september 30, 2007

rode to staceys house.

d-8.7

monthly mile mark - 2488.44

september 29, 2007

"paul, wake up!"
"im already awake"
"well why didnt you wake me up, its 530 we're fucking late"

thats how things started tofay at mikes house which i found extremely funny. we were riding in the city to shore MS ride in a team that mike's former neighbor, ed, was in. eds company does the ride every year and he got in touch with mike who got me signed in for free! so we drove down and even though we were late, the traffic to get in was NUTS! we would have started late even if we had waken up on time.

after getting changed and grabbing a quick bite to eat along with half a cup of coffee we rolled out for a 75 miles ride. it was chilly and set to be a perfect day. once again my arm warmers proved to be a great purchase as they kept me just warm enough so i wasnt shivering. as the day went on though i warmed up. to begin with the ride was slow. over 7000 riders on the same route!!!! apparently this is one of the the 3 largest charity cycling events in the entire country. so it was stop and start for a little while which was to be expected. after warming up we had to stop at the first rest area about 15 miles in. pee break and a water bottle refill. we picked up some bars and headed out. the roads were 70% nice of which a decent amount was freshly paved. the other 30% was older roads with some wear on them and some average crappy nj patch work.

we spun along and as the ride went on we both noticed how we felt good and our legs felt fresh. a good tail wind for most of the course and having to climb nothing that even resembled a hill to what we are used to. at times we were riding with others in small pacelines that formed here and there. but those quickly fell apart which was unfortunate. we skipped the next couple stops and just kept trucking going at clips of 23 to 26mph!! here and there we had to slow down due to lights and stops and rider congestion. but when the openings hit we were gone! it felt so nice rolling along on those smooth roads with the wind at our backs and not a cloud in the sky. no doubt a perfect day to ride.

here and there we had conversations then fell back into a 2 man paceline moving along. we stopped at a rest area with 20 miles to go and then got back at it deciding to push it. like the first 55 miles, the last 20 flew by. my favorite part of the ride was in the last 7 miles we exploded. knowing we had more energy reserve with two ocean bridges to go over we hammered up them. the second one for me was great. three clicks from topping out and i was in the saddle hammerings away and flying by people. this is on the accent!

at the end of the ride we got some normal food and snacks, water, some more coffee and hung around. they had a band there covering johnny cash and the lead singer was great! after eating a bit we went and sat on the boardwalk and just relaxed for a half our. got on the bus and got driven back to the finish. from there we drove home stopping to getsome chips and some sam smiths india pale ale which was great!

this was another great ride on a great day. next year we may do the two day ride. ride 75 out, stay overnight, then ride 75 back in. would like to do it. but this by far was a great way to finish up a month that i thought was wasted. i fell good. legs fell power in them and my stamina seems to be coming back. hopefully the warm weather lasts and i will be bale to get in a couple more long hard rides before winter. today was great. ride;

d-75*
t-4:30:00**
as-19.5mph***

*this was just what the ride was listed as so i dont know if it was exactly what i rode.
**total time was around what mike gave me from his odometer
***average speed was around what mike gave me from his odometer
ms-?

september 28, 2007

rode home from staceys. felt good.

d-8.7

september 26, 2007

was able to get out today after work for a decent ride. being scheduled until 4 gave me a couple hours to go out and see what miles i could get in. did a good ride but had a near breakdown on zion when my legs just broke. i cant help but keep mentioned how poor my month began. since then poor eating habits on top of laziness have resulted in performance setbacks which im not happy about. this is easy to overcome though. eat better. ride more. pretty simple.

so after struggling up zion i headed out west and then looped around after going through my favorite farm area. went back up long hill and faired better there. after coming down zion and crossing amwell my legs felt as if they had shaken some cob webs loose and i was keeping a pretty good pace. finished the ride with a nice long sprint. despite my zion moment which felt like the beginning of the season im happy about this ride. showed me im mentally able to bounce back after being dealt a blow. ride;

d-27.5
?
?
?

september 24, 2007

with just about a week left in the month my total miles have been low. this whole month got off to a bad start at wills wedding. but ive been able to maintain my weight and also incorporated some puch ups in my daily life. overall though, riding has been something ive wanted to do more but just havent been. but i got out this morning and did a good ride.

got up and had my normal morning ride breakfast. juice, coffee, and a home made muffin. after a little time to digest i headed out and wanted to get in about an hour. i headed out towards the summer crca course. part of the course was closed but overall it was wide open. kept a good pace and the headed home up amwell. even though i havent done a hard ride in a while my legs felt good and my body reacted well the rest of the day. hopefully tomorrow i will head out again. ride;

d-19.1
?
?
?

september 21, 2007

went out after work with eric tonight. sun is setting before 7 now so my early evening rides are going to soon be over. but we were able to get in a decent ride and i felt good. even though my riding in the morning is not as energetic as the afternoons and evenings i have to suck it up and start waking up early. most likely am going to skip tomorrow and wait to ride on sunday with mike. with just about a week until the MS ride we are doing i have to get in a long ride to make sure im still in form. ride;

d-14.7
?
?
?

add 2.6 miles for riding to work this morning.

september 20, 2007

was able to get out this morning and had plans to do a good 20 miles or so but that didnt happen. going down beekman i hit a pothole and even though my tire didnt go flat my water bottle popped out and rolled down the enbankment. took me about 15 minutes to find it and at that point my legs were cold again and time had been wasted. was able to do a small loop though but nothing like what was orignally planned. oh well. going to go out with mike after work tomorrow. ride;

d-8.5
?
?
?

september 19, 2007

planned on going out with eric tonight to do sprints but he fell out. despite my plans changing though i stuck with sprints and went out a loop by my house to do a short hard ride. kept it pretty simple and just stuck to sprints and some hard efforts. knew i wasnt as strong as i had been in the summer but also know doing sprints by yourself is the least ideal way to build power. felt good overall though. going to go out tomorrow morning and get an hour or a half in or so. hopefully someone will be able to join me. going to make some muffins tonight for breakfast tomorrow. :) ride;

d-15.3
?
?
?

september 16, 2007 II

went out after some rest from the morning ride. went solo since mike rode earlier in the day. knew i either wanted to go out for a nice long ride or a short hard ride. chose to do some hill repeats since they were something ive sadly gotten away from. on my way out though i stopped at someones house who had put out a nice recliner for free! talked with them and decided i was going to pick it up after my ride. so right away my ride was a success!

got to zion and headed up at a good pace using the large ring. i felt some resistance in my legs to start but it quickly faded after getting half way up the hill. to my surprise i owned the hills today. though they werent a walk in the park my pace and gear choices were tight. while standing my accelerations were at a better level than that of earlier in the year. maybe getting away for the hills for sometime was good for my legs.

long hill was much of the same as zion. i dare to say it felt somewhat easy for what that hill used to be to me. my legs just felt good today and everything was in its right place. maybe it had to do with the tempature. dont know. but overall it was a good ride getting in 4 climbs. zion and long hill twice. ride;

d-22.5
?
?
?

september 16, 2007

rode home from stacey's this morning. think it was the coldest morning of the fall. had arm warmers, toe covers, and hat on. made good speed and felt good. going to go out later today and hopefully get in an hour or two on the bike. ride;

d-8.5
?
?
?

i need to get a fucking odometer.

september 14, 2007

got out today after taking care of some things around the house. had the option to head out with mike and ed but chose to sleep in. riding later in the day is nice on my days off.

headed out to round valley knowing my legs need some more miles in them before the end of the year. after the first couple miles i felt good. knowing the ride ahead was going to become hilly and with a headwind eventually i had to maintain a good pace and rhythm. got out towards hunterdon co. and started to think heading back after 15 miles would be smart to not burn myself out. by chose otherwise feeling i needed to push myself more.

got to the hilly parts and decided to grind up instead of spinning. felt good. got my quads moving and felt the anger i get when climbing affectively. after going around the reservoir headed back. almost right away the head winds began punching me in the face. added to that the traffic coming from the opposite direction was made up of school buses, dump trucks, and other huge vehicles which added bursts of wind right into my face.

eventually in the last 5 miles the wind wasnt against me as much and i was able to head home in slightly more relaxed riding than what was behind me. im happy that i got out today and did a long ride solo. im having some difficulty with my weight and overall eating and life habits lately. feel bored and anxious at times cause im not doing much but working. this helped erase that. ride;

d-38.6
t-?
as-?
ms-?

september 13, 2007

getting ready for colder weather and even though i have most of the things i need it seems im buying more and more. today my floor pump broke while inflating a tire. the tube from the pump to the head just burst out of no where. lasted two years though and it would have cost more to use co2 over those years. picked up a new one and two basic rear lights from nashbar. thankfully they had free ground shipping so it may take a while to get. have a bunch of co2 so will have to use that in the meantime.

been somewhat lazy this week. only went for one ride but plan on getting out tomorrow and then again this weekend. hopefully i can put on some real miles friday or sunday to get ready for the city to shore ride which is soon.

managed to drop some of the pounds i put on during the wedding but still dont feel good about myself and feel like im carrying extra pound in the gut and ass. gotta ride and stop this bad habit of eating a lot at night. need to find a hobby for nighttime to keep me away from boredom eating.

headed to work. sure thats going to make me happy! >:(

september 12, 2007

didnt ride yesterday due to rain. got out this morning which took some discipline. only did a short ride of about 45 minutes but rode at a good pace. felt what i would call "fat". but according to others i look fine. distorted body image i have. still dont have an odometer so have no numbers but what i calculated from google earth. good ride though. getting chilly. had to use the arm warmers. ride;

d-11.9

september 9, 2007

hops to hops tour today and it was fun. rode with mike and we got there early to warm up. went out for a few miles then returned ready to start. the route was very different this year due to construction. right away there was a climb that separated the group. even though this was a charity event mike and i like to work hard and see if we can finish first. but we dont bump elbows with people.

after a few miles we learned that the new route was very different and very poorly marked. got lost 3 times through the entire ride! so what began as a 40 mile ride soon became a 53 mile ride! but it was good. allowed us to push hard to try and get to the front. this year the ride featured far more hills. even though the area is hilly there didnt seem to be many rolling hills, just hills that went up and up some more. it felt good though to get on some new rodes. this is my fourth year doing the hops to hops so seeing the same route may have gotten a little old after a while.

after finishing we came in to find a great amount of food and volunteers. people pouring beer, cooking, playing music, and even massage tables!!! so i got one! something that would have cost $100 in a salon was free!! but i gave a $5 tip :)

after the ride we hung around, had a beer, ate some food, and just talked about the past year. this time last year was when mike and i met so it was nice to reflect. we still have a few more events planned this fall and then on to the winter.

for me it felt like my legs were coming slightly back. had a little more explosive power and felt better climbing. after a while though my legs started to ache. but being able to keep pushing gave me the sign that im coming out of the damage from not riding and eating too much. didnt have an odometer though which stunk. ride;

d-53*
t-2:47:00
as-19.25mph
ms-?

*numbers are based off mike.
add 5 miles for the warm up.

days total miles - 58

september 7, 2007

rode lightly today for a little while. had a strong cross/head wind for about 75% of the ride. legs felt slightly better and hopefully my form will be back within 2 weeks or so. my odometer decided to turn on and off a little while into the ride which was the breaking point for me. even though there isnt enough $$ in my account im picking up a new one, maybe tonight. so even though my legs have felt like they have im on pace for a 100 mile week which is surprising. will get in some miles tomorrow and then the hops to hops is sunday. looking forward to it since they sent a flier stating, "course is drastically different this year due to construction". should be fun. ride;

d-12.60*
t-?
as-?
ms-?

*calculated with google earth.

september 6, 2007 part II

went out with mike today and felt a little better after a long warm up. did far more miles than i first intended on doing. thats the benefit of having a riding partner, they push you. after the miles went by though my legs started to feel week, especially on the climbs. overall im happy that i got out after what i posted earlier. did a good ride and feel my legs will come back and the weight will fade off quickly. ride;

d-48.84
t-2:43:31
as-17.92
ms-35.63

september 6, 2007

i feel gross. after a vacation that included way too much food and far too less activity i gained too much weight. i feel disappointed in myself and know that alot of the work i did this summer is gone in the matter of a week. with two bike tours coming up i have to focus on my eating and riding.

rode yesterday to staceys and even though the average speed was ok i felt weak. this morning i rode back and took my time riding easy. towards the end it felt a little better and maybe im just a little hungover from not riding. time will tell and i should get a good sign this afternoon when i ride with mike. if he bails though i will go out alone and try to get in a 20-30 mile ride. no numbers for the past two days. just general disappointment.

past two days miles;

d-18
t-?
as-?
ms-?