Serious Bike Love

Springtime is here. Yes, I totally know you needed me to state the obvious. If your bike is like mine, it is sloppily shifting and sluggishly braking. The cables are grimy and loose from cyclocross season and spring road riding. It needs some serious love, much like my body after riding to Copper Harbor (43.5 miles of hilly ouch).

I rode to Copper Harbor yesterday and met my parents there for dinner and the car ride home. My body was d-e-a-d. It wasn't just any 43-mile ride, which is still quite an effort for me, but it was a hard-effort 43-mile ride because I was trying to get there before my parents did. They left Houghton an hour after I left my house, so I expected them to pass me on the road.


Di riding down Covered Road. Don't let the snow fool you - it was 50-55 degrees F and super sunny. It felt soooooooo good.

They caught up with me on Covered Road (US-41) about five miles south of Copper Harbor. I had my own SAG wagon in the form of a white Cadillac with a personal photographer following me into town. I just got new brake pads and the bike stops like a dream, which is a good thing considering the giant descent into the Harbor. I peaked at about 37 mph. Yes, brakes are good.

I met Mom and Dad in town and we did a little jaunt around town and Ft Wilkins State Park all while getting pictures. This ride concluded 50 miles for me. I do believe this is the farthest I've ever ridden.


Di beginning her descent into Copper Harbor by the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge.

National Bike Month isn't just a great time to do long road rides and advocate bicycle safety and awareness, but it is the perfect time of year to get your set of wheels ready for a season of heavy duty rolling. My Kona Jake the Snake is heading in for a tune-up pretty shortly and will shift and brake like the performance animal - er, bike - it is come the next Copper Harbor ride.

Brrr

It snowed today. We didn't get a lot, just a dusting. It is currently 30 degrees F - a big difference from the 60 degree weather we had a couple days ago.

I didn't ride yesterday or today, so I am getting dangerously close to laziness. If I don't ride tomorrow, I will have motivational issues. The problem is the weather.

I have posted a ride on the Red Jacket forum for tomorrow at 1:00 pm. The temperature is expected to be 35 degrees, and the wind about 18 mph. I could handle 35, but 18 mph along with it? Uh, no. I am canceling the ride.

In fact, the next three days are cold with snow expected. I most likely am not going to ride. I'll probably throw on my winter clothes and take the dogs for a walk. I don't have class until Wednesday, which is expected to be nice with a high in the 40s and partly cloudy. I can do that. I will ride to my exams that day.

Summer really is just around the corner. The calendar tells me so. I just have to keep telling myself that.

Weather-Induced Rest Days

Rest day. That special day in between workouts that allows your body to repair itself and prepare for another hard workout.

Magazines often provide workout programs that tell you which days to ride and which to rest. It's a no-brainer. These rest days are necessary to prevent overtraining. Another guideline I really like is resting heart rate. No, it is not your heart rate while sitting in front of the television watch the most recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. It is your heart rate before you get out of bed in the morning. Recently, mine has been between 55 and 60 beats per minute. If I wake up to a heart rate that is significantly higher, 75 or 80 bpm for example, that means one of two things: I am either severely hungover and my body is dying for water, or I am overtraining and a rest day is necessary.

Unfortunately, programs and heart rates don't necessarily take into consideration the springtime Michigan cyclist. In this case, a day that isn't cold, rainy, or snowy is a day to ride. It is a day that cannot be lost to laziness. Seize the day! Ride your bike! With the unpredictable and ever-changing weather in springtime Michigan, overtraining is hard to accomplish.

Now, shut off your computer and go ride your bike. It's a beautiful day out!

Spring Training is Here

I woke up this morning with one thing in mind: long ride. I wanted to do a moderate ride for about three hours. I had three goals in mind:
1. Average about 15 mph
2. Maintain an efficient pedal stroke
3. Ride for three hours

I ate a healthy breakfast:
* Malt-O-Meal
* Yogurt with raspberries, vanilla, and chocolate chips
* Grapefruit
* 2 slices of toast
* Water

It took me longer than expected to get my lazy butt out the door, so I had a salad:
* Leaf lettuce
* Tomato
* Croutons
* Homemade French dressing

I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cut it in two, wrapped the halves, filled two water bottles with Heed and left.

I didn't meet the first goal. I took it fairly easy starting out. I maintained a speed of about 17 to 18 mph for the first hour. After the first hour, I unwrapped one half of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and washed it down with some Heed. I continued out of town and headed in the direction of the next town four miles away, according to the sign.

I geared down and began climbing. I knew it couldn't be far before I reached the top of the hill. I continued to climb. I concentrated on my pedaling and was afforded the luxury of being able to shift up twice and increase my speed. The hill wasn't ending, though. I finally reached the next town and realized I was still climbing. Four miles of climbing. Fortunately, I still felt good.

I decided to make the descent northward. Oh, yes. A descent. It was a long descent. I rode through two more towns, drank some Heed, and turned around to face my next climb. By the time I got to Calumet, I took out the other half of my sandwich and washed it down with some more Heed. Most of it was downhill from there. I proceeded to ride, but the sun hid and the wind picked up. It was cold. I rode into the wind until I reached the bottom of the hill. What I fail to tell myself every time is that this homestretch is also all uphill.

I did meet the second goal. I maintained a proper pedal stroke and it became second nature after climbing a couple of hills. The reason why I chose to pay attention to this is because I have a tendency to point my toes down when I get tired. I think the proper stroke was one of the reasons why my climbing was so good today. So, even though I didn't meet my mph goal, I had a very good ride.

After three hours and thirteen minutes, succeeding with my third goal, I reached home with 41.6 miles under my belt. My mileage averaged about 13 mph, which is actually quite respectable considering how many Keweenaw hills I chose to ride.

I walked in the house, had a tall glass of Ovaltine, did part of my yoga routine, and took a shower. I felt a little weak in the shower. I rushed through it so I could eat dinner. For my post-ride meal, the following was on the menu:
* Spaghetti with olive oil and spices mixed with a MorningStar Farms Chik Patty cut up
* Caesar salad with tomatoes
* Water
* Glass of Breckenridge Avalanche

Cyclists do long rides because they recognize the importance of endurance training. Riding slow and long can make you faster when combined with other training techniques. Another reason why I like long rides is that they help me meet my weight loss goal.

Looking at the details of this post, you will see that I've taken in a lot of calories. My breakfast alone equaled half the calories I should take in on a sedentary day. A long ride requires a lot of calories, though! According to Bicycling.com, I burned 2,023 calories - over 800 calories more than I should on a sedentary day*.

Ideally, I would have ridden my bike two hours after breakfast. My lallygagging made it necessary to consume another quick meal before I headed out the door. Normally, I wouldn't choose a salad for a pre-ride meal, either.

I am not sure what I'll do tomorrow. I have to work after class, so I am planning to drive to work, then bike to school and back. This way, I can drive home at night when I get out of work. If it's raining, I won't ride because it's too cold right now. However, I do feel a light ride like the one I have planned will do me a lot of good after this endurance ride.

* I base my caloric need on the Weight Watchers Points program. According to Weight Watchers, about 23 POINTS is what I should shoot for to lose weight. Each point is equal to about 50 calories (23 POINTS x 50 calories = 1,150 calories per day), and adjustments are made for fiber and fat content. More fiber = more food. Exercise also allows you to eat more food. So, no, I'm not starving . . . and yes, Weight Watchers works great. I lost 25 pounds on the program and kept it off using the program as a guideline.

Keweenaw Awe

I am very fortunate to live in an area that never ceases to amaze me in a truly wonderful way. In a place where very few can hack it, true beauty is found in the serenity of the Keweenaw Peninsula.

My teammate, Pat, and I returned to Calumet yesterday morning from our race. I hopped in my Pathfinder and took the back roads home as usual. There was a clear sky and the sun was in a spot that made the sky and the lake appear dark blue. The colors were rich and I couldn't but help feel my heart leap as I took in the view.

The following is a pictorial of what I saw.


This road is low in traffic and offers challenging hills and breathtaking views that can make the most mundane ride incredible.


The Keweenaw differs from the Eastern Upper Peninsula that is so well known to Michigan's southern citizens. Instead of roads lined with pine trees, birches and maples highlight the landscape.


Lake Superior offers a panoramic view unique to the Keweenaw.


Many deer can be found down by the lake this time of year. This one decided to walk away from my vehicle.


This deer dismissed me almost as quickly as it noticed me. She decided to meander in the direction of her friend.


This gal gave chase as she ran down the road with me slowly following her. She eventually ran into a clearing on the side of the road and looked behind as if to say, "Ha ha, you can't drive your Pathfinder here."

Inaugaral Mountain Bike Ride Of 2008

The third great Keweenaw blizzard of the year began yesterday. The whole state of Michigan had fallen victim to rather unhappy weather. It didn’t change our plans, though. My friend, Pat, and I drove through the blizzard, then the winter storm, then the rain. We completed our trip this morning and did a 10 a.m. ride at Pontiac Lake Recreation Area. PLRA is, in my opinion, the best trail in lower Michigan. No, I haven’t ridden them all, but I’ve ridden some of the best.

I was willing to forego our ride, today, but Pat insisted that we were going to ride since we just drove 550 miles to get here. We met up with two of his friends and ended up having a great ride. Halfway through the ride, I was smiling and laughing and thinking, “Wow! What a great trail for the first mountain bike ride of the year!"

With all the snow in the Keweenaw, mountain biking is a slightly distant thought, but there’s a race tomorrow at Pontiac Lake. This is why we fought the blizzard to be here.


This is US-41 just south of Calumet during the blizzard. Look carefully. There is a plow truck in front of the pickup truck.


This is US-41 between Chassell and Baraga.


There is something strangely beautiful about the Keweenaw Bay at its worst.


The Keweenaw Bay. The white-capped waves look small. In reality, they were at least three feet high.


We were expecting to get pretty muddy at PLRA. We wanted before and after pictures.


This is what the guys looked like after the ride.


They felt like they were in a lineup because I made them turn for another picture.

My Pipe Dream

The fact is I know better. When living in the Upper Peninsula, expecting not to see any snow in early April is a pipe dream. Just as the wheel tracks in my driveway were opening up to muddy potholes, the heavy, wet snow began falling from the sky. Driving down my driving, I noticed how beautiful the view was. Two inches have fallen already. The bright side is that I no longer have to scrutinize the ground for dog poop as I walk out to my garage. Two little dachshunds are poo machines that contribute excessive fertilization of the non-existent lawn surrounding the entryway to my house. Not only does the snow make this natural fertilizer highly visible, it covers the existing fertilizer that I diligently sidestep.


A great benefit of snow is the high visibility of the dog poo one wishes to avoid stepping in.

Spring fever? Check. Sick of snow? Check. Need exercise? Check, check, check, exclamation point! It’s not that I don’t enjoy the snow and no longer want to ski. It’s that I’m tired of throwing on layers of clothing and driving to the nearest ski trail for fun. I’d much rather leave my front door with minimal preparation to get my exercise. It’s time for a compromise. I am going to weight train instead.

I have been weight training at Michigan Tech since January and showing wonderful results in strength gains. I haven’t been going lately because I’ve been riding, or at least trying to ride in between snow and rainfalls. I also believe it is time to go on a maintenance program since riding season has officially begun, even though there is snow on the ground. Snow or no snow, it is here. Heck, my first race is this coming Sunday.

Give Me Wings, Or Give Me Wheels!

When I was a kid, I used to have a dream that ended with me flying through the air like Superman. It didn’t matter that I was only flying two feet above the ground. Oddly enough, it was in the direction of my favorite park.


A little bird was caught in my porch the other day. He watched me go out through the door, and later tried it himself.

I recalled that dream today as I was riding home from school. A little brown and white bird made quite a bit of noise as it left the snow bank flying across my path and soon with me for a short bit. Seeing the bird and the road in front of me recreated that dream for me, except I wasn’t Superman, nor was I a bird. I was riding my cyclocross bike.

I felt a strong sense of gratitude as these signs of spring greeted me, even the sun was out, and I realized that bikes are God’s way of giving us wings.

Vicious Cycle

When you’re sitting on the couch reading bike forums and blogs as you sniffle and cough and look out the window at the beautiful, deep blue sky above the trees that sparkle as the sun beats down on them, you get a little antsy. Actually, you get horribly impatient and envious of your friends who you know are outside riding their bikes. You want to be one of those crazy people enjoying the day on your bike in what feels like a tropical 40 degree F day after a long, cold winter.


Spring in the Keweenaw can be a vicious cycle of hope followed by disappointment. Just when the snow is almost melted and the weather hits the 50s, snow dumps on you that night.

Of all the illnesses I’ve had the displeasure of building up immunities to, there is one I cannot lick: spring fever. I’ve got it bad, and it only gets worse as nature teases me with these gloriously perfect days while I’m sick, and then sends a truckload of snow my way when I’m well.

It’s almost as if nature is saying, “April fools, Di! April fools.”

2008 Goals

The sky is blue, the pines are green, the snow is still here. To those inexperienced with life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, one might think it is still winter. Look closer, and one will see that it is over 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the snow is sliding off the roof.


A good sign of the spring thaw, icicles forming as the snow melts off of the roof.

Many of us have already started riding. All we need is a cleared off road and sunny sky to motivate us. With spring in the air, many of us are thinking about the dreaded “T” word - training. Ok, this early in the year, most of us are enthusiastic about the “T” word, and we’re very much looking forward to it.

This is the time of the year when we map out our goals and decide how we are going to meet them. I had already verbalized my goals for 2008 by the end of last year’s cyclocross season. I started out with the bigger goals, then I moved onto the little goals that will help me get there.

My Cycling Goals For 2008

• Podium finishes for all my races in my age group; first place age group finishes for the Keweenaw Chain Drive, Great Deer Chase, and Fat Tire Festival
• Lose fifteen pounds
• Become a stronger climber
• Use the bicycle as my primary mode of transportation
• Include cross-training to balance it all out

Race Finishes

I had podium finishes for all of my races last year except for Ore to Shore, when I took seventh. It is difficult to improve when your goals are the same as your results from the previous year, so instead of stating “I want a podium finish for all of my races,” I raised the bar to achieve first place in all the races I previously placed in. Realistically, I may not achieve the second part of this goal this year, so it’s a great goal to carry over to next year. I am certainly off to a good start.

Lose Weight

Last year, my goal was to lose twenty pounds, and I did it! I gained five back after about a week, and I gained ten more while on antibiotics this winter. I’ve lost the antibiotic weight already, so I’m still down fifteen pounds. In a nutshell, I am at my 2007 cycling weight.

My goal for 2008 is to lose an additional fifteen pounds. My goal was originally twenty pounds, but I feel fifteen is a much more realistic weight loss goal. I currently weigh 170 pounds, and my body loves this weight. Fifteen pounds would bring me down to 155, a weight I haven’t been for over ten years.

Losing this excess weight will do a lot for my cycling. This has been my greatest motivator. I’ve found that putting in at least eight hours a week on the bike helps me to easily achieve weight loss.

Become a Stronger Climber

Most places are fairly flat with some hills thrown in. The Keweenaw is the opposite: many hills with a few flats here and there. It is difficult to find a flat section of road to train on. For this reason, most of the cyclists in my area are very good. Even the mediocre cyclists are good by other people’s standards. We get a hill workout every time we ride. How we use those hills is what separates us.

This year, I plan to tackle the most difficult hills with enthusiasm and gratitude.

Commute

With rising gas prices and my goals of become a better, stronger rider, it makes perfectly good sense to ride my bike to work (6 miles) and school (11 miles). School will automatically give me four twenty-two mile road rides per week. With careful planning, I may lengthen that commute a couple times a week.


Even though there is still snow on the ground, the weather is warmer and some have already begun riding to work and school.

Balance My Training Regimen

Cycling alone can help you achieve a muscle imbalance thus setting you up for injury. This winter, I began incorporating a regular yoga routine along with weight training into my week. The yoga promotes muscle balance by maintaining flexibility while minimizing the possibility of pain and injury. I began an upper body weight training program to strengthen the muscles that tighten the most while cycling. I figure that a stronger upper body would minimize the muscle-tightening that is throwing my body out of alignment, because the added strength would minimize the stress (this is my own theory). It also makes climbing easier.

That’s a lot!

It may seem like I have a lot of goals for 2008. However, I really only have one pinnacle goal, while the remaining goals serve as the plan for achieving that goal. It is much easier to achieve the bigger goal in little steps. The best part? I’m making positive lifestyle changes that will benefit me not only physically, but financially as well.

He is Risen!

Happy Easter! Today is the earliest Easter most of us will ever experience. The earliest Easter can ever be is March 22 and the latest is April 25. The next time Easter will be on March 22 will be 2285! I’m willing to bet that most of us will have passed on by then.

I hope all of you have had a wonderful weekend and continue to enjoy the Easter season. Easter lasts 50 days. Many cyclists in the northern hemisphere, whether they believe in God and celebrate Easter or not, view the Easter season – the bulk of spring – as the time to break out the bike and start riding. The days are getting longer and everything is preparing for rebirth. Soon, the trees will begin sprouting their leaves, weeds will flourish, and cyclists will be hitting the roads and the trails in all their glory. Many of us realize that the squirrels never went away, so they are not a sign of spring. They are a sign that they have been there all this time making those scratching noises on your roof.


Altar at St. Albert the Great, Houghton, Michigan, USA. The Easter Vigil Mass is to begin sometime after dark and end before sunrise. It is to take place at night. The lights are out when the mass begins.

As a Catholic, I had the pleasure of celebrating Mass on Holy Thursday, service on Good Friday, the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday, and the Easter Sunday Mass. It isn’t just a lot of church. The four days unfold the death and resurrection of Christ. It is four days of worship, reflection, enlightenment, and the gift of the spiritual family – those who are not of blood relation, but who are there to offer love and support when needed, and to share in joy when life is going well. I felt a strong sense of community at my church this weekend.


The Mass begins at the site of a fire. In our church, it was in the basement by the fireplace. It is traditional to start outside, weather permitting. Everyone is given a candle and the congregation processes into the church.

I told Father Larry last night, after the Easter Vigil, that things went so naturally. That is a special way of putting it. You see, there are so many events taking place during the Easter Vigil Mass that are not commonplace for any other Masses of the year. There is a lot of preparation and practice beforehand. Things didn’t just go well last night; they flowed. We sang, prayed, laughed, and even had an ice cream social at midnight. It was the very example of what God wants for communal prayer, for the Mass. It is about people coming together and sharing in God’s love.


The Liturgy of the Word is done by candlelight. Afterwards, the church lights are turned on and the candles are extinguished.

I haven’t been a kid for quite some while, now, but I still like to color eggs and put together an Easter basket. I love tradition, which is one of the reasons why Catholicism suits me so well, and I will never think that anyone is ever too old for the Easter bunny, even if he is your alter ego.

I came home from church last night and broke out the egg coloring kit. I sleepily went about the coloring process while dreaming of slumbering in my room. It was worth it, though, to wake up to the colorful, friendly little eggs peering at me out of their basket.


How do you feel about eggs staring at you? They’re laughing at you . . .

The Easter bunny stuffed my basket full of Dove dark chocolates and caramel-filled milk chocolates along with some eggs and jelly beans. It’s the perfect basket fit for an adult!


An Easter basket fit for an adult.