

2006-01-29T20:04:00.000-08:00

Goal: 1 hr. spinning
Rode: 1:10.

Watched the remainder of the Fellowship of the Ring while riding for just over an hour. The battle scenes are definitely much better for training than the gentle canoe trip down the Anduin River. Overall, the movie was good for distraction from the pain and discomfort of being on the trainer.

I really don't like the trainer. I find that real world riding is much more inspiring, comfortable, and fun. I just can't seem to switch positions as well on the trainer, and there is never any coasting. I probably coast more than I should while I ride, but it helps to rest the legs a bit every now and then. Plus, it is just boring to ride for an hour and not move a single inch. I need something to distract me from the boredom. When I am out on the roads, I can be inspired by the changing scenery, or at least from the passing miles.

Hopefully, I will be able to hit the road soon.

Training Goals: Jan. 29 - Feb. 4

2006-01-29T19:58:00.000-08:00

Having met my basic goal last week, it is time to amp up the self-flagellation. I also need to get more specific with my goals. All my rides have been primarily spinning on the trainer. It is time to start working on strength as well, by increasing the resistance a notch.

Sunday: Ride 1 hr., spinning
Monday or Tuesday: Ride 45 min., strength
Thursday: 1-2 hrs., spinning
Friday or Saturday: 1-2 hrs., spinning

I need to get in more time on the trainer. In addition to leg strength, I need to regain posterior toughness.

Training Recap: Jan. 22-28

2006-01-29T19:51:00.000-08:00

Managed to meet my goal of riding 3-4 times. I rode three times on the trainer for a total of 4hrs. 20min.
I wanted to ride either Friday or Saturday nights, but I had other plans that came up and interfered. Even though I need to train, there are still higher priorities. On Friday, my son and I were home along and watched Star Wars: A New Hope together. Time with him beats training. By the time the movie was over, it was time to call it a day.
On Saturday, I needed to spend time with my wife. Again, there are more important things than riding the bike.

Training, Jan. 26

2006-01-27T01:03:00.000-08:00

I took Tuesday and Wednesday off from the bike. Tuesday I played basketball with the guys from my basketball team. I guess you can count that as cross training, right? Wednesday night, I had to stay with the kids while my wife was at a meeting for Christ Community Church. When she got home, we spent the rest of the evening talking about the meeting and the exciting things that are in store for the church. More on that will show up in the main blog.

So, Thursday night, I really wanted get some training in. We had some friends kids over for dinner, so I had to wait until after they left and our kids were in bed. I finally got out to ride the trainer.

After we watched TV together while I rode the other night, I have been exiled to the garage again. My son kept coming out the complain about the noise from the trainer, and the fact that the TV was turned up so that we could here it over the trainer. I decided to set up my laptop on a table in the garage where I could see it. I ran the Fellowship of the Rings DVD while I rode. The chase seen as they tried to out run the Nazghul to reach Rivendell made for good riding.

The goal was to ride for 2 hours. I managed to complete the goal, taking two short breaks. Now, I need to expand my goals for next week to ride longer, and to ride longer with fewer breaks. But first, I need to increase my posterior toughness.

I made it to the battle scene in Moria. Tomorrow night I will try to ride for an hour and finish the movie. It makes it much easier to ride for that long with a good distraction.

Training Jan. 23

2006-01-23T20:41:00.000-08:00

Tonight the goal was to ride for 30 minutes on the trainer. The idea was just to keep the legs turning and to stay loose.

I rode for 35 minutes.

I was listening to a sermon by John Piper on the mp3 player to fill the time. The sermon was about how God save believers by grace. The crux of the message was that God credits believers with His righteousness.

Training Jan. 22

2006-01-23T20:38:00.000-08:00

Last night, my goal was to ride for 2 hours on the trainer. My wife and I were watching the season premiere of 24 on video tape (we are way behind on the show this year) and I wanted to ride for the whole show.

I managed to ride for 1:45 before I had to get off. I did ride for the whole show with only one bathroom break, I even rode for a while after the show, but couldn't hold out the last fifteen minutes.

Even though I didn't hit the goal, I did ride longer than my one ride last week of 1:30 on the trainer.

So far, all my rides are on the trainer this year. By the time the kiddos are down for the night, it is too late to ride outside. I need to be helpful around the house, so that pushes my training rides into nighttime.

Goal for week of Jan. 22-28, 2006

2006-01-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

This week, my goal is to ride 3-4 times, with a focus on longer rides at a relatively easy pace. The real goal is to get used to being on the bike again. My backside isn't used to sitting on the saddle; my neck isn't used to holding my head up. Time to get back into cycling shape.

Introduction

2006-01-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

As I posted in my primary blog, I have signed up to participate in BRAG, a week long cycling tour of Georgia. It starts in the mountains in NW Georgia, and works its way to Augusta, in the East.

As a result, I need to train, and train a lot. This blog is a place for me to post my training goals, my actual training, and thoughts about my progress and preparation for the biggest cycling event I have ever attempted.