LiveStrong Challenge 2010 - Day 3 (the 24th), the Ride

Up front I'd like to say THANK YOU to all my friends who donated to the cause this year. You are making a difference to someone, a person who needs that help. I made a little video, the sound is quite bad though given I was close to a loudspeaker. You can understand most of it though, I think, well, I can, sorta.

One minor disappointment I had is I thought my camera had used all its battery partway through the ride, thus I missed taking more pictures. However, once I got home, it was functional again. I'm wondering if some moisture caused the misbehavior as I was carrying the camera in my back jersey pocket. I think I need to go with a handlebar or helmet mount for a more reliable setup.

Here's the GPS trace for the ride (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54297075)

As usual, there was a sea of spandex in every direction. Other than grouping the riders by distance (90 up front), there's no special ordering at the start line except for the top fundraisers who are placed at the front. Just before the ride, Patrick Dempsey and Lance talked a bit to the crowd.

One of the other Team Fatty started out next to me. I don't recall seeing him subsequently on the ride.

I did ride with another Fatty for a pretty good distance in the middle of the ride, he was faster than me on downhills and flats, but I could outclimb him, thus we stayed together for the most part. I believe I eventually pulled away on the later part of the course where it just seems hillier to me.

I was wearing the same dark Fatty jersey as the fellow to the left (with the exception of the pink sticker), instead of the LS jersey I received at checkin. I debated which one to wear but it seemed more proper to wear the team colors so to speak to help encourage the other Fatty riders out there.

About an hour in, Elden caught up and passed me, he was doing the 65 mile loop to get back earlier to meet other Team Fatty members as they finished.

Note the curve to the left, just after it are two cattle guards. I was unable to get the camera securely back into my pocket and hit the first one with just one hand on the bars, the result was a slide off the road to the right and eventually me sliding on my left side to halt just before the second cattle guard (and a fence).  The result? Nothing, nadda, not even dirt on my clothes. Even more reason to alter how I'll be taking pictures in the future.

A few more highlights, Rest stop 4 where the 90 mile route separates had a live band playing, not your typical rest stop entertainment.

The Rest stop just after Blanco was supported by the Texas4000 crew, a group of riders who ride from Texas to Alaska each year to raise money for cancer research. They were very energetic and greeted riders with whoops and hollers, they were definitely having a good time.

After Blanco, the sun started to break through for the long ride back, and it's about the time my camera began acting up, so I only have a couple pictures from this point on.

Once I finished, Fatty found me, we talked for a bit about the ride.  I put my bike in the 'corral' and headed over to the beer tent and then subsequently the food tent. While eating, Janeen showed up, we got to talk some more about her cross country ride.  This was the first time she rode since she had finished that. She's concluded she's built for endurance and not speed.  I'd most definitely agree.

After resting a bit more, I packed on up, headed back to the car for the drive home, another excellent LiveStrong weekend passed.  Here'a a writeup from the local paper.

I look forward to next year and hope I can count on my friend's support once again!

LiveStrong Challenge 2010 - Day 2 (the 23th), Appreciation Dinner

The Dinner was held at the Convention Center this year. From what I can tell, there's not a permanent spot,


the location probably has more to do with what else is in town that weekend and what is available. I think I was the very first person (non-VIP) to arrive, I misjudged how much traffic there might be (UT had a home football game the same day). No matter, I was not all that early and I got the freshest food once they opened up the floor for the cheese & crackers & fruit & this & that layout.

I ran into some Team Fatty members, ones I had met earlier in the day at lunch.

We clean up good. As it turned out, I rode with them for a time the next day at the Ride. We had a good time talking about our experiences and why we are participating in the Challenge. The gal was from Canada, she was not with the group that rode here though, there's a group from Calgary that does that each year.

Once the doors were opened to the dining hall, I noticed a goodly number of people were already seated, perhaps, and most likely the VIPs and their guests. Somehow, I must become important. Or try. Or not.

We took at table to the left of the stage, still pretty much in the front though.  Team Fatty had a reserved table, but it was already fully occupied.  Elden stopped by during the dinner to greet us and thank us.

That particular placement worked out well, I believe we got served first with the food. A chicken/pasta dish, with a tomato based sauce. It was good, I enjoyed it.

After dinner, the emcee for the night, John Korioth took the stage. After a short speech, he invited Doug and Lance to the stage where they answered questions submitted from the audience. At some point, they invited up Patrick Dempsey (the actor, he was Team RadioShack's captain for the weekend) to discuss his relationship with cancer. He has his own foundation, founded for his mother who is fighting ovarian cancer.

Everyone at the dinner received the LiveStrong Guidebook and Journal.  They are a great resource for anyone diagnosed with cancer, helping to navigate and take charge of your care.

The evening wrapped up with the presentation of the various awards, Team Fatty won the 'Team Champion' award for the most dollars raised by a team. Elden also won the Individual Messenger award for having the most number of people donate -- 975!

Doug & Lance made some closing remarks. Their goal is we don't want to have these events anymore, that having them means we've not made sufficient progress.  All we can do is to keep trying though, and someday, that will be true.

LiveStrong Challenge 2010 - Day 2 (the 23th), The Lunch

After the walk and before the lunch, I headed back over to MJs, to mosey and look around.  I wasn't really expecting to get anything... and didn't.

The lunch was organized by Elden, to meet some of his team members. Given we are widely dispersed group, other than the signature Team Fatty jerseys to recognize each other, you never know when you'll encounter another team member.

MJs was running shuttles from the store to the Convention Center, since it was still raining off and on, I chose the chauffeured service, and ended up being the only one on the shuttle. With all the construction downtown, it's a rather non-direct route.

Once back at the Convention Center, both Levi Leiphiemer and Chris Carmichael were at the Nissan booth.  Again, being my usually star stuck self, I just had to get more autographs.  

While waiting in line for Levi, the man in front of me (in full biking regalia, including his $6K bike), had personal photos from the TdF and other races he attended this year of many of the pros. Now, how do I get this guys' job ?!?

No books from Chris on day 2. I occurred to me afterwards I should have had all of them sign my jersey bib number, it's made of the indestructible, fibrous paper and would last forever.  The downside is may happen to rain, and that would be that!

With that, I headed over to The Cedar Door for lunch, it's quite close to the Convention Center.  

A small but rambunctious group of Team Fatty members arrived and had a good time.  

Fatty and his wife Lisa. He discussed whether the team should concentrate on just one Challenge per year.   

If you want some chuckles, read his blogs at www.fatcyclist.com.

This is Janeen, I encourage you to visit her web site (yesiamprecious.com) (it's actually her bike's website - which tweeted - believe it or not) & blog (http://nodirectionknown.com/blog/)

She completed a trans-America ride just the week before to raise funds for LiveStrong. Quite the task.  Unsupported, making it doubly difficult. She has a lovely Australian accent, I think it's impossible for that accent to ever sound uncool.

After lunch we headed outside to the deck (the weather had cleared up by now) for some final small speechifying, and group pictures.  

I naturally had to ham it up with Fatty to prove I indeed was in the presence of the superstar, megablogger, if only for a fleeting moment:

 Too much yellow?  Or never enough?

LiveStrong Challenge 2010 - Day 2 (the 23th), The Run/Walk

This year I did not participate in the Walk, but I headed downtown to support and cheer on the sea of folks who  did. I got there before the sun came up, it was mostly cloudy and a little later, some small showers rolled through.

Since I was not participating, I was able to wander around a bit more aimlessly than I normally do, I ran into a friend from work who was running. It's great to see how many people, supporters and survivors, participate in the events.

Here's the scene by the coffee tables, they were doing a brisk business, no surprise. I needed the buzz from the java, it was quite early in the morning.

I then wandered back to the middle of the bridge to the Start/Finish line.  There were a several speakers, Ryan Dungey (of Supercross fame) and LS CEO Doug Ulman.

One part I always find which pulls at the heartstrings the most is the kids in the pedicabs. This year, the Team RadioShack guys went to each one to say Hi and hand out some do-dads to the kids.

They also were tossing items to the crowd, no fistfights broke out - that I saw....





With that, the Run/Walk started, can anyone see themselves is this mass of humanity?  Before the runners returned, we were able to get out and 'chalk up' the Start/Finish area. A couple samples

This gal came back first, by my estimation, about a 15:30 time for 5K.

The next guy did not come in for about 2 more minutes. Total Domination!

I stayed and watched a goodly number of folks finish, this was about the time the most rain fell, at it was rather sparse, not bad at all.

I headed on back to MJs after getting another cup of coffee for the trip. I enjoyed being at the event, definitely will attend regardless of whether I'm a participant.

LiveStrong Challenge 2010 - Day 1 (the 22rd), Registration

I headed downtown in the afternoon to retrieve my registration package as I've done in prior years.  I hoped to see Henrike, my friend from Germany, but I did not see her this year. I did look, really. I parked a good ways away and walked to the Convention Center via the hike & bike trail. I detest paying for parking, hence the real reason I parked so far away.  Ok, the truth is out...  Now don't tell me I'm cheap, it's just one of those things...

The weather worked out rather well this year with only a bit of rain Saturday morning.  I also wondered if I'd run into my team leader, the world famous, mega blogger, Elden Nelson, aka www.fatcyclist.com. I didn't see him Friday but met him the next day at the Team Fatty Lunch.

At registration, I picked my ride packet, which most importantly has your bib number. Given the fundraising level I attained, I was also eligible to receive some added incentives.  Thanks everyone!







Just after registration, I went to Tribute Wall and added the names for the folks I rode for this year. Unfortunately, I had to ride In Memory of my father-in-law and a good friend from work. I carried a list of all the names with me during the ride. I thought of them alot knowing they would help me complete my Challenge.



After visiting the Tribute Wall, I wandered around a bit looking at the various booths.  I'd been eying the Cycles Gladiator cycling kit for several years, and decided to purchase one this year.  What can I say, I like their logo.

Again this year, at the Nissan booth, Chris Carmichael, Lance's coach, was signing autographs.  I did my duty, got in line and got his autograph.


He was signing his current book, the The Time Crunched Cyclist, I need to spend some time and read it, given the title is quite appropriate for most of us.  Not that I will rise to pro ranks once I do, but I can dream...

I spent a little more time looking around and then decided to head over to Mellow Johnny's. They had posted to their facebook wall that some of the RadioShack pro team would be available to sign autographs. The shop was more or less on the walk back to my car, so why not. The shop was very busy (I expect they get a whole lot of extra business this time of year).

The riders signed a single item, folks were moving thru the line at a pretty quick pace so no one waited too long. If I showed up about 15 minutes later, there was no line at all.  One of the local TV stations was present filming two gals about why they participate in the Challenge.

I looked around the shop some, didn't buy anything before heading out to get home for the evening.

The Challenge is ON!

My friends, I am once again participating in the Austin LiveStrong Challenge 90 mile bike ride in my fight against cancer and would like your support.  If you can, please make a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation via my personal fundraising site.  


As you may know, many non-profits have suffered due to the poor economy, but cancer doesn't care, we need to continue to fight stronger and harder.  As such, I feel your giving deserves some extra giving at my end.  


Regardless of whether you make a donation, I'd like to post a picture like this

to my blog (and facebook) to honor your loved one. Just let me know the name of the person.


For any donation, I will provide one or more LiveStrong bracelets.  I have both adult and youth sizes.  


During the recent Tour de California, I saw that Trek Bikes had a set of items that can be personalized for you or your loved one.  100% of the proceeds from the sale of these items goes to the LAF.

---

Fundraising trigger amounts are %30 off from the original!  
No time like the present to make a donation!!

---

For any donation up to $50 ($35), I will donate $5 to my fundraising account.

For a $50 ($35) donation, I will affix one of the personalized stickers to my bike for the remainder of the year, up to and through the Challenge (I'll take a picture of the sticker on my bike to send to you).  I will send the remainder of the stickers to you.   Or instead, if you prefer, I will donate $10 to my fundraising account.

For a $100 ($70) donation, I will send this personalized water bottle (24oz) to you.  Or, if you prefer, I will make a $20 donation to my fundraising account.  


If you'd prefer the stickers, you have that option.

For a $200 ($140) donation, I will send this personalized poster (18" x 24") to you. Or, if you prefer, I will make a $30 donation to my fundraising account.  


If you'd prefer the water bottle or stickers, you have that option.

Who I ride for

I'd like to list the names of anyone you'd like to honor.

Challenge swag

I got a question from one of the early contributors about the gifts that are available

Q: "How do I select an item?"
A: There's no way immediately from the donation page.  However, I get an email when the contribution is made, so, I will send a private email to you requesting the information.  If you are one of my facebook friends, you could send me a message.  In any case, I'll make contact to see what you want to do.

Tour Das Hugel 09

I finished!! I don't think I need to ever worry about going on a harder ride than this in the Central Texas area. Really. I mean it. Really.

The Tour Das Hugel was held on November 14th. This time of year the weather is rather unpredictable, but it was one of the good days, high 50s in the morning and topping out about 80 late in the afternoon. I wore several layers, but was down to just the jersey by the end. It was quite a nice sunrise to start the day.

I wore my Alaska jersey (that's me facing away from the camera at rest stop #3, another one) which usually gets a comment or two from fellow riders. One of the folks I rode with for a while (the guy on the right) did the Texas 4000, a ride from Texas to Alaska to raise money to fight cancer.

The Hugel ride strings a large number of the worst hills in Austin into a long 110 mile route. Your reward for finishing? A Hugel T-shirt. It is a prized possession as this is a very difficult route. Depending on who you believe, the elevation gain is somewhere between 11,000 and 14,000 feet. Yea, that's alot, either way. I do most of my riding east of Austin, where there are rolling hills, none of them approaching the severity of hills in Hugel. That was a bit of a concern for me.

The ride is divided into two loops, loop 1 which stays south of Lake Austin, and loop 2 that goes north. The south loop is shorter and is considered easier, it's about 1/3 of the total distance. For me, the worst hill on the first loop was the High Road, I had to stop and walk a tiny bit of it at the end (*more on this later*). Just before that is Toro Canyon which is not as steep, but I had left myself in the big chain ring, that made it alot harder than it needed to be -- lesson learned. Rest stop #1 was served out of the back of some SUVs, a good number of people stopped. The remainder of loop 1 was not overly difficult, the climb back up Lost Creek was quite long though. Rest stop #2 was at a Catholic school, and almost everyone stopped. It was near the intersection of Barton Creek and Lost Creek. I was happy we got to ride down Barton Creek and not up.

After returning to the Start/Finish, I intended to change from my commuting sandals into my regular road shoes but somehow just forgot. That probably made it harder on myself, but more of a challenge.

After starting loop 2, I came upon a group of riders wearing Trek U-23 and Mellow Johnny kits, it was Lance Armstrong with his buddies. I passed them..... ok, ok, they were going the opposite direction :-) Lance made a 'how you doing?' comment as we passed.

In loop 2, the 1st unmanageable hill for me was Smokey Valley, I nearly reached the top without stopping but lost my balance and had to stop. I was close to the top and walked up the rest. Ladera Norte is just after that, rather evil to place the hills so close, but I managed to crest LN without incident.

My next challenge came at Beauford, just a horrible road as it's textured for traction, quite awful for bike riding. I stopped maybe 1/2 way for a rest, and proceeded up the remainder of the hill. The only good thing about climbing Beauford is you get to descend Jester, where you go scary fast. I thought I had triggered my camera to record the descent but I must not have pressed the button.

After returning to Loop 360, the next hill was Courtyard, which has several tiers, each steeper than the prior. I had to dismount on the last one and walk the rest of the way up. With very little relief after that you end up on City Park Road starting immediately on a steep climb. I rested once on the way up once, but rode the whole distance. The trio of Beauford / Courtyard / City Park makes for the difficult section of the course.

The route proceeds out to River Place, which is a relatively long climb, and reaches rest stop #4 adjacent to a small park. This is also rest stop #5 as you return to it once you take 620 down to Mansfield Dam. It's not so steep returning from the Dam but it's the longest sustained climb of the ride. The route out to the lake takes a loop past the Oasis restaurant, which has a stunning view of Lake Travis. The loop returns via Bullick Hollow Road, which visually, given the approach to it, looks incredibly steep. It's one of the shorter climbs as it turns out, but on a fairly busy road, so no weaving left & right to get up the hill.

Here's some video from around River place, the song title is somewhat appropriate....

After rest stop #5, there's a long descent down Big View, what I did not realize until I reached the bottom is you pull a U-turn and immediately start back up the hill - that's a real thrill (ouch!).

Once back up Big View, you retrace the route back towards Austin, eventually taking City Park Road back to 2222, and then to Jester. At the bottom of Jester, the ride distance is 94 miles. I suppose they place Jester last just to test your mettle - it works.... But given you've gone this far, who would really not continue? I stopped twice on the way up but rode the whole distance. The final rest stop, #6, is at the top. I took a well deserved rest.

I hung with a group wearing TdH jerseys pretty much to the end, all that was left was taking Loop 360 south back to finish. There's no real severe hills after Jester but you are pretty depleted at this point. What little wind there was, was a headwind for that final set of miles.

I finished with a ride time of 7:48, and a distance of 110.4 miles. The folks at the finish wanted to know if I planned on doing the ride again next year. It was perhaps was not the best time to ask that particular question! ;-)

I mentioned the hills I stopped on, but there were some I conquered!

• Toro Canyon
• Terrace Mountain
• River Hills
• Barton Creek
• Lost Creek
• Mt. Bonnell
• Mesa
• Ladera Norte
• Bluegrass
• River Place
• Bullick Hollow
• 620 return
• Big View

Some reasons I needed to stop on the climbs?

• I left my rack on the bike. I should remove my rack I use for commuting, do I need to pull another pound of metal up all those hills?
• I should not wear my commuting sandals. You cannot really pull on the pedals in the sandals vs normal shoes. However, I find the sandals to be quite comfortable, which is important for long rides.
• Maybe the most important - make sure I can shift into the low gears. The chain would not stay in the biggest cog on the back, a 26T (I thought it was a 25T, that's the spec for the bike), it would shift back to the 23T cog when power was applied, I need to check the high limit screw. I could tell during some climbs the cadence of folks near me was quicker. With everyone going the same speed, they were definitely in a lower gear. I know the lower gearing would help getting up those hills.
• The are really, really, really steep hills! ;-)

I found this staple in my back tire the next morning, I wonder how long it was stuck there?!? I'm not sure I want to know, given how fast some of the descents were. Yikes! I also saw that the back brake quick release lever was open, but I do not know if I did that Sunday morning just prior to changing the tube or whether I rode with it open. I normally always check it prior to riding but cannot be sure.

I'll reserve judgement on whether I'll do this ride again. I have lots of time to decide. Maybe I'll forget the pain ;-)

The remainder of the pictures are here. A nice article about the Hugel ride can be found here. Another writeup is here.

LiveStrong Challenge 09 - Day 3 (the 25th), the Ride

I left for Dripping Springs at about 5:45am. There was less construction this year on 290, about 1 mile's worth, but I did not want to rush. Hopefully, next year, they can finish up, finally. It's actually more trouble when leaving, the backups are worse heading back towards Austin. I parked at the same place as last year, the Dripping Springs ISD Administration building, away from the crush of the 'official' parking.

To the DOLT who almost ran me over as I left the parking lot, pay the least bit of attention, we'd all appreciate it. The 'vertical white lines' (in the center of the image) are concrete barriers, he managed to miss where he should have turned (he was heading west, to the left of the map) an pulled into the oncoming traffic lane where I was, +1 on the stupid meter. Now back to the important stuff.


Once I arrived at the high school, I got in line with the other 3800 or so cyclists, at least most of them were behind me as they stage the longer distance riders to the front. The start was on time, with the sun breaking through the clouds just as the ride began. It was a very nice day, eventually topping 80 degrees.


A big Thank You to my supporters and friends, it's your generosity that inspires me and makes my participation possible.


Just about 10 minutes after starting, I rode past a large group that had stopped and were off their bikes around someone who had presumably fallen, he was on his back by the side of the road. An medic on a motorcycle passed us heading in the opposite direction, I'm supposing to aid the fellow. All it takes is a slight distraction with so many people so close to have a problem.

Speaking of that, a bit later, I hooked onto one of the pacelines of riders that would come up and pass you, this one I hung on to. After about 5 minutes, the rider 3 up from me had a blowout. The riders behind him bailed to the sides, fortunately, no one went down, including the rider who had the blowout. The remainder of the ride was uneventful - a good thing.

There were plenty of hills, not too bad. The wind kicked up some from the south, which made the ride a bit more difficult than last year. The south wind made the end part of the ride downwind, I appreciated that.

After finishing, I left my bike at the 'corral' and got some grub, and also some beer over at the beer tent, although, there was not really a tent like the had the year before. It was warm and sunny enough that some shade would have been nice.

I headed back home at about 4pm, a bit tired, but looking forward to the Challenge next year.