CALIENTE!!!

Went out for a ride today and took a sauna instead. When one can taste the air, you know it's hot and humid. To add insult to injury, I walked to the post office this afternoon, a mere mile and half round trip, and had to shower again. Sheesh! A cold Twilight on the porch this evening is going to make it all worthwhile.

It appears that I'll have time to catch up on some of those base miles I missed out on this spring. I've been laid off from my job after a little over a year's service. Not to worry, the Mrs. is gainfully employed and I will draw unemployment until things pick back up. Or I land a different job. I'm thinking the latter.

At least I've dropped enough poundage to be comfortable on my road bike again. Though I love my new 29er mtb, I'm still a roadie at heart. Most days, that is. The other day, I cruised down to the harbor, then took the lake walk all the way to 60th Ave East, continuing up the shore to Knife River. A very nice route with low traffic during the week. Nice.

A Nice Day In The Woods

What a beautiful day for exploring the local trail on my MTB. Stopped in to see Mom for Mother's Day, then up the road a mile or so to the Lone Pine Trail for a ride. I expected to encounter lot's of mud, but that wasn't the case. Very ride-able for the most part, I only had to carry around mucky parts a couple of times. I like riding back here because I have yet to encounter another person, though today there was a fresh set of bike tracks in front of me. Or, maybe behind me if they had gone the opposite direction. I actually didn't see any wildlife either, except, naturally, various birds. No deer, wolves, bear, moose, beaver, nothing of the mammal sort. Lot's of tracks, so they are around.

I've seen on some other bike blogs that the "ride for thirty days straight" thing is popular again this year. This was my first day to start a thirty day streak. I work not too far from the Munger Trail parking in Carlton, so it's no problem to pop over there for an after work ride. Plus, there are plenty of roads in the Cloquet area just waiting for me to discover them. One of my co-workers rides, so we plan to do some rides together. He sometimes rides a recumbent. Sad, but I won't hold it against him!

Snow What's New?

I don't have a snow bike - yet. Scenes like this make me lust after one in a big way. I just have to work out a sensible plan of acquiring all the bits to build one. It won't happen this winter, but I hope to have one ready for next year. Winter is perhaps my favorite season, and I love to bike, so this will be a natural progression. A bigger garage is also in my future.....

I put my old mountain bike on the trainer to save wear and tear on my road bike. It's actually a better position for the road to nowhere rides. The weight loss is coming along as a result. I'm actually feeling a bit healthier than I have in quite some time. Our eating habit are slowly changing for the better, and as a result I have been able to cut back on that nasty fat storage drug, insulin.

So, you ask, why is insulin a fat storage drug? Well, take a bit too much, and you get hypoglycemic. To counter act this, you have to take on more carbohydrates to raise your blood sugar back to the safe range. Thus, you end up over doing the carbs, which turn to fat. Throw in some hard efforts exercise-wise, and you're on a roller coaster for days. Here's where the real dilemma comes in to play. Do I under dose and risk the damaging effects of high blood sugar, or go after normal sugars and risk going low. A conundrum, no doubt. I know many people can maintain a regular schedule of meals, exercise, sleep, and all of the other things in life, but I'm not one of them. A one hour ride can turn into four hours. Dinner may end up at eight instead of five thirty. I may not get that workout in that I was planning when I ate lunch.

Since there's no magic cure for diabetes, diet and exercise are the buffers against side effects. I have considered the alternative - weight loss surgery.  Gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, and lap band all so promise. I think, for me, the sleeve would be the way to go. The only thing in the way of me doing this is that my insurance only covers so much. The overages must be paid in advance, and I don't have several grand laying around to cover it. Another project to plan out, I guess.

   

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Having been side tracked for a while with things like divorce, school, the upcoming wedding, and a butt load of life's other crap, it's time to get back to what I really intended this blog to be about - health and bikes.

The Spring racing season got underway today with Juan Antonio Fletcha of Sky taking the first race, the Omloop Het Niewsblad. That's the first win for a Spanish rider ever. Tyler Farrar ended up in third place for Garmin-Transitions. With Heinrich Haussler taking second position for Cervelo Test Team, the big guns were shut out for podium positions. It's a great start of the season for the new teams, but with the big Classics coming up, I wouldn't read too much into it.

I like Sky's new kit as I hated the trend towards the light colored shorts that have been introduced in the last few years. Give me black for shorts any day over the light colors, which aren't too flattering in the harsh rain and snow races, if you know what I mean.

On the diabetes front, my a1c is up, my weight is up a bit, but my motivation is coming back. I may be able to get n insulin pump in the near future, and that would help a lot. Also, the weather is getting better, so riding season is just around the corner. School has side tracked my efforts at good control and exercise, but I'm adjusting to the routines and am able to fit in a program around my school work.

I think I'll hit it for about an hour this afternoon on my MTB, then the daily core work this evening. Every time I go to the garage, the bikes all stare at me like I'm some sort of traitor, but hey, they only have one function, I have many. So give me a break, they'll all get their turns in the rotation. I promise!

I sure am glad we purchased a new snow blower this summer when they were on sale. You might not be able to find one after this latest dumping we've been cleaning up. This was at my parents's house. They got real snow, where as we got a slush/snow mix that laughed at snow blowers. I enjoyed blowing out my folks place, but that word can't describe the job at hand here at the BD hq.

Friday Stuff

I'm still not feeling 100%. The energy levels are low, kind of off on everything I do, slight head ache that comes and goes, my blood glucose level is up for no good reason. Part of the latter is due to less riding and exercise in general, plus when you are sick, your cortisol level runs higher, which drives your blood sugar up. When I feel lousy, I don't eat as well as I should. I think it's natural that we head for the comfort foods when we're sick. I do, but not to the extreme. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

My placement tests are on tap for the 10th of this month. After the beat down I laid on the battery of tests I did for the funding part, I should be OK. I've been doing a keyboarding program at home to sharpen up my typing and 10 key abilities. Also, I'm doing a home course on Microsoft Office. I knew some of the basics, but I needed work on the advanced portions. Who sez ya can't teach an old dog new tricks?

The Week That Wasn't

Last Sunday, I had planned a 40 mile ride. The weather has been great and I wanted to take advantage of the fact. Sunday morning, I lubed the chain on the Immortal Force, pumped up the tires, and loaded it in the van. Then, i went upstairs to change into my riding gear. Things soon went pear shaped. My stomach, which is usually cast iron, started doing back flips, followed by pain. Some chills and fever set in. No ride for me today, at least not this morning, I thought. Soon, retching and other nasty bodily functions ensued. I crawled back to bed and slept till 6:00 pm. I still felt like crap. At least the next day, I wasn't as bad, but it still comes and goes up to now. I tried a ride this afternoon, but my heart rate stayed elevated and I felt light headed. At least yesterday was OK, but I would really like to get in some more mile tomorrow while this great weather holds out......

Truck?!?

Was that a truck that hit me or life? After last Sunday's love fest with the gravel trail ride, I got into a little painting project. Plus, English, math, and interest inventories for school funding. More of that stuff tomorrow afternoon.

I was absolutely cooked after the ride with Doug and Jeff. It was fun, even though I just ground out the miles with little or no power. Without a lot of riding as of late, I really was prepared for it. And I paid for it for a couple of days after the fact. My bad.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, I spent painting the interior of my parent's house. 9 hours a day of up and down, floor to ceiling, was a lot of work. But it sure looked great when done.

Thursday, I spent the day at city hall testing. To my surprise, and the tester's, I scored very, very high in the English skills, and very high on the math. I'm encouraged for college after putting up some solid results in various tests. I'm not sure what tomorrow's session will involve, but I'm ready. With me going into the medical information field and L in the legal, I think we have the job market covered. I hope....

Race Across The Sky

L and I went to the movie "Race Across The Sky " last night at the Harbor theater. It's about this year's Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race in Leadville, Colorado. It's been a cult classic event since 1994, but now guys like Lance Armstrong are riding it and bring more wide spread notariaty to the race. This will probably make it harder to get in in the coming years, seeing that they limit it to @1400 entrants via a lottery system. Too bad for some, but at least being a "name" doesn't mean you will get in. 6 time champ David Wiens, a long time top mtb pro, didn't get i the first couple of years he tried. Only Tour De France winners are automatics.

The movie started with a panel discussion featuring Lance, Travis Brown, David Wiens, Chris Carmicheal, Matt Shriver, Ken Choulber (who organizes the event) and moderator Dave Towle. It did add a little back ground and gave Lance a chance to explain why he was doing the race and what it meant to him. He said he was more nervous at the start of Leadville than at the Tour De France.

The movie itself featured a lot of Lance, some human interest stories, fantastic camera work, and good narration by Bob Roll. With 14,000 feet of climbing, all of it from above 9000 feet of elevation, it's one epic challenge. The biggest challenge Lance faced was a flat tire with about 7 miles to go. He couldn't figure out how to fix it, being a tubeless and all, so he road it to the finish flat. Lucky it was on the back. He held off Wiens and won in record time. He said one of the reasons he rode so hard was to stay warm, as it was very cold. Many of the slower riders had to tough it out in rain and sleet. They were suffering, but all looked to really enjoy the pain. I felt bad for those that missed the first time cut, such as a guy who had 2 new knees and trained very hard, but just missed it. That would suck. One strange thing was Travis Brown's bike - a 26er with drop bars, ala John Tomac.

All and all, I really enjoyed the show, as did L. She just started to ride a bike again, and was fascinated with the movie. It showed the human side of bike racing from all types of riders.

Notes of Disintrest

The weather has just been rotten. No other word for it. A rainy, cold, windy weather pattern has taken over. So, just as Charlie squats in the bush, getting stronger, so must we. Cold weather gear comes out of the closet, drawer. corner, what have you, and the warm weather kit gets washed and put away. Indian summer may make an appearance, but this cannot be relied upon. Let's get ready for the season, what ever it my bring.

What do you use for chamois cream? Assos? DZ Nutz ? There are a ton out there, none cheap. If you don't use one and ride for more than a hour, you really should try it. Chamois cream changes everything. Why do I bring this up, you ask? Well, I've found a great, inexpensive substitute for the expensive, purpose dedicated brands. Udderly Smooth foot cream works just as well and is cheap. Under three bucks a tube. And, it works on feet better than anything else I have tried. L runs around bare footed most of the time, as a result her feet get rough and dry. After nightly massages with Udderly Smooth, they feel like new.

Speaking of chamois', The Castelli bib knicks I've been using have Castelli's KISS padding. If seemed it would be too thin, but after two long rides, not so. No discomfort or pressure spots at all. Chamois' have come along ways over the old leather we used to rock.

The Polar heart rate training block is over. I feel stronger than a few weeks ago, even though the average speeds of rides is down a bit. That's due to the warm up and cool down fazes of the daily program. One thing for sure, I can ride at a higher cadence for longer than ever. Well, in the last few years, not like when I was a lad. Those days are over, never to be recaptured. That's a fact o aging. But, with smarter, no necessarily harder work, we can get some back. That's my goal.

And Now For Something Completely Different

That's Spooky The Jungle Cat. If he's not sleeping in a chair on the front porch or back deck, in my van, or in the cool grass along side the garage, he's surveying his domain from the trees in the front yard. He has no fear, jumping from branch to branch like a primate. He also protects the other three felines in the household from the neighborhood stray cats and dogs that threaten the peace. Super cat if there ever was one.

Speaking of cats, I had ordered a Cateye Double wireless computer for the new ride. It was back ordered, so I ordered a Polar CS200 wireless with heart rate monitor. My old h/r monitor died a while back, so when this came up for cheap, I bit. If it works as advertised, it will be a great training aid. One can download all the ride info via the microphone built into my lap top. Polar also offers free training plans via their web site. I'm starting a two week plan for improving hill riding this coming Friday. It's based on heart rate, intensity, cadence, etc. I'm really interested to see how much I can improve.

I'm glad to see Jeff from Biking Duluth is back to work and is able to commute again. I would have to bet hernia surgery is no fun, but riding to a new job is. Envious, I am. Good luck at SMDC, Jeff!