Chafing at LIVESTRONG: The Century 80-Mile Ride

Pre-Ride Ride

For me, the day started at 5:30am... with wheels down at 5:39am:

I was displeased with this:

See that behind me? That's nighttime... not bicycles-riding-time. As you'll recall, I did this because the LIVESTRONG Challenge only offered up to a 90-mile route (actually 87 miles according to MapMyRide.com), so I needed to do more than 10 miles as a warm up around the neighborhood in order to get my daily total to the Century marker.

Alas, this was not meant to be, as I'll get to.

The Start

Andrew and Spencer were waiting for me when I finished the warm up, and we loaded up and headed out. We planned to get there pretty early... but I guess so did the other 3,100 riders. So traffic pretty much stopped once we got to Dripping Springs. In a long line of cars, we proceeded to the park that served as the parking lot, and hopped on the bikes and hustled over to the starting line.

It was pretty packed. We weren't even able to get into the starting corral in our 90-milers section. Luckily, they planned for this, and we were able to sneak into the coral as the first wave went out. The "Elite" riders, led by Lance, went out in front of everyone as soon as he finished his pre-ride speak. And, as just mentioned, we were able to follow in the first wave.

The first 15 miles or so, were a complete zoo. So many riders. So many of them obviously with no intention of going 90-miles, but somehow in our wave anyway. So... slow.

The ride was supposed to start at 8:00am, but due to the large number of people rolling out (and rolling in--since the parking line was so long), it didn't actually start until 8:15... which meant we didn't actually start until like 8:20.

I mention this because there is a cut-off time for the 90-mile route: 11:00am. You have to reach the 38-mile rest stop by that time, or you get re-routed to the 65-mile route. (Hint: This is called "foreshadowing.")

So, the slowness of the crowd and the tardiness of the ride was already working against us. But we were having fun, and picking our spots to pass people.

There was one such spot that I was able to pick, that Andrew and Spencer couldn't get to. So we ended up getting separated between a bit before the second pit stop (we didn't stop at the first one--trying to get ahead of everyone).

So I was out in front for a bit by myself... and enjoyed a faster pace. I pulled off at the second pit stop, and got in the long line for the bathroom while waiting for Spencer and Andrew to catch up. Unfortunately, this is where things deviated from plan.

The Crowded Port-a-Potty Line of Death

While I was, uh, making use of the facilities, Andrew and Spencer blew through the second rest stop without stopping. I got out of the facilities... and continued to wait for them.

And while, yes, we all had cell phones, they are pretty hard to hear while you're pedaling away, trying to catch up to a team mate who's out in front of you (or so they thought).

So, despite my calls, none of us had any idea what had just happened. I spent 20 minutes at Pit Stop 2.

At this point, I decided to keep moving... thinking perhaps Spencer's ankle had started acting up (he'd twinged it the day before during the 5K), and that they had just been moving a little slower. Confident they'd call when they got the chance.

There was a beautiful stretch of river that we rode by for about 8 miles:

Pit Stop 4: Where Dreams are Beaten Mercilessly with Baseball Bats

After which, I arrived at Pit Stop 3, where I stopped and waited again. By about 5 minutes into my stop, Spencer and Andrew probably had a cumulative bagillion phone messages and texts between them, as I was getting nervous about making the cut off. I called Hillary to see if she had any advice... during which time, I noticed the clock was ticking dangerously away, and that I should get moving.

As I pulled away from Pit Stop 3 (after waiting another disconcerting 20 minutes)... my phone rang. Spencer and Andrew were checking in: they'd just reached Pit Stop 4, where the cut-off is. They were expecting me to clue them into how far ahead of them I was.

Needless to say... we were all quite surprised by the answer.

So, the scene is set: Spencer and Andrew are 12 miles ahead of me. It is 10:30am. If I was going to be able to complete the journey I set out to make, I would need to ride 24 mph... in hills.

For some context, up to this point I had been feeling great this whole morning, and riding quite quickly. I was averaging close to 18 mph, in the same hills, a pace which would have easily gotten me to the cut off in time, if we had avoided the (what would prove to be fatal... in the figurative sense) miscommunication. Even allowing for the twenty minute delay, one would only have to average 15 mph to make it.

All that said, with the Century on the line, I rode my ass off.

And 12 miles later I found out that I'd missed the cut off... by six minutes.

Luke Receives Bad News, Goes into Murderous Rampage

Well... not quite. But, pretty close. Spencer and Andrew had been kind enough to wait for me, even though that meant they'd miss the 90 mile route, too. But, having trained for this big day for so long, and having raised money from family and friends with the pretext that I would actually complete said big day... I was pretty awful company for the next several miles.

Instead of stopping (after pretty much exhausting myself trying to make the cut), and insisted on continuing at a pretty extreme pace. And basically, by beating myself into the ground, paired with incredibly kind words and observations by my team mates, I was able to turn it around.

The Sun Comes Out and Delivers the News: "You're still riding bikes! That's something you enjoy doing!"

Something that really stuck with me that Spencer and/or Andrew noted during my pit of despair/anger, was that despite the misfortune of not hitting the cut-off, we had really accomplished a lot: we had raised $1,725 together for cancer support services, and we were still about to complete the longest ride any of us had done.

And not only that, we'd not been cut-off because we weren't in shape (indeed, we'd really been crushing the course when we were riding: it was the standing around that killed us), we'd been cut-off because we were trying to do right by our teammates: I'd been trying to wait for them to catch up, and then they deliberately skipped 90 mile route (that they'd made it to in time), in order to ride with me to the finish.

Really, I couldn't ask for a better, more supportive team than that.

So, pity-party finished, I really began to enjoy myself. And yes, the sun did come out:

The last third of the ride was incredibly beautiful. And riding on a beautiful day with great company is really all I could ask for. We rode quickly, but took our time at the rest stops, since we were no longer in any hurry. We chatted up some other riders, and some of the volunteers and support staff, who were all very cheery, and helped make the day so great by the end of it.

Hillary and Bethany met us at the finish (that's Hillary's hand looking for a high-five as the three of us come into the finish area):

So despite not getting in quite as many miles as we'd hoped (with 13.5 miles in the morning for me... and around of 65.5 miles for the ride itself... at the end of the day, my odometer read just over 79 miles), the day was a success. Which obviously means one thing: let's eat!

We raided the lunch area for some good eats, as well as the "beer" garden ("beer" is in quotes, because they were serving Michelob Ultra exclusively... which is really more like carbonated mineral water than beer). But not before posing for a final goofy picture:

Afterword

I would like to quickly mention how great it was to be doing this event as a team. Kasey, Spencer, Andrew, and of course, Hillary: you were wonderful teammates. Thank you so much for letting me do this event alongside you. It made the experience that much more fulfilling.

Friends, Family, Donors, Readers, Chafing Enthusiasts: thank you. I've probably said those two words too many times in my posts and emails, to where they may have lost meaning to some of you. So, I'll say it again, but in a different language: ¡Muchísimas Gracias!

This event is really about the money and awareness we were able to raise together. Without each of you, these events would not be nearly as special or meaningful.

So once more, and finally: thank you, so much.

Epilogue

What? You thought I was finished?

As an update for devotees of the Chafe: Spencer, Andrew and I will be undertaking a self-supported (well... girlfriend-supported) Century Ride through the Balcones Canyonlands this upcoming Sunday.

I was planning on including a post, since this is really a sort of culmination of the whole LIVESTRONG experience (since we were unable to get the whole Century in during that ride).

But, since I'm sure most of you are sick of these sorts of posts and updates by now, I won't be mass emailing that post. So if you're interested in reading about more chafing, please tune in sometime next week: I'll have it up here.

Thanks again. And Happy Riding.

Chafing at LIVESTRONG: The 5K

After many, many months of pestering my loved-ones to pony up their cash, it was finally time to earn my keep. At the outset, my goal was to raise a lofty $1,031.00, which was $10 for every mile I planned to run or ride during the LIVESTRONG Challenge.

The good news is I came very close to reaching my dollar-per-mile goal. I ended up with $8.94/mile! I ended with $735 raised for cancer support services, which is absolutely awesome. I'm pretty ecstatic about being a member of this team, which netted $1,725!

The bad news (which those of you who were quick with the math have already realized) is that my per-mile fundraising average was brought up by the fact that I was unable to complete a century ride on Sunday. I'll explain why later, except to mention that it was a logistical error (shared between both the way the event was run, and a communication error within our team), not a "bonk" or anything like that. We were physically able to go the whole distance (felt absolutely great, actually!), but we weren't allowed to.

Again... I'll explain in my next post. It was a bummer... but I'm choosing to focus on the positives from that weekend, rather than the one negative (and there really was only that one).

So: on to the 5K!

Cut to Saturday Morning, Oct 23.

6:00am - Alarm goes off; preset coffee does not start brewing

6:05am - Luke slogs over to coffee pot, curses at his inability to tell the difference between the AM and PM setting on coffee timer.

6:10am - First cup of coffee... Luke is now capable of speaking in full sentences.

Hillary and I had a light breakfast and COFFEE!!! while waiting for Kasey to swing by at 6:30, when we all carpooled down. Since this was our first time, we didn't know how the parking situation would be, and didn't want to be stuck somewhere super far away (since there were 2,800 people descending on downtown to run this thing and their brave supporters). But it turned out to be a breeze at 6:45am. We just parked in street parking downtown, three blocks away from the South 1st Bridge, where the run was beginning.

So we were there, ready to go around 7:00am, just waiting around for the 8:00am start. There was coffee for those of us still in need, and plenty of water, even some little breakfast treats for anyone still needing sugar.

We met up with Spencer and his loyal fans: his dad and his girlfriend Bethany. (Thanks to her we actually have pictorial documentation of this event!)

We got herded over to the starting line around twenty 'til, where we were stuck behind about 60% of the 2,800 runners. After a few congratulatory words by the announcers and the national anthem, we were off:

Did I mention there were 2,800 people? By "we were off" I meant: we sorta waited around a little until people spread out. But then, we were off!

If it's hard to tell, that's me in yellow, and Spencer is behind me to the left, and Kasey is behind him to the left again.

And then Hillary makes an appearance between the other two.

It was a run/walk 5K, so there was quite a bit of weaving for the first mile or so as people sort of found their pace and grove. It was during this time that we got some words of, ahem, encouragement from the peanut gallery.

Eli Asch was gracious enough to get out of bed before 8:00 on a Saturday and fight the crowds to meet us outside of Jo's Coffee with some jibes about my waistline and sincere encouragement for the other three... he also mentioned that he'd bought me a breakfast taco to hand me on the run, but then he ate it. If you don't believe he could say all of that in the time it'd take us to run by: you clearly haven't met Eli.

The first half of the 5K was all uphill. I felt like we all ran pretty strong: at least as far as I could tell, we didn't get passed much. Mostly just passed a bunch of people.

Running up South Congress was pretty fun. Seeing all the shops and things from a running pace really gave you an appreciation for the neighborhood compared to zooming by in a car.

Around the halfway mark there was a nice little table of water cups for a quick refresher as we ran. And from there on in... all downhill. Which was... nice. Really nice.

We were greeted again by Eli (who crossed the middle of the course) for a few last words of "encouragement" (read: taunting me, encouraging others) for the last stretch. And then we hustled up to the finish line:

It's a good shot of Spencer and Kasey... Hillary and I are kinda blocked out a bit, but you can see her and my white hat.

Overall, it was a really fun way to start the day. Lot's of thanks to Eli for coming out and showing his support... even if he still owes me a taco.

Thanks so much to everyone for your support. Ride details on their way.

Happy Running.

The 80 Mile Weekend

Well sports fans, (or as Kenny Powers might say: "reallygoodatexercise" fans), the LIVESTRONG Challenge is two weeks away! That's like... 14 days.

And unlike Kasey, who's been killing her 5K training by running like this:

The cyclists in this crew have been wasting time online watching things like this:

So, we decided we should probably get out on the bikes. So I'll break the weekend in manageable bite-sized parts to make it easier to read, using bold-face titles.

"Just a second... I need to wash the vomit out of my mustache"

Hey-oh! Got your attention, no? That was the quote-of-the-day as voted by Spencer and Andrew, and spoken by... me. Allow me to elaborate:

We started our Saturday at 8:30, and conspicuously vomit-free. We had, however, decided to take Andrew up the infamous hills of Redbud, before completing a nice 23 mile loop on Highway 360.

We attacked the first hill pretty hard. Or, perhaps I should say I attacked the first hill pretty hard. At least for someone who had been up late the night before at the pub watching the Giants choke... and who ate a lot of yogurt for breakfast... and who did not drink enough water in the morning... and who in no way ever makes excuses for embarrassing behaviors.

So, anyway... a little yogurt came up. Just letting me know I needed to drink some water. I did. Then I felt great. We kept going.

We decided to cut the loop a little shorter than typical, to go up a pretty big hill on Spicewood Springs that Andrew had had his eye on for a while. In totally unrelated news, I found out that Andrew was a masochist during this ride. Just the usual cyclist-type chit chat.

Llamas!

This morning, Spencer and I decided to get in some more miles. So we decided to load up his truck with the bikes, and drive an hour out to Marble Falls, TX. I have to say before getting into details: it turned out to be a ride that kind of dragged toward the end... but it was absolutely beautiful.


I wish that picture (taken more toward the end of the ride) did it justice. We spent the first and last 15 miles of the ride on county roads running through the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge... and it was the most beautiful cumulative 30 miles I've ever ridden.

The other great thing, was that we spent all our riding time today on county and farm-to-market roads, which are typically pretty rough to ride on. But these were great! Very fresh asphalt on most of them. Totally smooth riding. And I think there must be lot of cyclists who take advantage because we got tons of waves from the locals (all driving by in their huge trucks)!

(And if you think I'm joking because county-living Texans in their trucks can't possibly be waving at unshaven bike-riding pinkos... you're wrong. We ran into so many nice people out there... and how could you not be nice when surrounded by that much beauty!)

Oh... and Llamas:

Is it just me or does that one have a thing for Spencer?

New Friends

We continued up to Burnet, did a loop North of town, and went back through the Refuge to the truck for a total of 60 miles. The top of the loop was where we started to slow down: we hit a strong headwind while going uphill, and Spencer started to feel the fact that he'd been recovering from a cold. We passed some huge ranches, but mostly just got a bit beat up by the wind.

But back in Burnet, we found every cyclists heaven after a hard stretch of road: FOOD! A glorious Subway had appeared on the horizon and, alas, it was not a mirage. And next to the Subway? Another cyclist! She had her bike turned upside-down in typical make-shift tuning fashion. She'd popped a spoke (third or fourth of the trip, I'm pretty sure), and asked if we new how to true a wheel.

So I gave her a hand as best I could to get the wheel spinning so it wouldn't rub on her brake pads. During this, we obviously got to talking, and found out that she's been riding across the country!


She goes by T, and is cruising across the southern half of the States with Gaby (who I'm sorry to say we didn't have the privilege of meeting). Together, they are the Raw Roamers, and they're riding "for the prevention, education and reversal of diabetes and other food and exercise related illnesses." They're traveling from Jacksonville, FL to the shores of California and doing their thing. I wish T and Gaby the best of luck. If you'd like to help them out on their ride, you can head over to their site and hook them up with a donation.

After eating and saying goodbye, Spencer and I continued on to finish the last of our 60 mile day. Going back through the Refuge as the sun began to get lower in the sky, was simply absolutely beautiful.

Thank You!

I would just like to thank everyone for their support as we approach the end of this training and fundraising journey. Your support is what makes it all possible.

To those of you who have been so generous as to donate, thank you thank you thank you. With your help we are about half way to our team goal of $2,250.

For the rest of you, thank you thank you thank you for still being friends with me even though I'm constantly begging for money. Just know that I do it because I think it is a cause worthy of support.

As for me, I'm about 40% of the way to my goal of $10 per mile to be run and ridden during the LIVESTRONG weekend. So, if you'd like to help me get the rest of the way there (maybe sponsor one of those 103.1 miles?), you can by clicking this link.

Andrew, Hillary, Kasey, and Spencer are also working toward their goals, so please take a look at all the fundraising meters on the Donate Page, read some blog posts, and decide who you'd like to help in their quest for LIVESTRONG glory!

Happy Riding!

Sunday Funday!

The days are getting shorter, and the rides need to get a lot longer.

After a few busy weeks, a trip to DC to support ADAPT, and subsequent cold, I am back in the saddle.

To kick off my re-dedication to Chafing for a Cause and our cause de jour, the LIVESTRONG Challenge Austin Run/Ride, I decided to take a Sunday ride up Mount Bonnell.

This is a great 20 mile ride that allows one to punish oneself in a quick, efficient manner.

Also, there are peacocks nearby at Mayfield Park.

I'm looking forward to pre- and post-work rides and even a little running now and again.

100 Miles of riding

3.106 Miles of running

Please show your support by donating here!

Pre-Work Fun

Well, as I mentioned in my previous post it was time to get my ass in gear. Which brings me to Wednesday morning, at 6:45 am:


Yes. That's me... on my bike. And that thing behind me? That's that evil creature called "Early Morning." Some people say it's related to "Night Time," but I'm pretty sure their mistaken. Night Time is this wonderful creature that is full of beers and revelry and music and romance. This other creature has to be the Devil's brother... or cousin at least. Luckily, about 15 minutes into my pre-work ride, the sun decided to get off its lazy ass, too:


Proof that I'm not just playing these images in reverse during sunset instead of sunrise:


...although, I guess there's no "am" on my cycle computer. You'll have to just take my word that 7:05 is mean ol' the morning kind, not the nice dinner-related version.


So, I why did I leave the warm comfort of my bed before 7:00? Well, it turns out there's this big bike ride I'm doing in (now) 19 days. That's, like, less than three weeks. Also, I've only raised money for 31.5 of the 103.1 miles I'll be running/riding. So, I figured the best way to meet my $10/mile goal, was to blackmail my readers with the threat of more pictures of my ugly mug (after torturing them with a few taken before there was even light outside). Thus, if you'd like to avoid more pictures of me, please donate here! Or conversely, if you can't get enough of ma' purty face, please donate here!

(The cleverer among you will note that those links go to the same place. But, shhh, don't tell.)


There are a few things worth noting about my 18.6 pre-work, pre-breakfast, totally donation-worthy ride. First, I discovered the Great Northern Boulevard (seen above). This is a great stretch of in-city road just north of me that runs perfectly straight, with no risk of cars crossing the lane. It's a great feeling when you can watch your cycling computer tick up to 24+ mph while in-city.

Another thing is that I look great in my Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop cycling hat:


I won this hat in a raffle going to a showing of Ride the Divide with Eli a couple weeks ago. Awesomesauce.

(On a related note, this documentary which discusses the "Tour de Divide" mountain bike race from Canada to Mexico along the Rockies, is--for lack of a better description--the sweetness. The makers are donating a portion of all their proceeds to LIVESTRONG: you can check them out, and buy the movie if you'd like. I mean, for serious, look how awesome this is:



Is that sweet or what? Also, Erik Mathy of 1Gear1Cause was at the screening because next year he's going to attempt the 2,741 mile ride on a single-speed mountain bike. For those of you who don't know how crazy-awesome slash just-plain-crazy this is... well... I don't really have a way to describe it to you. But it is. You can support his efforts--which also benefit LIVESTRONG--here.)

Also, during part of my ride, I got to try to keep pace with a really, really (really) fast cyclist. His tree-truck (yet shaven, and thus daintier than mine), legs got him going from a stop at a light, to around 30 mph (no joke, I was trying to keep up and checking my computer to see) in about 30 yards. Following him (or trying to) for around 4 miles, made my trip speed average go from 17.2 mph (pretty good for me for in-city riding), to 18.2 mph! With that boost, I got the motivation to try to keep it up (I was only about halfway into the ride at this point), and was able to finish with a final average speed of 18.0 mph. It made me tired:


Oh, remember that picture of the church when the sun was just barely coming up? Here is it toward the end of the ride:


It's a lot brighter at the end, no? Eddy greeted me when I got home:


Hillary wasn't up yet. But to her credit, she works from home, and went out and killed at 3-mile run later this day in prep for her 5K. (She's still working toward her goal, too, so show some love! For that matter, so are Andrew, Kasey and Spencer! We all appreciate your support.)

Happy Riding.

25 Days

There are 25 days until the 2010 Austin LIVESTRONG Challenge Weekend begins. Thus, there are 26 days until Kasey, Hillary and I have to run a 5K. And 27 days until Andrew, Spencer and I have to ride 100 miles (well... 90, but with a 10+ mile warm up so we can say we did a century!)

This is mostly as a public service announcement to myself. The fundamental message is as follows:

"GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR!"

This morning at 9 was so nice riding in to work (cool, sunny with a bit of a breeze)... I think I'll be able to find some motivation for some pre-school/work short rides this week.

Also... we're counting down the time left to raise money for the cause. This means I should bring a point-and-shoot on my rides: I find that vaguely disguising "please give me money" emails with pretty pictures and witty anecdotes helps with the fundraising process. So, more of those will be coming shortly.

Happy Riding!

Tour de Florence

When I signed up for the Tour de Florence, a ride through ranch land and vineyards near Georgetown, I meant for it to be a kind of warm-up/gut-check for the upcoming LIVESTRONG Challenge. What I got was an extensive lesson in roadside tube-patching.

Flat #1, 6.4 miles in.

To make a long story short, I had to patch my tube twice.

Flat # 2, 16.4 miles in. I don't know why I am smiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the second patch, I remounted the tire and it immediately lost air... no worries though! I had another tube in my pocket. A cyclist is always prepared, right?

Not so fast my friend. The new tube's valve stem wasn't long enough for my deep rims and I couldn't pump it up. At this point, the trailing car for the ride showed up and we got a ride back to HQ.

Hitchin' a ride. Hangin' the head.

Lessons learned:
Don't get flats.
Make sure your valve stem reaches beyond your aero rims.
Don't get flats.

I tried to take some other pics, but they aren't real great or anything (we had barely gotten out to the nice country roads):

Two final thoughts:
1) 16.4 miles used to be a decent ride for me, but now it feels like a failure, so that's good, right?
2) I saw the original owner of my bike, so that was neat.

Meet the Team: Spencer

During November 2009, I decided to follow some advice and get healthy.

Chafing for a Cause combines a few of my favorite things in life:

Bicycles
Being useful to my community
Spending time with friends

I am very happy that Luke pulled this blog together to have a space to articulate what we are all trying to accomplish.

I've gone from part-time bicycle commuter to weekend warrior in just a few months.

It is great to have such an opportunity to get in shape, help others, and spend time with friends.

I have a set a goal of $250 and am dedicated to completing the 5K and the 90 mile ride (with the 10 mile bonus pregame with Luke). Please join myself and our team as we Chafe for a Cause!

Visit My Page

Meet the Runners: Kasey

Hello! My name is Kasey, and I am participating in the LiveStrong Challenge. I am dedicating my run to my beautiful mother, Debbie Brizendine, who could out drink, out party, and out style me at any given moment. Often times at the receiving end of "Kasey's mom has got it going on," I look forward to training and participating in this event in her honor!

Thoughts on Training

This weekend, I challenged myself to go 70 miles. It was pretty awesome. I got up nice and early (6:20am!) to hit Loop 360, then I headed north to Parmer/Ronald Reagan. The route can be seen here. I did pretty well considering it was my longest ride ever. I got a little tired around miles 35-40, but after that I was fine. In the end, my computer read 75.3 miles at a rate of about 15.7 miles per hour (not quite as fast as I would have liked, but I wasn't sure how I was going to hold up).

I took some rough pictures with my phone, enjoy!

Loop 360 in the early morning

The open road out on Ronald Reagan Blvd.

Big Blue Sky

As I rode I was thinking that I want people to know that when we commit to do the 90 miles for the Challenge, we are doing more than just riding on that one day, we are preparing all the way up until the event. I really never thought I would ever ride more than 40 miles, but there I was on a Saturday morning in the Texas heat pushing myself for no other reasons than 1) it was fun, and 2) I want to do it right when it comes time for the actual LIVESTRONG ride in October. In other words, I sure as heck want to be in condition to finish the full 90 miles, and I want people to know that when they support me, I'm putting in the time.

Is a weekend century ride in the future? Stayed tuned to find out...

Death by Hills

Grant, who is new to Austin (fellow Whittie), needed to taught a little lesson in humility. (And by that I mean, he doesn't at all need that lesson, but it made for a good opening sentence.) So we took to the hills of Redbud Trail.

In case that terrain map of the hilly parts doesn't do it justice. This is the ride we did:

So, yeah. It was kinda steep. That's about a 5% grade, which is a Category 4 climb when you translate into Tour de France lingo. Which is the easiest hill that actually is dubbed as a climb... but I think if its steep enough that its worthy of recording for pro cyclists, it falls into the "Damn Tough" Category in my climb grading system.

But the best part is that Grant rode these death hills on his fixie (that's translated as "fixed-gear bicycle" for the non-hipsters of you out there). Meaning he didn't have gears. Meaning he couldn't gear down. Meaning his thighs exploded. (Not to mention that unlike a single-speed, a fixie cannot move w/o the pedals moving--so he didn't even get to enjoy the downhill coasting!)

Anyway, huge props to Grant for even trying to take these hills on with a fixie. There's no way I would have been so stupid brave.

I won't be around the computer much this weekend. I'm flying out to LA to take a road trip back to Austin in order bring one of our teammates out here. I'd just like to highlight Hillary's dedication to this cause: she's so committed that she's moving all the way out here, just so she can run that 5K in October. Many props and kudos for that!

Happy Riding!

Meet the Riders: Andrew

Greetings, my name is Andrew and I'm hoping to ride 90 miles for the LIVESTRONG Challenge. I figured I would use this space to share a little about myself.

That's me on the left.

I got into cycling in college, where it made sense to bike everywhere. Since then, I've worked to find ways to be able to bike to work, to the store and to generally ride it as much as possible for various errands and meet-ups with friends.

My first organized ride, the Austin Autism Society Bike Ride, was only in April of this year. It was a great experience, and I've been waiting for the right time to take on another big ride.

I chose the LIVESTRONG Challenge for a few reasons. Some of them are personal; other reasons include:

• The mission of the organization (obviously)
• The hard sell that Spencer gave me about a month ago
• Being able to ride with friends
• This commercial:
  

Thanks to all who are supporting us! Here's my LIVESTRONG page:

http://austin2010.livestrong.org/andrewgregory

I plan to post some pictures of our training rides in the future, so stay tuned!

Sunday Morning with Andrew

I got up and the bright-and-early hour of 6:15am in order to hit West Parmer Lane on the new (for me) Raleigh Sport (picture to come). After pouring a pot of coffee down my throat and giving Eddy some scratches behind the ear, I drove up to Andrew's house. We did a quick tune of my front derailleur, and were on the road before 8am: a necessary precaution when the high for the day is expected to be in the triple digits.

The highlight was bombing it down the hill after mile 16. Although my computer was doing weird things (I think it needs re-calibrated), Andrew and I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations based on his computer, and think I hit 40+mph.

Of course... I got passed by a guy on a Trek Madone, but we're not going to talk about that. (Since his bike costs around, oh, $4,000 more than mine, I think he automatically is disqualified in the badassery contest that he didn't know he'd entered.)

Beyond that, the ride was as uneventful as it was pleasant... which is a strange thing to say about an almost 50-miler. But it was really pleasant.

As a quick reminder: Chafing for a Cause is recruiting! We've got four members so far, and are looking for more. So if you're interested in raising money for the fight against cancer, or have also brainwashed yourself into thinking that exercise is fun, please click the link in the sidebar.

Hope your weekends were great! Happy riding.