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July 2007

7.31.07 Wow- last day of the month. Two good days of hard rides. Monday I did a 35 mile ride. This evening, I rode from Grandville to Rockford and back - a total of 45 miles. My weight dropped, finally, under 170- hitting 169.7 at 16.9% body fat! All the riding is paying off. (Joni rode back to Grandville with me after her 16 mile ride from Whitecaps Park to Rockford and back as part of her Tuesday organized ride).

Wednesday is an off the bike day- we are meeting an old friend for Scribs pizza in Muskegon at 630 tomorrow- haven't seen Amy since 1987! Thursday back on the bike, off Friday, then on either Saturday or Sunday I plan a long day riding at a trail- perhaps Ft Custer or Yankee.

7.29.07 Saturday, I'd planned on a nice 2-1/2 hour drive to Rochester Hills of reading given that Brenden usually is itching to drive- but of course he was out until 6am Saturday morning ( i.e. UP ALL FRIDAY NIGHT ). I taught trail school at Fr Custer then got home about 3pm saturday- so we headed out to Rochester by 4pm. I settled into the back seat to read and email- I don't do well as a passenger in the front seat when he drives- I am a vocal critic constantly.

But alas- by exit 84 - not even to Lansing- he's too tired to drive (at least he recognized that) and Joni didn't want to drive so I get the task and pack away my magazines. We reached the motel in Rochester Hills at 630pm, change and head to the trail to do a quick ride so Brenden has an idea of the course for the race today.

Breakfast in Rochester Hills at Paul's on Main Street- great place, excellent help, great Douwe-Egbert coffee which has a distinctly European flavor compared to American coffees, then to the race venue. Brenden races at 1217pm. He did pretty well- as single speed is a tough category- coming in 13 of 20 in the B-group (sport/beginner) single speeders with 1hr.2min time on the 13 mile course.

I didn't race- I do quite poorly on time trials- which are essentially 12-14 mile sprints and you can only do well if you've warmed up RIGHT before you depart the start line. No- I will concentrate on upcoming events (see below)

We had dinner at a mexican restaurant with David and Kristhal- two friends from biking- before heading back home this evening- which I drove- as Brenden soon fell asleep in the back.

August is going to be BUSY!
Saturday Aug 11- Ore to Shore
Saturday Aug 18- 12 Hours of Pando
Saturday Aug 25- Maybury CPS race

I have two weeks to prep for Ore to Shore- and plan to hit lots of miles- Tomorrow I intend on 40 miles, Tuesday at least 20-25, Wed off the bike and more miles on Thursday. Next weekend (Aug 4-5) I'd like to do 50-60 miles on trails (perhaps at Ft Custer or several laps at Yankee).

I'd like to do really well at Pando. Last year I did 19 laps for 86 miles on the 4.5 mile course and came in last place (behind 24, 23, & 22 lap riders). I expect to break 20 laps this year at least and could perhaps challenge for 2nd or 3rd at least.

I don't know that I will race Maybury- I did okay though last year- so maybe...

7.26.07 Poor week for biking. Tuesday we rode the White Pine Trail from Whitecaps baseball park to Rockford, had pizza, peddled around Rockford then rode back- a 20 mile round trip in all. Nice to do an easy spin only two days after the Ithaca race. Went to the Freethought Association meeting on Wednesday. Tonight I'd intended to ride the bike out to Ada BIke Shop (to meet an MMBA member and transfer some trail arrows) and ride back- which would have been a 40 mile round trip but the thunderstorms are moving in. There won't be any biking Friday. Saturday I run a trail school at Ft Custer from 9am-3pm- I may get some riding in then. Sunday is the Stony Creek Time Trial. I am not racing but Brenden is-so I will likely pre-ride the trail with him which is about 12-14 miles. So the miles will have to pick up again Aug 30th!

7.23.07 Photo Joni took of me on the Ithaca Jailhouse Trail during the 12 Hour race.

7.22.07 Well, the 12 Hours of Ithaca is over! Whew! I didn't achieve my goal of 30 laps on the 4.9 mile course. I finished in 3rd place with 23 laps- 113 miles ridden. Results will be up on the Funpromotions site in a couple of days. The course isn't difficult from a cardio standpoint or from a leg strength angle either as there is virtually no elevation- the highest hill was perhaps 30 feet? But the course is very hard on the upper body. My hands, wrists, forearms, biceps and shoulder joints were all aching severely after numerous laps. I took a couple Ibuprofen at 8pm which really helped. It wore off and I took another does at 1030pm. My hands are still tingling and slightly numb. A broken back, both broken wrists and both broken collarbones over the years have taken a tolll on upper body strength and torso strength. I need to more diligently implement some strength exersizes such as crunches, pushups, etc.

My goal was 30 laps (compared to the 20 I did last year). But I completely over-estimated the effect of the heat last year, and underestimated the pace needed to do 30 laps. By the end of lap six, I knew I wouldn't hit 30 laps- it was mathematically impossible- I needed to maintain a 12.4mph pace the WHOLE race to do that and I was only hitting 11.7 at my fastest. I decided to shoot for 25 laps- and came close. I could have gotten 24 laps since I came in from lap 23 at 1145pm which would have allowed me out on the course for one more lap, but once darkness fell, my 27 minutes per lap that I'd been able to maintain up to about 900pm fell to about 35-40 minutes and I didn't feel like staying on the course until 1230am.

I had a couple of crash incidents. On lap four, rounding a corner the bike skidded out from under me, leaving a good "dirt/gravel rash on me left calf. On lap nine, on the section leading to the area where the factory was located near the trail, my left handlebar clipped a tree, injuring my pinky as well as throwing the bike. The clip sent me head on into a tree five feet farther on the right, which I luckily missed with the wheel. But the handlebars hit hard and I impacted the stem right on the center of my breastbone- leaving a bruise. No other damage although the front brake cable shows the impact- it didn't affect the brakes from functioning.

The bike was creaking pretty badly for many laps. At one point Robin Scurr was riding behind me on a recreational ride- he was doing support for Shari, who was racing. I said I thought I had a damaged bottom bracket and he mentioned it may be cracked or loose bolt on the chainring. After cleaning the bike this morning I did end up tightening a couple of the bolts gently. I will see if this does the trick.

My next race isn't until August 11th in the upper peninsula- the Ore-to-Shore- 48 miles. The goal is to definitely finish in less than four hours (last year was 4 hrs 4 minutes). I'd like to get closer to 3-1/2 hours though.

7.20.07 Friday night-night off the bike, pasta dinner, plenty of water and good rest tonight. Rode Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday- 25 miles on Tues, 25 miles on Wed, 16 on Thursday- which was an easy 16.

The 12 Hours of Ithaca is tomorrow. Last year I did 100 miles (20 laps) which garnered 4th place. Steve Kinley and Mike Seaman each did 25 laps last year with third place doing 23. That during a very HOT and HUMID event. Assuming all the same competitors show up I will likely not place much better than last year - definitely can't surpass Mike or Steve. ... quick edit: just checked out Steve Kinley 's EBlog and it indicates he did Ruby last week, Stony Creek TT next week before an out of state 100 miler.... no Ithaca... hm.... who's coming, then, to Ithaca...

I am heading out at about 830am tomorrow to get to Ithaca and set up and get ready- race at noon. Stay tuned.

7.16.07 Today is Monday. 25 miler tonight including TEN...count'em TEN... climbs up that training hill at John Ball Park! whoohooo. It looked like rain today but I rode anyway since Wednesday promises to truly be raining... load up on hydration and carbs the next three days.

7.16.07 I was going to ride tonight, but after all day hiking and working the Ionia trail my legs are rather tired. So, a night off and back tomorrow- Joni does her weekly rail-trail ride with co-workers on Tuesday anyway so it's a good time for me to go out and ride as well.

Race resumes updated for both me and Brenden- go to the Biking Page

7.15.07 It rained in the morning Saturday and I figured no biking that day. I also needed to mow the lawn. I have two mowers in the shed and neither one worked, so with the inclement weather I decided to get one or both operational. I went to a mower repair place on Clyde Park for some information, went back home to get model numbers off the mowers, then decided to just have the mower repair fix them. Mowers loaded, Brenden and I went back to them and brought the mowers into the shop- THEN I saw the prices.... their hourly rate was expensive for two very old used mowers. By the time I paid them to fix the equipment I could buy a new one... so after some discussion on options (and we couldn't find the model number on the newer of the two mowers I have) I bought the throttle control cable for the older one for $14. I went home and installed it and the mower fired right up but wouldn't stay running- the carburator valve wasn't functioning very well- so I removed it and opened the carb completely- but THEN the mower wouldn't fire at all- the carb flaps need to be closed just to start the mower to allow the gas to flow into and fire the cylinder. I cheated and took off the air filter and put a drop of gas into the carburator chamber and the mower fired right up- since the rain stopped, I proceeded to cut the grass.

In a couple of weeks I will get around to figuring out which model of the newer mower I have and get a throttle cable for that- I can then fix it and maybe sell it to recoup some costs. If it's running I could get $50.00 for it.

Otherwise a lazy day. By late afternoon the weather cleared completely so I went for a 25 mile ride out through Jenison, down Fillmore Rd and through Grand Valley University campus to Lake Mich Drive, back to Wilson Av in Standale and home. The trip out to GVSU was all into a head wind which made for a good workout

Sunday I spent all day at Ionia Rec area doing a trail maintenance. The 7.5 mile trail is extremely overgrown on about 70%. I expected perhaps six people to show up but we had twelve! The whole trail was trimmed with DR walk-behind trimmers and shoulder-carried weedwackers! In addition, four of us worked on a routing change. The trail was divided into an east and west loop. Both loops started on the same path, but about a half mile down from the parking lot you could either go right and ride the east loop or go left and ride the west loop. Also, the east loop was ridden counter clockwise while the west loop was ridden clockwise. This had the effect of creating a figure-8 crossing on the bridge at the creek near the point where you choose which loop to ride.

We cut in a new entrance to the bridge from the first 1/4 mile and a new exit from the bridge on the return. We also changed the east loop to a counterclockwise direction as well as eliminating the option of riders "choosing" which loop to ride. The end result is to eliminate the "east" and "west" loop and create just ONE loop of a trail counter clockwise. The western portion is more advanced than the eastern portion but beginner riders can still shortcut back to the trailhead when the trail reaches the road that leads to a boat launch on the Grand River. This bail-out point is approximately 3.5 miles into the total trail loop.

It was hot sweaty work and we were there from 9am to after 3pm (with time out for lunch). I have blisters on my thumbs even though I wore gloves. I need to get out there again in a couple days and photograph the changes at the bridge area for the Chapter website with a writeup for the website too.

7.14.07 It rained in the morning Saturday and I figured no biking that day. I also needed to mow the lawn. I have two mowers in the shed and neither one worked, so with the inclement weather I decided to get one or both operational. I went to a mower repair place on Clyde Park for some information, went back home to get model numbers off the mowers, then decided to just have the mower repair fix them. Mowers loaded, Brenden and I went back to them and brought the mowers into the shop- THEN I saw the prices.... their hourly rate was expensive for two very old used mowers. By the time I paid them to fix the equipment I could buy a new one... so after some discussion on options (and we couldn't find the model number on the newer of the two mowers I have) I bought the throttle control cable for the older one for $14. I went home and installed it and the mower fired right up but wouldn't stay running- the carburator valve wasn't functioning very well- so I removed it and opened the carb completely- but THEN the mower wouldn't fire at all- the carb flaps need to be closed just to start the mower to allow the gas to flow into and fire the cylinder. I cheated and took off the air filter and put a drop of gas into the carburator chamber and the mower fired right up- since the rain stopped, I proceeded to cut the grass.

In a couple of weeks I will get around to figuring out which model of the newer mower I have and get a throttle cable for that- I can then fix it and maybe sell it to recoup some costs. If it's running I could get $50.00 for it.

Otherwise a lazy day. By late afternoon the weather cleared completely so I went for a 25 mile ride out through Jenison, down Fillmore Rd and through Grand Valley University campus to Lake Mich Drive, back to Wilson Av in Standale and home. The trip out to GVSU was all into a head wind which made for a good workout

7.12.07 Good ride tonight. Joni and I went out to Kent Trails six miles to my practice climb behind John Ball Park. I rode the hill five times, Joni rode it three (good for her!). Then we went back down Kent Trails, past Millenium Park to Butterworth to Johnson Park. By this time we'd reach 14 miles and parted company. Joni rode the scenic hill road in Johnson Park and was then going home. I went up to climb the Wilson Av hill to Lake Michigan Drive, down to Maynard, back past Millenium Park again to Kent Trails, crossing the river and back to Grandville and home- reaching the house at 30 miles. As I rode the last three miles, the wind picked up, clouds blew in and a storm was coming. Not 15 minutes after reaching the house, the rain hit. It didn't last long though, as the storm blew by quickly. (I heard that up north- Traverse City to Cadillac, it really was storming, suspected tornadoes even.

7.10/11.07 Traveling for work. A drive down to Georgetown Kentucky to the JCI plant with a supplier rep and back late Wednesday night.

7.9.07 What a hectic but fun past week! I had planned on taking Thursday 5th and Friday 6th for vacation days to do some riding, but a last minute item arose and I ended up flying to Ireland for another job interview. I'd considered this whole concept done in May when the interview I did there on May 2nd did not result in any job offers. But one of the companies I'd been in touch with in April leading to the vacation in Ireland called back after all and wanted a face to face- so they paid for my flight and hotel. I flew from O'Hare on Wednesday evening, arrived in Shannon Thursday morning, napped for a couple hours and met at the plant there on Thursday afternoon. I met with the general mgr, HR, engineering mgr, quality Mgr and the operations mgr. I toured the plant as well. I thought all interviews went well, but as with the last opportunity, I think much will depend on the difficulties (cost/benefit) of bringing on a foreign national to their plant versus an irish candidate. I won't likely get feedback for a week or two. I don't know how realistic the opportunity really is, but I thought it worth the effort though I wasn't really looking to leave JCI, the chance to work in Ireland is just too appealing to turn down the chance.

Drove back from Chicago Friday afternoon, arriving in Grandville about 6pm. Loaded the car and we headed out for Boyne for the marathon CPS race on Saturday. The race consisted of three hard laps (33 miles) for sport. I was in 5-6th position out of 10 racers for part of the first lap, but over threee laps I ended up 8th out of 10. Not too bad really considering my schedule the previous three days! Lap one was pretty good, but lap two was the stinker, technically! WOW- Endo'd at one point (must have squeezed the brakes too much on some sandy step-like roots). I allowed the sand (which Boyne had in abundance) to jostle me around, at one point sliding into a tree and just getting STUCK there because my stop on the tree at this narrow single track downhill caused the rider behind me slide into my rear tire- locking me in place. he had to unclip to go around then I unclipped to back away from the tree- I had to run down the hill to a flat spot before I could get back on the bike. Lap three was pretty good too- I rode pretty steady.

Interesting breakdown on finish times for my group (sport men 45-49). 1st, 2nd, & 3rd places finished 3:07-3:09. 4th & 5th were in the 3:20's, while 6th through 10th were 3:41-3:52. I am somewhat surprised at the gap between my time (all times really) and the leaders. I had 3:46, over a half hour behind the leaders! Somewhat demoralizing.

We drove back to Grandville Saturday evening- had too much domestic stuff to do to stick around. First off, my car had failed to start at Staples on Friday. I'd stopped to get printer cartridges on the way home off the highway from Chicago and when I went out to go home, it wouldn't start. I suspect the safety lock on the clutch (which prevents you from starting a manual transmission without the clutch in) was defective or failing. I left the car there until Sunday and when we went to check it out- it started right up.

Our shed is also leaking- the roofing is in need of replacement and the inside was getting moldy- We keep all our biking gear and tools (and my two motorcycles) in this shed). I emptied out much of the movable items in the shed, swept it out really well and got rid of all the broken plasterboard that had falled due to the water damage. There are two side windows on the building that I proceeded to install screens and lockable shutters. This way we can open the shutters and have air flow through the shed to get rid of the dampness and musty-ness. I also moved the (damaged) screen door from the house to the shed to have the front shed door open as well- and got a new screendoor for the house.

Busy week! Next up is trip to Georgetown Ky Tuesday and Wednesday for work. So I got in a 25 mile ride tonight on my usual Wilson-Lake Mich-O'Brien-John Ball Park-Kent Trails route.

7.2.07 Good ride tonight- 30 miles including seven climbs up the John Ball Park Hilltop Park road- next week I intend to hit ten climbs!

7.1.07 July already! I have a busy travel week- no riding Wed Thur or Fri- so I will need to get some miles in on Monday and Tuesday. I decided to race the Boyne Marathon anyway- if only to get riding in- Brenden will be racing there anyway.