Cycling to South Padre Island 10k...

Why not... it's just 70 miles...  That is what we said yesterday, we wanted to make the trip out there because my friend Cindy was going to do a 10k run over the causeway and we always try and support each other in events. Make things more fun to do when you have buddies cheering you on... 

Today we battled a headwind and fog for 70 miles...we did not think about that.  Thats the main problem in the valley, we do not have hills, we do not have winter storms, all we do have is wind and lots of it!  It was a smooth steady paced ride in which I tried to keep over 20 mph for the whole duration. It ended up being a good 20.3 average, a good time considering I was fighting the head wind. Once we got there Billy had enough energy to do the 10k himself so he laced up his running shoes and jumped into the group.  He ran a great time of 52 min even after doing the whole ride and pulling for hours!

Train just appeared out of the fog, it was thick this morning.

A picture of how my ride looked for most of the morning.

I rode my bike along the runners. Here I am drafting in one of Billy's long pulls. 

Cindy did good for not training. Here she is asking for two beers while running, didn't know she was such a drunk! lol

Nothing beats a great ride with a great breakfast...

This morning started around 4:30 because we had planned an interval ride around 5 am. Mike, Billy and I were the brave ones to get the training done.  My usual riding partner Sergio missed out on what was to be one of the harder and essential training rides to get faster.  It usually happens when we do these harder rides his alarm does not work.  Every...Single...Time....  He has missed more hard training rides than Billy because of his sundial alarm.  Like usual, I always give a couple wake up text to them and they usually text back right away.  It was as expected, 4 wake up text later and I just gave up on him and headed out to the ride with Billy who lives around 30 miles away and made it on time.  Well today we did 5 time trial intervals, each interval I would go a little harder as to tire out the guys.  It worked and I immediately dropped Mike who says he was trying to stay in his zone of 170 beats per minute.  We were going 21 and my heart-rate was at 137 so I just went ahead and took off a little harder making him suck wheel the rest of the sets. Billy, trying to be a Serge, went side by side with me huffing and puffing only falling back for a minute then he would pull back up.  Well it was a good ride and we finished it off at Savory perks again.  From all that tourture to one of the most chill coffee shop there is.  

Billy talking about his "dropping" Mike

Cool old guys bikes. Mike will soon join the club. lol

Getting new faces on the trainers...

This is what it is all about... Get someone on the bike and make him work hard to get to the point where they want to be.  Adrian has been riding off and on for about a year now and it seems like he never puts full effort into his cycling.  Of course he has been getting better over the year but he never seems to push himself over his limits in order to really make any gains.  Well today I got him on the trainer, I tightened up the tension, blasted the speakers, and gave him some motivational yelling!  He had the hardest workout he has ever had in his life.  On the trainer there is no coasting... you have to push yourself, you have to get past the pain and keep those legs moving.  I'm sure he will feel it tomorrow but I know that he gave it all he had.  Put the effort into every ride you do and your goals will be accomplished.

The amazing story of a woman who lost 500 pounds...

Do not get dropped - Train, train, train...

When I first started cycling with groups one of my most uncomfortable fears was getting dropped. Every single time I went out there I would be left alone, it felt like if I would never be able to stay up to those guys. Of course I never wanted to go with the beginner group because I did not want to look like a wimp. I wanted to go with the fast guys, the intermediate groups. Those guys had speed! I wanted to just go out there one day and finish with the group before the first rest stop. Train Train Train. After weeks of going out by myself I felt comfortable to try and maintain their 17 mph speed. I loved the feeling of making it all the way! I felt like an animal. Faster than all those beginners. I thought I was ready to ride with the intermediate B's. I was the king of the C's. There is a hierarchy of speeders in the local cycling club and I wanted to get to the top. I wanted to be known as an elite! The picture above shows exactly what I wanted to do every ride that I would make. That motivation had made me a better cyclist. I never want to get dropped. If your getting dropped then that means your not doing enough to prepare yourself. This morning we went on our 40 mile route in which we were supposed to do in a nice endurance pace. Egos take the best of us and all of the sudden we are speeding above 30 mph. Serge, still wanting to prove himself to Mike dropped the hammer.

Mike was so impressed with Segio's speed that he actually muttered a few words of encouragement to him as quietly as possible as to not sound so sensitive and gay. Sergio was pleased and rode with his head held high!

What is your MDS? My goal is to find out!

Welcome to EIJ training...

This is the start of something big.  It's pretty awesome when you can get some people that would not want to go out on the road on a bike.  Makes the experience so much more fun.  Got a whole group of spinners at my house today for a good 1hr session that is pretty hardcore for the regular rider.  The good thing about the trainers is you go at your own pace so you will not get discouraged like when you get dropped on the road. Even my 60 year old uncle did a good 50 minutes of the workout! Thats amazing seeing him go through the whole thing considering that last year he could not walk and was in his death bed.  Coming from that deep of a sickness to getting on the bike and pedaling with the guys made him so alive.  He was just happy that he could get on it and join in.  We are spreading the word and the group is already 6 people strong. Need more people with trainers and we have had some considerable interest.  FUN FUN FUN and all for a good purpose.

Let's see if this ends up as something big. Awesome!

Got myself a trainer....

First of all I would like to point out that my bike survived yesterday's thrashing beautifully! No scratches, no dents, just like new the way it has been.  THANK GOD!!! lol

The day started at 530 in the morning when I received a text from Mike saying that he was not feeling well and was going to pass on our morning ride, but was not sick enough to eat some IHOP.  Well there went our plan for the morning. After IHOP we decided to go to Academy to shop for an inexpensive trainer because we were talking about how it was going to be raining the next few days and we still needed to get our workout in.  Found myself a nice $80 buck trainer, I could not see myself spending 2 to 3 hundred bucks on a piece of metal that puts resistance on your wheel and I can deal with the noise by turning up the volume.

For some reason Sergio broke into a dance when I was opening the package, he gets excited with these things. lol...

Thats when the real fun began!  Fortunately I have an awesome wall projector screen that we can see training DVD's on!  This movie was intense.  Riding a trainer is a beast in itself, there is no coasting, constant resistance and no wind to keep you cool.  My heat rate in a race is usually around 154, with the trainer and this workout I was up to 168 for pretty much the whole 1 hr workout!  This is tough, I can not stress enough. I believe that if we do these a little more often, it will give us great leg strength that when we get out on the road we will be flying.

Wally's Bike Shop Hell of the South Race...

Jan 2, 2011 -  Just the second day of the year and we started it off with a bang!  This was one of the wildest races that there is going to be in the coming years in the Rio Grande Valley.  It consists of paved roads, dirt road, pot hole caliche pits, sand and everything in between.  50 Miles of HELL!  Made for one hell of a ride! This was the first race made by Wally's bike shops owner to test the grounds for a new classic that he wants to introduce to everyone next year. He made it invitation based only this year.  Very well planned with Sag vehicles and a great meal after the race back at the shop.  The race started off in a standard peloton cruising down the paved roads. We did not know what to expect once we reached the caliche roads so I just wished it was like I had envisioned, a nice smooth hard packed dirt road.....

OHHHH! How I was wrong. Once we hit the dirt roads, I freaked out! My poor baby was getting thrashed. Felt like I was riding on rail road tracks over and over and over!  We got the sense of how it feels like going through the cobbles in the Tour de France.  I immediately just slowed down a bit trying to avoid the bigger rocks in order to keep from getting a flat.  After a while I just said screw it! I got to get through this and when I would go faster the bumps felt lessened.

This was when I really had to work to get back to the group, I had dropped a considerable distance.  I just kept on pedaling, passing another rider that had flattened out I just hoped my tires would last.

This was a tough section of dirt and sand in which you would lose control for a bit.  At this point I would hear rocks hitting my frame and rocks would get stuck in my breaks making loud grinding noises. 

Finally I caught up to a couple of racers.  Wally and Sergio.  It was a good ride after this since we started to share the load of pulling making a nice echelon.  Here Sergio shows that he does not know that when told to go straight, it means to go straight not turn! lol

We hit it hard. Making mountains look like speed bumps! Here we are tackling a 15 percent grade rise! Well it was the highest climb we did over a canal... The valley is verrrry flat.

On the turn around Wally and I stopped to check out that wicked noise that my rear tire was making. We figured that it was the hub bearings that were jacked.  In the background you can see my riding partner Sergio taking off, WOW could not wait a bit to help a fellow rider! lol

Sergio tried hard to drop me but as we all know I am a beast on the bike and I easily made up the time he had gained on me.  Sergio is here seen suffering the sandy roads huffing and puffing wishing he had a person to draft off of.

Caught up to Sergio and we took off again, trying to catch up to the two leaders ahead of us.  In this picture

you see me making Sergio work a bit. If I always pull I would just be hurting him, he needs to work too in order to be as fast as me.

We took it in in third place after one heck of a ride. Great start to another great year.  Get ready because now the training begins.  I have put in the miles in the off season, now it's time to work harder on losing more weight and building up the leg speed!   ooh and I just poke fun at Serg, he is a great rider but he is the first to read this blog lol