Jury Is Still Out

No matter the opinion on Floyd Landis, it is always an inspiration to meet the pros. Our ride "Director of Doping" Bob B. met Floyd and sent along some pics at a speaking engagement.

One thing to note is that there will be no #1 jersey at the start of this years Tour. Team jerseys begin at number 11.

A Good Day For A Ride

First, Happy 4th of July to everyone. I hope you spend your Independance Day with a safe and happy celebration.

Up early today and had a GREAT ride with my friend and co-worker Mark "Iron Man" H. It was a priviledge to ride with someone who has competed in more than one Iron Man. Felt good to ride with someone too, I have been training solo for a long while. We got through 27+ miles pretty quickly on Sanibel. A little more car traffic then normal due to the parade. Finally feel a little more optimistic about the Mountain Mama and hanging with other riders. Thanks Mark!

Thanks also goes out to James, our IT Guru who helped develop this blogsite -- despite a fractured heel and pain killers:-)

One note on being catabolic. I read if you jump in the shower after a ride and get a wiff of amonia, that means you are going catabolic and need to take steps to repair the damage.

Time to relax and enjoy that Atkins shake with a shot of Stok in it and settle in to a hump-day off.

Happy 4th!

Launch Day

Today is an exciting day for me. The Ride 2 The Rescue donations site is done and looks great. I will be sending out the link to a select list of friends and family for starters. I want to thank Jim at EMCC Design for his volunteering to take on the project -- I owe him a pint (or two)!

My massive bike case came in last night along with my Park Tool repair stand. Now if I only had a bike with two tires! The shop apparently lined my tires with the kevlar band inside-out allowing it to flat. The real inconvenience is that it put me behind my training schedule. I'll just have to work a little harder.

Keep the training tips coming!

July 1

Some days it's just not worth the effort. I was scheduled to go the distance 65 miles in preparation for my first distance ride (in 20 years) -- the 70 mile Mountain Mama. 15 miles into it I realized I forgot money. I began devising how I would talk the mini-mart owner into "loaning" me Gatorade, water and a banana. The heat and peleton's were a bit demoralizing as I was on my own. The new high-span on the Sanibel Causeway had just opened up and tons of roadies took the opportunity to test their legs on the only hill in the area.

At 26 miles something felt funny -- other than my a**, legs and hands. I was getting a flat. A problem again. I took out my CO2 tire kit to balance the weight of extra water cages. By 32 the front tire was flat and I was wondering why I spent the money on the kevlar lined Specialized tires. Fortunately I have a loving, understanding wife who drove out to rescue me from a 4 mile hike in cleats back to the car.

Contemplated finishing the miles on the trainer... for a nano-second.

Rest day today and get psyched again for Tuesday.