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April 8, 2014

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Bike MS Training: April 5 – 6: Spokes N Spurs ride

And the countdown continues, only 3 more training weekends before Bike MS: Sam’s Club Round-Up Ride in north Texas during the first weekend of May. The ride goes from Frisco to Fort Worth with an overnight at the Texas Motor Speedway. This is my 7th year participating in a Bike MS ride, fundraising for the National MS Society in honor of my godmother and other family members that have been affected by Multiple Sclerosis. If you can, please consider making a donation in support of my participation.

This weekend I rode the Spokes N Spurs, a ride benefitting Spirit Reins Ranch. Spirit Reins transforms the lives of children and families impacted by abuse, neglect and other trauma by healing the past, strengthening families and communities, and building hope for the future. While not the first time I did this ride, it was the first time in quite a while. It’s a good ride, well-supported and goes through nice country roads out of Liberty Hill, Texas. Saturday was cool, with a chance of rain. I ended up wearing a jacket and did not regret it.

The ride starts in the dirt driveway of the ranch:

Two horses were out to send us off:

Small country road:

Ranch gate with bluebonnets to the right:

Bluebonnets amongst the rocks:

Oh the things you see, fire hydrants lining a driveway:

There were times it felt like I could see for miles – this was looking out over a small valley:

Two horses checking me out:

About halfway through the ride, the skies starting getting very interesting…

We rode under a couple of railroad tunnels / bridges made out of black railroad wood:

A bike and bluebonnets:

We went through the non-existent town of Oatmeal, TX.

Ominous skies. I did not get rained on, luckily, but the wind really picked up when we were near the dark clouds.

Bike selfie at a rest stop:

The skies from the rest stop:

The Oatmeal Cemetery and some great sky:

Some fluffy sheep, some shorn sheep:

I added a few extra miles at the end of the ride to meet my training plan. I ended up riding 67 miles on Saturday.

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Laura

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June 28, 2013

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Bike MS Ride the Rim 2013 Recap

This past weekend, on June 22nd, it was finally time for Bike MS Ride the Rim. My deepest thanks to all of my supporters who helped me raise a whopping $1,800 for the MS Society! If you are still interested in making a donation in support of my participation, you have until the end of July to head over to my fundraising page and do so. Together we’re making a difference for people living with Multiple Sclerosis.

The ride was out in Canyon, TX which is about an 8 hour drive from Austin. On Thursday, I gathered up all of our camping gear and my biking supplies and packed the car. My husband managed to come down with food poisoning the night before so I was basically on my own for all of the preparation. Don’t worry, he’s better now. At 6 am Friday I loaded the remaining items into the car, pushed my husband and dog into the car and hit the road. We had a thankfully uneventful drive and made a stop in Lubbock on our way to grab some beer from Wicked Beaver Brewing since we can’t get their beer in Austin.

Once we made it to Canyon I stopped at the Buffalo Sports Park on the campus of West Texas A&M University to pick up my packet. I was pleasantly surprised to be given a top fundraiser jersey!

When we first showed up at packet pickup, everything was still being setup.

After wandering around a bit, we came back to the packet pickup tent and there was a line and some friendly volunteers.

Top fundraiser jersey!

After packet pickup, we headed over to the Palo Duro Canyon State Park to setup our campsite. I’ll have more pictures to share from our camping trip once I get them off my other camera, but for now here are a few from my phone on our drive down into the canyon.

At the top of the canyon, inside the state park.

Looking out into the distance.

The state park road down into the canyon.

After setting up our tent and grilling our dinner, we headed back into Canyon to stay at a hotel so that I could hopefully get a good night’s rest. I’m always a bit anxious before big rides, especially those that I’m somewhat uneasy about, so I had some trouble getting to sleep. My uneasiness had to do both with the ride in and out of the Palo Duro but also with the strong 22 mph winds that were forecasted. The winds were predicted to be out of the south and the route (official Bike MS map) was basically a large square. Next thing I knew it was 6 am and time to get up to head to the start line which was a very short ride from the hotel.

Good morning sun!

Waiting for the start!

Others waiting for the start behind me.

The ride kicked off a few minutes late with a woman who has MS doing a great job singing the national anthem and then a classic Mustang driven by a man recently diagnosed with MS led us out for the first mile or so of the route. I knew I wanted to try to jump in with some fast riders so I watched for them at the start and quickly caught up with them after passing the Valero team.

The Valero team.

Fast riding group.

The wind was present but fairly light to start. From the start line to the turn headed west (about 10 miles) I was just flying. Of course, right after making that turn I was immediately dropped by the fast group. I rode along for a number of miles by myself, still making decent time since the wind was perpendicular to the direction I was traveling and not all that hard yet.

Two windmills!

Somewhere around mile 20 another group of riders came by me with tie-dyed jerseys on. They were much closer to my speed and invited me in to ride with them. For the next 20 miles we hummed right along into Claude where the turn south was. At that point we’d been averaging about 19 mph. It was fun. In Claude we stopped at a rest stop.

Second group of riders, team Pro Chem Sales.

The rest stop in Claude.

The rest stops had nice wooden bike stands to park our bikes in.

The turn to the south was met with a very stiff headwind. The Pro Chem Sales group I was with formed a single file line and drafted off of the lead rider, a gentleman training for an Ironman. He pulled us the whole way to the canyon. Talk about nice!

Riding single file into the wind.

Rest stop, about 10 miles after making the turn south. My average speed at this point was 18 mph.

At every rest stop the volunteers were amazing. There were a ton of them and they would park your bike, get you water, ice, snacks, you name it!

As we got closer to the rim of the canyon the vegetation changed. Instead of being completely flat with no trees, it started to have short little mesquite trees everywhere.

Getting close!

You can see the edge of the canyon along the horizon.

Dropping down into the canyon was amazing. At one point, I hit a speed of 49 mph, the fastest I’ve ever gone on a bike! I probably could have gone faster but I would occasionally tap my brakes because that was fast enough! When I was certain that I was steady, I grabbed some pictures. They definitely don’t do justice to the scenery or the steepness of the descent and ascent.

Starting the descent!

Wow, look at that view!

Still near the top.

Down, down, down…

The route flattened for a bit before descending even further.

Still pretty flat.

About to go down again.

Going down…

At the bottom of the canyon was a bridge that went over a creek bed and flood plain.

Another rest stop was located at the bottom of the canyon filled with cheering volunteers.

Another rest stop was located at the bottom of the canyon staffed with cheering volunteers.

At the bottom, some of the riders I was with regrouped.

Starting the climb. We went up a bit then down again and then all the way up.

A short flat before the climb.

We went up next to some pretty cliffs.

It looks way easier than it was.

During the climb there were people at a picnic overlook peering down at us. You can just make them out on the cliff on the left.

Through the rock cliffs. SAG vehicles were quite heavy through this part, bussing people who didn’t / couldn’t make the climb.

Somewhere around 2/3 of the way up the climb I paused to rest and took a picture of the canyon. Two different SAG vehicles came by to see if I wanted a ride. Of course not! I was going to finish what I started.

There was another rest stop at the top of the canyon. If you were only riding 60 miles, you were done at this stop and rode a SAG vehicle back to the finish line.

This stop had many awesome volunteers. Some people from the National Guard were decked out in camo and took our bikes and parked them. They got us drinks and chatted with all the cyclists.

Once we made the turn west, the wind was mostly perpendicular but was much stronger than in the morning. At some points it seemed to swing into a headwind. The road was bumpy. Apparently my GoPro lens started to fog up. While I had started with a large group, at this point I was just with one woman named Shirley.

I stopped at the rest stop in the tiny town of Wayside to mail some post cards the MS Society had ready for us.

So bumpy. So flat. So windy. And a little two room school house.

Sing it with me now: I can see for miles and miles… I can see for miles and miles… I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles!

After a long ways with the side wind becoming more of a head wind, the road finally became smoother.

After what felt like forever, we finally saw our turn to the north in the distance. I was really worn out at this point.

The next part of the route was on the I-27 frontage road. Not a car to be seen on the entire 10 ish miles on the frontage road. We were flying with a strong wind at our backs. You can see some small signs on the side of the road that volunteers had set up. One set of signs was about getting your kicks on route 66.

Making the turn towards Canyon!

And the turn on to the West Texas A&M campus!

Finishing never felt so good!

Shirley, the woman that I rode the majority of the ride with. It was nice to have company!

News crew at the finish.

To sum up the ride, it was hard, definitely the hardest Bike MS I’ve done. Not because of the climb but because of the wind. I am so thankful to have had some people to draft off of for part of the ride. The ride was extremely well organized. It had 300 volunteers for 200 riders! The support was just amazing from the great volunteers at each rest stop to the people along I-27 making sure that all cyclists were traveling the frontage road safely. The ride is the smallest charity ride I’ve ever done. They are still working towards their goal of $135,000 to help people with MS in the panhandle. You can help them meet their goal. While I’ve surpassed my original goal and made it on to the top fundraiser list, I’d still really like to see the organization overall get to their goal.

If you’d like to see more photos, or the ones above in more detail, check out my flickr set.

You can see my Garmin route here, but I ended up riding for almost 6.5 hours (not including stops), averaging 15.8 mph, climbing 2,8oo ft and burning 4,600 calories. What a ride!

I’m a top fundraiser on the event home page!

I even made a local news story! I’m in the photo that goes with the story, coming across the finish line and if you watch the video to the end you’ll see a glimpse of me and Carl!

Relaxing in the shade with our dog Molly at the finish.

And the finish line photo!

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Laura

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June 16, 2013

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Last 2013 Bike MS training update: East and South Austin

This past Saturday I got to plan another completely new training route. I knew that I needed to be downtown at a boat dock by 1 pm to get on a work-sponsored Lake Austin cruise and that I wanted to leave from home. After consulting both the Campo regional bike map and the bicycle friendly roads feature on Google maps, I ended up planning an 85 mile route east and south of Austin. Overall it was a nice route, although rather flat and not terribly scenic. I was grateful to end up getting sucked into a group of Austin Flyers (a cycling club) about 15 miles from my destination because there were some tricky turns I probably would have missed on my own and they provided a good draft. The weather was unbelievably humid, like riding in a sauna for the entire morning.

Next weekend I will ride the Bike MS event Ride the Rim out in Canyon, TX. The ride is a 105 mile loop around the Palo Duro Canyon and I expect it to be awesome. I choose to fundraise for these events in honor of the many people in my life that I know that have been affected by Multiple Sclerosis. Please consider making a donation to the MS Society in support of my participation and to help the MS Society support those living with MS as well as fund valuable research so that someday (soon I hope) a cure is found. I will reward your donation with an awesome recap of my Bike MS adventure!

My ride on Saturday morning started at 6:40 am. It was cloudy and super humid.

The route headed almost due east from my house and then turned south on Springdale road, crossing under route 290.

Next up was crossing route 183. Luckily it was very early so there was little traffic.

Crossing MLK. I had to stop at quite a few lights before I made it south of the river and finally got out on open road. See the follow cyclist across the intersection?

I thought Springdale road had a bike lane for its entire length but I was definitely wrong. It did eventually have a bike lane, but for much of the distance I just took the right lane since there were two lanes and minimal traffic.

I made a right turn onto 5th Street before crossing the river. This is the Meals on Wheels headquarters.

Just about to cross the river on Pleasant Valley, you can see the river on the right.

Tall sunflowers!

Burleson road by the airport has a nice wide bike lane PLUS a sidewalk / bike path to the right. And very little traffic on a Saturday morning.

Entrance to the Circuit of the Americas race track.

Chickens! What, you can’t see them? They’re in the grass.

First rest stop, when I hit route 21.

Route 21 had a very nice wide shoulder. And a little town called Mustang Ridge.

Some sort of refinery out in the countryside.

For about a quarter mile I ended up having to ride on the shoulder of the frontage road for route 130. It was pretty empty of cars, but when I planned the route the maps seemed to show I would be able to connect my route without doing this. They were wrong.

Rolling hills.

Donkeys!

A little bit of blue sky breaking through.

A small lake off to the right. I sure could see forever on some parts of this ride.

Flat, with no trees.

Small neighborhood like area way out in the country. A couple of the driveways had stone lions on pillars guarding their entrances.

Second rest stop – pretty much nothing else around, and this was obviously new.

More big sky country.

Creedmoor. A common cycling destination for cyclists leaving from south or central Austin.

Just on the other side of Creedmoor, I ran into an Austin Flyers group ride.

After initially passing them, they then passed me and I was sucked into the group. It was nice to have the draft after being on my bike 70 miles already. They also were going the exact same route back to Austin that I planned and helped me with some tricky turns.

South Congress – so close to the finish!

New bikeway on Barton Springs by the Palmer Events Center.

Crossing the pedestrian bridge under Mopac.

New bike lane on Lake Austin Boulevard.

And that was it! After 85 miles (garmin details) I pulled up at the Marina, put my bike in my husband’s car, changed and got on the boat for our work outing. My husband and I ended up riding on a smaller boat owned by one of the partners. It was my first time out on Lake Austin on a boat.

The Loop 360 Pennybacker bridge, viewed from a boat!

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June 1, 2013

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Bike MS training update: Riding the Big Dam(n) Loop

Last weekend was Memorial day. I had plans to ride on Saturday, which were rained out, then to ride on Sunday, and it rained again, so luckily Monday was dry so I could get in my training ride (yay, three day weekend). Because the group ride I had originally planned to participate in was cancelled, I decided to head out on a relatively hilly route that the locals call the Dam Loop because it crosses over the Mansfield Dam. I had to add some miles to the normal loop to bring my total route up to 73 miles for the day. While riding my big dam loop I usually change it to big damn loop in my head. This day was no exception, since it started out windy from the beginning. Check out the photos below for the summary of my ride.

Why do I ride 73 miles on a super windy day? Well, I do love to ride, but right now I’m three training weekends away from the Bike MS event Ride the Rim that I will participate in out in Canyon, TX on June 22nd. The ride is a 105 mile loop around the Palo Duro Canyon and I can’t wait to finally get to see that part of Texas. This is my 6th Bike MS event. I choose to fundraise for these events in honor of the many people in my life that I know that have been affected by Multiple Sclerosis. Please consider making a donation to the MS Society in support of my participation and to help the MS Society support those living with MS as well as fund valuable research so that someday (soon I hope) a cure is found.

First time riding on Lakeline Blvd - It was wide, relatively flat and low traffic early on Memorial day morning. Oh, and a nasty headwind bad enough to make me wonder if I would make the entire ride.

First time riding on Lakeline Blvd – It was wide, relatively flat and had low traffic early on Memorial day morning. Oh, and a nasty headwind bad enough to make me wonder if I would make the entire ride.

See the flag? Windy!

Out in the ‘burbs, you see lots of wide boulevards, green grass and signs listing about 20 builders in the area. That’s the sign you see in this picture.

After making the turn onto 620, I was surprised that it was windy, but not quite as terrible as I thought. The stretch of Lakeline that I pedaled ended up being the worst wind of the day. Here you can see a few food trailers on the right.

Hippy Hollow! Windy Point! Such great views when you ride 620, I think you basically ride along the ridge that goes along the lake.

You can almost see the lake on the right. Love the views out here.

Now you can definitely see our poor, low Lake Travis.

Coming up to Mansfield Dam.

Just about to cross the dam.

A tiny bit of blue sky!

Iguana gill… a tex mex restaurant with decent food and a great view, without the long waits of the Oasis.

This picture is for my Dad – a golf course AND a water tower that looks like a golf ball on a tee!

Lakeway has these signs everywhere. Fancy.

Some little flags on the corner in honor of Memorial Day.

Bee Caves Parkway connects 620 to 2244 (Bee Caves Rd) and is nice and wide. Wide enough for bike lanes actually, but instead they just put up share the road and bikes may use full lane signs a few places along this short road.

Bee Caves road, recently repaved apparently. It’s a pretty hilly road, but many hills are rollers.

The on ramp to loop 360.

360 has some great views and the cloud cover gave way to some blue skies.

I love looking at these small cliffs.

Coming up on the Pennybacker bridge. The approach from the south to this bridge is an awesomely fast downhill.

Crossing the bridge.

The turn off of 360 into the Arboretum is always disheartening after a long ride. That’s a nasty little hill to climb!

Almost home… riding past Tacodeli is usually torture, but I often come back there for a special lunch treat after making it home.

Finally crossing Metric into my neighborhood!

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April 19, 2013

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It’s that time again… training season!

For the sixth year in a row, I’m kicking off bike training season with the goal of riding in a Bike MS event to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. For my first three years, I rode the BP MS150 from Houston to Austin since it’s so close to home. My next two years were the Escape to the Lake in western Pennsylvania and then the Pedal to the Point in northern Ohio. I really enjoyed the smaller size of these last two rides, so this year I’m doing a smaller ride in Texas called Ride the Rim out in Canyon, TX on June 22nd – 23rd. I’ve chosen this ride because it goes around the Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the US, which I’ve always wanted to visit. This year’s ride is a bit different because the mileage is less. The first day is 100 miles and the second day is 25 miles with a bus ride into the Palo Duro Canyon State Park in the middle. Typically the second day of a Bike MS ride is anywhere from 50 – 80 miles and definitely does not include a bus ride! Because we have to drive far to get to the Palo Duro Canyon, we may just do some hiking or mountain biking on Sunday.

That’s a long paragraph to say that I officially kicked off training season this past Saturday by riding a charity ride with my husband called the Tour De Vineyard at the Vineyard at Florence. After riding 43.5 miles, we had lunch at the Vineyard and bought a ticket to the Texas Wine Festival so that we could taste many delicious wines.

On Sunday, I ran the Austin 10/20, a 10 mile running race near my house that had 20 live bands along the course. Despite not being able to complete my training plan, I am happy with my race performance.

My training updates this year will have more photos than previous years because I now have a GoPro Hero 3 camera that can be easily mounted to my bike handlebars.

The ride started on a temperate morning with thin clouds high in the sky.

My husband was riding a slightly shorter route, but we started out together.

After I took a wrong turn (along with about half of the other riders) I caught back up with my husband and surprised him.

Off and on the sun came out during the ride.

Yes, Texas is big sky country…

The little town of Florence.

Unfortunately, the handlebar mount broke half way through the ride… so I could just hold the camera and take a picture.

Don’t worry, it was perfectly safe.

Do you see those animals among the trees? They’re elk!

And turkeys!

Finally towards the end of the ride we got to see some bluebonnets along the side of the road.

And some pink winecups

Shortly thereafter, we were back at the winery!

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Laura

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August 7, 2012

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Mission Complete: Pedal to the Point 2012

Well, I’m back in Austin now. This past weekend I rode the 2012 BikeMS: Pedal to the Point in northern Ohio. The route goes from Brunswick to Sandusky, Ohio and back again. I had a great time while I was there, spending time with my family and some close friends that I don’t see nearly often enough.

This was my 5th year riding in a BikeMS event. So far this year, I’ve raised $1,110 for the MS Society (it’s not too late to donate). During the ride, I rode through my old high school stomping grounds. In fact, I even rode by the houses of my two closest high school friends. Overall, the ride was nice although it lacked some of the excitement of the BP MS 150 from Houston to Austin and the Escape to the Lake in western Pennsylvania. The lack of excitement was made up by having a great crew of supporters see me off at the start line, meet me at rest stops, and cheer for me at the finish. Throughout the ride I got to spend time with my wonderful husband Carl who accompanied me to Ohio, my Mom & Darrell, my Dad & Ellen, and my Uncle Jim.

We arrived in Cleveland late Wednesday night after a delayed flight in Austin almost made us miss our connection in DFW. By some miracle, our checked luggage actually made it on the plane and showed up in Cleveland with us. Last year on my BikeMS trip, the same situation was much worse when I was without my luggage for more than 24 hours after landing.

Thursday my bike was delivered to a FedEx office so we picked it up and I assembled it.

Need to transport large things? The trunk of a ’99 Chrysler Concord swallowed up the large bike case with room to spare.

Yep, the bike parts were all still in the case upon arriving in Ohio.

Unpacking and assembling my bike.

Thursday evening we enjoyed a nice dinner and a few beers at Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland with my Dad & Ellen. Carl and I try to make it to the Brewery at least once during every Ohio visit. I even picked up a new bike jersey in the gift shop while we were there.

Friday afternoon we headed to packet pickup in Brunswick where I got my rider numbers, route map, and t-shirt.

Showing off the t-shirt.

Friday evening we enjoyed a smorgasbord of fresh Ohio food including amazing tomatoes and cucumbers from my Mom’s garden and sweet corn from a local farm. The company was great as three friends and their families joined us for a cookout and some relaxation the evening before my ride.

Bright and early on Saturday morning my Mom and Carl drove me out to the start line in Brunswick. We rolled out at 7:20 am after a delay while the organizers were waiting for the ride celebrity, Phil Keoghan from the Amazing Race, to make the opening remarks.

Waiting for Phil Keoghan at the start line.

A mass of riders pouring out of the start line.

There I go!

On Saturday, the weather was quite nice, if a bit on the hot side for Ohio. I was ok with the heat. The route only had a few hills, although some of them were steep, none of them lasted for very long. A few roads had more traffic than I expected but I didn’t encounter any angry drivers. In fact, a few times drivers gave me a thumbs-up as they went by.

As always, I rode the extra loop so that Saturday would be a 100 mile ride. The extra loop was called the “Kent Clapp Extra Lap” in honor of Kent Clapp, CEO of Medical Mutual of Ohio, who died in a chartered plane crash in December 2009, along with his fiancé. Medical Mutual has been sponsoring a BikeMS team since 2008. My first rest stop of the day was at mile 40 on the extra lap. I received a wrist band indicating the extra distance I rode. Carl, Mom, and Darrell met me at the rest stop.

Riding out of my first rest stop, in front of a field of corn.

My photo crew hid out a few miles from the rest stop and snapped my photo as I rode through a tunnel of trees.

Seen on my bike: Scenic Ohio back road with wildflowers.

I proceeded to ride through many roads extremely familiar to me, even going by houses of friends from high school as we cut across Lagrange, Ohio, my hometown for a number of years. During this section, I got caught up in a friendly pace group and was making great time. I lost them at the lunch stop because I continued to the next rest stop where my crew was waiting for me again.

Mom and I in the line for water.

One thing disappointing about this ride was the rest stops. They only had two water stations and so long lines would form as cyclists waited to get water. Besides a good fruit selection, the snacks at the rest stops were mostly unhealthy and not something I would eat while riding a bike.

My rest stop supporters. They even brought me pretzels and a pickle!

Seen on my bike: Old bridge.

I planned my next stop to be one at an orchard that also has a winery. It was packed with cyclists and had huge water lines. Luckily here I met my Dad and Ellen who had water for me in their truck. During a venture into the orchard store, I bought some homemade jam and kettle corn and was given a slice of ice cold watermelon, ice cold cantaloupe, and a handful of popcorn. The cantaloupe in particular was amazing. I can’t ever get cantaloupe that good in Texas 😦

More rest stop supporters!

The ride was a little tough-going after that stop. I was hot and tired and the wind had picked up. I was mostly passing people because I had caught up with the folks riding the shorter route.

Seen on my bike: Large greenhouse out in the country.

Seen on my bike: Fruit orchard!

I eventually reached the finish line for Saturday after riding 101 miles. The finish line was marked with blue flags and balloons and loud music.

Riding across the finish line on Saturday!

The finish balloons.

Saturday evening we stayed in little camping cabins with my Dad and Ellen only a few miles away from the finish line. We had dinner and drinks at Mon Ami winery, which was quite good. I knew from the start that Sunday’s forecast was for an 80% chance of thunderstorms. We were surprised when the storms started around 8:30 pm Saturday evening. The wind picked up and there was a lot of thunder and lightening while we hunkered down in the cabins. It rained, but it was by no means a torrential downpour, thankfully.

Sunday morning I woke bright and early and checked the weather map. There didn’t appear to be any rain in sight although the forecast still said 80% chance of rain. I was hopeful that by putting my rain jacket in my jersey pocket I would deter the rain. We loaded my bike up into the truck, drove the to start line and I joined the route right at 7 am. It was a nice morning, if a bit damp and windy. I got caught up in an extremely fast pace group for a while which helped me reach my first planned stop at mile 30 at a small park in Wakeman, Ohio rather quickly. By then I knew I was most likely going to get rained on. There were very dark clouds behind me so I was just trying to ride out in front of the clouds as fast as I could.

Seen on the bike: Sunday morning country road. I was near these two riders for a while both on Saturday and Sunday.

Seen on the bike: Apple orchard and a gloomy sky.

Soon after the rest stop, I picked up yet another pace group who invited me to join them as they tried to out run the rain. Unfortunately that did not work and soon a steady rain began. I never saw lightening thankfully. There was wind but it wasn’t terrible and the rain was not so heavy that we couldn’t ride in it. However, I did start to see a number of bike crashes mostly from people riding in groups. Once your wheels are wet, your brakes don’t work well at all and you have to be very careful. If you need to brake in a group I can see how this would lead to a crash. I was thankful that after riding by the lunch stop most of the groups of riders stopped and I was on my own on the route. Not that I entirely wanted to ride alone, but I was nervous about crashing.

At my next rest stop I was met by my Mom, Darrell, and my uncle who made the trip in from Pennsylvania to see me. By that time I was drenched. My Mom was volunteering at the stop which was near her house. They had plenty of volunteers so after I stopped she headed for the finish to see me there.

Seen on the bike: I saw rider #1 on both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday he was sporting a top VIP fundraiser jersey which was pretty awesome. On Saturday, he was riding with a young teenage rider, showing her the ropes of the ride.

While the rain relented for a while, it picked up again after the rest stop. The rain stopped again closer to the finish. The last 10 miles or so of the route felt like some sort of punishment. First we turned straight south into a nasty headwind for a number of miles. Then we turned out of the headwind going east and went up a loooooonnnnngggg slow hill capped with a short steep segment where a few other riders were walking their bikes. We then turned onto a road in desperate need of repair. Constant potholes, many of them large enough to put your tire in, were quite scary. It was like navigating a maze. Eventually I turned off into the smooth school grounds and ended up at the finish line with my cheering section. I rode 84 miles.

Crossing the finish!

Cheering section at the finish line!

Cheering section, part 2.

The finish was largely absent of spectators. I’m not sure if I was just early or if this ride just doesn’t get many spectators. Definitely different from my previous four BikeMS events.

I realized that I’m 4 for 5 when it comes to rain during a BikeMS weekend:

2008 BP MS150: No rain!
2009 BP MS150: Saturday rained / flooded out
2010 BPMS150: Big storm Saturday night left me unable to sleep. Sunday was misty and the lack of sleep greatly affected my ride.
2011 Escape to the Lake: Threatened rain Saturday. It started as soon as I crossed the finish. Rain overnight and Sunday was cold and misty on the bike.
2012 Pedal to the Point: Saturday night rain, steady rain on Sunday.
2013: Don’t know what event I’ll participate in, but already crossing my fingers for a lack of rain 🙂

I had a great ride both days despite the rain and really enjoyed the route. I think I had a smile on my face for the majority of Saturday’s ride because it was so nice to ride in areas familiar while knowing that loved ones were cheering me on.

So, to those of you who donated this year:

THANK YOU!

I know that you were thinking of me and most likely saw my Facebook and Twitter updates for the ride. Your support is greatly appreciated! I’m so thankful to have such generous family and friends.

If you’d like to donate, there’s still time! Head over to my fundraising page.

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Laura

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July 29, 2012

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BikeMS Training update #12: All trained up and ready to go!

Wow, I can’t believe next weekend is when I ride the Bike MS: Pedal to the Point in northern Ohio. It’s a 180 mile bike ride over two days. The ride goes right through the best part of Ohio: the flat part and the part that I lived in for 18 years of my life. I can’t wait to ride in temperatures no higher than the mid-80s (according to the current forecast). It will be quite the change from the Austin summer heat.

This is my 5th year riding a Bike MS ride and my first time riding in northern Ohio. With one week to go, I am at 40% of my fundraising goal. Can you pitch in to help me meet by goal by making a donation to the MS Society? Every little bit helps. I continue to participate in this event because I’ve seen too many friends and family affected by the disease and I hope to see a cure in my lifetime.

Today I completed my last training ride, bringing my total riding distance over the last 12 weeks to 1,586 miles. Whew! On Saturday’s ride I knew that I was ready when I averaged 16.5 mph for a 75 mile ride with hills and a bit of wind. On the second half of the ride I was in “the zone” – riding was effortless and I was lost in my surroundings. It was a great day for a bike ride. My chosen route combined aspects of the Tres Burritos ride from last weekend and my long ride out Parmer Lane the weekend before. Riding out Parmer Lane, especially after getting past the heavier traffic, is a great way to spend a weekend morning.

A Texas country road

The sunflowers are still blooming. I passed a whole field of them on Saturday!

Beautiful shiny horses hanging out by the road

My Sunday ride ended up being 35 miles and I road a reverse route of last Sunday’s ride around a local golf course. After getting home, I started on bike maintenance so that I could get my bike packaged up for its travel to Ohio.

After cleaning the entire thing, including the chain rings, I was covered in grease. I also replaced my front brake pads which were quite worn. To disassemble my bike, I had to do the following things:

Remove my seat and handle bar bags
Remove the bottle cages
Remove both tires and deflate the tubes
Remove the skewers from the wheels
Remove the pedals
Remove the bike computer
Remove the seat (after I marked its height with masking tape)
Remove the handle bars (also after marking with tape)

Next I used a combination of foam tubes and bubble wrap to wrap up the bike safe and sound (or at least I hope it will be safe and sound). All the pieces then went into my hard-sided bike case and were strapped down with a combination of velcro and tape. When finished, it was hard to believe that there was a bicycle under there:

All wrapped up and ready to go.

Bon voyage, ma bicyclette!

My bike leaves Monday morning via FedEx (Bikeflights.com is how I set up the shipping). She arrives in Ohio on Thursday. I arrive in Ohio late Wednesday night. I’ll miss you old friend! I guess I’ll actually have to drive to work Monday, Tuesday, AND Wednesday, ugh.

Stay tuned for photos of the Pedal to the Point (and please consider a donation)!

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Laura

Posted on

July 23, 2012

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Cycling

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Bike MS Training update #11: Longest ride of the year (so far)

Two weeks from now I’ll have completed the 2012 Bike MS: Pedal to the Point in northern Ohio. It’s a 180 mile bike ride over two days. The ride goes right through the best part of Ohio: the flat part and the part that I lived in for 18 years of my life. This is my 5th year riding a Bike MS ride and my first time riding in northern Ohio. I can’t wait to make the trip. I have one more training weekend to go. Next Sunday evening I’ll be disassembling my bike, packing it into a bike case, and trusting its care to FedEx so that I can have it for the ride. If you’re able, please consider supporting my participation by making a donation to the MS Society. Every little bit helps. I continue to participate in this event because I’ve seen too many friends and family affected by the disease and I hope to see a cure in my lifetime.

This weekend I participated in the Tres Burritos ride sponsored by Bicycle Sport Shop, a very friendly and supportive local bike shop here in Austin. I chose the “Go the distance” route which left from their Parmer Lane shop, about 9 miles from my house. The longest “distance” route was only 60 miles so I knew I needed to add miles in order to continue to follow my training plans. With that in mind, I set out from my home on my bike at 6:35 am (!!) to make it to the shop in time to check in before we rolled out at 7:30 am. I made it in plenty of time. The morning was humid but nice.

At 6:45 am, the sun is just rising over the cars on Mopac

I don’t have many photos to share from Saturday’s ride for good reason. I got caught up in the intermediate pace group a number of times. In a pace group you ride close together to take advantage of the aerodynamics of the group and therefore it requires concentration and no one-handed picture taking while riding your bike. I made it out to Andice, TX in good time mostly on my own. The rest stop was at the Andice General Store and I paused there to grab some snacks and fill up on water and ice from the gigantic water reservoir and ice chest.

Glorious cold water

After that stop, I headed west into a decent headwind on a bumpy road. After crossing 183 with the assistance of an off-duty sheriff keeping a watchful eye on traffic, I headed into an area with some short rolling hills. At that point, the intermediate pace group passed me and because of their aerodynamic assistance, I was able to ride with them for quite some time, which made my speed increase considerably. I rode in this group of about 20 – 25 men for quite some time before being ejected out the back on some hills where I couldn’t build up as much speed as larger men on nice light bikes. During that time I realized what riding in the peloton must be like. Smelly! I could no longer smell the nice fresh air any longer and could only smell sweatiness. Thanks guys.

I made it back to the rest stop in Andice for another fuel stop. I caught the pace group again which had dwindled in number and rode with them for much longer, until about 12 miles remained at which point the riders stopped at a rest stop and I kept going. I knew I wanted to get back to Bicycle Sport Shop as early as possible so that I could grab my t-shirt and tacos and then ride the 9 miles home. The pace groups make riding in wind so much easier and I was very grateful for their assistance. I am not fast or strong enough to lead a group that fast in the wind so I was sure to keep to the middle or back of the group to avoid getting caught in the lead position.

After making it back to Bicycle Sport Shop, I picked up my event t-shirt and two free veggie tacos from One Taco. With 9 miles to ride before making it home, I didn’t want to eat my tacos yet, so I rearranged all my stuff so that I could put both the tacos and my t-shirt into my jersey pockets. I’m sure I looked ridiculous from behind but it was well worth it. Those tacos were delicious! I ended up riding 79 miles that day. I expect that this is my peak training distance for this season.

On Sunday I planned to sleep in (and I did, kinda) but was still on my bike by 7:45 am because my body is so used to waking up early these days. It was another nice morning, although breezier than Saturday. I rode a more residential route so my pace was lower. It was also shadier. Part of my ride was in the Balcones Country Club area. I love riding through some of the older neighborhoods like this one in northwest Austin. The houses have interesting and eclectic architecture and are shaded by huge trees. My ride ended at 36 miles. A very good riding weekend.

Early morning view of the Balcones golf course

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Laura

Posted on

July 17, 2012

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Cycling

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Bike MS Training update #10: It’s about the numbers

This weekend was relatively uneventful as far as training goes. I was in Texas, I didn’t get rained on, and I didn’t crash. Success! So, I’d like to sum up some numbers for you.

3: Weeks until I fly to Ohio for BikeMS: Pedal to the Point.
184: Miles I’ll ride August 4th – 5th.
400,000: The number of Americans who have MS.
6,444: Dollars I’ve raised for the MS Society with your help over the last four years.
5: The number of BikeMS events I’ll have participated in after completing the Pedal to the Point. If you’re able, please consider supporting my participation by making a donation to the MS Society. I’ve seen too many friends and family affected by the disease so I continue to choose to participate in these events.
1,250: Miles I’ve ridden in training for this year’s BikeMS.
320: Additional miles I’ll ride before the event.
36: Miles I rode this Saturday.
167: Number of cyclists I saw during Saturday’s ride. That’s almost 5 per mile! I saw cyclists on road bikes, mountain bikes, cruiser bikes, and even a folding bike!
200: Americans diagnosed with MS every week.
75: Miles I rode Sunday.
3: Number of new roads I checked out during Sunday’s ride.
17%: How far I am to my $1,000 fundraising goal for this year. Can you help me meet my goal?

During Saturday’s ride, I made a pit stop at Bicycle Sport Shop on Parmer Lane for a rear derailler adjustment. While I was waiting, I admired these candy-colored cruiser bikes. Want!

I started Sunday’s ride at 7 am. Good morning sun!

While checking out a new road, I got to do a bit of off-road riding on my road bike while I traversed this dirt patch.

A new road that I checked out. Nice and smooth with good views.

Free water! It was even cold. This place was a life saver during Sunday’s ride because I managed to run out of water, even with my planned water stop.

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Laura

Posted on

June 24, 2012

Posted under

Cycling, Uncategorized

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Bike MS training update #7: Wait, how far did I just ride?

Unintentionally, this weekend became my first 100+ mile bike training weekend of the season. Unintentionally because my training plan (and what I planned in my head) had me riding 90 – 95 miles this weekend. Instead, I finished at 106 miles.

Now, if you’re asking yourself why I would subject myself to riding more than 100 miles in the hottest Texas weekend so far this year, the answer is that I’m training for Bike MS: Pedal to the Point in August. For the past 5 years I’ve ridden in one of these events to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society because the disease has affected a number of people in my life throughout the years. Each year it seems I learn of another friend or family member touched by the disease. I hope that researchers can find a cure for MS. I’ve kicked off my fundraising, as I do every year, by personally donating to the MS Society. If you are able, please also consider making a donation to the society. They use the money to provide programs and services to people living with MS as well to fund cutting-edge research.

So, back to my weekend training shenanigans. On Saturday morning, at 6:40 am (!!) I set out on my bike. I left as early as I could drag myself out of bed because I knew it would be hot hot hot. At 6:40, it was amazingly pleasant outside. In fact, the ride overall on Saturday wasn’t nearly as hot as I expected. I started north on Parmer Lane with the intention of doing a “Dam Loop”, a route that is damn hilly and passes the Mansfield Dam out by Lake Travis. This past week my hamstring has been bothering me and after about 10 miles out Parmer, I decided not to make the turn out towards the dam. Instead, I decided to ride out to Andice, TX which involves hills, but less of them. To get to Andice, you have to ride to the end of Parmer Lane and then make a turn on to ranch road 2338.

Good morning, sun!

A stream seen from a bridge

On my way to the end of Parmer, I made friends with a nice gentleman and we chatted about different bike rides we done. He is training for the Hotter ‘n Hell 100 which lives up to its name from what I hear. We split ways at the end of Parmer Lane when I turned out towards Andice. At that point, my odometer read 30 miles, I knew I needed water, and was pretty sure Andice wasn’t too far down the road where I could replenish at the general store. Sigh. Andice was more than 5 miles away.

The Andice General Store in my sight!

And more importantly, it was CLOSED. Austin cyclists: the Andice General Store opens at 8 am M – F and 10 am on the weekend. I was there at 9 am. Right after I pulled up, a large group of cyclists from the team in training showed up, also mightily disappointed. Luckily, someone found a spicket on the back of the building that I reluctantly used to fill my bottle. There really isn’t any other water source for many many miles.

Oh Andice General Store, how you have forsaken me.

Instead of turning around and going back directly the way that I came, I knew that there were back roads that would get me back to Parmer Lane. They were quite pleasant to ride on with almost no traffic and lots of shade.

A nice smooth, shady road.

One of the best parts of riding on Saturday was the very minimal wind I encountered. Even when the headwind started to pick up on my way back, it was still minimal and actually necessary to keep me cool-ish. It was just a great morning for riding in Austin. I ended up riding 69 miles for the day, a bit longer than I expected.

Someone turned off the wind!

Later that afternoon we went to the packet pickup for the Urban Assault Ride put on by New Belgium Brewing and stopped for a delicious treat at Bananarchy. Chocolate covered frozen bananas with toppings? Yes, please!

A well deserved amazingly delicious treat

And that brings me to Sunday’s ride. My husband and I participated in the Austin Urban Assault Ride. Last year’s Urban Assault Ride was about 18 miles when we finished. In order to get extra miles in, I rode the 13 miles to the start line at Fiesta Garden Park. To do this, I left at 6:20 am. It was noticeably hotter and more humid than Saturday despite the sun not even being up yet.

The ride is a lot of fun. You have to ride to different checkpoints and perform obstacles in order to collect a bead that proved that you completed that obstacle. You also have to figure out the location of two mystery checkpoints. The obstacles included fun things like riding a bike while catching loops with a foam sword, jumping into a pool and collecting rubber duckies, riding an adult big wheel, and sitting on a skateboard and being towed by a bike. The husband and I were able to easily figure out mystery point 1, where we got the clue for mystery point 2. I thought I knew the second mystery point but was wrong, leading us to check a few locations before figuring it out. Also, we somehow skipped a checkpoint on our ride and had to back track to avoid a huge penalty. Because of our failures, I ended up riding 37 miles for the day, also longer than I had planned. Oh well, we did have beer at the finish line. Next year we hope our friends / partners in crime for the UAR will be riding with us again.

Everyone lined up and ready to race!

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Laura enjoys making many things

Tag Archives: multiple sclerosis

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Last 2013 Bike MS training update: East and South Austin

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It’s that time again… training season!

Mission Complete: Pedal to the Point 2012

THANK YOU!

BikeMS Training update #12: All trained up and ready to go!

Bike MS Training update #11: Longest ride of the year (so far)

Bike MS Training update #10: It’s about the numbers

Bike MS training update #7: Wait, how far did I just ride?

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