Sorry for the delay!

So I know the typical excuse is "I've just been so busy and haven't had the time." Well, that is exactly my case. January - May is the busiest time of year for me at work and 8:30 am - 5:00 pm means absolutely nothing so please excuse my blogging lapse!

Training has been going great. I have been working my ass off on the bike and in the gym. I've been using my physical therapy appointments almost as personal training sessions. It worked out well because my injury was in my hipflexer and the PT's way of fixing it was just to strengthen every muscle around it, which has actually made my legs much stronger than if I had only been cycling.

My rides have been getting longer each weekend. Anything under 30 miles is almost non-existent, with rides typically being between 40 and 60 miles. Originally, one of my biggest worries was the recovery between rides (being able to ride a lot one day, and jump back in the saddle the next). Thankfully, I've been doing great with back-to-back longer rides, so that worry is almost gone, though I don't think it will ever fully leave. When I asked my PT for advice of what to do for recovery the night between stages his response was "Just don't stop moving... at all." Pain is to be expected and I'll welcome it. It typically subsides after the first 5 miles or so.

The month of April is going to be a pain in my ass, and my training. I begin some pretty heavy travel. My biggest worry is that I'll be without a bike for a week in the middle of April. I'm confident I'll be able to make up for lost time in the saddle pretty quickly and will be working on strength training in hotel gyms when out of town. That break will also allow me to drop off my bike for a tune-up before the ride. Stay tuned for orange-wrapped handle bars (orange is the MS color). The last week of April I'll be in New England. My big brother kicks ass and was able to arrange for me to have a bike for the entire time I'm up there so I'll be able to suffer through some really intense training rides in the mountains / hills of Mass. and New Hampshire. I've already got a 70-mile trip planned for me and my best buddy back home, so that should be awesome. Thanks Mike - love you brother!

All-in-all, I am feeling AWESOME about the MS150. I'm gaining distance on my rides, riding faster, form is better, my weight : power ratio is getting better (dropped 10 lbs since training started), and my appetite for doing better grows by the minute. There are few things I've ever been so passionate about. I'm in love with the cycling culture and community here in Central Florida.

Thank you all very much for your support with this race. I'll try and be much better with training updates!

Jeff

PS - Some credit is due...

I owe a huge shout-out to David's World Cycle in College Park. They hold training rides every weekend and really push hard but are absolutely amazing people. It's a pretty good feeling when you walk into a bike shop that services hundreds (with 6 locations) and the owners know your first and last name, as does most of the staff there. I'll forever refer anyone and everyone to them for anything related to bikes (like my boss just yesterday)! Keep kicking ass DWC!

Extremely Grateful!

I officially registered for my MS 150 race last Wednesday. Less than a week later and I have shattered my fundraising goal of $500. I cannot thank everyone enough for their extreme generosity. Initially, I was hesitant to ask for friends / family to donate. I just felt bad asking people for money so I figured I would just front the necessary money required to do the race and call it a day. I came to the conclusion that if I just tried it, the potential for raising WAY more than I could ever put up was a reality. So, I posted how you could donate, and look at me now. But in all honesty, it's thanks to all of you. All I have to do is ride a bike!

I can't tell you how much this means to Annie's mom. She was so excited when she found out that I would be doing this and in her name. I'll be extremely proud to call her and tell her that I've already beat my fundraising goal and am hoping to double it (at least) by the start of my race. If there is only one thing I am looking forward to with all of this, it's going to be getting a picture at the finish line after 150 grueling miles, holding up a sign that says, "This one's for you, Phyllis!" This disease has touched so many lives and if this is my small way to make an effort towards finding a cure, 150 miles is nothing!

To give a brief training update, I've been riding as much as possible! My weekends are entirely dedicated to cycling, even if it means squeezing in only an hour or two because of work or spending a miserable two hours pedaling through cold rain. I've also continued physical therapy on my hipflexer. I've certainly seen some great results - my legs are getting real strong! Yesterday I put down my fastest 7.5 mile time ever (that's a turn-around point for me when I do a few laps to Oviedo and back). I'm seeing my cruising speeds creep up more and more each ride and am starting to see sustained speeds at 20 - 22 mph (16 - 18 mph with a good headwind, which usually happens on the second leg of my ride). But, training isn't about speed (not yet anyway). For now, I am continuing to work on longer distances regardless of speed. Once I'm logging 100+ mile weekends, I'll start working on the speed, and that shouldn't be too long from now!

That's all for now. Again, thank you to everyone for all of the support with this race. I'll keep you all posted on progress!

Pain is Progress... right?

It's been a little while since I last posted; not because I've stopped training but because I've been extremely busy at work, logging many late hours. Every year I run an event called the Fly-in, during which I bring 25 high school counselors from all over the country to Rollins to learn about what we have to offer. It's a 3-day event and requires a ton of coordination, so my time was mostly consumed by that. But, now that's over! The event was a success and is one less thing to worry about.

I had mentioned going to physical therapy (PT) in my last post. That has started and hello pain! Now, I've been logging more and more miles in the saddle, so I am in a continuous state of sore legs, but in a good way. You know, the way you feel after a great workout. During PT, the therapist has determined that since my injury doesn't limit me during activity (mostly during stretching), the best course of action is to strengthen my hipflexer / groin area so this never happens again. To cut to the chase, the therapist is kicking my ass during workouts, pushing me extremely hard, demanding results, and getting them! So, although it might hurt to stand the morning after PT, I know my legs have been worked HARD and are getting much stronger. I plan on keeping up these same workouts after PT ends - it will only make me stronger for the race in May.

Wet ride!

This past weekend I went on my first group ride. It was advertised as a 20-mile ride averaging 12-14 mph. I typically do more than 20 miles (unless really hung over) and normally average 16-19 mph on my own but I figured that this would be good for me to hone my group riding etiquette. It was a really fun ride, though a little too relaxing for me. They offer different levels of rides so next time I'll do one a little more advanced but it was still a great ride and very well-organized.

After a night of cleaning... oh well!

My second ride last weekend was my first time riding in the rain. I wish I could say that it had something fun and unique about it, but it didn't. It was cold, wet, and not a ton of fun. But, the trails were almost entirely empty and I was still able to get a workout. I only wish I hadn't cleaned my bike the night before... oh well - I'll know better for next time.

This weekend is the cruise! It has been much anticipated and is very well deserved and both Annie and I are very much looking forward to it!

Progress continues...

After a great ride on Saturday, I did a little over 22 miles on Sunday and the same ride again today. Monday was pretty painful. Back-to-back rides are something I'm definitely going to have to get used to. One thing I found out this evening with a trip to a local bike shop is that I need a new seat. I was looking over some of the newer bikes and saw some interesting seats, looking nothing like mine. Apparently the seat I have now is horrible for my undercarriage and can leave lasting damage due to the way it's molded. So, before rides this weekend, I will be swapping out my seat with a new one that won't leave me in so much pain!

Something I've been in denial about for the past 2 weeks is the resurfacing of an old running issue: a groin strain. Yeah yeah... not pretty. Too much information - but that's the beauty of a blog: I write whatever I want! It hasn't been painful during riding, so I've continued to do so, while stretching and icing around every corner. I went to see the doc the other day, who was about 40 minutes late, just so he could charge my insurance probably close to $200 only to refer me to someone who knows more than he does about my muscle strain. With the race coming up in May, I figure now is a better time to address the issue than any closer to the race. Physical therapy will commence soon and I'll be able to oust this and continue training on schedule.

Up this weekend: more miles on the bike. Surprise surprise! I've also got a big work event starting on Sunday and continuing through Tuesday. Cruise in just over 2 weeks! (I hope they offer spinning on the ship!)

Hills and Headwinds!

I went back out to Winter Garden today to put down some more miles, training for the MS 150. I rode form downtown Winter Garden out to Lake Minneola. I Google Mapped it and it came back with 30 miles round-trip - not a difficult ride if it were flat, but I got my first dose of some rolling hills. 

I wanted to get a late start because it was slated to be a cold day so I wanted to make sure the sun was high and temps were as warm as possible, which today was in the high 50s. What I didn't expect was the steady 20 - 25 mph headwind, which slowed my typical cruising speed down noticeably, as well as kept me pretty damn cold. Even though speeds were down a little, it still felt great because I was getting an awesome workout. 

Lake Minneola - taken while hiding from wind behind a tree!

As I reached the city of Minneola, I was pretty well chilled but then saw the lake - my half-way point. When I got to the lake I checked my mileage and realized I still had a few miles to ride alongside the lake to get to the actual turn-around that I found on Google Maps. All was well as I approached the lake and I was looking forward to some sprinting to try and get warm and get some good speed. Well, winds jumped up and were blowing even harder and colder off the lake. Seeing large whitecaps in a lake in Central Florida is quite a sight. I made my way around the lake but noticec that the wind was blowing so hard that it was actually blowing me off my track, even though I was maintaining about 20 mph. I decided to turn around about 2 miles from where I intended to turn and make my way back to Winter Garden. There was a stretch of trail that was alongside a beach that wrapped around the lake. The wind was blowing the sand in a steady stream across the trail and I was in no mood to deal with that.

The ride back was great. Most of the hard climbs were on the way out and into headwinds. The ride home was mostly downhill with the wind at my back. One of the coolest parts of the West Orange Trail is that there are stations all along it. Some are simply parking lots with a water station while others (the one I stopped at today) are larger parking lots with a building that houses toilets, I believe I saw a snack bar, and a bike shop! Now, the shop wasn't stocked with tons of bikes for sale, but they were there doing repairs and selling the essentials, as well as offering rentals (both hybrids and road bikes). It's pretty comforting and impressive knowing that these stations are scattered along the trail. 

I ended up logging 25.4 miles, just a few short of my desired 30. But, with this being my first time tackling hills and facing such consistent and strong headwinds, I am very happy with what I accomplished. Tomorrow I plan on heading out to the Cady Way Trail. It's local and flat, so after beating up on myself today, I'm looking forward to a flat and fast 22+ miles tomorrow. 

113 Days til Race Day!

When I spoke with Chris at David's World Cycle, she told me that if I could do 65 miles on a Saturday and 55 miles on Sunday two weeks before the race, I would be in good shape. While I think the distance will be hard, I think the hardest part will be getting my body to be able to rest overnight so that the second leg of the race is do-able.

This weekend I'm going to head back out to Winter Garden (WG) and jump on the West Orange Trail. This time, I'll be heading west, where I hear there are more hills and climbs. Mapping it out on the Google Maps Bicycling feature (which is amazing), it should be just over 30 miles. Sunday I'll probably stay local and try and fit 25 miles into the Cady Way Trail somehow (my last round trip was 22.3). If I can get 55 - 60 miles in this weekend, I will be happy. Plus, with WG being such a cool town, Annie's going to come out with me and hang around while I ride and then we'll grab lunch and scope out the local scene. There are one or two bike shops right there as well and I figure if I'm going to be out there most weekends, it's in my best interest to make some friends!

I've got 113 days to turn my 60-mile weekends into 150-mile weekends. It's certainly a challenge, but if it were easy, I probably wouldn't be doing it!

Surprise!

Yesterday, Annie and I were running some errands and on our way home we stopped in College Park at David's World Cycle. Turns out, that shop is the only authorized Trek dealer in Central Florida. I happened to be paroozing the Trek website earlier in the weekend so I wanted to check out a few of their bikes.

I was chatting with Chris, one of the employees there, and told her that I was doing the MS Citrus Tour. Her response: "Oh yeah, the MS 150 - that's a great ride." Turns out the unofficial name of the Citrus Tour is the MS 150. I knew this ride was going to be long, but didn't know it would be 150 miles. After about 30 seconds of shock, I got really excited. Training will be turning up this weekend! I will be taking some time off from work here and there since there isn't enough daylight after work to get a decent ride in. I am super excited and very much looking forward to the challenge!

Hills of Fun

View from the West Orange Trail

After a fun night out with some friends last night, today's ride was questionable. I woke up way late (on purpose) and was feeling slightly under the weather. But, after some breakfast and a lot of water, I got my gear together and headed out to Winter Garden to try out the West Orange Trail. The route I took out there was straight through Pine Hills - the area of Orlando that lands us on the FBI's list of most dangerous cities in America. It was that way almost the entire way out to Winter Garden and literally changed as I turned onto Plant Street, running straight through downtown.

Winter Garden is an awesome place! There are lots of restaurants and shops. The roads are brick and there is a wide median straight through the center of town: the West Orange Trail. With football on this afternoon, I ended up cutting my ride shorter than I originally planned but was still able to get a little over an hour of riding in. This trail is incredible - certainly worth the 35 minute drive. It will definitely end up being one that I will be able to build up endurance and power with due to the changes in elevation, something that is absent from the trails closer to home. Not only is the trail good to train on, there were some pretty great views along the way. The trails were wide and cracks, pumps, and holes were all marked with spray paint - something I've come to greatly appreciate!

If you're interested in checking it out, let me know! It's always nice to have company.

Training continues!

Training for the Bike MS: Citrus Tour 2011 officially began last weekend! During my first ride after deciding to participate in the Citrus Tour, I immediately noticed a quicker pace and quicker mile times - it's incredible what riding for a good cause will do for your motivation!

As I previously posted, I've had some trouble finding another decent pair of riding shorts over the past week or so. RealCyclist.com wasn't able to provide me with the short I wanted, but certainly made up for that in taking care of me during the process; I still recommend them if you're looking for a good deal on bike gear. I ended up with a pair that I found at Orange Cycle here in Orlando. The guys there are very knowledgeable and typically have some pretty good sales. Anyone in the Orlando area with an interest in biking has to check them out!

This morning I tried out the new shorts on a ride with some co-workers and they were great - thanks guys at OC! Now, I know that anyone reading this who can look outside and see snow either falling or on the ground is going to laugh when I say that riding this morning in the 40s was cold, but it was! It took me a good 4 miles or so just to get warm. After that, it was a great ride. I rode out to Oviedo to meet up with my friends and did a turn-around and headed back to Winter Park and into Orlando. It was a great ride!

The trails I currently ride are pretty flat for the most part. Tomorrow, I plan on heading out to the West Orange Trail, which is much longer than the trails I currently ride and also boasts some pretty decent hills (by Florida standards, anyway). It will hopefully allow me to build both endurance for longer distances and strength in my legs with the hills. I also hear that parts of the trail are pretty cool with bike shops and restaurants that open up to the trail itself (side note: these trails are designated specifically for people to ride bikes, rollerblade (people actually still do that), walk, run, etc.). I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Training is off to a great start! I'll be sure to keep you in the loop. I'll be posting information about how you can support my fundraising to fight MS in the near future. Thanks again to everyone that has not only expressed interest in donating to this cause, but also given me the motivation to tackle this goal!

Making Right

There's nothing worse than making a purchase and then when it's not what you thought it would be, the place you bought it from turns out to be unprofessional and not really care about your situation, much less making it right.

Well, one company that's got customer service down is RealCyclist.com. I recently ordered a new pair of biking shorts online. After chatting live with someone about the product, it seemed like what I was looking for, so I ordered. I just received it today (5 days early with their free shipping) and it turned out to not be what I was hoping for. I jumped online and chatted with Nate, one of their product gurus, and he helped me find something that was more in line with what I wanted - almost like a personal shopper! When I asked if their standard shipping would get me the shorts before the long weekend (weather is looking amazing for the long weekend), he said maybe, but no promises. He then followed up quickly by saying that he would be willing to upgrade my order to 2-day UPS shipping at no additional charge - hello long weekend full of riding! This is how customer service should be everywhere!

Essentially, I love giving credit where it's due. If you do a great job, hell, you deserve to know it. So, RealCyclist.com, well done! You've made a long-time customer out of me and certainly earned my referral to anyone looking for biking gear.

This one's for Phyllis!

Anyone that reads my blog, follows my tweets, or is my friend on facebook probably knows that I've taken an interest in cycling lately. This stems from my brother, Mike; he lives in Basalt, CO, and is very much immersed and part of an incredibly healthy cycling community. For a few years, I sat on the sidelines on the east coast and loved hearing stories about Mike racing for 24 hours in the Moab Desert or racing on the road for 100 straight miles. Last June (2010), my brother yanked me off the sidelines and into the cycling game with possibly one of the best Best Man gifts ever for his wedding: one of his prized road bikes. He had it shipped to Orlando and since last summer I've been getting used to a sore back and a painful ass.

Annie and her mom, Phyllis

So by now you're probably thinking, "Who is Phyllis and what 'one' is for her?" Phyllis is my girlfriend's mother. She has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and is in an assisted living center in Tulsa, OK. While paroozing the web last week looking for any local races or group rides, I stumbled upon a race coming up in May that directly benefits the National Multiple Sclerosis Society: Bike MS - The Citrus Tour 2011 - JACKPOT! It's a two-day race starting in TheMiddleOfNowhere, FL and ending in Orlando on day one, and back to TheMiddleOfNowhere on day two.

Over the next couple of months I will be training and training hard. I've poled the audience on facebook and got an overwhelmingly awesome response - I have some pretty kick-ass friends and family willing to support me in this endeavor! I will be covering registration costs as well as anything else related to competing in a bike race, but am asking for anyone's help in donating to help meet my fundraising goal. I haven't yet registered so more information is yet to come. I know you've heard people say it, but literally every little bit can help! Whether it's $10 or $100, it's all going to fighting MS, a disease that has touched and hurt so many people's lives.

I hope you can find it in your heart to help me reach my goal and provide me the motivation I'll need not only to compete, but perform damn well in May!

Thanks so much for reading and you can count on training updates as well as more information to come in the near future!

Cheers!

Lakeridge Goodness!

Tomorrow I'm heading out to Clermont, FL, to visit Lakeridge Winery. I've been out there a bunch of times and it's always a lot of fun. The wine they make is decent; great when you consider the price.

There are free tours and tastings every day, and this weekend falls during their Winter Music Series, so we'll be able to enjoy that as well. Even when there is no entertainment, do the tour, try some wine, shop around in their cool store, and stick around - you can buy a bottle for $10-$15, pay a $0.25 corking fee, and sit out overlooking their vineyards and drink away! It's a great way to spend an afternoon - I try and go at least once every month or two. If you're looking for something new to try in Central Florida, I don't think this will disappoint!

If you've been before, post your thoughts about Lakeridge below in the comments section!

Happy New Year!

To anyone that might actually read this: happy new year!

I was home for the holidays, visiting with family. I had a great time, but learned exactly why I'll never move back to New England - too damn cold! I was home just long enough to experience a New England-style blizzard, as well as contract a very popular stomach virus that had been going around - woo hoo! Aside from the storm and getting sick, it was really great to be home and get to see most of my family.

New Years Eve celebrations were fun, but nothing to write about (even though I intend to do just that right now). Annie and I had a few drinks at home and then met up with some friends at a local bar called Tom and Jerry's. We all decided that it could be classified as an upscale dive bar: not quite a dive bar on the inside / outside patio, but location and exterior aesthetics could bring it there alone. What did you get up to for New Years Eve? Let us know possible cool ideas for next year in the comments section!

My bike and truck after a morning ride
on the Cady Way Trail

With the intermission between semesters, I've had some time to have somewhat of a life outside of work (even though that's quickly diminishing). I've finally been able to get back on my road bike and start logging some miles. For Christmas, my parents got me a bike computer so now I know exactly how far I'm riding and how fast - simple, but very nice to know! Since getting back into it, I've been doing a little shopping online for clothes / accessories at www.realcyclist.com. If you're into biking, you HAVE to check this site out. Their prices are great, shipping is typically faster than advertised (and often free), and they have an online chat support which actually connects you with a human that will give you legit advice on different items. To me, great customer service is something worth pay extra for. When you get great customer service and really good prices (and awesome sales), it's a no-brainer. Anyone like to ride in Central Florida? If so, post a comment and let's organize a group ride!

Not a whole lot on the horizon before the cruise (36 days and counting), aside from work and school. More updates to come when cool things happen - with the new year here, I plan on posting more often! This weekend I will be heading to a local winery to spend a day drinking decent table wine and smoking great cigars, after a nice morning bike ride, of course.

Until next time!