100 Miles – 8 Hours
Saturday was a training day. I was hoping to ride 100 miles in 6 hours, but ended up riding it in 8 hours on the nose. Actual riding time was probably close to 7 hours since I had a number of potty breaks, buying food & drink, traffic stops, and checking a map to see where I should go.
I need to go FASTER.
20060731
20060719
Get Running
Today, I started running as part of my regular training regime. Ok, my training is actually all over the place. I usually do aerobic work in the morning and right after work with bicycling then strength training shortly after dinner.
I did three short runs to get an idea of what some distances around my neighborhood would be and to start off a bit light so I don't strain anything before my body adjusts to the change in motion. I ran a .4, .5, and .6 mile interval for a total of 1.5 miles.
I can tell I could probably run over one consecutive mile but the side cramp, tight groin, and burning calves told me I should ease into running lest I pull something and need to take a couple of weeks off.
What makes me happy about today's running is that I no longer have the same cardio limit as I did when I first tried running two years ago. Now, it's just a matter of getting my legs built up.
Why have I started pounding the pavement? Well, for a few years now I've been wanting to race in a triathlon but I could never seem to get into a consistant training state of mind. I've always had some kind of distraction with work, relationships, personal projects, games and movies. However, the past few months I've been exercising pretty regularly and have made great improvements in my phsique and fitness level.
Riding the StP and previous training rides have made me tired, they really don't feel like they've pushed me to the limit. So, I can ride all day, I just need to work on speed.
Now that I feel like exercise is routine, I decided to add running to it and get the cross training effect.
My goal for running? First I'll start training for a 5-mile trail run and MTB race in September then start working my way to a Half-Marathon then up to a full marathon.
After I get to a half marathon, I'll incorporate swimming into my routine. .
Maybe I'll swim sooner than that.
Another reason to start running is so that I can enjoy some of the more demanding hikes that Oregon has to offer. It was quite challenging for me when I tried hiking several miles with a 30-pound pack on my back.
Friday morning, I run again.
What are YOU doing?
-Tomas
20060717
Seattle to Portland 2006
July 15 and 16, 2006
StP. Seattle, WA to Portland, OR in two days, 200 Miles via bicycles.
Total Trip Time: 14 hours, 24 minutes, 5 seconds on the bike
Moving Average Speed: 14.2mph
Gu Gels: 10
Power Bars: 4
Cliff Bars: 4
Bagels: 4
Litres of Water: 12
Flat Tires: None!
Bee Stings: 1
Bananas: 5
Also Consumed: Gatorade, Accelerade, Pasta, No-Doz, Grapes, Ice Cream, French Toast, Coffee, Pancakes, Eggs, Orange Juice, Chocolate Milk, Pseudophedrine, and Imodium AD.
Friday Night:
Matt met me at the PDX Max station with his bike. We then hopped on the MAX and got off at Gateway TC to get picked up by Kris and Angie.
By 6pm or so we were on the road, heading to Seattle.
After a dinner stop in the half-way point, Centralia, we arrived in Kent just south of Seattle to sleep the night.
Lee and Elizabeth then joined us just shortly after 11pm.
Saturday:
Started at 6:45am
Finished at 5:00pm?
Quite early into the ride, Matt's rear wheel broke a spoke. Luckily, he had a spare, which we quickly changed out. There was a bicycle repair truck at the pit-stop that we had just passed so we turned around and headed back. Matt was able to get some new spokes as extras then we were off again.
Just before our first major rest stop we saw a fire truck blocking part of the road and railroad tracks. As we rode around it, we were flagged by several volunteers to be EXTREMELY careful crossing the tracks since the surrounding concrete was breaking apart and had just caused someone to wipe-out. I saw him on the side of the road with a bloody face, oxygen mask and a bunch of paramedics cradling his head and tending his wounds. Ouch.
It was a lot of nice riding throughout the day. We got to see some great terrain, wonderful people and just had a generally nice time. It was great being able to ride with friends rather than alone the entire time.
Not even half-way through the day's ride, we were crusing along in a pace-line with me up front when I was stung in the right bicep by a bee! Ouch! I must have hit it at 20mph. I was kind of freaked out since I don't think I've ever been stung before, but I didn't have any allergic reactions to it so we continued on our way.
We also some some notable riders like the guy on the unicycle!
Also, there was a rider on a Big Wheel, a scooter, a bmx bike, and someone said they spotted someone on a skateboard.
It'sa Ferrari!
Then we met up with Kris, Angie, and Elizabeth at the halfway point in Centralia.
It was a good day.
Sunday:
Started at 6:15am
Finished at 4:00pm
Lee called at 4:45am to pull out of the ride due to pinched nerves in his wrists. He had been having problems the previous day with numb fingers and toes. I was sad to not have him there on day two, but we had to keep going.
Matt and I booked it at a pretty good pace the entire day with no mechanical or medical problems.
We had stopped a few times to refill on water, use the restroom and have some eats. The longest stop we had was about 30 minutes.
At this stop, we had to put on sunscreen and admire the "World's Largest Egg" that was made of plaster.
Matt and I periodically ride no-handed to get the pressure off our wrists, eat something while riding, or just to be goofy.
Actually, we were just hamming it up for the camera.
To cross the Columbia River from Washington to Oregon, we had to cross the Long View Bridge. This was a massive undertaking since it is only a two lane bride that sees a lot of large trucks go over it and almost no sidewalk for pedestrians. This was solved by the Gold Wing Motorcycle Club! They would queue up several hundred cyclists at a time then every 10-15 minutes would block traffic and escort us across the bridge. When we started on our way up, we were behind a tandem bicycle that had some speakers on the back and an iPod playing the theme from "Rocky". That was one of heck of a motivator.
Safely across the river, we picked up the pace a bit and just cruised through Rainier, St. Helens and Scappose with only very short watering breaks.
We even stopped in Scappoose for a Dairy Queen ice cream cone! Wow, did that ever taste good after eating powerbars, cliff bars and gels all day long. Mmmm...chocolate.
We were doing so well, we even skipped the last supported rest stop in favor of maintaining speed and finishing before 5pm.
4pm was our finishing time. Hot damn.
Holladay park is where we pulled into the rather large festival finish line. The girls met us there along with Lee! I was so glad to see them! But, after walking around the festival for a few minutes and checking out the vendors, Matt and I were beat and we headed off to the car to take us home.
I was actually feeling so good after the ride, I started considering next year's ride. Maybe do it ALL in one day, then take a car back to the halfway point and ride the second half with Matt on Sunday. Maybe.
My most sincere thanks to Matt for all the memorable pictures. Untold gratitude to the girls for being our transportation and support crew, and my sympathy to Lee's injuries.
Next year Lee!
Now, I've got to get some extra sleep...got more riding to do this weekend!
-Tomas Q.
StP. Seattle, WA to Portland, OR in two days, 200 Miles via bicycles.
Total Trip Time: 14 hours, 24 minutes, 5 seconds on the bike
Moving Average Speed: 14.2mph
Gu Gels: 10
Power Bars: 4
Cliff Bars: 4
Bagels: 4
Litres of Water: 12
Flat Tires: None!
Bee Stings: 1
Bananas: 5
Also Consumed: Gatorade, Accelerade, Pasta, No-Doz, Grapes, Ice Cream, French Toast, Coffee, Pancakes, Eggs, Orange Juice, Chocolate Milk, Pseudophedrine, and Imodium AD.
Friday Night:
Matt met me at the PDX Max station with his bike. We then hopped on the MAX and got off at Gateway TC to get picked up by Kris and Angie.
By 6pm or so we were on the road, heading to Seattle.
After a dinner stop in the half-way point, Centralia, we arrived in Kent just south of Seattle to sleep the night.
Lee and Elizabeth then joined us just shortly after 11pm.
Saturday:
Finished at 5:00pm?
Quite early into the ride, Matt's rear wheel broke a spoke. Luckily, he had a spare, which we quickly changed out. There was a bicycle repair truck at the pit-stop that we had just passed so we turned around and headed back. Matt was able to get some new spokes as extras then we were off again.
Just before our first major rest stop we saw a fire truck blocking part of the road and railroad tracks. As we rode around it, we were flagged by several volunteers to be EXTREMELY careful crossing the tracks since the surrounding concrete was breaking apart and had just caused someone to wipe-out. I saw him on the side of the road with a bloody face, oxygen mask and a bunch of paramedics cradling his head and tending his wounds. Ouch.
It was a lot of nice riding throughout the day. We got to see some great terrain, wonderful people and just had a generally nice time. It was great being able to ride with friends rather than alone the entire time.
Not even half-way through the day's ride, we were crusing along in a pace-line with me up front when I was stung in the right bicep by a bee! Ouch! I must have hit it at 20mph. I was kind of freaked out since I don't think I've ever been stung before, but I didn't have any allergic reactions to it so we continued on our way.
We also some some notable riders like the guy on the unicycle!
Also, there was a rider on a Big Wheel, a scooter, a bmx bike, and someone said they spotted someone on a skateboard.
It'sa Ferrari!
Then we met up with Kris, Angie, and Elizabeth at the halfway point in Centralia.
It was a good day.Sunday:
Started at 6:15am
Finished at 4:00pm
Lee called at 4:45am to pull out of the ride due to pinched nerves in his wrists. He had been having problems the previous day with numb fingers and toes. I was sad to not have him there on day two, but we had to keep going.
Matt and I booked it at a pretty good pace the entire day with no mechanical or medical problems.
We had stopped a few times to refill on water, use the restroom and have some eats. The longest stop we had was about 30 minutes.
At this stop, we had to put on sunscreen and admire the "World's Largest Egg" that was made of plaster.
Matt and I periodically ride no-handed to get the pressure off our wrists, eat something while riding, or just to be goofy.
Actually, we were just hamming it up for the camera.
To cross the Columbia River from Washington to Oregon, we had to cross the Long View Bridge. This was a massive undertaking since it is only a two lane bride that sees a lot of large trucks go over it and almost no sidewalk for pedestrians. This was solved by the Gold Wing Motorcycle Club! They would queue up several hundred cyclists at a time then every 10-15 minutes would block traffic and escort us across the bridge. When we started on our way up, we were behind a tandem bicycle that had some speakers on the back and an iPod playing the theme from "Rocky". That was one of heck of a motivator.
Safely across the river, we picked up the pace a bit and just cruised through Rainier, St. Helens and Scappose with only very short watering breaks.
We even stopped in Scappoose for a Dairy Queen ice cream cone! Wow, did that ever taste good after eating powerbars, cliff bars and gels all day long. Mmmm...chocolate.
We were doing so well, we even skipped the last supported rest stop in favor of maintaining speed and finishing before 5pm.
4pm was our finishing time. Hot damn.
Holladay park is where we pulled into the rather large festival finish line. The girls met us there along with Lee! I was so glad to see them! But, after walking around the festival for a few minutes and checking out the vendors, Matt and I were beat and we headed off to the car to take us home.
I was actually feeling so good after the ride, I started considering next year's ride. Maybe do it ALL in one day, then take a car back to the halfway point and ride the second half with Matt on Sunday. Maybe.
My most sincere thanks to Matt for all the memorable pictures. Untold gratitude to the girls for being our transportation and support crew, and my sympathy to Lee's injuries.
Next year Lee!
Now, I've got to get some extra sleep...got more riding to do this weekend!
-Tomas Q.
20060716
Update Soon
I'm recovering from the Seattle to Portland ride. I'm WAY tired.
In the mean time, here is a picture of me trying to catch bugs with my tongue:
In the mean time, here is a picture of me trying to catch bugs with my tongue:
20060712
Jets are Cool
One of the benefits of working at the airport is the ability to eat my lunch on the concourse and watch the take-off of the Oregon National Guard's F-16's.
I've been told this is a twice-a-day phenomenon as part of there regular training and constant vigilance.
Seems so odd that a jet so small compared to the passenger and cargo jet can produce so much noise. Sound that seems to shake the very earth beneath my feet is a real "Wow!" moment in my day.
-Tomas
20060710
Miles and Pirates
Saturday, July 8
I rode my road bike to downtown Portland REI to pickup my packet for the Seattle to Portland (StP) ride. It contained a Tyvek windbreaker with the ride's logos and sponsors, a couple doses of "SportLegs", a reflective wristband, number plate and sticker, a sample of "ButtR" and maps of the route we'll be riding.
I then rode up to Sauvie Island again to ride a few laps and put the mileage on my legs as well as give a final verdict on a new saddle from Specialized to see if it would aleviate any perenium discomfort I sometimes get with my WTB Speed V saddle. Verdict: Specialized makes some HARD saddles. I returned it the next day.
I was able to ride 65 miles to and from Sauvie Island. I would have done a lot more but the dogwood was in full bloom so all these balls of fluff were floating all around getting in my mouth and nose at every chance they had. I got a bit itchy. Bitchy.
With annoyed sinuses, a sore bum and back, I called it a short day. I just didn't have the fortitude or legs to keep going that day.
When I got home and took a shower, I noticed my eyes were beat red and my nose was running like crazy. Great time for an allergy attack! I took some psuedophedrine, napped and woke up feeling no better than when I went down. Hopefully, the next day would be better.
Sunday, July 9
Pirates 2 day! I planned on seeing Pirates of the Carribean 2 with Lee and Elizabeth, but I really wanted to get some miles in to see how I felt. Also, this would be a good time to re-dial in my WTB saddle and return the butt-killer to River City Bicycles.
After the bike shop, I made some pretty good time getting up to the airport side and working my way down again. I didn't time myself, but I did a lot of sprinting and kept up an overall good pace. I was able to get 25 miles on me on one waterbottle of Gatorade.
I quickly downed 16oz of water with a dose of "Endurox r4". Tasty. It seemed to do me well for recovery. I didn't feel tired or sore later that day.
I met up with Lee and Elizabeth at the theatre for a 3:50 showing, but it was sold out so we had to get into a 4:40pm showing that was ALREADY lining up at the door. Crap. Of course, this led us to get REALLY CRAPPY seating. Ugh. On top of it, there was a 4 year-old sitting to the right of me that kept talking and saying she was bored of the movie. Why-oh-why didn't her parents take her home?!
Regardless, I enjoyed the movie. I may see it again in the next couple of weeks since I missed a few talky bits due to the small girl, but if I don't have time, oh well.
I won't go into reviewing the movie, you'll just have to read one somewhere else.
-Tomas
I rode my road bike to downtown Portland REI to pickup my packet for the Seattle to Portland (StP) ride. It contained a Tyvek windbreaker with the ride's logos and sponsors, a couple doses of "SportLegs", a reflective wristband, number plate and sticker, a sample of "ButtR" and maps of the route we'll be riding.
I then rode up to Sauvie Island again to ride a few laps and put the mileage on my legs as well as give a final verdict on a new saddle from Specialized to see if it would aleviate any perenium discomfort I sometimes get with my WTB Speed V saddle. Verdict: Specialized makes some HARD saddles. I returned it the next day.I was able to ride 65 miles to and from Sauvie Island. I would have done a lot more but the dogwood was in full bloom so all these balls of fluff were floating all around getting in my mouth and nose at every chance they had. I got a bit itchy. Bitchy.
With annoyed sinuses, a sore bum and back, I called it a short day. I just didn't have the fortitude or legs to keep going that day.
When I got home and took a shower, I noticed my eyes were beat red and my nose was running like crazy. Great time for an allergy attack! I took some psuedophedrine, napped and woke up feeling no better than when I went down. Hopefully, the next day would be better.
Sunday, July 9
Pirates 2 day! I planned on seeing Pirates of the Carribean 2 with Lee and Elizabeth, but I really wanted to get some miles in to see how I felt. Also, this would be a good time to re-dial in my WTB saddle and return the butt-killer to River City Bicycles.
After the bike shop, I made some pretty good time getting up to the airport side and working my way down again. I didn't time myself, but I did a lot of sprinting and kept up an overall good pace. I was able to get 25 miles on me on one waterbottle of Gatorade.
I quickly downed 16oz of water with a dose of "Endurox r4". Tasty. It seemed to do me well for recovery. I didn't feel tired or sore later that day.
I met up with Lee and Elizabeth at the theatre for a 3:50 showing, but it was sold out so we had to get into a 4:40pm showing that was ALREADY lining up at the door. Crap. Of course, this led us to get REALLY CRAPPY seating. Ugh. On top of it, there was a 4 year-old sitting to the right of me that kept talking and saying she was bored of the movie. Why-oh-why didn't her parents take her home?!
Regardless, I enjoyed the movie. I may see it again in the next couple of weeks since I missed a few talky bits due to the small girl, but if I don't have time, oh well.
I won't go into reviewing the movie, you'll just have to read one somewhere else.
-Tomas
20060703
Weekend Riding Sans Pain
I think I have my road bike pretty well dialed-in. By this, I mean that I have the saddle in a position that fits my legs quite well, a saddle that fits my butt, and the whole thing just fits me well.
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