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Testing mobile blogging from my phone. Also testing <em>html<em> tags.

Ok, it looks like I have mobile blogging set up now. That's one thing to cross off the list to ensure I can submit blog posts while on the road this summer!

Site updates

I've done a few site updates tonight as I take a rest day from riding:

• Added sponsors list to the left column.
• Added "Upcoming Rides" section to the right column
• Added a new supported ride to my upcoming rides, the Udder Century
• Cleaned up some code/styles to make maintenane easier (i.e. geek stuff you'll never notice)

Hello? Is this thing on?

"Hey, are you still doing that ride this summer?" "What's going on with your blog?" "Have you done any training since February?" "Are you going to be ready by June?"

Those are just a few of the questions I've gotten over the past few months since I haven't made time for blogging about my training. I apologize for keeping you all in the dark, but know it was for good reason. What reason would that be? Well, I've been kicking my butt on the bike and really didn't set aside the energy to write about it.

So let's catch everyone up:

Training

Training is going great! If you notice, I now post my weekly goals to the right side of this site. I've been pushing 150-170 miles for the past two weeks, and am looking towards the 200 mark this week.

The Rides

While some of my stories of doing rides around town might only appeal to those that are into cycling, I have some good ones including a great charity ride, meeting some new cycling friends to ride with, chasing a dog with sunglasses through down town Chicago, getting chased by a ~80-100 lb farm dog (yeah, that's probably karma right there), and a weekend of fighting wind gusts of up to 35 mph.

Don't worry though, that's just a tease. I'll be posting more complete stories later.

Health

Remarkably, cycling seems to cures what ails me. Although I appear starving all the time (ask my coworkers/lunch crew) I'm actually feeling really well. Even the one or two times when I felt a cold coming on I was able to bike through it. The result was only having to take one extra day off the training week I wasn't feeling well.

Nutrition

I eat A LOT now. I did the math once and usually hit 2500-3000 calories, sometimes nearing 3500 calories on days after doing 60+ mile days. I really haven't checked my weight, but don't seem to be losing any pounds. I look a lot leaner in my upper body, but my legs are becoming tree trunks. I figure it all evens out.

Fundraising

Ok, this one is slacking BIG TIME. I've been so focused on riding that I forgot I need to raise 5 grand by end of June. I'll be drafting a fundraising email this week. However, if you are reading this and want to donate now, please visit: www.seejoeride.com/donate

So I think that's it for now. Now that the training routine is down, I can start to schedule time for blogging, fundraising, and maybe even a party or two.

Geek + Cycling

I did some work on an open source project about 2 months ago for Google Maps. As a thank you for the contribution Pamela Fox, from the Maps API team, sent me this great Google cycling jersey. With the bad winter weather in Chicago, I didn't get a chance to really take the new jersey out on the road till today. The jersey is actually very good quality and worked great in keeping me warm, but not overly warm, while riding in the 35˚F temperatures with a baselayer... can't wait for some warmer weather to see how it performs.

Check out pictures below:

www.flickr.com

2008 Big Ride Route!

I've been slacking big time on posting all my training on here (bad Joe ::slaps hand::) but I'm ecstatic to post the route for this summer's Big Ride across America. Take a look and see if I'm biking past or stopping near your home. I'm hoping to see a few friends in IL, OH, PA, and DC on the 2nd half of the trip!

Route + Map

PDF Version

American Lung Association® of Washington Big Ride Accross America 2008 Itinerary
Day	Destination		Arrival	Departure	Mileage
0	Seattle	WA		22-June
1	Easton	WA	23-June	24-June	77
2	Vantage	WA	24-June	25-June	71
3	Odessa	WA	25-June	26-June	81
4	Spokane	WA	26-June	28-June	75
5*	Spokane	WA
6	Sandpoint	ID	28-June	29-June	76
7	Thompson Falls	MT	29-June	30-June	88
8	Missoula	MT	30-June	2-July	101
9*	Missoula	MT
10	Avon	MT	2-July	3-July	99
11	Townsend	MT	3-July	4-July	61
12	Harlowton	MT	4-July	5-July	101
13	Billings	MT	5-July	7-July	92
14*	Billings	MT
15	Hardin	MT	7-July	8-July	54
16	Sheridan	WY	8-July	9-July	84
17	Gillette	WY	9-July	10-July	109
18	Newcastle	WY	10-July	11-July	75
19	Rapid City	SD	11-July	13-July	81
20*	Rapid City	SD
21	Kadoka	SD	13-July	14-July	101
22	Pierre	SD	14-July	15-July	95
23	Miller	SD	15-July	16-July	74
24	De Smet	SD	16-July	17-July	77
25	Tyler	MN	17-July	18-July	78
26	New Ulm	MN	18-July	20-July	86
27*	New Ulm	MN
28	Owatonna	MN	20-July	21-July	72
29	Winona	MN	21-July	22-July	89
30	Viroqua	WI	22-July	23-July	66
31	Madison	WI	23-July	24-July	100
32	Belvidere	IL	24-July	25-July	83
33	Morris	IL	25-July	26-July	104
34	Valparaiso	IN	26-July	28-July	82
35*	Valparaiso	IN
36	Kendallville	IN	28-July	29-July	109
37	Napoleon	OH	29-July	30-July	70
38	Sandusky	OH	30-July	31-July	87
39	Burton	OH	31-July	2-Aug	92
40*	Burton	OH
41	New Waterford	OH	2-Aug	3-Aug	59
42	Washington	PA	3-Aug	4-Aug	62
43	Confluence	PA	4-Aug	5-Aug	88
44	Bedford	PA	5-Aug	6-Aug	81
45	Gettysburg	PA	6-Aug	8-Aug	100
46*	Gettysburg	PA
47	Clarksburg	MD	8-Aug	9-Aug	50
48	Washington	DC	9-Aug		53
* Indicates Rest Days/Locations

Cadence is making me a wuss.

I upgraded my bike's computer (to those friends that don't ride, yes I'm that geeky) to one that allows you to see your cadence (rpm). This is handy while training so that if you hit a bad head wind, you can down shift and keep your cadence at the same level. The idea is you will then be putting in the same amount of effort and not tire out as quickly.

So, after the race this past Sunday, I realized that although this kind of training has helped me build endurance to easily bike like 60+ miles in a ride, this numbers studying has made me a wimp when it comes to raw power. During the race I hit some nasty headwinds while trying to head west to the finish check point. I of course stuck with my old mindset and down shifted to keep my cadence high. Although this helped me from over exerting, it didn't make me push through the wind to keep my speed up.

On top of that, when I did try to power through the winds I found I just didn't have the mental will power. Training based on cadence made me forget what it's like to enjoy the anguish and pain that comes with trying to maintain a good speed when mother nature is against you. I found my heart rate spiking and lungs yelling "just down shift, we'll love you forever if you shit down a gear or two".

I really think the above is why I didn't place in the top 50 at the time trial. It majorly came down to mental strength, and the cadence/endurance training I've been focusing 100% on shot down those chances.

The solution? I really need to mix it up. If I'm biking at night after work, I know I only have an hour or two to ride. I should take that time to really push through and work on my speed... do some sprint intervals, not down shift for head winds, be ok with letting my cadence drop from 90/100 rpm to 50. It just means I'll be building speed strength.

Must... get... motivated...

I finally got my ass back on the bike and LOVED it. I just kept imagining how I felt during the time trial on Sunday, which motivated to push through any winds and hills/highway over-passes. I really need to kick this exhausted/lazy feeling after work, so this was one step in the right direction.

Probably the best highlight of this ride was drafting off a car heading north on Clark. They seemed very confused and nervous to see me doing around 24mph following behind their car. This is also probably the first time I pushed myself to a max of over 25mph all winter!

Ride Stats:
Wed, Jan 16, 2008 - 15.86 mi [Cycling]
15.86 mi in 01:01:55 hours at 15.37 mi/h on Trek 2200. [Cycling] 34F, feels like 27 with wind chill. Winds from S at 8mph.