Intro to the 2012 Tour to Tanglewood

Have you ever been so deeply affected by something out of your control that you are left feeling helpless to do anything about it?  I have, and it started in 2003 when my Mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  It is hard to really describe this disease because it affects everyone differently, and to different extents.  Some people who have it you would never know.  Others who have it, can't do much for themselves.  You see, MS affects the central nervous system, and impairs parts of the brain in a very random nature.  Things like balance, hearing, sight, memory, and even the sense of touch can be affected to one degree or another.

Without getting into clinical detail, my Mother has a progressive form of MS meaning it gets worse as time goes by.  There is no cure, only medications that slow the spread of the lesions on the brain.  The thing is, over time, these medications lose their effectiveness as the body gets used to them.  Mom is on a currently on an experimental medication as a last ditch effort to control the progression of the MS.  This is not to say that her MS is worse than others.  In fact, she can function quite well.....for the most part.  She still has flares that put her in the bed for days and sometimes weeks at a time.  She has a lengthy history of falling due to her unsteadiness, and has even choked on soft foods because the part of the brain that controlled swallowing failed for a short time.

Because of MS, Mom had to take early retirement from her job as a special needs teacher where she taught and cared for pre-school handicapped children and tried to prepare them for a possible life in mainstream schools.  She succeeded in this quest many times which  is a tribute to her abilities.  However, just a couple of years after being diagnosed she was faced with a very difficult decision.  The MS had started to affect her fatigue level, as well as her cognition.  It was an inner fight to determine whether or not she could stay until retirement.  The decision was finally made for her, when she started to lose control of her arm and hand muscles....making her a liability because she could no longer hold the children, or change them.  She went out on full disability, and later an early retirement.

As if losing her dream job wasn't enough, MS made it to where she could no longer take care of the house that she had custom built just a couple of years before.  This was the house she had dreamed of all of her adult life, and she could no longer take care of it, and was finding it difficult to take care of herself in such a large environment.  She had to sell the house, and she went into assisted living.  Oh, and I forgot to mention, her ability to drive diminished to the point it was no longer safe for her to operate a car.

So, here we have a woman in the prime of her life with everything that she ever wanted, and in a period of about two years it all vanished because of MS.  Talk about unfair!

This is why the Tour to Tanglewood is so important to me each year.  I am helpless to do anything about MS.....at least on my own.  However, when partnered with the National Multiple Sclerosis Association my small contributions are added to all the other contributions and that promises change in the future for existing and future MS patients.  As you have read earlier, 2011 was my first year participating in the Bike MS, Tour to Tanglewood.  What started as just wanting to ride 30 miles each day turned into riding 50 miles each day.  I was also able to raise $610.00 which was pretty cool considering I only had about a month to get the money together before the Tour started.

This year, I am planning on raising more money, and riding further as well.  My goals are to raise $1000.00 and ride a full 100 mile century on Sept 15th, followed by an additional 70 miles on the 16th, for a total of 170 miles.  Both are lofty goals, but as you can see, I am dedicated to doing my part to find a cure for this disease.  I am currently raising money for this event, and ask that you share just a couple of dollars to help people like my Mom find a cure for this disease that takes so much away from otherwise healthy and vibrant people.

You can read more about my Mom and donate to the NMSS here.

First Self Sustained Century Ride

A self sustained century.....what the heck is that?  Simply put, it is an unsupported ride totalling 100 miles where you bring what you need to survive.  Even though the Tour to Tanglewood is fully supported, I wanted to be able to do the ride without depending on any outside sources.  It is a little more involved than just getting on a bike and riding for 100 miles and calling it a day.  There is preparation involved, that can actually start days ahead, not to mention how your bike is equipped.  Lets take a look at the bike and what is needed first off.

When you buy a bike, it is stripped bare.  There is no storage on the bike at all, not even for water bottles.  This is fine for a quick ride in the neighborhood, or a couple of miles down the road.  However, if you have a flat, you have a bad problem, and if you get thirsty, you have a dangerous problem.  These are some of the considerations I thought about when I bought the bike.  I had to have it outfitted for carrying water, and for holding emergency supplies.

This is how I outfitted the bike when I bought it.  I sweat a lot, so two bottle cages were a must, and carry two 26oz Purist water bottles which works out great for my 50 mile rides, even longer in cooler weather.  You can also see a black tube under the front bottle.  That is the frame pump which comes in handy to air up your tires, and doesn't run out of air like a CO2 cartridge does.  Underneath the saddle I have a saddle bag that contains a combination bike tool which has pretty much everything you need to adjust or fix something on the road.  There is also a spare inner tube for easy flat fixes, and just in case Murphy is riding along, I have a patch kit to fix a compromised tube.  Theoretically, I can recover from two flats on one trip without having to call roadside assistance.  I also keep a swiss army knife just 'cause, and an old driver's license just in case I'm not able to tell anyone who I am or where I'm from.  There is a paper towel for cleaning my sun glasses, a ziplock bag for my cell phone in case of rain, and a presta valve adaptor so that I can use a regular air pump if needed.  That pretty much fills this bag up, but allows me to deal with a variety of situations.

There is no room in, or on the bike for food.  That's where the cycling jersey comes in.  Yeah, they might not be the most stylish of garments, but they are functional.  The fabric blocks the sun, and wicks away the moisture caused from sweating (it works!).  The best part is the three pockets on the rear panel.  They are usually quite deep and can carry lots of things from jackets, to phones, to food.  Everyone's dietary requirements are different, but I usually try to carry about one granola bar or equivalent (160ish calories) for every hour I plan to ride, or every 10 miles in some cases.

Speaking of food, part of riding a long distance happens a couple of days beforehand.  This is one of those times when you want lots of carbs in your diet.  Without getting too technical, carbs are where you get your energy reserves.  Pasta is a great source of these carbs, and it is recommended that before you embark on a long ride, you load up on carbs a couple of days before you ride.  This gives your body time to process the carbs, and store them.  Don't worry, you will use them up quickly.  Without them, your body will lose energy very quickly, and your muscles will start to burn.  You also want to load up on water the day before, as well as right before the ride.  This will make sure you are hydrated and will actually make you faster over the long haul.  Trust me on this.  I've ridden hydrated and unhydrated, and there is a noticable difference in how you feel and how you perform.

So, we are getting the idea of what it takes to go the distance on a bike.  Up to this point, I was doing 50 miles regularly, and 60-70 miles occasionally.  As the cycling season was getting into full swing, and the temperatures started to climb, I saw a major issue in my plans for a self sustained century....Hydration was going to be an issue.  Sure, I would have support on the Tour, and on my training rides, I could stop at fire departments and such to hit water fountains, but I found more than once that nobody was at these places when I needed them to be.  A solution had to be found, and it had to be found quickly before the hot weather hit.

The answer came from a visit to Paul's Cycling and Fitness and another conversation with Dale Harrell.  I explained my problem, and the fact that I didn't want to to to a backpack mounted hydration system.  What we came up with was this dual carrier option that mounted to the seat rails.  I picked it up and slapped it on the bike with high hopes.  Now I was able to carry 104oz of water with me, or other liquid.

Water is a great thing to drink on a long ride.  Its refreshing and it does a great job of hydrating you.  However, it does nothing to replenish your electrolytes and does nothing for your caloric intake.  To keep things in perspective, you can burn around 900 calories an hour riding a bike, and you need to replenish some of them to avoid bonking (running out of gas).  This is where sports drinks come in handy.  Right now, for spring riding, I am running three bottles of water and one bottle of Gatorade (or other sports drink).  This helps to keep my electrolytes in tact as well as boosting my caloric intake when I can no longer stomach eating solid food....hey, it happens!  As the weather gets hotter, I plan on going to a 2-water, 2-Gatorade system.  The trick is to save the sports drink till the last half of the ride.  That is when you are needing it, and thirsting for it.  If you drink it all up early, the water won't satisfy you, and you will be in trouble.

Alright, we have the bike outfitted for a century ride, we have a decent understanding of the nutrition needed (what works for me, might be different for you)....I suppose its time to start really considering doing that century.  Its not something that you can just hop on your bike and do, your body has to work up to it.  Fortunately I have made my base rides 50 miles so my body is conditioned for that amount of riding.  As the weather started getting warmer, I boosted many of my rides to 62 miles.  That makes for a metric century, and is as much a mental trick as anything to get me used to thinking along century distances.  Every few weeks I would add another ten miles onto my long rides from the previous weeks.  By April I was up to 81 miles for a single ride.  I was getting very close to my goal of a century, and what was even better....I followed that ride up with a 50 mile ride the next day.  I just needed to add 20 miles to each day and I would be Tanglewood ready.

Twenty miles might not seem like much, but that extra hour and change is a long time after 4 hours in the saddle.  It was going to take some more working to get to, but I was close, and I knew that I would have a century under my belt soon enough.

Sunday, May 6, 2012 started out like many other rides of mine.  I set out early in the morning...about 7am since my goal was between a 60 and 80 mile ride.  My plan was to go to the other side of a neighboring county and loop back home.  It was a route I had been on before, and I knew that there were several places I could alter my route to shorten or lengthen it as I felt needed.  That is the cardinal rule for training on a bike.  Only do what your body is up for, and no more.  I felt OK, but not great starting out.  The first 10 miles are always the hardest as your body is warming up.  My speed was good, and the miles were clicking by pretty fast.

I got into Summerfield at my first decision point.  Left......60 miles, Right......80 miles.  I was feeling better than when I started so I chose right which took me down Hwy 150 into Rockingham County.  Its a route I had been on several times, but for some reason this time felt better.  The hills on US158 usually give me a hard time this far into a ride but I was rolling over them with no issues.  In fact, where I had usually had about 3 breaks so far, I was going on a single 10 minute rest stop and was at about 40 miles into the ride.  I didn't stop again until I got to Stokesdale at 53 miles.  I was tired, but not nearly as worn out as I'm used to by this point.  Another 10 minute break and I was back at it again headed down Hwy 65 into the Belews Creek Community.  This is customarily a rough 10 mile rode with some serious hills where it crosses the lake two times.  For some reason, it didn't bother me this time.  I felt pretty darn good in fact when I came out on US158 again.  So good, I took a left turn and borrowed a bit of another route I normally take, only in a reverse direction.  I was about 10 miles from home and sitting at 65 miles.  I essentially added another 10 miles to my ride, and was now on my third break.

I took stock of my supplies, and how I was feeling.  I had eaten two granola bars, two slim jims (salt replacement), and a protein bar.  My Gatorade was a third gone, and I was starting on my second bottle of water.  I still had two slim jims, a protein bar, and two more granola bars.  In short.....I was overstocked to be 10 miles from home.  I was still feeling pretty good, and figured I would go the long way home and see just how far I could go.  I was at 71 miles at this point, and 10 miles from my longest ride.  I was pretty sure I would beat it.

By the time I hit 80 miles, I committed to riding my first century.  The conversation went something like this:
Me: I wasn't planning on riding 100 miles today.
Me: I have enough food and feel OK
Me: I've already gone 80 miles, what's another hour and change??
Me: Yeah, I've got this much time invested in the ride, don't want to have to start this over again.
Me: Done!!!  Lets do it!
Me: Don't be so pushy about it.
Me: Bite me and keep pedaling!

The conversation went downhill from there, but I was now at 85 miles and getting ready to turn around and backtrack just a tad to go home.  The worst part of the ride was ahead of me.  The dreaded hill on Old Rural Hall Rd.  Its a pain on a good day, I would be hitting it with 90 miles on my legs this time.  I still had food and water, but I could feel myself giving out.....the dreaded Bonk!  I met the hill, and struggled up, realizing that I still had 3 more gears I could use if I needed them...but I didn't.  I had a couple of turtles flip me off as they passed me, but I made it to Ogburn Station where I took my last break of the day.  I was down to one granola bar, and a bottle of water, everything else was consumed.  I felt like a rock was in my belly and I could consume no more.

I used the last 10 miles as a cool down.  Well, that's the official reason.  The actual reason was I was going as fast as I could, which was not very fast, and my form had degraded on a visible level.  I was now about to fall off the bike at every stop sign.  I could barely power up after stopping....but I was going to do my century, or die trying!

When I pulled into the garage at home, this is what my cyclometer read.  ONE HUNDRED MILES!!!!!  To my amazement, I averaged 17.4mph, and burned an estimated 4127 calories!  Total ride time was a respectable 5:46.  You can view the route and other metrics by visiting Garmin Connect.

The absolute amazing part of this is that I only started riding a bike last summer.  In less than a year's time with no formal training program I was able to complete a self sustained century ride.  It wasn't that long ago that my only goal was to be able to ride an occasional 50 mile route.  I can still do that....in fact, I rode a 50 mile route the next day as a recovery ride.

I don't know what's next with my riding, but I know that my legs and bike are up to all sorts of new adventures.  Stay tuned!

The Off Season

The Tour to Tanglewood was behind me, I had managed to put about 800 miles on the Tarmac in just a couple of months.  My intention was to round it out to an even 1000 miles before putting the bike away for the winter.  As it turned out, the weather was quite mild, even for NC standards so I was able to ride through the entire winter.  This was good and bad.  The good was I was able to continue my fitness routine, which was getting almost addictive.  As you will remember from my earlier posts, I started this adventure as a 5'11" 238LB guy.  While I felt a little overweight, it had gradually crept up on me through the years and I didn't know just how overweight I actually was.  While I can't do anything about my height, I can say that with riding being my primary form of exercise, I have managed to start this cycling season at a much reduced 186LBS.....that's a loss of FIFTY-TWO POUNDS!!!!!  But I digress....

To offset the great fitness I was experiencing (none of my clothes fit anymore), I found that there are certain things on the bike that tend to wear out periodically.  The first to go was my chain after about 1200 miles.  I'm told that this is about average wear, but I wanted a longer service interval so I stepped up to a higher end chain than what came on the bike originally.  I replaced it with a SRAM PC1071 chain with chrome hardened rollers for durability.  This was a pretty good choice since that chain is still on the bike today, with just under 1800 miles on the chain at about 50% wear.

At this stage I really learned the importance of chain maintenance.  While I had been wiping the chain down after every ride and reoiling it, I stepped up my game and decided to run it through a chain machine after every ride to get all the grit out of the links before I reoiled it.  I don't know how much difference that really makes, but I do notice the nice bright chain every time I set out on a ride.

About 400 miles after the chain gave out, my top gear on my rear cassette started slipping badly.  When I ruled out a tuning issue on the rear derailleur, I figured out it was time to replace that as well.  As with the chain, I took this opportunity to upgrade the cassette in two ways.  I got a stronger unit from SRAM, and a slightly different tooth count as well.  I was now running an 11-26t cassette as opposed to the 11-28 that came on the bike.  It mainly kept weight down, and changed my gear ratios keeping it geared higher in the lower range.  This was intended to help me use more of the gears since I rarely went into lower gears on my rides.

As you see, I was really doing a lot of riding, even though this was the off season.  My intention had been to store the bike with 1000 miles on it, but instead I hit 2000 miles in March.  That meant a lot of cold weather riding.  Well, it wasn't that cold, but I was equipped with only warm weather riding attire, and a single rain coat.  For Christmas my wife got me a set of arm warmers which helped tremendously and allowed me to ride in temperatures in the 30's.  Not that I liked riding in the cold, but it was possible.

This was one of those days that never got out of the mid 40's.  While it might not be that bad to stand in, imagine riding at 20mph with the cool breeze.  Yeah, I was numb and you can see the snotsickles in my nose here if you look close enough.  But I was still riding and that was the important thing.  I tried very hard not to lose my endurance I had worked so hard to achieve.  So, I was still regularly riding 50 miles each time I went out.  In fact, it is a running joke in the house that I won't get on the bike for less than 50 miles these days.  I never would have thought I would have been able to say that when I was out of breath just riding 2 miles down the road to the school.

The nicest thing about the off season...well the early part of it anyways was that my wife Toni went out and rode with me since it wasn't too hot.  There is a fine window that she will ride in, and mid fall seemed to fit into that range.  When I bought my Tarmac, I had enough left over that I was able to get Toni a bike too.  Of course, she is riding Specialized as well.  Her mount is a Vita Elite.  Its a hybrid bike, but one that she is comfortable on for the most part.  Considering that cycling is not her hobby she does very well when she goes out.  Her first ride on the Vita was around 10 miles or so.  She has ridden around 38 miles in a single ride, so I have to give her lots of credit for doing so well, and keeping me company occasionally while on a ride.

Here she is on one of her early rides.  It was only her second long ride, and it ended up being about 22 miles after riding out to visit my Mom.  You can tell by the look on her face that she really doesn't want to go any further, but she did, and finished the ride out.  This was where she learned about bonking which is when the body runs out of fuel.  I had experienced it a few times before, and knew to eat, but Toni is more stubborn than I am when it comes to that and refused to eat on that ride.  It was a mistake she hasn't made since.  I'm just so proud of her, and am looking forward to riding with her in the 2012 Tour to Tanglewood.  While she won't be riding the same distance as I will be, I think she will do great in the 30 mile routes.

Since I was able to continue riding through the off season, and didn't loose my endurance as I was afraid of, I started to form another new goal for myself.  I wanted to ride a century.  That's 100 miles for those of you who don't know.  Not only that, but I wanted to do it for the Tour, and follow it up with an additional 70 miles the second day which represent the longest routes on both days.  Its time to amp up the training....its cycling season now.

2011 Tour to Tanglewood

OK, I had a new bike, it was time to see how well I could ride 30 miles on it.  It was time to start training seriously for the Tour to Tanglewood.  I was now registered for the event, and had about 5 weeks to raise money and to get used to the new bike.  Not much time at all, so I wasted none of it before giving the new bike a shakedown cruise.

I set out for an out and back ride to Greensboro, which I had done a couple of times on my mountain bike.  I was pretty comfortable with the route, and would be able to compare the bikes very easily.  One thing I noticed right off was that I was able to go a good deal faster on this bike than I ever thought about on the mountain bike.  Guess that even though I was a pudgy dude, having a bike that weighed half as much was a benefit to me.  When I reached the place I normally had to stop and turn around, I found myself still feeling quite fresh.  Lets keep going and see how far I can go I thought to myself.  Before I knew it, I was well into Greensboro, and and gone about 25 miles.  Wait a minute.....that means that if I turned around right then, I would be fated into a 50 mile ride.  That was a goal of mine for later on down the road.  Hmmm, I was either going to achieve that goal, or have to call for roadside assistance.  I'm not a quitter.....I quit doing that years ago.

Even though it nearly killed me, I made it home with a total of 50.88 miles on the cyclometer.  I learned several things on this maiden voyage.  First and foremost.....it don't matter how heavy the rider is, a light bike will make you quicker.  I had been averaging around 13mph on the mountain bike, and with this trip found myself averaging over 16mph.  Simple math.....Tarmac wins.  I was tired, but no more tired than when I would ride 30 miles on the mountain bike.....Tarmac wins again!  The most important thing that I learned was that my intention of riding 30 miles in the Tour to Tanglewood was a little unambitious now considering what I had just done.

So, why is the Tour to Tanglewood so important to me you ask?  Its simple, my Mom has Multiple Sclerosis, and the Tour is a Bike MS event which benefits not only MS research, but helps with programs for those who have been diagnosed.  It was her suggestion that I ride in the Tour when she saw how I was getting into riding.  So, I wanted to do this for her, as well as others with MS.  It gave me something to strive for, and a reason to push myself on the bike.  It became something bigger than me, which I have found is my comfort zone when it comes to my activities.

With the Tarmac, I felt as though 30 miles each day wasn't going to be enough.  I decided to set a higher goal for myself, and commit to doing 50 each day, for a total of 100 miles!!!!  Sure, I had done a 50 mile ride, but repeating that the following day is a whole different story.  My legs were toast, and my hiney hurt.  In fact after a ride like that I would usually have to take a day off from riding.  I still had work to do in order to achieve my goals for the Tour.  I was going out once or twice a week on the Tarmac going for long rides of about 50 miles each time.  Other days, I would ride the mountain bike for shorter distances after work.  This seemed to be a good training plan as I could tell my endurance was getting better.

On September 3, 2011, I went out on what was to be a 60 mile ride just two days after a 50 mile ride.  I was running out of time for the Tour and needed to prove to myself that I could ride the distance, and do it back to back.  I left out that morning feeling pretty good, and found myself riding through 3 different counties.  When I was about home, I thought I had some more left in me, so I went to go and visit my Mom who was about 10 miles beyond my house.  With that side trip, I ended up totalling 80.88 miles on a single ride!  It was an achievement that wouldn't soon be repeated.  In fact, it wasn't until April '12 that I would see that kind of distance in a single ride.  I was ready for the Tour....I had to be.

With a lot of planning and training behind me, here I am at the start of the opening day.  I was more than a little nervous I have to say.  This was the first time I had done back to back 50 mile rides.  To make matters worse, there was a strong chance of rain that day, and it was quite chilly.  I didn't have any cold weather gear since I had only ever ridden in the summer.  Oh well, I was there, riding for Mom, and that was what mattered.  I made the full 50 miles that day, and did it in 3 hours flat which was a best time for me.  I guess that the drizzle and cold prompted me to hustle.  I bypassed two of the five rest stops in the interest of time.  Unfortunately, all that speed came at a price.  My left knee was blown out.  I could hardly walk on it.  In hindsight, I had my foot positioned incorrectly on the pedal, which caused undue strain on the ligaments.  That evening was all about recovery and nursing the knee....I had another day of hard riding ahead of me.

I don't know how, but I managed to limp to the start line for day two with an ace bandage wrapped on my ailing knee.  I had a hard time walking still, but found that I was still able to ride if I soft pedaled on my left side.  So, I set out on what I was anticipating being a 30 mile ride for the sake of my knee, but hoping that I could make the 50 mile route.  The further I went the more the pain would come and go.  There were times it would feel fine, and I would start to do power strokes on that side, which would ultimately lead to pain again.  My sense of commitment made me choose the 50 mile route knowing that I would not give up.  An interesting thing happened on this day in the town of East Bend.  I came up on a cycle wreck moments after it had happened.  There were three bikes on their sides, and two people still on the pavement.  It all started due to a blow out, and the rider behind the stricken bike could not get unclipped from his pedals before falling over.  That led a third rider to quite literally run him over, causing her to topple over throwing a chain, and dislodging a wheel.  I stopped to render aid in the form of a frame pump for the cyclist that flatted.  The clipless rider was OK, and I helped put the third cyclist's bike back together.  I followed her for a while to make sure that the bike was OK.

At the end of day two, I made it to the finish, and had logged two back to back 50 mile rides to benefit MS research.  My knee was actually feeling better by this point, but it was probably just numb after all the hellish climbs back into the park.  At any rate, I was done, and had succeeded in a goal that just a month earlier I had not even considered.  I realized that there was just something special about being on a bike, and being able to do things that I would have never thought possible.  Even though my "training" was over, I decided not to put the bike away.  I wanted to continue to ride, and to go further...seeing more and more of North Carolina by bike.

One hobby for another

With my goal of entering the Tour to Tanglewood, I knew that I would need a bike better suited to road rides than my 29" mountain bike.  Honestly, I didn't have a clue what I wanted, or even what I needed.  What I did know was that I was working way too hard making that monster move down the road, and I could tell that 30 miles was going to wear me out.  I was told by a friend that I should get a cyclocross bike and put street tires on it....I smiled and nodded.  Not having a clue what a cyclocross bike was, I went to a well known local bike shop called Paul's Cycling and Fitness.  It was here that I talked to Dale Harrell who seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about things bike related....perfect, cause I wasn't!

I started out looking at a Canondale CAAD10, but started to get freaked out by the price ($1500) and decided to look at this cyclocross thing I had heard about.  Dale showed me a Specialized Crux which was also expensive, but I liked the feel of the bike, and how it was put together.  It was expensive too....just under a grand.  I started to feel out of my element quickly as I had never even considered spending that kind of money on a BICYCLE!

My mind got to spinning.  How in the world can I come up with that kind of money....and before September so I could have it in time for the Tour to Tanglewood?  Well, as it turns out, I had given up my side business of photography some months before, and had a nice collection of Canon camera equipment gathering dust.  I decided that I would exchange one hobby (lets face it, it wasn't really a business) for another.  I put my feelers out and managed to get it sold.  I only made a fraction of what I had invested in it, but considering I sold everything all at once, I got a pretty fair price....and enough to get a bike, and some accessories.

I had the money, now it was time to get serious about what I wanted to ride.  I went back to Paul's and looked at the Canondale Synapse which is a comfort bike.  I figured if I was going to be riding 30 miles with a goal of one day riding 50 I would want a comfortable ride.  I talked with Dale again, and told him that I didn't want to go with the cyclocross bike because I was going to be a pavement pounder.  He listened to what I wanted and we started to look at the Synapse.  It was a nice bike, but Dale pointed out something I had not thought about.  My 238LB self would cause the bike to flex more than it should which would affect the handling.  Well crap!!!  I'm too fat for a real bike....the truth hurts sometimes.

But wait.....Dale said that a stiffer frame (on a race bike) would carry be much better and would maintain the proper geometry while I was hoisted atop the seat (he didn't put it that way).  Back to the CAAD10 which was my first choice from day one.  I took it out on a test ride with the full Ultegra drivetrain since my research had led me to understand that drivetrain components could make or break a bike.  This second tier setup should provide all the performance I was looking for.

I was amazed at the quality of the ride on this bike.  After coming from a hefty 40 pounder, the 17ish pound Canondale seemed to almost explode when I mashed the pedals.  I did notice that the steering was very twitchy, and caused me a certain amount of concern as I was still not all that stable on two wheels.  However, this was the bike I wanted.....until I got back to the store.

I told Dale about my excitement over the bike, and the concerns I had.  Without missing a beat he said there was a bike he wanted me to try.  I said there was no reason to, the CAAD10 was a blast to drive, and I could see me reaching my goal of riding 50 miles on that bike.  However, when Dale showed me the shiny red Specialized Tarmac Expert, I had to ride it.  I knew I wouldn't be buying this bike.  It was too expensive at $3300, but I had read about these carbon framed race bikes, and wanted to try it out.  I'm glad I did.

I was instantly connected to the bike, and it was every bit as quick as the CAAD, but the steering was much more stable.  I felt more confident on this bike than I did on the CAAD...so much so that I came into a corner too hot on my test ride and the rear tire broke loose.  Even my inexperienced self was able to capture the loose tire, and keep control of the bike.  This thing was HOT!!!

I told Dale just how much I liked.....no....loved the bike, but that it was quite a bit more than I was wanting to spend.  He shared with me that it was a 2010 model, and he would give me a huge discount on it so he could move it off the shelf.  So, for not much more than I was planning on spending, I was the proud new owner of a Specialized Tarmac Expert with a full Ultegra group (pictured above).  Not bad for a newbie rider!

Now it was time to really train for the Bike MS, Tour to Tanglewood.....

Humble Beginnings

It was the summer of 2011, and I was trying to figure out a way to teach my 7 year old daughter how to ride a bike without training wheels.  Its not as easy as it seems actually.  I figured that the best bet would be to get a bike myself so that I could ride along with her and give her the incentive to actually ride her bike.  Not wanting to put much into a purchase, I went to Wal Mart and selected this 29" mountain bike.  I'm a big dude and felt silly on a smaller bike.  This behemoth fit me nicely considering my 5'11" frame and 238LBS.

When I got the bike home I realized that the gears didn't change like they should...or at least I was pretty sure it wasn't operator error.  Keep in mind it had been 20 some years since I had been on a bike, and was a little rusty to say the least.  However, I got the tools out and managed to get it operating reasonably well.  Almost daily in the month of June I had the bike out with Sierra and we practiced starting and stopping, and eventually riding around a few buildings in the parking lot.  I found myself having so much fun on the bike and remembering my childhood riding at my Grandfathers, I decided to strike out on my own every once in a while.  I stayed in the neighborhood and off the main roads.  I would ride for about 20 to 30 minutes at a time, and covered maybe a couple of miles each time I went out.

It wasn't long before I was bored with riding in the neighborhood and decided to branch out to a main road that bordered the two neighborhoods I had been riding in.  The traffic got me a little unnerved, but I managed it quite well.  This became my norm in the evenings.  I would go out for about a half an hour or so and ride a loop between two neighborhoods, and then come back on the two border streets.

In July, I started riding a two mile stretch to a local school and back.  I needed the break when I got to the school because I would be quite tired.  My aerobic engine was far from efficient.  Keep in mind I was 238 or so pounds then!  I got used to that distance, and was getting quicker, so I added another street for an addition four miles.  I was now going eight miles on each ride.  Not too bad!

My legs were getting more fit, and I wanted to go further, and further I did.  I started out with 20 miles, and then went to 30 miles.  This was the extent of what I could ride comfortably on a 40LB mountain bike.  I had put approximately 350 miles on the bike by this point (I finally got a cyclometer), and was wanting to ride in the upcoming Tour to Tanglewood which was in September.  Knowing I could ride 30 miles at a time, I figured I could participate and do the 30 mile routes.....but I had a feeling that I would need a different bike to really do well.