I got to ride with Willow again this week. We both had to be at the state convention for speech-language pathologists this weekend, so we didn’t get to ride on Saturday with Stephen and the kids. While the three of them fought the wind and the hills in Chappell Hill (the one ride I had to sag on last year), we were getting trained in Ethics and schmoozing.
So, this morning, we met in Waller, TX. Willow drove in from Austin and I drove out from Houston. I got up and out of the house without a hitch but realized about ½ way to Katy that the ride wasn’t IN Katy! I turned around and headed back toward HWY 290 and Waller. I still made it in plenty of time for the start.
We fought winds that were fiercer than the kids and Stephen did yesterday, but they definitely had the tougher hills. Our winds were steady at 21 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph. There was a stretch between the second and third rest stops that was just grueling. But, the wind worked with us for a good ways too. It was a great ride, with great company and enough wild flowers, donkeys, horses and cows to keep us entertained.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Ode to the Wind 2010
We got rained out on Saturday. A front moved through the ride area just as we’d have been riding into the first rest stop. Since I’ve experienced the trauma of riding in the rain AND being stuck waiting for rain to end from a rest stop, I was glad to make the decision Friday night that we wouldn’t ride the following morning. Fortunately, we were vindicated as the Conoco-Phillips team actually cancelled the ride!
The front brought with it much cooler temperatures and wind. Lots of wind. We haven’t had a windy ride yet this year (nothing like last year!), so it only seemed fair that we should try to get our ride in today! I got up and walked the dogs (Riley’s feeling well enough that he made it for 2 miles today!) and when I came back to the house I announced that I was going to go riding at 1PM, once the temperatures moderated a bit. Stephen opted to come along. The kids swear that we just assumed they were joining us…but I was pretty sure I suggested or asked if they wanted to come…
We headed out shortly after 1 right into the wind. Our back up ride is Terry Hershey Park which can be used to go 15 miles or 45 miles, depending on our moods and the weather conditions. Erin had an asthma “episode” (we don’t call them attacks because they’re less scary as “episodes”) at about 8 miles out. So, I rode back home with her while Stephen and Nathan forged ahead.
Once I got Erin home, I turned back to meet Stephen and Nathan. They had made it out to the top of George Bush (the less bad one) Park and turned back toward home. One stretch on this trail is like a wind tunnel. Nathan tells me they were in their lowest gears, pedaling for all they were worth and going 9 mph. Exhausting! But, on the way back, in this same stretch, they clocked 25 mph going WITH the wind!
I didn’t get to go that fast, but I have to admit that I was happy when I saw them coming back toward me. On our way back home (my second time), I got up to 18 mph! That was quite an improvement over my trips down hill that didn’t get over 10 mph!!
The front brought with it much cooler temperatures and wind. Lots of wind. We haven’t had a windy ride yet this year (nothing like last year!), so it only seemed fair that we should try to get our ride in today! I got up and walked the dogs (Riley’s feeling well enough that he made it for 2 miles today!) and when I came back to the house I announced that I was going to go riding at 1PM, once the temperatures moderated a bit. Stephen opted to come along. The kids swear that we just assumed they were joining us…but I was pretty sure I suggested or asked if they wanted to come…
We headed out shortly after 1 right into the wind. Our back up ride is Terry Hershey Park which can be used to go 15 miles or 45 miles, depending on our moods and the weather conditions. Erin had an asthma “episode” (we don’t call them attacks because they’re less scary as “episodes”) at about 8 miles out. So, I rode back home with her while Stephen and Nathan forged ahead.
Once I got Erin home, I turned back to meet Stephen and Nathan. They had made it out to the top of George Bush (the less bad one) Park and turned back toward home. One stretch on this trail is like a wind tunnel. Nathan tells me they were in their lowest gears, pedaling for all they were worth and going 9 mph. Exhausting! But, on the way back, in this same stretch, they clocked 25 mph going WITH the wind!
I didn’t get to go that fast, but I have to admit that I was happy when I saw them coming back toward me. On our way back home (my second time), I got up to 18 mph! That was quite an improvement over my trips down hill that didn’t get over 10 mph!!
Ode to My UH Jersey
My UH jersey has a big ole wicked looking cougar on it! On March 15, I got to wear it with my friend Willow who is a UH alum. I love wearing this jersey when I’m riding with Willow because she and I are the only two on Team Dunk who have them. Willow rode on Saturday with the rest of Team Dunk while I stayed home with a sick old dog. Then, she valiantly rode along with me on Sunday as well! What a great friend!
Willow is a terrific riding buddy. She has this great strategy of “choosing to believe” the finish line is closer than it actually is. Since she chooses to believe this way, she can reject any comments that counter that belief. It’s really quite fun! If I say “we only have 10 miles left” she can easily respond that she’s really only thinking of 5. Even better, we never seemed to run out of things to talk about! I’m so looking forward to riding with her again next weekend.
We also have matching after-ride t-shirts made especially for us. The after-ride t-shirt is a ½ and ½ shirt. Last year, when the Houston-Austin trip was cut in half, I asked Willow to join me in another bike tour from Frisco to Ft. Worth. That one was cut in half too – so we proudly wear our Houston to Ft. Worth and Frisco to Austin shirts whenever we’re riding!
Willow is a terrific riding buddy. She has this great strategy of “choosing to believe” the finish line is closer than it actually is. Since she chooses to believe this way, she can reject any comments that counter that belief. It’s really quite fun! If I say “we only have 10 miles left” she can easily respond that she’s really only thinking of 5. Even better, we never seemed to run out of things to talk about! I’m so looking forward to riding with her again next weekend.
We also have matching after-ride t-shirts made especially for us. The after-ride t-shirt is a ½ and ½ shirt. Last year, when the Houston-Austin trip was cut in half, I asked Willow to join me in another bike tour from Frisco to Ft. Worth. That one was cut in half too – so we proudly wear our Houston to Ft. Worth and Frisco to Austin shirts whenever we’re riding!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Ode to the UPS truck
On my first night ride with the family, Nathan and I were surprised by the UPS truck stopped around one of the corners that we’d taken (maybe a little too fast). We swerved around it safely, but it was a bit unnerving. The driver got into the truck pretty soon after we passed it and we heard the door slide shut and the engine start. We poured on the muscles and raced down the street ahead of it. Talk about exhilarating! Before we reached our turn off point, we heard the truck turn down one of the side streets. We laughed that we’d beaten it…even though both of us knew that the driver had probably not rushed to beat us!
Tonight, we were out on our third night ride. We got a late start, and we were on our fifth lap. It was completely dark by this time, dusk had long since passed. Nathan was leading when we heard the UPS truck again – it didn’t surprise us this time! It was driving right on our speed track!! We flew down the street ahead of it, laughing rather maniacally that we were beating it again (I wonder if it was the same driver). When it turned off again, we decided that the driver just didn’t have the muscles to overtake such fast cyclists as ourselves!
Man, this is fun!
Tonight, we were out on our third night ride. We got a late start, and we were on our fifth lap. It was completely dark by this time, dusk had long since passed. Nathan was leading when we heard the UPS truck again – it didn’t surprise us this time! It was driving right on our speed track!! We flew down the street ahead of it, laughing rather maniacally that we were beating it again (I wonder if it was the same driver). When it turned off again, we decided that the driver just didn’t have the muscles to overtake such fast cyclists as ourselves!
Man, this is fun!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Ode to my heart rate monitor
I am NOT the gadget person of the house. But, I have a gadget that I just can’t live (or bike) without! It’s my heart rate monitor. I wear it when I walk the dogs so that I can fool myself into believing that I’m actually exercising (instead of ambling through the neighborhood, tied to two noses on four legs). I wear it to yoga so that I can be very impressed with how my heart rate slows waaaaay down in shivasana. And I wear it on my bike rides so I can justify eating whatever I darned well please for the rest of the day!
The monitor is set to beep slowly when I am working under my cardio zone and it beeps faster when I am working over my cardio zone. Today we headed into the hills waaay west of town in Columbus, Texas. It was just Stephen and me because the kids had another band commitment (we’re hoping this is the last ride they’ll miss!). The ride began pretty tight and I got nervous amongst all the riders. (Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep!) So, I hung back until the crowd thinned out a bit. Stephen waited for me about 5 miles out. It was really hard to stay together for the rest of the ride, however. The hills came on fast and furiously!
There were lots of slow grinding hills before the first rest stop. I’m finally pretty comfortable with my shifting, so I felt pretty good going up the hills (and on one downhill I got up to 29.5 mph). Even so, for the most part, the heart rate monitor was either quiet (meaning I was working within my cardio zone) or it was beeping fast.
After the first rest stop I noticed that it was more often quiet or beep… beep… beep…beep…beep…beeping. It’s very satisfying to know when it’s quiet that I’m working efficiently. On the other hand, when I’m trying to slow down a bit after slogging up a hill, the slow beep…beep…beep…began to tick me off a bit! Although my knees were beginning to ache (and I can barely stand right now), I pushed through those hills and kept that darned thing quiet until the second rest stop. (Inexplicably 5 miles before the map said it would be.)
Some one had told me that the last leg of the ride only had a few hills, and I foolishly believed that I would be coasting most of the last 13-18 miles (depending on if the map had been wrong or if the route was actually shorter than 50 miles…guess which was true). Oh, how I would have loved to hear the beep…beep…beep…beep…, but instead, I heard silence and beepbeepbeepbeep. By the time we rolled into the finish line I was 50 miles worth of fried.
I rode down to the sign out area to sign us out. Stephen headed back to the car. After I signed out I couldn’t bear to get back on the bike, so I walked it back through the park and into the parking lot. As I approached the car, I glanced up and saw Stephen finishing up with the bike loading and thought to myself how sweet he was to have put my bike up on the rack for me…
Of course, it was the wrong car, the wrong man and I still had my bike with me… Bike brain!
The monitor is set to beep slowly when I am working under my cardio zone and it beeps faster when I am working over my cardio zone. Today we headed into the hills waaay west of town in Columbus, Texas. It was just Stephen and me because the kids had another band commitment (we’re hoping this is the last ride they’ll miss!). The ride began pretty tight and I got nervous amongst all the riders. (Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep!) So, I hung back until the crowd thinned out a bit. Stephen waited for me about 5 miles out. It was really hard to stay together for the rest of the ride, however. The hills came on fast and furiously!
There were lots of slow grinding hills before the first rest stop. I’m finally pretty comfortable with my shifting, so I felt pretty good going up the hills (and on one downhill I got up to 29.5 mph). Even so, for the most part, the heart rate monitor was either quiet (meaning I was working within my cardio zone) or it was beeping fast.
After the first rest stop I noticed that it was more often quiet or beep… beep… beep…beep…beep…beeping. It’s very satisfying to know when it’s quiet that I’m working efficiently. On the other hand, when I’m trying to slow down a bit after slogging up a hill, the slow beep…beep…beep…began to tick me off a bit! Although my knees were beginning to ache (and I can barely stand right now), I pushed through those hills and kept that darned thing quiet until the second rest stop. (Inexplicably 5 miles before the map said it would be.)
Some one had told me that the last leg of the ride only had a few hills, and I foolishly believed that I would be coasting most of the last 13-18 miles (depending on if the map had been wrong or if the route was actually shorter than 50 miles…guess which was true). Oh, how I would have loved to hear the beep…beep…beep…beep…, but instead, I heard silence and beepbeepbeepbeep. By the time we rolled into the finish line I was 50 miles worth of fried.
I rode down to the sign out area to sign us out. Stephen headed back to the car. After I signed out I couldn’t bear to get back on the bike, so I walked it back through the park and into the parking lot. As I approached the car, I glanced up and saw Stephen finishing up with the bike loading and thought to myself how sweet he was to have put my bike up on the rack for me…
Of course, it was the wrong car, the wrong man and I still had my bike with me… Bike brain!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Ode to Speed Runs
So, last year when we were training I refused to join in on the Wednesday night speed runs through the neighborhood. I was sure that riding in the dusk/dark would be too scary. But, I just finished our second speed run and I’m hooked!
My last speed run was two weeks ago when I fell on my derriere. (One day I’ll write an Ode to the Zero Mile Per Hour Fall (ZMPHF).) I even enjoyed that one, despite the blow to by butt (and pride). We ride up to the north part of our neighborhood and run laps of about 2 miles. We ride as hard and fast as we can for 1 ¾ miles and coast for ¼ mile. We keep that up for about an hour.
Nathan and Stephen and I had to leave Erin home since she was putting a project together. Nathan and I made the goal of averaging 13mph. Stephen decided he’d let us ride as fast as we wanted and that he’d see us at the end. So, off we went.
Nathan and I took turns leading as we rode single file. I had to threaten to take his odometer away because he was paying more attention to his average speed than he was to the road – and it is a neighborhood at the end of a workday! He finally agreed to set it on elapsed time so that he didn’t watch it so closely.
We rode hard. I burned 500 calories and my heart rate monitor beeped that I was in my target cardio zone for most of the fast legs. We averaged 15.1mph – 2.1 mph faster than our original goal! We were pretty proud of ourselves!
After our last lap, we pulled up and waited for Stephen. He came back toward us heading west, so we saddled back up and turned around…well, I turned around. Nathan cut it too close and fell. Not quite a ZMPHF, but perhaps a 2MPHF. He popped back up and got back on the bike. We rode off home. As we were coming inside, I sent him to the bathtub to wash the blood off his wound. Erin quickly stepped in to wash and dress the injury with much fanfare.
Nice to know everyone got to participate!
My last speed run was two weeks ago when I fell on my derriere. (One day I’ll write an Ode to the Zero Mile Per Hour Fall (ZMPHF).) I even enjoyed that one, despite the blow to by butt (and pride). We ride up to the north part of our neighborhood and run laps of about 2 miles. We ride as hard and fast as we can for 1 ¾ miles and coast for ¼ mile. We keep that up for about an hour.
Nathan and Stephen and I had to leave Erin home since she was putting a project together. Nathan and I made the goal of averaging 13mph. Stephen decided he’d let us ride as fast as we wanted and that he’d see us at the end. So, off we went.
Nathan and I took turns leading as we rode single file. I had to threaten to take his odometer away because he was paying more attention to his average speed than he was to the road – and it is a neighborhood at the end of a workday! He finally agreed to set it on elapsed time so that he didn’t watch it so closely.
We rode hard. I burned 500 calories and my heart rate monitor beeped that I was in my target cardio zone for most of the fast legs. We averaged 15.1mph – 2.1 mph faster than our original goal! We were pretty proud of ourselves!
After our last lap, we pulled up and waited for Stephen. He came back toward us heading west, so we saddled back up and turned around…well, I turned around. Nathan cut it too close and fell. Not quite a ZMPHF, but perhaps a 2MPHF. He popped back up and got back on the bike. We rode off home. As we were coming inside, I sent him to the bathtub to wash the blood off his wound. Erin quickly stepped in to wash and dress the injury with much fanfare.
Nice to know everyone got to participate!
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