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.

Take the Challenge!

Chafing for a Cause is growing up. We're expanding the team and hope you'll join us. So far we've got commitments from four people to participate with us in the 2010 Austin LIVESTRONG Challenge.

Each participant commits to raising at least $250, with all the proceeds benefiting the LIVESTRONG Foundation and its good work in the fight against cancer. There are options to run (a 5K on Saturday, Oct 23), ride (10-, 20-, 45-, 65-, and 90-mile options on Sunday, Oct 24), or to join the effort without participating in the actual event (bonus: the Virtual Challenge is free to register).

I'll be running the 5K with Hillary and Spencer, and doing the 90-miler with Spencer as well. (Spencer and I'll probably be adding a 5-mile spur onto the route to meet our personal goal of a completing a Century Ride before then end of the year).

But with all the distance options, the event has something for anyone trying to make a difference in the cancer fight. We'd be honored if you joined us!

Updates to come (yes Alex, I'll shoot out an email soon)...

Chafing for a Cause (v2.0)

That's right! I'm hitting the blacktop again, and this time I’m trying to make a difference in the fight against cancer. I'm riding alongside thousands with the worldwide organization LIVESTRONG. I'm also upping the ante on my end: not only will I be riding, I'll be running, too!

I'll be running my first 5K ever on Saturday, October 23; followed by my first Century Ride (that's 100 miles, folks) the next day. That's for a grand total of 103.1 miles on the weekend. The training has already begun.

The money I raise will go to support LIVESTRONG’s programs and services, which inspire and empower people affected by cancer. If you or someone you know is diagnosed, these resources will help face the challenges of cancer, head on, and live life on your own terms.

Your support is greatly appreciated as I participate in the cancer fight with Team LIVESTRONG. Thank you!