Well, it has been about a year since I posted...

Apparently I suck at blogging. Much has happened in the last year, unfortunately very little of it involving my cycling. I have been traveling for work extensively and am now up over 200 pounds. I have flown over 90,000 miles since this time last year and have only gone to one race.

I am hoping that the travel will calm down soon, but I also have a book contract and have to get it written quickly.

I will post again sometime, hopefully more often than annually!!!

I haven't updated in quite awhile! Sorry if anyone was waiting, but I haven't done much riding since Michigan. Probably the biggest news is that I am going to be attempting the 24 hour Texas Time Trials on a 55 pound, 7 speed Chopper Bike. I have about 6 weeks left to train, and have been very unmotivated. My weight is up at 195, and I have been smoking again on and off, but I have been improving both problems.

I am doing a local Century next week in Berryville, VA on my Giant OCR3. I am also training on Skyline Drive again, so that should be a big help.

Wow, was the Michigan race fun! Of course the weather was awesome if you were having a cookout, but hell on the bike. Temperatures rose to 92-95 degrees F, and winds of about 10-15 mph; no clouds and high humidity made it rough with a lot of people dropping early.

The first half for me was my best 12 hours yet, even compared to the flat course of Calvin's Challenge a few weeks earlier. In fact, I was at 174.5 miles after 11 hours, then started on the 7.5 mile night loop.

Although I ended up at 257 miles, I was happy with that. I started getting cramps after about 11 hours so things slowed down. With noone to assist or motivate me, my breaks between laps were longer than they should have been. Oh yeah, I was also still smoking and taking a smoke break every 2 laps.

As for the smoking, that was the last straw for me and this week I did something about it. I went in for Laser Treatment after talking with a co-worker who had done it successfully. I drove 350 miles to Raleigh NC, smoking like a fiend the entire way. I went in for the treatment and haven't smoked since! Not even a craving, desire or a withdrawal symptom. When I had quit before (twice) I was extremely irritable and couldn't concentrate. This time, nothing. It is as if I am simply a non-smoker now! Unbelievable.

In light of this, my work schedule and my weight, I have decided not to enter the Hudson Ramble in New York in July. Instead, I am concentrating on weight loss exclusively. I plan on dropping 20 pounds in the next 10 weeks then doing the New England 24 hr challenge in August. This will put me at about 172 pounds, not smoking and feeling good. I believe I am on the road to my goals and can finally see some big improvements. 2007 is the year I will qualify for RAAM.

I am only doing light riding this week to prepare for Michigan. Hopefully all of the hill work will help, I actually did 26,000 feet of vertical climbing last month. That is over 5 miles, and more than sea level to the top of Pikes Peak twice! Looking at the Michigan course, last year there was 1,000 feet of climbing in the first 71 miles; much less than I have been doing.

One more week until the 24 Hour Challenge in Michigan! I have been riding on Skyline Drive quite frequently and have made some marked improvements. For the rides of 30 and 40 miles, my average speed has increased from 10.4 mph to 13 mph. I am sure that will be noticeable on a less hilly terrain also, since that speed includes over 6,000 ft. of climbing.

On my first Skyline climb some time ago, my uphill average was 5.9 mph, and now it is 8.1 mph. I can't wait to see how this helps in Michigan!

Perhaps the biggest change however is the absence of knee pain! After some evaluation, I made a shoe adjustment by adding cleat shims. These shims have my feet in their more natural position, and for the first time ever, my knees don't hurt after a long ride. The difference was also instant!

Well, I just got back from a week in Arizona for work. No bike and no fitness center at the Hotel, but I did get some exercise in along with some sightseeing. I walked around Tombstone and Boot Hill for a few hours on Tuesday and did a Biplane tour of Sedona on Wednesday.
This week is back on the bike finally, except for Tuesday when I am in Kansas City for work.

Only 3 weeks left until the Michigan race and my weight is still higher than I want it. I am down 6 pounds though, so that will be some help. It would be great to be down at least 4 more before the race. I will have to do that over the next 2 weeks though, I don't want to be in weight loss mode the week before the race.

Anybody going to Michigan give me a shout! I will be in my Orange-ish Chevy HHR...

Yesterday I did another Skyline Drive ride that went quite well. A total of 27 miles, but my time to the 10 mile mark was three minutes faster than 2 days earlier. My cadence average was higher and I felt a lot better.
It threatened to rain the entire way, but luckily stayed dry. There was a pretty hefty headwind/crosswind most of the way out, but the view from Gooney Point Lookout was worth the ride. Is anyone actually reading this? lol