37 miles: Kevin Rhodes

I always enjoy riding with my karate buddy Kevin. Instead of traveling the same roads I normally ride, he takes me on a tour of Williamson County. Kevin is from Lubbock, about my age, enjoys cycling, karate, loves his family, and God so we get along great. Today he got me lost down some Country Road and getting lost in the country is one of my favorite things to do when cycling.

We have decided to enter the Tour de Cure together in May. 80 miles on Saturday followed by 80 miles on Sunday. The Tour benefits The American Diabetes Association. I still need to register, create a donation page and maybe make some custom jerseys. That would be cool. My boss, Jane, has asked me to design some AlphaGraphics cycling jerseys so that works out nicely. A little advertising with our fundraising. Kevin created a spreadsheet for us to train by and that's perfect for me. I loved the spreadsheet that Patsy created for the Aldrete Family Fitness Challenge because nothing motivates me more than documenting my successes......and money.

I will keep you posted on our progress. My friend Mark Callahan has been very involved in the Tour de Cure. If anyone wants their company to sponsor a great team, let me know and I can put you in touch with Mark. He is going all out!

Have a great weekend.

Carle

Indoor Training

Hey, I wanted to show off my latest and most likely last fitness equipment investment. (a Christmas present to myself) Now. I cannot use my rollers when I am sleepy because it's just too dangerous. All too often my chance to workout comes when it's late and the kids are in bed and at that point I too am usually ready for bed. Anyway, I bought me a nice trainer on Craigslist. It took me a little while to dial it in right - but thank God for the internet because I found other people who couldn't get this thing to operate correctly at first but were nice enough to share their advice on what finally worked. The problem is usually with tension and tire pressure so I bought a metal quick release skewer for the rear wheel, inflated my rear tire to 120psi, added more resistance to the trainer and now it rides smooth and I am as happy as can be. Well I might like a TV in the room where I workout but that's okay because I have my iPod and some heart pumping podcasts. I strongly suggest not listening to talk podcasts while on a trainer. (a quick trip to Snoozetown)

Sweet Dreams!

Windy days & Sundays always get me down...the road

Oh how wonderful it is to ride on down Parmer Lane. I made GREAT time the first 25 miles but after stopping to eat my oranges I finally realized which way the wind was blowing exactly. It had been blowing behind me but now it was time to turn around and head home. My friend Mark had told me how Parmer Lane can get windy and I had experienced it before but this time it was different. I had not ridden for almost two weeks so I was getting tired. Fighting 35+mph wind gusts on the return trip took everything I had. As I past this used car lot on Parmer I had to stop and photograph the flags and capture how strongly they were moving. The direction of the wind was in my face.

For 3 hours and 10 minutes I rode and I only saw two other cyclists.

I much prefer days with a LOT less wind but you will never hear me complain about a 70° Sunday afternoon in the middle of December when I can ride 42 miles or more. When I left the house it was cloudy but when I got back home it was sunny and I had new tan lines. I'm sure I burned a ton of calories but more importantly I feel good.

Happy holidays everyone.