AKA Bravo Bravo

Monday, August 11, 2008

The ULCER!

WOW! I mean WOW! I think that was the coolest thing I've ever done. It was so exciting to be a part of. There were 1600 riders that participated. I trained hard for this, and it really paid off. I really surprised myself with how well I did.

To line up the riders, they had 4 categories: team time trials, race pace (20+), medium pace (15-19mph), and everyone else. Rob and I ended up lining up in the "15-19 mph" pace. That seemed about what we had averaged over our big rides. To start, we found some club riders that were moving pretty fast, and just stayed in their draft. It was so cool to be a part of a peloton. The sounds of dozens of tires humming on the pavement, the constant warning shouts and hand signals, the POP! and pshhhhhh! of tires popping, riders going down that you had to dodge - man, it was such a rush. I ended up averaging 20.5 mph over the whole race. It was sweet! I'm still on a high from it.

I made a little video/slideshow of the event. I couldn't help but put it to the "Rocky" theme music, so watch out for corniness - but enjoy!

Barack Rolled

ULCER post coming soon.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

More on Cycling...

So with the ULCER coming up on Saturday, I've been working hard to get ready. It's been hard to create time to train. Between training, my calling in the young mens, my work, and my family, it's been a rather stressful summer. I've even developed an ulcer, which I discovered Sunday. Doc says it's time to cut out the stress. How do you like that? An ulcer right before the ULCER. OH SWEET IRONY!

I'm a bit anxious for the race. I feel ready however. We've trained our little buns off. Rob and I did a 75 miler last Saturday. It was good, but difficult toward the end. I forgot my pain killers. In fact, I'd like to introduce you to Rob. This is Robert Yeo (left), my life-partner. I mean my riding partner. This picture depicts basically how I know him. He's always leaving me in the dust. You're actually looking at his better side. This other pic is of me trying to keep up with Rob. I was pretending that there happened to be a sports photographer that was interested in taking shots of me while I was riding. I think this is how I would pose if that were the case. Unfortunately, it's not true. I really just like to take pictures of myself. I also threw in an action-shot to give you an idea of what things look like from the bike seat. Not many people have that opportunity to actually sit on a bicycle after all.

Rob's been a champ to train with - he's strong as an ox and is difficult to keep up with. So a quick note out to Rob - Thanks for working with me bro - there's no way I could have trained for this thing without you. What a great life... I mean riding partner you are.

Yesterday I did my last real training ride. It was my same hilly 20 miler that I usually do. I broke my record again and did it in 67.5 minutes. That was tough - I was pretty beat. I rode hard, and there was a head wind the entire time. These pics are right after that ride. I was happy to have it over with.

Next up, 111.