Weekend of Fall fun

The last few days have been wonderful as the weather is perfect for every outdoor activity known to man including the Halloween ride/party at Thomson Trails. CGC also held the first of many winter bike league training rides Sunday afternoon, and I was relieved to find out/confirm with Dr. Wiley on Friday that I have tendinitis instead of something worse. Yep, it has been a good couple of days.

Diana and I met Dave and Carrie at Cracker Barrel Saturday morning for breakfast, and then headed out the Thomson to decorate the trail. I'm not sure who put the rotting corpse at the bottom of Dan's Bastard, but they need to go clean it up. Nice effect, but damn...................... just kidding. For some reason, I was pretty enthusiastic about Halloween this year, and Dave and I managed to rig some interesting noise makers in two spots on the trail. Nothing like cow bells ringing right next to you when you're not expecting it. Yep, I had a Halloween fever...........and the only prescription was more cow bell.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVbAuMr5eac

A few less people showed for the Halloween ride than years previous, but that's ok. We still had a great time, and it meant more beer and food for the rest of us.

Sunday was the first CGC Winter Bike League training ride and we had a pretty good size group show up to kick things off. I'd planned this first route to be a bit shorter than the upcoming rides so no-one was discouraged from coming back, and as a result several people commented that it could have been a few more miles in length. But, that's ok. We also did a tempo less than what I wanted to do, but we had a few people along for this first ride that were hurting early on so we eased up a bit. This particular route, Gently Rolling Farmland (insert Don Bill's evil grin here) had decent climbing at roughly 2,800 ft., with some into the wind, and that is were the "tempo" part of the ride comes into play. For the most part, we held things together very well and it was a good day on the bike.

The schedule gets more difficult from here on out as the routes increase in tempo and vertical ascent. We should be hitting 65-70 miles in under 3.5 hours before December gets here, but the vertical ascent will also be getting close to 3500 feet at the end. Anyone who has attempted to put a 100k route together for this area and tried to get over 3k ft. of vertical will know its pretty tough to do. The cool thing is that there is a lot of applications out there that allow you to experiment with routes. Putting the routes together takes a lot of time, but it also allows others to not have to worry about where they want to ride to get in some miles. The fun part for me is checking the weather channel and arranging the route to put the wind in our face for the last half or so of the ride. If I'm limited on hills to climb I might as well simulate a faster speed. And, its gonna get colder pretty soon. I'm sure we'll have a lot of these on CGC WBL rides:

The infamous "Snot Gun"

Trail Trolls at it again......

There's only one way to do trail work at Thomson....

It has been a fairly relaxing weekend even though each day consisted of hard work.

Saturday, I finally got off the couch and went for a ride after 2 weeks of sloth. What a beautiful day to be riding! The temps were pretty chilly at the start, but the sun was shining and it warmed up nicely at the end. Jesse and I had discussed taking it easy and exploring some roads I want to incorporate into a WBL route, so we gathered at 8am at the Perry Welcome Center so our ride wouldn't interfere with the regular group ride that day at 9am. Tom H. showed up as well, so we had an enjoyable ride discussing various topics. The bad news of the day is that after only 2 miles of riding I'd determined that my knee pain from 2 weeks before was back and notifying me that nothing had changed during my rest period. I pushed on even though each mile meant more aggravation. I pushed nearly 10 miles one-legged to keep my knee from hurting further at the end of the ride. I think we ended up with over 54 miles in 3.5 hours. Not a great performance, but the goal was to ride easy and enjoy the day doing what we love the most. I have an appointment with Dr. Wiley for this Friday to investigate further what is causing the current issue in my knee. I think I pushed too hard during 6 GAP and pulled a tendon and didn't recognize this fact since everything was hurting that day. I can say that this is not the same pain I had before surgery in July, and it feels like a tendon or IT band is rubbing against something that is causing the aggravation.

Sunday, the Trail Trolls were at work again at Thomson. After hearing about and watching friends get hurt on several terribly eroded spots at the trail and after too much discussion and not enough action about re-routes the last year or so, I met Mark D. at the trail one afternoon and discussed changes that need/should be made. We decided on some major modifications that will improve the trail system, but these changes also mean the flow of the trail will be forever altered -- but in a good way. The latter also means some people will be pissed off, but conversely it means more people with lesser skills can still ride and not fear death at every turn. We're not "dumbing down the trail" as voices from the peanut gallery have shouted. To that I say, "Ride faster! Thomson can take everything you have to offer and will beg for more." The #1 reason for mods is to get rid of the damn erosion so we don't have to work ourselves to death maintaining the trail system. And given that so few people actually show up and voluntarily work to maintain the trail, I decided to seek approval and begin the work myself. My loving wife decided she would join me on re-routing the trail at specific places, but I don't think she knew exactly what she was getting into. And, without her there was no way I could have done it alone. We began around 9am and by 3:30 pm we had called a few people for back-up to help finish what we started. We didn't find anyone who wasn't busy, so we trudged onward with our goals. We did complete the re-routes, Diana got to ride both of them before we headed home, and life was good once again.

Diana stated that the trail flows very well and you're on the new sections before you actually realize it. So.......................my devious plans of making the trail more rideable as well as needing less maintenance worked out in the end.

Let's see who throws the first stone..........
Sorry, but this little guy says it all!!

Shut your cake hole!!!!

Portion Control........
This ideal is harder to apply than most things in life, and I'm not talking about my dietary plans entirely.

On the good side, I'm down to 180 lbs. and that is without turning a pedal the last 6 days. Simply monitoring how much I'm feeding the growler each day is making a dramatic difference. I've made very small changes to my daily meals and it has not really affected my energy levels. I miss feeling more full after eating but being able to function is key here. When the growling beast demands sustenance or else it will begin eating the meat off my back-bone, I notice a decrease in mental sharpness and that's not good when you're trying to teach any subject matter. I've been eating Kashi snack bars for my mid-morning hunger killer, and they have been doing the job nicely. They actually keep me from feeling hungry at lunch, but since it is my biggest meal of the day I eat as I should. I just don't "biggie size" my portions. I like eating..........I'm good at it, but power-to-weight ratio is the goal here.

On a different note, not cycling has brought out Type-A raised to the 1oth in me lately. Dr. Jeckyll would be proud that Mr. Hyde has not yet shown himself, but some people just drive me over the edge more easily than most.
It's the "cliff diving champions from the shallow end of the gene pool" that really make me feel warm all over. I guess some folks are just meant to live with dain bramage and Forest Gump through life oblivious to certain things. Hell............I may be doing the same...........who knows.

If it stands to reason that it's better to hold your tongue and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt, I guess this is as far as I'll go bitching about the little things in life than won't matter in the grand scheme of things.

I guess it may be true that if you look around and everyone else seems normal, you're the one who's screwed up..................uhmmmmm.............. oh sh...............

Tired puppy.....

It's time to take a few days (weeks) off the bike. I'm a tired puppy..............

I've developed tendonitis in my left knee again and it's something that only rest, careful exercise/therapy, and lots of time can alleviate. I'd planned a week off the bike anyway, but a few more won't really hurt. It gives me time to do some work at Thomson Trails. Trail maintenance work builds core muscles so it's not a total loss of fitness.

This time also gives me an opportunity to adhere to the diet more stringently since I won't be burning calories 5 days a week on the bike over the next few weeks. After reading several books - or at least portions of several books - and getting input from different nutritionists, I'm embarking on different paths to fulfill nutritional requirements. Portion control is my biggest problem but my mindset has to be the same as when I quit smoking years ago: believe in yourself and keep your mental discipline. I want to drop to 160 lbs. by the end of February but maintain the same power I have now. Dropping more weight would be great, but I think 160 would allow me to maintain sprinting speed while gaining climbing ability. Dragging less up the climbs is always good. All the advice and books state that losing muscle mass is the hardest and more dangerous thing to do, but we'll see how much is lost over the next few months while I'm trying to shed the fat. I've got at least 25 lbs. of fat to lose, so I don't think muscle mass loss will be an issue.

October 8: 184 lbs. Losing 1 pound a week until Feb. 29 (21 weeks) = 21 lbs. lost & 163 lbs.

Nothing to it............

6 GAP

"Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before."
~ William Butler Yeats

Since first hearing of 6 Gap, I've wanted to ride those 6 North Georgia mountains. Everyone wants to do well and perhaps complete the century ride in a specific time frame, but I simply wanted to complete the ride. That desire was satiated this last weekend, and everything was right for it to happen.

Neels~
The morning was cold to start with the temperature hovering around 60 degrees. BK and I got a bit of a late start at 7:50 with the official start at 7:30, but we made that time up over the course of the day. With just 18 miles into the ride and at the base of the first climb, the first indication of what was to come was beginning to dawn to me: my legs were not wanting to spin up to my regular cadence. Reserving energy is always key to climbing these moutains, but I couldn't put enough out to keep a comfortable speed going. The suffering was just beginning, however.

At the top of Neels Gap, I told BK to roll-on without me as I planned to cut-off at Wolf Pen to do the 3 Gap option. He was disappointed for me, and I felt terrible that he'd waited on me at the top. I rolled down the hill and BK filled up his bottles. On the way down off of Neels Gap, however, I realized that there may not be another opportunity to complete 6 Gap. The weather was perfect, the forecast was sunshine all day, and I'd traveled to Dahlonega to ride all 6 mountains. I didn't turn off afterall. I pushed on to Jack's Gap.

Jack's~
BK caught up to me just past the steepest part of Jack's and gave me that "so WTF do you think you're doing?" look. I just grinned, told him I may not get the chance again, and kept mashing the pedals.


Unicoi~
At the base of Unicoi Gap, we got a great view of a young ladies personal mountains as she cheered us on in her own way by flashing us. WOOOOHHOOOOOO!!!!! I bet she has a nice bead collection from Mardi Gra....... Anyway, halfway up Unicoi I started cramping a little around both knees. Not bonking, just cramping. I ate and drank as much as could along the way, so this wasn't suppose to be happening yet!

Looming in the distance was the beast that nearly destroyed my desire to ever ride a bike again.......HogPen Gap. By itself, it is a tough mountain to travel. After 3 decent mountain climbs, it would take everything I had to conquer it. I'd traveled this way the previous year on a solo ride over Jack's, Unicoi, and Hogpen, and I knew what was coming. I knew the suffering I would have to endure, but I also knew the elation I would feel on the descent.

HogPen ~
The first 1.5 miles of climbing rolled by, and then I rested on the 1/2 mile descent before reaching mile 3. Mile 3 to 5 is the section that takes all you have and then ask for more. The cramping started immediately, but I shifted back and forth on the seat to work different muscle groups and hoped to perhaps ride through the pain. Right. Mile 4 came and I was standing on the pedals for all I had. I was only able to shift weight from left to right to left to right...... just to transfer heft to the pedals. 42 cadence and 5.3 mph! We're cooking now baby! My iPod began to feel like it weighed 50 pounds. I hated every song running through the headphones. I wanted to throw away everything that was weighing me down just to lighten the load. Screw that little engine that could! (Note to self: Laughing out loud at your own mental thoughts is disconcerting to others around you on a tough climb such as HogPen.) And, just who in the hell were these people passing me at 6 mph?! In the distance I finally saw that wonderful green sign that has a 5 on it! Just 30 yards past it is a down hill section where I could rest, and boy did I. At the top of HogPen is a slight rise that is nothing compared to what I'd just ridden and it last no more than 75 yards. It was to be the most difficult part of the ride for me, because only 50 feet from a blue line representing the end of the climb up HogPen both legs locked up. The front of my thighs, my glutes, and both hamstrings locked up in one gigantic knot of burning flesh. I had to dismount. But, I was not about to push my bike one damn inch on these climbs. I was going to ride the entire route that day, so there was no giving up now. A few of the volunteers at the top of Hog Pen were cheering everyone on as they finished the climb, and a few asked if I was alright or could they do anything for me? I thanked them kindly and declined. BK was also there yelling for me to get back on my bike and ride damn it!! Or at least that's what it meant to me. I was almost there. Slowly and carefully I clipped in and turned the pedals to complete the climb.

That was all I had to offer those mountains and could not muster another ounce of fight. It was time to give in. But, amazing things happen when you gaze through the blur of pain, see other people just as tired and whipped as you are, and you start to hear them talking cheerfully about how bad they'd suffered on that climb. Everyone was suffering on this ride, except a few who are definitely genetically gifted and more fit than I, and realizing that made me feel more of a part of cycling than ever before. What is this sport I love so much that provides unimaginable suffering everytime I clip in, and yet I can't wait to heal so I can go out and do it again? I was there because I love to ride, I'm addicted to the suffering, and I was going to complete the entire route now no matter what. There were only two more mountains to go.

WolfPen~
We stopped briefly at the base of WolfPen and then began the twisting non-rythmic climbs of Murder Mountain. I ate my last gel and began the what turned out to be a 4 rest-stop climb for me. I made it to the 180 switchback that marked the halfway point, and both legs did the rigid dance for me again. Stop, stretch, clip-in, and repeat every 1/2 mile to the top. My heart rate was not an issue at this point and I don't think I went into the red except for one time before Neels and of course on HogPen. I was greeted by the Bike Store riders at the top as well as my own personal coach and cheerleader, BK. Poor fellow was waiting on my slow ass all.......day.......long! I hate to ask for anything from anyone, but I begged a gel off of Charles. He gave me an extra, I must have looked worse than I felt, and I needed it. Many thanks to Charles! Those gels got me through to Suches and on to Woody Gap.

Woody~
Woody Gap was nothing more than a speed bump at this point. A slow 8.5mph climb of a speed bump, but over the top was a nice, long, and restful descent. Of course, I did ride the brakes on the turns on Woody as well as all the other descents. And unfortunately, someone actually crashed on the exact turn I crashed the year before, and he was only a minute in front of BK and me. He was alright, however, just bruised a bit but able to ride down the mountain. Not the case for me last year.

It was a good day on the bike. Not a great day for me, but a good day. BK and I toasted our accomplishment with a cold beer once we got done. I'm glad he waited for me, even though he could have hammered for sure and been done a lot sooner. Diana took 15 minutes off her time from last year's 3-Gap loop also. She could have done much better if she could ride more. Her goal for next year is to take more time off of this year's performance, and I'm sure she'll do well.

After downloading my Polar data, I've realized that perhaps my cardio just wasn't at the level it needed to be or my diet was wrong the week prior. I'm still tired from that ride, and it has been 5 days. Either way, I'll be back next year to suffer once again.