Clearance

Well, folks, all the King's Men and Women have put humpty dumpty back together again.

My new porcelain crowns are so comfy and smooth! It's like I just finished brushing them all the time.

My hand doctor has given me the ok to get back on the bike, but to continue compression on each individual finger because swelling happens during excercise to a greater degree in extremeties. Why is swelling bad? Because if hinders healing and gives you more problems with arthritis later on in life. So boys and girls take your nsaids - the benefits are not always seen or felt. Example: The other day I didn't take my aleve before I did my second test ride and I could feel every little vibration. There is plenty of vibration on a bike, especially an aluminum one!

I will do my best to not do too much too soon. But I am back on track, I cheated and did 20 miles yesterday easy and am drinking my liquids more often and not on heavy drugs that I don't know about.

Que Pasó

Well, my nose we're not going to bother fixing. It will just be a little bumpy! My teeth, one of them a root canal because I killed it. The other a simple cap maybe eventual crown. My fingers are in a brace for three weeks with compression wrapping of each finger and taking nsaids with daily execise to regain full range of motion. Don't know when I'll be back on the bike?! Not being on the bike is killing me. I'll be 400 miles in the hole at the end of three weeks. Maybe Dr. Gayle will give me special dispensation.

It would seem that the various drugs did enough to change how I react to the heat and humidity. Oh well!

The Results of Dehydration - Heat Exhaustion

Well, my friends, after over 25 years of cycling and hardly any ill effects from Heat Exhaustion on my rides I succuumed yesterday!

I did an easy 51 miler averaging 14.5 to 15 MPH most of the time on mostly flat terrain and finished in 3:25 drank four Large Bike Bottles of Gatorade in 85 degree heat with some humidity. I also had a couple of Starbucks Iced Coffees, and one bag of salted peanuts at my first rest stop at 3009 and Old Nacogdoches. Before the ride I was hydrated evidenced by my clear pee before I left the house.

Indicators during the ride that something was awry: Did not need to go during the ride and normally on a three plus hour ride I do. My heart rate coming back into town was up around 164 and 170 BPM when pokin' along at 14 - 15 MPH (I thought it was due to traffic woes in the city).

I get home finish off my last bottle, probably 8 ounces of liquid, put the bike away, take the dogs out front for a tinkle and no problem.

I go inside and crouch down to put the diaper on the 17 year old dog, I get up quickly and start to pass out, attempt to steady myself without success, and face plant in the blue bathroom, knocking a chunk out of the terrazite floor, breaking my two front teeth (Now I can sing Thither Thuthie thiting on a thithle from "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" without having to fake it!), breaking my nose, dislocating two fingers in my left hand, a busted lip, a bump on my chin and a mild abrasion on my left knee. As I came to I realized my teeth were touching the floor and my hand was under me doubled back in the wrong direction. All I could think of was, dammit, it's Gayle's turn to go to the dentist. After a few expletives that I'll refrain from sharing due to the fact that my sister Kayzinha hates this word, I collected myself and called Gaylezinha for rescue. Lars, Gayle's brother brought me an ice compact and he and Gilbert were ready to take me when Gayle arrived.

I spent the next 7.5 hours in and out of the waiting room, triage, exam room, x-ray, cat-scan (meow) and the bathroom at the Awesome Northeast Methodist Hospital in Live Oak, North-East part of town.

Initial thoughts were that it happened because of low blood sugar in response to strennuous exercise on a low carbohydrate diet or because of a drug interaction between Claritin, Dextromethorphan & Guaifenesin (Cough supressant/expectorant) and my Lisinopril to lower my blood pressure. Ehhhhnnnn! Thanks for playin'!

I still felt hydrated in the waiting room because I was cold. When I went to pee (Tupi-Panambee, don't ask) the color was dark! Not good! Remember the pee clear speech?

When exercising vigorously one must be sweating and vacating your bladder (sorry, I got tired of seeing the word pee in this post). Heat exhaustion comes before heat stroke. Heat stroke can cause your heart to stop. I had a coworker suffer heat stroke ONCE. He learned his lesson!

Dehydration got me! Even a teacher can be taught!

Lessons learned: I normally time myself on when to drink on a ride, a good idea, but one must adjust the time to your sweat rate depending on conditions.

Rates can be derived through weight checks before during and after exercise. In-fact in ultra events one gets pulled off the course if you lose too much weight during the bout. My Winter sweat rate is anywhere from 12 - 15 minutes for 3 - 7 swallows. My Summer sweat rate is 10 minutes for 3-7 swallows. My race/redline sweat rate is 5 minutes for three swallows.

Plus, caffeine exacerbates the effects of heat exhaustion due to the fact that it is a diurretic just like alcohol. Even though the liquid is in you, it's on the fast track out and not accessible to your small intestines, remember your bioligy?!

Questions: If it's a diurretic then why didn't I have to pee? Does a diurretic affect sweat rates also?

Blessings: I was blessed to finish my ride before the appointed time Gayle and I had decided upon :-)! I am blessed that it did not happen going down a hill at 33 miles an hour! I am blessed that it didn't happen in traffic! I'm blessed that my fingers were not broken! (We'll see what the soft-tissue damage is on Monday). I am blessed that I had a clear cat-scan (meow)!


So, no riding for a while, bike camp is questionable. Doctor says stay away from the bike for a bit. Doctor Gayle says stay away from the bike for a long while. Time to walk the dogs or is it the other way around?!?

Personal Best, Season Best

Was my personal best related to stress or new goals posted by my counterpart? I believe a little of both. Charmichael training systems says do more in less time. Higher intensity makes up for time in the saddle when life gets in the way.

Today, stuff at home and at school kept me away from rehearsals at church, but at the same time forced me out the door on the machine. The work out was a reverse ladder in the big crank at 2-3 level and then to 3-4 level. I realized that I was actually doing this same workout longer than needed in the past. It pays to read your training manual more carefully.

Temps were in the upper 70s and lower 80s. I treat this route like a TT and today it payed off when I persevered up the hills in Bell Meade. Max average was 16.1 and final average was right there at 16.

The pay off was almost three minutes less on the route! Maybe it all had to do with the fact that the Spurs http://www.nba.com/spurs were playing their second game in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The Spurs won Go Spurs Go!

More Change in the Works

Scheduling is always an issue and that's why Caloiknightrider came on the scene. It would appear that in order to do what's right more knightrides are in the works. This would mean that club rides are out. If club rides are out what's the point of belonging.

So, allow me to think aloud. Recently a change from 5 days of workouts to 4 days of workouts was made for skeleto-muscular reasons. If the max length of a ride changes to 2 hours then what is possible in training? Weekend rides would go to dawn till 10 which is thirty minutes more on Saturday than on Sunday with Cycle Logic. The maximum for the week would be 7 hours and what I could get done in that amount of time is a mystery. I need to see how that would change goals and such in the logbook.

I would go back to being the Lone Ranger like I was in college. Day rides would be few and far between. Once a week really. Long day rides would be on special occasions only. I could call myself the Lonerangercaloiknightrider and dreams of epic rides would be just that dreams. What dreams may come?

The other idea was that Caloiknightrider could become caloindoortrainer - for a hundred bucks I'd be on my way inside, but that's a problem because of lack of dedicated space. It would be hard not to have it set up all the time. I'll just have to figure it out and roll with the flow!!! C'est la vie en la grand cité!

Baited Breath

Well, I know you were waiting with baited breath to see what was happening with my riding! As it turns out all is good. After a poor and with some pain ride Thursday morning, I decided that I would do one last test and if it didn't work then I would take a full week off without riding or exercising.

So I rode Thursday night at the Bike Mojo ride and decided to work it so I would make sure and not train harder than I should. So I worked sweep and averaged 10 miles an hour and some change and brought in the last guy to the shop. The ride was miraculous, no pain and no tederness. So after taking the last guy in I was feeling strong when a bus passed me and I couldn't resist the chase. I was going so fast that my average bumped up two miles. And I caught that bus twice. Max speed was 31 yehaw!

Saturday I did my best fifty something with 54 in 3:23.xx averaging 16.3 which is a best for me for the season. Sunday did 38 with cycle logic at the verizon and felt good through 20 something.

Good News - Bad News

So I cut a tree down on Friday and then on Saturday we emptied out the garage of old crap that needed to go to goodwill not to mention the 30 miles I did that AM at an easy pace. Saturday PM I had the opportunity to do a few extra miles, but chose not to because I had tweaked it somewhere along the way.

So after some self-medication I was able to walk and sit, but before that I could barely do anything when I got out of the shower. Ohthemiraculousqualitiesofcodene!

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I wore my weight-belt all day, but not when I slept. Tuesday during the day the weight-belt seemed to be a little much so Tuesday AM I did a test ride to see where things were. I found out that the drops were out unless I changed somethings on the bike. I changed the seat height and distance from the stem and it felt better on a mini-short test ride.

We'll see what happens when I actually ride! Cross your fingers!

CaloiKnightrider Rides in South Texas

March 31st the first night CaloiKnightrider takes to the streets in South Texas! Church, family, and friends come first and must come first. So there you go the CaloiKnightrider is born. The miles still get to be logged and must be logged in order to ensure proper training.

The CaloiKnightrider is not willing to lose training effect! He wants to ride with the wolfpack without falling apart at mile 25 or 40!

The doctor has encouraged the CaloiKnightrider to lose poundage and drop some of those cholesterol numbers off the face of the earth. The doctor has doubts about what can be done and even gave him three months to get it done. So there the challenge is on, lose the pounds, lose the numbers and ride with the wolfpack. The unattainable is there to get grabbed!

CaloiKnightrider before training in the middle of the night on the weekend would do the Thursday Night BikeMojo ride whenever he could. If you've heard about the HHH Hash House Harriers a drinking club with a running problem, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers then you know what the Thursday Night is about a drinking club with a cycling problem. Never mind the fact that one can get a great interval workout on a stay-together ride! On, On!

Knight training started a long time ago during marathon training when he found that the dark helps one lose constraints placed upon oneself about going fast!

Warning: Knightriding is not for the faint of bike. The bike has to be tough because the lights don't illuminate everything out there. Ask him about his latest blow-out!

Quartely Goal & Being Behind

So here I am at least four weeks behind and yet I've reached one thousand miles with less than consistent effort on mileage. Scheduling is always a challenge, but motivation is hard when life gets in the way.

I've read alot about sleep/rest being part of training. In an effort to stay true to training concepts I have taken Wednesday off as well. Hour/Mileage goals are going to be difficult to reach with one less day during the week since I already take Monday and Friday off. Clydesdales require further rest because of size/body shape. I learned this the hard way with my running, that I have now set aside.

One other conclusion I've made is to set aside my mountain biking because of a propensity for injury. Perhaps this would not be as prevalent if I had the latest technology on my MTB.

Why Write, Porque Escrever, Pourquoi Ecrire, Porque Escribir, Because I Can, Por Causa Que Eu Posso, Parce Que Je Peu

Community

I write because of online communities, before web-based communities, I was involved in BBS communities before BBSs I wrote letters to folks as late as 1990. Some of the most fun communities that I have been a part of have been the Dead Runners Society (DRS) and the Dead Runners - Texas (DRT). One of the great ideas that made this group excellent was the no flame rule online. You can write a scathing letter backchannel or real email to the person you disagreed with, but you dare not write a flame (a forcefully worded emotional email) to the listserv (the listserv would broadcast said tirade to over 2K people) lest you anger the DRS gods (listowner, programmer, etc.). http://www.tri-drs.org is the location of the most recent incarnation of the DRS community that I frequent. One of the others that was the best was the CVRT the Clydesdale Virtual Racing Team - besides being a founding member the most fun activity we did regularly was the Frostbite 100. One year I actually came in fourth and had the most fun welcoming everyone else to our party with virtual lawnchairs and virtual keg.


Expanding Horizons

I want to improve myself and have contact with others with similar interests so that I can better myself as a humawn bean as well as an athlete. Through fostered discussion on certain topics we expand our horizons on it and are able to think beyond the task. I write to help others expand their horizons as well. I know I've learned a lot about various things just by reading what others have written.


I Write

I have maintained a tradition of writing for publications. My first was for the San Antonio Road Runners Newsletter and I believe the title was The Shoes do All the Work presenting a view of the life of a runner as seen through the eyes of a pair of shoes. I have also been published in Running Times an article about running in San Antonio and I think it was called Remember the Alamo. I have also written for Run the Planet http://www.runtheplanet.com about all kinds of places good for running in the states and in Brazil.


Bringing People Together

Sounds corny, but I know how miraculous it is to be transformed by something such as cycling. I believe this is part of paying it forward. Encouraging others to be transformed and start enjoying life more instead of living with medication.


My Friends

To share with my friends the joy that I've experienced doing what I do on the bike. That's why we started the Hike and Bike http://northwood-hikeandbike.blogspot.com at my church. We have a large group hikers and bikers. We have a dream of taking a group of seven to eleven cyclists on the MS 150 bike to the beach down to Corpus Christi, put on our own triathlon or multiple venue family event up in Vance with running and hiking.


Training

To train and be trained! To help others with their training, I get a kick out of training others or teaching. It is part of me and my makeup!

8 Weeks Behind, But Now Back On Track

The title says it all! I am still behind, but Hell Week according to Carmichael training put me four weeks closer because of the big mileage done.

I may reach my quarterly goal with 1000 miles.

I need more hills! I'm trying to do hills (molehills) close to my neighborhood everytime I go out.

I started doing speedwork again, very limited, fartlek only, but then time was an issue. A start is a start! According to my log I still need seven more weeks of training before getting serious.

The weight is not melting off, but it is rearranging shapewise. My clothes are already fitting better.

I have decided to take an extra day off during the week for the beneffit of rest in response to training. With all the long miles on the weekend I believe this is necessary!

If you're looking for an interesting read Mr. Langley in the link above he's a regular in RBR which is also a good read.

Hell Week SA Recap

Well my Saturday ride is logged! I was going for eighty, but the "best laid plans of mice and men." I awoke later than planned and piddled around too much. Actually, the piddling is hereditary, my Mom used to do that and I got the piddle gene. C'est la vie! I ended up with 51 which is Ok, but not great!

If I log almost 40 in the next day I'll end up with 300 for my SA Hell Week and I definitely can live with that!!!

Where am I - Hell Week in SA

Saddle sore and waterlogged! After a great weekend where over 100 miles were logged, Monday and Tuesday arrived with a whimper. 500 to 600 miles is way out of question at this point for the week. It is Wednesday and almost noon and I used the excuse that I would see what the weather was going to do. Your guess is as good as mine! The beater is not rideable so it's the good Caloi Pro Road out and sloshing around and I'm no longer crazy about doing that since I no longer ride a pos bike.

Monday I was fasting for some bloodletting and that made for a ride with an excruciating headache and dirty, muddy, wet wash everything under the sun when I get back kind of ride, but still managed at least thirty which was goal for everyday this week. That puts the totals at a slight 130 plus for the week. I was in search of my epic ride, but the last day for that to happen was today and here I am still on the computer see the article on the epic ride.

Weather temps are good in the area, but the flashflooding just puts a damper on all the routes that are doable. Plus people have died. Actually stupidity killed them for crossing in to deep waters in cars. We live down here long enough you know where the low water crossings are and you watch yourself lest you be accused of being stupid for going through the low water crossing. Soooo...what to do?! I think I'll go to the dollar movie just to get out!!!

Back In the Saddle Again

Sorry, longtime no post. I'm back in the saddle again! My wife and I were needing some time so rather than do a month off in Dec. I did it in october/november.

I've been keeping one ride going during the month off and picked up running and walking. Longest run was nine miles of trail on Salado Creek. Fastest mile was somewhere under ten. Lost my pedometer on the trail. Ha! They're doing some good work on it, expanding with a paved trail, clearing the natural trail, and I look forward to using it even more.

Although I can feel I'm not fatigued, I also don't have the get-up and go that I had in my legs. It is time to rebuild and for the next 34 weeks that's exactly what I'll do.

Did you read the article about Lance and the marathon? If you have completed a marathon before and are now cycling that would be a good one to read. Makes one feel good about our skills.

Long rough day ahead of me at school so I better start putting my armour on! We'll see you out on the byways of cycling.

Obligatory bike workout note (OBN): I'm slated for 3 to 5 hours of training this week and I already have 3.5 so the rest of the miles I get tomorrow and Sunday are all gravy.

OBMaintenanceN: Don't know what I'm going to do. I'm supposed to get a new chain and new bar tape and new front tire, but I'm shy about taking it in. The last time I took it in I was sidelined for over four weeks. Not my idea of fun or a decent way to stay in road cycling shape.

Check out: http://www.northwood-hikeandbike.blogspot.com to see what's going on there

Training Effect Loss

I have worked my butt off for the past three years to build speed. I have ridden pos bikes during that time and endured the fun being made about my old pink bike. That's fine!

No where in all that time was I unplanned off for more than a week! So I never really lost training effect. I did the periodization like I should and at this time I should be enjoying the effects of riding at 21 plus MPH average, but I am not because of a derail that was beyond my control.

I tried to maintain and plateau, but that was hampered by a week and a half vacation where I gorged myself and gained fourteen poundages. No problem, I thought, I can lose that! Ehhhn! Thanks for playing!

It is proving very difficult to lose that which I have gained. My periodization has taken me to a peak and I'm doing less mileage, but at faster speeds, but my speed is hampered by my weight so here I am unable to improve like I would like. I'm almost considering blowing off the rest of my peak and training and assume the work of losing those pounds. You know what else? My BP is up! That sucks! Maybe it's a stress thing and God really intended me to be a full time cyclist and not work?! Ha!

I'm supposed to race this weekend, but who wants to race when it is too hard to maintain even a decent speed. Best I could do on a sustained effort last week was 16.3 average. 16 through 75, but then I hit the wall at about 83 and everything hurt so I only bettered my time on a 100 miler by about a minute from when I did it back in May.

Beats me what I'll do! Probably just try to race this weekend then do the Hike and Bike ride on Labor Day and then go from there. I think my peridoization has me going easy till the end of the year. So perhaps I'll just do the old stay under 150 bpm on my HRM and work at losing the poundage and finish up my four thousand miles for the year.

Any one know of a good core workout book? I'm not so good with tapes and dvds for workouts.

Holy Guacamole, Batman Drawn and Quartered

What will Commissioner Gordon do? Can Robyn run the Wayne estate by himself? Is Gotham doomed to be a wasteland?

Batman found quartered on the side of the road. At the time he must have been shrunk a la Honey I Shrunk the Kids because what was left of him, his torso, was just three inches long.

This all may have been a fig-newton of my imagination since it happened in the last throes of a 100 miler I logged yesterday in and around San Antonio. Final time 6:50 temp 103, stops three, drinks nine with a lunch break taken. It was truly hot, but not as hot as Hotter N Hell. I hear it was 112 and the course was closed early by Medical staff to ensure the safety of the participants. Ouch!!!

Hike & Bike Adventure Camp

Last week I completed my first cycling camp where I was in charge. My attempt to give something back to the sport that gives me so much daily. It sounds trite, but I also wanted my church to gain some from the cycling knowledge I've accumulated. It will probably happen again in a different form because I know there are some adults that were not able to attend and learn what they needed to learn.

The camp was run for fun, not to instill training regimens or anything. We did rides of moderate challenge for Junior High Age kids. We ended up doing about 15 miles per day. We ended the week with over 75 miles all on hybrid mountain bikes or trick bikes. We had days that were road only, some that were road and trails and one that was road and trails and horse-back riding.

First couple of days there were mechanicals so we were able to practice some of the things that the kids had seen done on the first day when all we did was learn how to repair some basic things and to handle obstacles and how to keep a straight line. We did practice going from a group riding technique to a single file paceline type arrangement. We did practice good traffic skills within a group using city maps and being smart about what roads we traversed.

It was cheap for the kids and basically paid me back on what I spent on go-juice and goomies. They were also introduced to various things to try to eat while on the road so there was a nutrition component. And since it was done in August, they had plenty of practice dealing with the heat, but most days we were out of there before the hottest part of the day took effect.

We were also able to secure sponsors for the shirts and will use this opportunity to produce our Hike and Bike t-shirts which each participant will receive one for free and jerseys which participants will have to invest some to receive. But the point is that we have begun the process and that is the big challenge.

Teams of At Least 6

Ok, the scandal has done its damage! Vinokourov (sp?) lost five of his team mates, but one of the biggest consequences is Vino can't race because you can't show up with four team members, but you can with six. He was not implicated. Maybe the team withdrew in disgust like another team. Here's the question, what prevents a team from getting a couple of riders from wherever to jump in at the last minute so that your team leader can do his job? That has to be able to be done in one day. All the two riders have to do is finish the stages within the cutoff time they don't even have to compete per se.

I know there are plenty of people out there willing. There's bound to be people out there that are even in TdF shape and could finish the daily stages with respectable times. No, Vino would not have the benefit of the support of a full team, but heck at least he'd be out there doing his job (as LA would put it).

Just doesn't seem right that one of the premier riders in the world doesn't compete in the premier race in the world. Que est que vous pense?

Riding With a Faster Group & RBR.com

So I'm reading along on RoadBikeRider.com, the newsletter where they have an opinion short about riding with a faster group. This question came up ealier on uphillbattle.spaces.msn.com and I put the link above if you want to try and find the discussion on it. In that forum it was mainly about taking turns at the front of the group. Again, I'll take a turn, but if I'm not able to hold it that long then I peel off and fade back or try to stay with it. Sometimes I can and sometimes I can't which may be the case with lots of folks.

One of my greatest and most efficient strategies in the last two years has been to ride with groups that are faster than I in the hopes of getting as fast as they are and it has worked. I believe one of the groups I ride with has served this purpose and I have gone on to ride with another that challenges me even more. Now when I can't stay with a group eventually I just fade back and end up in the second group which then I'm leading. So success! Alas, according to the opinion on RBR I'm causing an unsafe situation.

Their point about needless crashes being caused by riders hanging with groups that deplete them to such an extent that they are no longer able to make wise moves and decisions. I say to them, if we take away that avenue for improvement then we are left with getting faster solely on our individual training. I don't know about you, but I'm able to push myself further when I'm with a group than when I'm by myself pushing myself to the limits. I just am not able to sustain an 18.3 average on an 32 miler when I'm by myself. When I'm chasing someone or trying to hang-on to a group I am able to average that 18.3.

Personally I've not been involved in those kinds of crashes. The crashes that I have witnessed or been close to has been caused by carelessness at the beginning of the ride. Maybe people are just a little groggy - I don't know.

I also know when I'm on the mountain bike I get in the groove after a few minutes of easy riding on less technical stuff. I fall when I attempt the technical stuff too soon after the start of the ride.

To Bike, or not to bike (Adapted from Hamlet 3/1 w/ apologies to the Bard)

To bike, or not to bike: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
the hills and byways of your favorite 100 miler,
Or to take off due to a sea of work,
And by resting lose training effect? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by sleep to say we end
The ease at which we climb and the thousands of hours in the saddle
That cyclists are heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wisked away. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death-like fatigue what dreams may come
When we have sprinted off this mortal road,
Must give us pause: there in retrospect
That makes calamity of so long a route;
for who would bear the heat and humidity of time on the bike,
The opressor's breakaway, the proud man's arrogant solo sprint,
The pangs of horrendous hills, the law's delay,
The broken promises of politicians and potholes
That unsolicited support of the caboose club member takes,
When the lame excuses for falling behind he makes
With a stone face? Who would challenges bear
To grunt and sweat under a weary ride,
But that the dread of hors categorie.
The undiscover'd country from where new mettle is formed
No cyclist makes it back, puzzles the will
And makes us challenge ourselves to levels otherwise never attempted,
Than sandbag and draft on others we know not of?
Thus the logbook makes slaves of us all;
And thus the obvious tan lines of resolve
Is paled o'er with the sickening thought,
And accomplishments of great achievement and courage
With this point of view their efforts get blown-off,
And lose the name of action. -Soft you now!
(The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd).