As I finished last year’s event, I was already thinking of 2012 and beyond. It was — and is — my desire to start a foundation in Mike’s honor. The I Do It For Foundation would exist to provide support and tools for individuals and groups who want to show support to for individuals going through a trial. While I am supportive of groups such as Livestrong and other large organizations pooling resources to fight cancer, etc., I also see that sometimes it is easy for individual needs to get lost in the larger “corporate” focus.

It was what we were able to do for the family of little Rebekah Ellis during the 2011 Ride for Mike that really convinced me this could be a possibility! What if there were hundreds of people around the country who given the knowledge and tools would go out and create their own Ride for “Mike” or “Rebehkah” or “Steve” or “Holly”… you get the idea. These individuals would be able to receive direct encouragement and help for their immediate needs.

Sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? It is. However, it isn’t always easy to pull something off like this. 2012 would be a busy year setting up the foundation and planning its first event. That event I had hoped would be a fund raising ride for the foundation in the Memphis, TN area.

Unfortunately, 2012 has been an interesting year for me with my time and my finances. The freedom I once had in these two areas has been curtailed a bit. The bottom line is that I have gotten behind in my plans for both the foundation and the Memphis ride. While I am still committed to taking steps to get the foundation underway in 2012, I do not believe we will be able to have an organized charity ride in 2012.

Tomorrow’s blog post will give you an explanation of part of my 2012 Ride for Mike goals. It is going to be a really short time frame! However, I hope some of you will be able to support me in the event. I think after you read the post, you will understand more why I am targeting this event.

I have not closed the door on a more “epic” ride in the fall of 2012. Do you have any ideas? In what way would you like to see me suffer?

Also, as I take steps in my foundation, there are things I need to do. I am looking for help in these areas:

• Forming a board
• Forming a 501c3
• Branding materials for the foundation
• Programmers to help create an online tool that will be the key to the foundation

I’m sure the list will continue to grow. If you are interested in helping in any way, please contact me at lowcadence@pait.org. Be sure to read tomorrow’s post for the next steps in the 2012 Ride for Mike.

It can be quite addictive because it is competitive. As you ride from point A to point B, you use a GPS unit (for me it is the Garmin 800) or a cell phone with GPS capability to track your position. Once you get done with your ride, you upload the data to the Strava website.

That is when the magic happens. Strava takes your data and maps it out showing the route you just completed. Along that route are short distances called “segments” that users of the community have created. They do so to measure their performances over those segments each time they ride.

That is where the competition comes. Everyone participating can see the segments and each person’s performance is measured against all the others who have uploaded data. Awards are given for each segment to the fastest times.

Needless to say, there are multiple segments along some of my favorite routes. It is hard not to have them in your mind as you are out riding. What starts out as an easy spin and end up being a workout as you think to yourself, “Wow, I’m feeling pretty good. There is a segment coming up here…”

Last night I went out determined to have an anti-Strava ride. I set out to go from my home to Travelers Rest without crossing over a segment. Right away, I knew that would mean I wouldn’t be taking the Swamp Rabbit Trail. I also knew that Buncombe Road would have a segment as I neared the base of Paris Mountain. Other than those, I wasn’t sure what might be out there.

I didn’t look ahead of time to see where the segments were. I tried to go from memory. It would be kind of like riding through a mine field. The only thing is that I wouldn’t know if I rode over a mine until I got home and logged into Strava.

I made it to TR pretty confident I had avoided a segment. Now it was time to go back home and I couldn’t take the same route. So, I would be branching out on new territory as far as my Strava knowledge was concerned.

I figured if I cut through neighborhoods, I would stand a better chance of avoiding a segment. My rarely used Garmin 800 mapping feature came in handy for this. I began to turn into neighborhoods and follow roads that appeared to come out closer to where I needed to be.

By doing this, I made my way to Highway 25. Now I knew that there probably wasn’t a segment on this main road, but I also knew it is a road with a lot of traffic. Still, I had ridden the road many times and found that the three lanes actually made me feel safer as most of the cars tend to take the two lanes away from me.

The question was where to get off 25. Some of the options I knew would send me toward a segment. So, I decided to stay with the main roads until I got into downtown Greenville. Then I would take the route through Cleveland Park and home from there.

The only hiccup I had with that plan is that I ran into an event downtown — Artisphere? The event organizers made me get off my bike and walk, or change my route. I decided to change my route. It turned out to be a short detour and I was back on track.

An hour and a half after leaving home, I was back and uploading my data. As I clicked on the link that would take me to the segment page, I held my breath. Would I survive the anti-Strava ride? Would I step on a segment?

Success!

The ride got started late in the day due to an event I was in charge of earlier. After being on my feet all morning into the afternoon caused me to be a little down about the ride. Still, I didn’t hesitate. I got home, changed and rolled the bike out of the driveway.

Since I had some freedom in what I was doing, I decided to do a little Strava hunting. What better place to do so then in my old hunting grounds — the Sunshine Cycle Shop Hour of Power route. There were already several Strava segments created from the route. There was one more that I wanted to create. This ride would give me the data I needed as well as show me how I stacked up along the route.

We’re talking about a 30+ mile ride with over 2000 feet of climbing. Along the way would be several “sprint zones” that often culminated with a climb. Typically, I have made this ride in a group and as you approach the sprint zones the group rides very much as you would in a race to see who would reach the line first. The goal in the ride was to claim as many of the “wins” as you could.

Doing the route alone is a different experience. There is no hiding in the group. You are riding exposed and without the motivation of other riders around you. I set as my goal to average 17 mph for the ride and try to land in the top ten of the various Strava segments.

I was quite surprised by the results and it reminded me of something important to consider before you start going out and bragging about your Strava KOM awards!

• The first segment is aptly named “HOP 1st KOM” and it starts on Tanner Road between Rutherford Road and Reid School Road. It has an average of a 6% grade for just under a half a mile. I scored a KOM with a time of 1:28.
• The next segment is one I had created earlier and is one of my favorite ones on the ride — when we are in a group. When you are riding it alone, it isn’t quite as fun. Drafting plays a big role in the “HOP Meece Bridge Sprint Zone.” The overall grade is less at 2%, but the over mile long sprint zone has a long stretch of straight road perfect for a lead out. There would be no lead out today, but I still took the KOM with a time of 2:59.
• Now it was on to another one of my favorite segments on this route: “Quarry Road Climb on Hour of Power Ride.” Oddly enough, the average grade at 1.7% is less than the previous segment, but it definitely feels like you are climbing more! Covering 1.3 miles, the segment as listed in Strava is slightly longer than the traditional zone for the Hour of Power. Still, it is close enough and once again I took the KOM by covering the distance in 3:54.
• Next? “HOP 3rd KOM” (technically the HOP Meece Bridge Sprint Zone isn’t really a “KOM” but Strava doesn’t offer sprint points) so this is the third climb to contest. It is one that I typically have not participated in while doing the group ride. However, I gave it a shot over the short .3 mile segment with a 6.2% grade. I bagged another KOM with a time of 46 seconds.
• The route is well into the second half by this time and I was having trouble maintaining my 17 mph average as I neared the segment I created called the “HOP State Park Gate Sprint Zone.” Ironically, on a segment that has an average grade of -1% it is the climbing that gets you! You have a long lead out on rolling terrain before you (almost literally) dive down to the bottom of the dam at the Paris Mountain State Park. At that point, you kick up over .2 miles on a 6% grade. Your legs go from wildly spinning to grinding it up in a matter of seconds. This segment also became mine with a time of 2:32.
• You’re not finished yet! There is still “Oakleaf.” In Strava this “optional sprint zone” covers a little more road than we typically contest on the route. In Strava it is called, “White Oak on Hour of Power.” It culminates in a climb up an 8% grade. What makes it really hard is the fact that it comes after 20 miles of hard riding and other sprint zones. It is why some bypass this segment. I didn’t bypass it this time, but neither did I give it much of a go. I ended up 3rd with a time of 5:39 over the 1 mile segment.
• Finally, there is the climb up “Nature Trail at Herdkoltz Park.” Since, I already owned that KOM, I took it easy up the 7% grade covering a half a mile. My time of 1:50 was still holding.

So, what was surprising? It was simply the fact that I got so many KOMs on this route. I didn’t expect that at all. Sure, I didn’t hang back, but neither did I give it all I had on each segment. Beyond a doubt, I have completed every single one of these segments faster than I did on that ride.

That leads me to the lesson to learn from Strava KOMs. If you get one, don’t be bragging about it! You may get embarrassed.

Take for instance the Meece Bridge Sprint Zone… I finished that segment on Saturday with a time of 2:59. George Hincapie is listed in 43rd place with a time of 4:07. Anybody out there think that I could beat George head-to-head on that segment? I didn’t think so.

The thing is that segments “important” to you are not so significant to others. Just because you are spilling your guts to get the KOM doesn’t mean that they guys in second place did. He could just be out there using that segment to get somewhere else. Should he decide to take your spot, he could do so with no trouble.

Having said that, Strava is still fun for “bragging rights” among your buddies. It can breathe new life into some old rides and give you something new to talk about. More than that, it can give you some motivation to improve yourself.

So, anyone ready to go out there and knock me off the top? Start at Sunshine Cycle Shop and follow the route from there. See if you can average 17 mph or more while getting your best times on the segments. No fair to go out and cherry pick! Let me know how you do.

There is no need to retell the story of that crash back in the mid-nineties on a Huffy brand bike. You can read about it in this archive of an archive: The Huffy. The pertinent piece of information is where the accident took place.

Today the Governor’s School overlooks Greenville’s beautiful Falls Park along the Reedy River. Back when I first started riding, the land there was nothing but scrubby plants and scraggly trees back behind the Greenville County government offices. There was also a small single track that ran along the ridge and then descended into a paved cul de sac.

Where Howe St. ends and connects to the Swamp Rabbit Trail

It is the end of the line section of asphalt that factors into our story for today. While back in those days it was a somewhat scarey place to be, the cul de sac is now part of the Swamp Rabbit Trail. It is one of the joints that connects Falls Park to Cleveland Park where the trail goes beneath Church Street. That means that I ride my bike through the area often as I am heading out of town or returning home.

Recently they did some work there that changed the angle of how the SRT joins the cul de sac. They have also altered the transition of the two surfaces. I guess it is to help with controlling run off, but there is now a sizable hump where the trail and the asphalt meet.

I’ve had fun hitting the hump with a little speed and picking up some air on my road bike. Well, last Friday I decided to really take flight. So, I approached the hump with a little more speed than usual.

Sure enough, I got some air — a lot more than I bargained for! Because of the angle at which I hit the hump, my trajectory sent me through the air so far that I came down off the trail. Suddenly, I was doing cyclo cross!

There was an initial fear, but that was  replaced with just reaction. I loosened my grip and my stance and weighted the rear of my bike allowing the front wheel to skip over some of the rough ground until I got better control. Thankfully, I had the bike where I needed it in time to avoid a pot hole. Then I was able to ease the bike back onto the trail before I ran out of space all together.

“That was stupid!” was my first thought once I was able to form one. Yet, a big grin popped on my face. At first it was a sheepish one. Then it grew into one of joy. I rode home with a little more zip in my pedal stroke.

Thanks, bicycle, for the memories and the smiles.

Still, I had to get one last ride in before heading out of town with my family for a conference hosted by my church at a camp in North Carolina. It was chilly as I started my morning ride so I was dressed pretty warmly. The good news was that it wasn’t an interval day.

Even so, there was one thing tapping at the back of my mind. Strava. What is Strava? It is an online community of cyclist who record their ride information. What makes it fun is that it allows you compare your ride with others and compete against other riders in “segments.”

On Strava, segments are stretches of road that a member of the community has designated as a “competition zone.” Now, that could be they are simply competing against themselves to see if they can improve their times on those sections. Of course, any time you put something like that out there other cyclists are going to see if they can beat it!

Strava plays on this by awarding “King of the Mountain” trophies for the riders who hold the fastest times during these segments. There are quite a few segments around Greenville and because of the USA Professional Cycling Championship here there are quite a few segments “owned” by pros. Basically, that means, I’m out of the running!

I was first introduced to Strava a couple of years ago by Scottie Weiss who was racing with the Kenda Pro Cycling team at the time. He had recommended it to me during one of my duldrum times as a way to get motivated again during training. I took a look at it, but didn’t really get into it. My account sat dormant for quite awhile.

Then I got a message one day about a week ago from a newer rider who pointed out that he was just a second or so off of my time on a particular segment. “What segment,” I thought to myself. “I don’t recall entering any segment on Strava.” So, I logged in to see what he was talking about. Sure enough one of my recorded rides — I believe it was a Sunshine Cycle Shop ride back in 2011 — had me going through a segment and I was holding 8th place or something like that.

Well now, that couldn’t be allowed to stand! I knew the segment — Nature Trail — and the rider who was holding the KOM. I could definitely beat that time. So, I went out Sunday a week ago and took my rightful place at the top.

I was hooked. I kept uploading my data and even went back to catch up. Another segment KOM came my way and I didn’t even realize it. It happened on a day when I was doing intervals in Cleveland Park. As I made a turn off of McDaniel at the start of an interval, I came upon too much traffic. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold my necessary wattage through the park, so I diverted onto Ridgeland Drive. Since I was on a power interval, I was pushing it up at a good pace.

When I got home and put in my data, I was surprised to see I had a KOM award. It turns out that someone had created a segment on that Ridgeland Drive climb. So, now I had two KOM’s notched to my belt.

That brings us to Friday. There was another KOM I wanted… the Cleveland Park loop. This one was kind of special to me because it was one of my original training spots. For many months during my early days as a cyclists, I had goals to increase my 1 hour speed average around the park loop. I still remember the night I averaged 21 mph for an hour.

Things have changed in the park since then. It is a nicer park and that means there are many more people. Also, road bumps have been placed in the roads to slow traffic. Sure, bicycles can easily go around them, but when there is traffic you are stopped by the cars slowing to go over the bumps. It isn’t nearly the fun it once was.

Anyway, I saw that the fastest lap was 6:32 at 21.7 mph. I knew I had done a faster lap than that in the past. This might be my third KOM in a week.

The segment starts right near the port-a-john by the baseball field. You immediately turn right and climb. My plan was to get up the hills as fast as I could, recover a bit on the downhills and then hang on for dear life on the flat section that would return me to the starting point.

That climb in the beginning came back to haunt me on the flat section! I had averaged over 700 watts as I was climbing up the first hill. I was gulping oxygen on the downhill. I was ready the few seconds later when I took a right by the doggie park for the next climb. On this one I kept myself under control a bit more at 470 watts. By the time I made the right turn back onto Woodland Way, I was starting to feel it.

Now, everything depended on how I caught the lights on McDaniel. If there was a lot of traffic and red lights, my attempt would be sunk! Thankfully, I was able to make the right turn onto McDaniel with no traffic approaching. As I looked ahead, I saw the light turn red. Oh no! Thankfully, as I scanned the road there was no traffic coming. I was able to make the right turn onto Cleveland Park Drive and then pick my pace up again along the relatively flat section to the finish.

That was the hardest part of all! I was doing my best to keep the wattage up, but I kept seeing the speed drop. The good news is that it never dropped below 22 mph. I crossed the finish for the segment in 6:16. I had my third KOM.

That may be my last one. I’ll never get the one climbing Paris Mountain — nor the ones descending it. However, Strava also keeps track of your personal bests. That is definitely something to aim for. Of course, now that I’ve put this out there, I may not have the KOM’s I earned last week for very long!

It also means I haven’t had any rest days. I’ll make up for it this weekend. Maybe things will get back to normal next week.

The evenings have also been busy. So, I’ve been riding at weird times during the day. Mostly I’ll go out during lunch.

Thursday was one of those days. I ate a sandwich at my desk while doing some work at the computer. Then I headed out to jump on the bike. Thankfully, it was just an easy EnduranceMiles workout from the Time-Crunched Cyclist plan.

Before I left, I noticed that Hincapie Sports had tweeted that George was in town and was out riding with Chris Carmichael. It popped into my mind that it would be neat if I could happen to run across them and get my picture taken with Chris. It would be a neat addition to my current blogging on his training plan.

I was heading to that big green hump behind the tower.

Of course, I didn’t really think I would run into them. They would be long gone from the area to which I was headed. Still, for fun as I stopped to use the facilities on the Furman campus I tweeted along with the above photo: “Haven’t seen @ghincapie or @trainright yet, but it is a beautiful day!”

It was! Time started to become an issue and I figured my fastest way home while still getting in my needed time was to go over the mountain. I started the climb with the goal to keep my heart rate as low as possible. I didn’t even push the lap button so I could avoid the temptation to ride by time.

It was so much fun to just climb leisurely up toward the top. I averaged under 200 watts with a max wattage of 299 watts. I can’t remember the last time I climbed that road without breathing hard!

It truly was a beautiful day!

I reached the top and stopped to tweet once again with a photo of the wonderful road. As I was stopped by the KOM line, I heard a bicycle approaching. I looked up and saw a rider in a Bissell kit coming up to the last part of the wall. His head was down and at first I thought it was Andy Baker.

It turned out to be Andrew Dahlheim. He is in town doing some training with Baker. I couldn’t help but envy his 140 pounds that he just pulled up the mountain. What I could do at 35 pounds lighter!

He came up to me and introduced himself. I asked him where Andy was and he said that he had school, but that they had a great ride the day before. We wished each other well and he headed back down the Furman side as I started my descent on the — I like to say BJU side — of the mountain.

That is one of the neat things about living here in Greenville. You never know for sure who you will run into. I went out knowing one pro was on the road and found another. Sure, Dahlheim isn’t Hincapie, but I appreciated his treating me just like any other cyclist would. Actually, I often find the pros are more approachable on the roads than some “think-I-am-a-pro” amateurs.

Good luck to Andrew, Andy and Eric Young at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitation Criterium on Saturday night.

A morning photo from just outside my office

I’ve been playing around with Strava.com a little bit lately (more on that later) and so I decided to use the iPhone app to measure my ride from home to the office. I was riding my Felt because I’ve found I arrive to work “glowing” a little less when I have easier gearing to work with. The fixie is fun, but work up a sweat when I’m climbing that 110 feet!

A nice little 6 minute commute

Of course, me being me, I couldn’t stop there. So the next time I rode to work I used the Garmin to record the power data from my Quarq Cinqo. It matched up pretty well with the Strava information, but gave me a little more detail.

Well, it isn’t going to prep me for any races! The ride earned me 2 TSS points and I burned 38 calories. I averaged 112 watts in power for the ride. No, I did not go so far as to strap on my heart monitor. I’m not THAT much of a nerd!

Another advantage of riding to work — and sometimes taking a break to ride at lunch or at some other point in the day — is that it is great for sharpening your mind. Riding in on the bike when the sun is just popping over the trees and the temperatures are under 70 degrees is a great way to invigorate you for the day ahead. Going out at lunch and hammering around the park makes the log jam in your mind give way and things seem so much clearer.

Come to think of it… it’s almost better than coffee… almost.

Maybe I won’t get a chance to race again this year. Maybe I’ll get several chances. Thing is, I don’t know and it doesn’t matter. I hope I do, but I don’t have to.

Of course, that has led to the arguing in my mind, “Why do this training if you aren’t going to race?” I guess that is a reasonable question. My answer is that if I get a chance to race, I want to be ready for it. Plus, even if I’m not racing in an official event, I still can “race” against my personal goals.

Looking forward to getting back out there someday.

Take for instance the climb up Paris Mountain. I went up it at speed on Friday and then again on Saturday. Friday’s time was 13:02. It came after several power intervals and that seems to cause me to run out of gas toward the top. Saturday, I headed out for the mountain with a steady state interval on the way. The legs gave me the impression that I was going to have a tough time on this climbing repeat interval.

Always switching things up, I decided to climb this time in my big ring. My thought was that if I could keep the momentum going I could produce more power and have more gear for when I hit those flatter sections. I fully expected to have my legs explode two-thirds up the climb.

Hmmmm, I was feeling pretty good as I finished the water tower section. At the halfway point I was moving much better than times past. I rolled past the midway point at 5:45. The big ring was still turning.

At two-thirds of the climb I hit that section where I normally die. Almost instinctively I went for the shifter to find some relief. I knew that would be the death knell.

Instead, I stood and reminded myself that there was a short reprieve if I could just keep turning. Sure enough I hit a section that helped me gather myself for the last few turns to the base of the wall. The timer reached 11:45 as I stood to give the final push up the hardest section of the climb.

As I crossed the line I had a mixture of emotions. I had shifted to an easier gear about halfway up. Still, I had pushed through. I was disappointed that it took me a whole minute to climb the wall, but I was pleased that on a day I thought would be bad I held a consistent time of 12:45.

It gave me some thoughts on how I’ll approach the climb next time. Sometime soon I’m going to attempt the climb on my Giant — which is a bit lighter than the Felt — sans water bottles and saddle bag. Unfortunately, I’m still fluctuating at 5 – 10 pounds heavier than I was the last time I had an attempt like that.

Beautiful Easter day in Greenville

After morning services and a wonderful lunch with my family, I headed out for an easy spin around town. I did have a matter of business to take care of before making my way to Starbucks for a coffee. It meant heading over to Nature Trail near Herdkoltz Park.

I had forgotten that I had a Strava account. However, on Saturday I received a Tweet from a newer cyclist. It was a screen shot of his phone showing that he was only seconds away from passing my time on the Nature Trail climb. I took a look at the list and noticed the current King of the Mountain was someone I had ridden with often and figured I could beat that time.

With fresher legs than I normally would (Nature Trail always seems to come at the end of hard rides), went up the climb to open my legs. Not bad… I was matching the times on Strava. Now it was time to go at it hard. I hit the base of the .4 mile incline of 6.8% at a sprint.

That didn’t last! When the road kicked up near the end, I was seated and fighting to get the pedals around. The killer time was slipping away.

What a beautiful day to ride into downtown! By the time I got there, the effort up Nature Trail was flushed from my legs. I sat in the shade and enjoyed my pumpkin bread and coffee.

At home, I loaded up the data and found that I did take the KOM with a time of 1:59. For those two minutes I averaged 477 watts. Of course, my first thought was, “I can do better than that!”

So the fun continues. I’m sure that there are those who think I am Don Quixote chasing windmills on the back roads of Greenville County. That is okay. That is where I am at peace. Thing is, I don’t care what people think. I’m happy where I am.

I have been riding and trying to stay as true to the Time-Crunched Cyclist plan as I can. Thankfully, during one of the busiest weeks of my year, the plan called for a bit of a break. I was only on the bike twice, but I have been pretty busy with the workouts this week.

Basically, I’ve settled into a routine of Steady State/Climbing Repeats and Power Interval workouts. Rarely am I spending more than two hours on the bike, but that doesn’t mean it is easy! I hope I’m seeing progress.

Last night was an hour and a half. I did 5 Power Intervals with 3 minutes on and 3 minutes off. I was encouraged because my averages for each effort did not fall off as much as times past.

One obsession that I’m starting to pick up again is the one for Paris Mountain. Once again most of my rides end up making Altamont Road the apex of my out-and-back. It takes me back again to when I first started riding.

Last week I nailed the best time of the year with a 13 minute 10 second climb to the top. Later in that week, I stopped by Sunshine Cycle Shop and was talking to John James and he told me about a couple of his recent climbs. He gave me a little motivation as well as something to try.

First of all, he pointed out that he had climbed the road a good bit faster than I. Since John was really the person who challenged me the most when I was first starting out, I always have a motivation to match him. It isn’t that I always can, but at least I try!

Then he told me of something he tried. Rather than metering his effort out over the climb — like a time trial, he decided to climb going all out for a minute and then going easy for a minute. Interestingly, his finishing times were within 15 seconds of each other.

Last night, like a moth drawn to the flames, I found myself at the base of the mountain after my power intervals. It probably was going to be painful, but I thought I would try out the on-off approach to the climb. It couldn’t hurt, I figured.

I started off easy. After 1 minute, I upped my effort putting out a 456 watt average. I felt okay for that first 1 minute effort. Then it was off again. My next 1 minute effort happened on the Water Tower section. Ouch. On that one, it dropped to 376 watts. As I neared the halfway point of the climb I had my third effort that came in at a lower average of 319 watts.

I made the first half in 6 minutes. That was 10 seconds or so faster than some recent climbs. However, I remember back in the day covering that distance in 5:30.

However, I also hit the wall at that point. When it came time for the first effort after midway, I was toast. It was about that time two riders came flying past me. One was Cleve Blackwell. He paused just long enough to pat my back and say hello. Then he was off.

I figured a rabbit would be helpful, so I tried to keep them in sight as long as I could. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for them to leave me in the dust. I had to settle in to a consistent output at around 280 watts.

Then I got to the wall. As I did, I saw a rider up ahead of me. It wasn’t the two guys who passed me earlier and I could see he was laboring a bit. That was some motivation for me to put out a bit more to see if I could beat him to the top.

I stood and started picking up my cadence. I was quickly gaining on the rider. Then I noticed another rider coming up to my right. It was Paul Mills, one of my old team mates. He came around me and I got on his wheel. We passed the earlier rabbit and rode together to the finish.

It took me 49 seconds to cover that distance and I averaged over 430 watts for the period. My heart rate spiked up to 187 — which is the highest I’ve reached so far this year. For the entire climb I averaged 297 watts and 178 bpm.

I don’t think the disjointed approach works that well for me! I was about 35 seconds slower than my climb last week. Of course, now I’m just motivated to go see how else I can tweak the technique to improve.

Back in the day making my personal best time. Photo: Eddie Helton

I’ve had a lot of fun on that mountain. Finishing at the top with all the other riders coming up reminded me of some great Thursday night group rides we used to have. Somehow it is more fun to share the pain with others than to make the effort alone. Whether you go steady or on-off, alone or with a group, it still hurts.

That is what I attempted on Saturday. I’d like to say I pulled it off, but unfortunately I can’t. However, I did manage to finish with 93 miles for my fund raising goal.

As I rolled out from my home to head over to campus for the ride, the rain was faintly spitting. The morning was cool, but comfortable. Running late, I made it just before the start and lined up with the seven or so other guys who were going to participate.

We stayed pretty much together for the first lap, but I knew I couldn’t keep that pace if I planned to get my target of 100 miles. I would have to get it going and thankfully Dave McQuaid was there to help me out. By the second lap the two of us started to ramp it up. A couple of other riders joined up for a short time to form a pace line.

It wasn’t long before it was just the two of us. Lap after lap passed and we were able to watch the average speed climb. After one hour in, we were averaging 20.1 mph. Best of all, I was feeling pretty good.

At two hours in we were holding our 20 mph average. Behind me I heard Dave say, “Two hours. 20 mph. I’m toast.” We nursed each other along for a bit, but I started growing concerned that we couldn’t maintain the average this way. So, I struck out on my own.

At three hours in, I was still at 20 mph. However, now it was starting to fluctuate. On certain portions of the course where it was flat or downhill, the average would tick over 20 mph. Then on a portion where there was a nice little hill, the average would drop to 19.9 mph.

Then I finished a lap that never saw 20 mph. I knew I couldn’t push it or I would end up worse off. So, I tried to just hold 19.9 and hope that I would have something left near the end to raise it.

At 3:30 in, I knew it was a lost cause. The computer ticked down to 19.8 mph average and I knew I would raise it from there. It was simple math. Unless I got a second wind, there was no way I would reach 100 miles.

Not only that, but I was starting to feel it. My legs weren’t cramping, but the lactate was building up to make my quads feel like bricks. My legs were sore. My recurring hip pain started to come back. From my hip, the pain was starting to work its way up my back. The old neck injury was also unhappy with me.

With one hour to go, I was dropping down to a 19 mph average. It was now just a matter of having the will to go to the end. I altered my goal and figured I would be happy just to hit 90 miles.

I’ve done it before. Actually, my very first century on the bicycle was a 5 hour century. Of course, that was on the flat roads of eastern North Carolina. Those little spikes each lap where I had to come close to 400 watts to get up that hill really took a toll.

At the same time, this is the third time I’ve participated in this ride. Saturday was the most miles I’ve managed. Perhaps I didn’t meet the goal, but by trying for the goal I exceeded any of my previous attempts.

By the way, remember Dave McQuaid? Well, he slowed a bit after the second hour. I managed to lap him once. However, I never passed him again. Once I did catch him, but I was so beat I couldn’t stay with him. He ended up finishing with 92 miles! Hey, not bad for a couple of 44 year old guys.

When I first started the Time-Crunched Cyclist training plan, the book mentioned that while the plan would help in the short criterium style races it would not be much of a help training you for longer endurance rides. Well, you can say that again! It is amazing how good I felt for those first two hours. It was amazing how bad I felt the last two!

Special thanks to all the guys who showed up — especially those who came expressly to help take the wind for us (like Matt Jaeggli). You don’t know how helpful it was to have you pacing us in those early laps. Also, thanks to Eric Ritchardson and his family who organized and supported everyone throughout the day. Through all the pain, it was a blast!