"get out of my way daddy"

Wow. You raise and nurture a child, and this is the response you get.

I took the training wheels off my daughter's bike a few days ago.

The speed at which she learns is amazing. She's only been on the bike w/o training wheels five or six times but she's basically self-sufficient already. When I took the training wheel off I separated the lessons. We started with me helping her start and stop, just focusing on learning to balance. Then next ride I told her how to stop, and the ride after that was how to start on her own. I give her a little lesson and pointers and then she just goes, it's amazing how fast she picks it up.

I know she's at that age where the brain is plastic and is genetically designed to learn fast at that age, and I realize that she's within age-appropriate capabilities so it's not like she's an off-the-scale genius or anything. Yet I still get a nice feeling of parental pride watching her go.

It's interesting seeing her personality. She was riding on the track near our house a few evenings ago. It was the end of a warm day so there were a lot of families out walking and enjoying the relatively cool temperature. Sofia is riding around and she passes a little boy (a year or two younger than Sofia) who's sitting on a bike with training wheels.

The boy starts pedaling and catches up to her. The boy passes her. She proceeds to put the hammer down and passes the boy. Boy pedals like hell and closes to within a bike-length or two, but can't clinch the deal.

Those two little kids were moving! It was hilarious watching both of them, heads down and little legs spinning circles as fast as they can.

Next year she'll probably be ready to ride the Sunday Parkways so we'll give that a try. I'm enjoying it while I can. She'll be kicking my ass on the hills in a few years and I won't be able to keep up on the flats a few years after that.

Some rules for encouraging new riders (not mine, these are from Dave @ River City Bikes in Portland):

1. Leave them wanting more! In regards to importance, this should be the first three points. There is no quicker way to discourage a new rider than to take them out on too long of a ride, when they aren't nearly ready for it. Their bottom will hurt, their legs will hurt, and they will not have fun, or want to go again.
2. Stay away from hills. There will be time later when you can start teaching them how to do hills comfortably, but do as little as possible until they have built some fitness and confidence.
3. Never, ever, say 'hurry up! or try to get them to draft, or imply in the least that it is much less of a ride than you are capable of. Have them in front, especially on any hills.
4. Mix in ice cream stops, coffee shops, stop at any scenic spots you can, encourage them to drink and eat regularly.
5. Try to find them someone who they can ride with who is at their own level. It is super important for people to experience all the levels and mini-triumphs of biking at the pace they are comfortable with. It's too easy for experienced riders to forget how much of an accomplishment a 25 mile ride can (and should) be.
6. Introduce them to organized rides. Don't try a century first! (see #1) There should be shorter alternatives that are very social, plenty of food stops, and they will ride with a vast array of cyclists, some of who are likely slower than they are. It will be a big confidence booster.

This evening I got back from a ride, I was still sweaty in my bibs & jersey. I had promised her that we would go for a ride when I got back so she asked me if I wanted to ride with her. Heck yeah! So we had our first ride together.

Year End wrap-up

I experienced two cycling rites of passage this year: I started shaving my legs, and I broke my collar bone. Guess which one was more enjoyable?

Equipment wise, I rode tubular wheels exclusively all year. I had 5 flats over 3752 miles; nothing to brag about, but nothing to whine about either. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: why don't more people ride tubulars, especially in view of the hassle & mess that are tubeless tires. People think tubeless is an improvement over tubular?

The shifters on my bike needed to be repaired after the STP crash. Thankfully they are Campagnolo so they could be rebuilt instead of replaced. It still wasn't cheap, but I also had everything overhauled so it should be good for several more miles.

According to my Garmin, I spent 8 hours, 42 minutes in heart rate zone 5, climbed 181,597 feet, and burned 219,848 calories. My longest single ride was 141.75 miles, my shortest recorded ride was 9.79 miles.

I switched from using energy powders in my water bottles to just using electrolyte tabs. The catalyst for this was Cytomax changing the sweetener used in their drink; I don't care for the new taste. I finally gave Nuun tablets a try and was instantly enamoured with them. They're easier to carry and refill, and the bottles don't get sticky goop all over the bottle, my hands, and the bike when they inevitably dribble. I get most of my calories via Hammer Gel, I'll also occasionally use EFS LiquidShot.

I also discovered Stinger Waffles. The hard part about having these around is not snacking on them all the time. They're a little pricey, but taste great.

My fitness and training sucked. Too many chest colds in the spring and then I lost almost two months due to the broken clavicle which unfortunately was just about the entire summer.

Lessons learned this year:

• soda water, ice cubes and a couple of Nuun tablets in the water bottle is insanely exquisite on a hot day.
• leave an unglued gap opposite the stem when installing tubulars.
• don't get in pacelines with strangers.
• if I'm in a pace line with strangers, don't ride as if I'm by myself; pay less attention to external traffic and more attention to the person in front of me at all times.
• keep the rubber side up.

Goals for 2011 and how I stacked up against them:

• compete in the Tuesday @ PIR series: I competed in three races. I enjoyed the races, they were VERY challenging, but even before my accident I was nervous about pack riding. I think I'll pass on this for next year, I'm just too worried about hitting the pavement again.
• compete in Lewis & Clark Ultra 24: only did 12 hours and even that was basically a DNF. But DNF > DNS, so it wasn't a total failure.
• ride the STP in one day: I just checked my ride log and I made it exactly 18.97 miles before *splat* my ride came to an end. But DNF > DNS, so it wasn't a total failure. It was just a miserable failure.
• maintain membership in century-a-month club: I missed July and December but otherwise was on track. But since the idea is 'a century every month' instead of 'a century almost every month' I'll have to put a checkmark in the 'did not meet expectations' column.
• RAO team member: I don't recall why I didn't do this. I'm sure I had some weasley  excuse, but a DNS nonetheless.
• Ride around Mt. Hood: DNS.
• Oregon Stampede: DNS.

Goals for next year:

• Increase my 20 minute max power. It currently is (well) below 200, I would like to increase it to a consistent 220+ by the time LaC rolls around. Note that I'm not using a power meter, just the built-in guessing algorithm of the Garmin 500. That works for me because I don't have $2k for a power meter sensor, and I'm not really interested in an accurate real-time number, I just need an approximation in order to gauge my progress.
• It looks like my strength is climbing hills, so I need to work on the flats.
• Related to that, I want to find stronger riders to ride with.

My definite ride goals for 2012:

• century a month
• Lewis & Clark Ultra 24
• STP one day
• OUCH (Larch Mt. Time Trial)

I heard that there might be a new ultra event in the Willamette Valley put on by the RAO folks, if that happens I will consider it. I also would like to compete in RAO but that will depend on how well I do at the LaC and if I can find a team to join.

Diary of a broken collar bone (clavicle)

Day 1: Broke collar bone. Pain was very intense, Percoset made me dizzy but barely blunted the pain. Miserable train ride back home, both physically & emotionally. It really hurt to see some STP riders getting in to Centralia as I rode by on the train...

Day 4: Very little pain (if any, really). Impressive bruise where I presume the bone actually broke. Still taking 1 Aleve every 12 hours, mostly for the pain in my left hip.

Day 7: Finally got the courage to look at my left hip. Huge plate-sized bruise. I am still experiencing stiffness in my left hip.

Day 9: Got on the stationary trainer (rollers will not be on the menu for a while). Legs felt great, it felt nice to sweat.

Day 14: Only taking Aleve at night. Switched to figure-eight support purchased from Brace Yourself. I regained use of my left arm, but experience much more pain & discomfort while driving due to jostling and movement, twisting my torso to check blind-spot and just generally trying to stay aware of my surroundings.

Day 16: Replaced my helmet. Got the same brand & model, Bell Achera, as my previous helmet.

Day 17: Unrelated but I dropped the bike off at the repair shop. The left shifter needs repair and I'll have them rebuild the right shifter, as well as a new headset and a few other things that I'll have them take care of while it's there.

Day 20: Off all pain meds completely. Able to sleep on my right side a little bit, obviously I won't be sleeping on my left side for quite some time. I can still only use my left arm for very light manipulation and need to go very slowly when performing major movements. My left shoulder was very itchy the other day, the type of itch you get when there is internal healing going on so I consider that a good sign. My left hip is still occasionally complaining. A few days ago I twisted my leg as I was going down some stairs. The movement shouldn't have been an issue but the left hip socket filed a greivance and it has been sensitive since. The discomfort is in the ball socket area and the surrounding tendons.

Day 22: Slept on my stomach last night. Wow, finally.

Day 25: I signed up for a few rides, one on the 20th of August (17 days away) and one on the 27th. Hoping to be up & at 'em by then. I'm still wearing the figure-8 sling but I notice that the bruising in my shoulder area is the same or maybe even worse. I might be wearing the sling too tight so I'll leave it entirely off today to help the circulation. The bruise on my hip is completely gone. My new helmet is on the shelf behind me as I type this, it is taunting me.

Day 29: No longer wearing any sling or support. I've been using my left arm much more than recent. I'm experiencing some mild pain, but it's the pain of not using it for several weeks and let's wake it up. Now that I think about it, the tendons probably also suffered some damage. The break doesn't hurt unless I do something I shouldn't, I'm also getting some discomfort in the gneral arm & shoulder area.

Day 31: First time I was able to get a T-shirt on since before the accident.

Day 35: Five weeks. The bone is not completely mended, but I don't have to utterly baby it either. Right now it seems that I just need to be aware of it and not do any hard labor with my left arm and everything will be fine. I'm still getting the kinks worked out of the various muscles, ligaments, and tendons that were tweaked. I also suspect that the shoulder healed with a slightly different alignment so it will take a while to grow into it.

The bike will be repaired early next week so I'll hop back on it after I pick it up. I'm also planning on doing a group ride up Larch Mtn. next Saturday.

Day 42, 6:30am. It's exactly six weeks, literally to the minute, since I fell. I picked the bike up from the shop yesterday. I only had a chance to do a quick ride around the block and all of the repairs really made a difference. In an hour I'm leaving for a group ride and I can't wait.

Because it's there?

Why am I doing this? Quick answer: I don't know. I do enjoy some of the camaraderie of riding with people, but that doesn't happen very often. Probably more than 90% of my rides are solo; there aren't a lot of people out there who don't freak out at the question 'hey, wanna do a real quick century?'

I like the mechanical aspect of working on my bike, though I get occasionally frustrated with my lack of expertise in certain operations requiring a certain amount of 'muscle memory' or finesse. I'm continually fiddling around with my derailleur adjustments and they're still not where I want them; I think I could take it in to a shop and they'd have it set right in five minutes.

The tactics aspect of riding appeals to me but there really isn't any way to learn them as a cat 5. If I ever upgrade to cat 4 then I could ride the 3/4 races and really start learning. But as an ultra rider, tactics other than 'keep pedaling' aren't really necessary.

Biking certainly get me out of the house, and I'm in the best physical shape I've ever been in. I do have some regrets that I got into this so late in life and often wonder where I would be now if I had been this dedicated one or two decades ago? I'm not going to kid myself that I could have been a pro, although I certainly fantasize about that (who doesn't?) but I would certainly be a much better rider now.

Of course if I was riding the last two decades, who knows what toll that would have placed on my body? Would I replace the lung-searing effort of trying to keep up with the Cat 5 group with chronic neck pain?

What do I enjoy about riding? This may sound a bit arrogant but I slightly enjoy the feeling of superiority over weekend riders. Call me shallow and insecure if you'd like, you're probably right, but there it is.

I also like to think that I'm still on an upward curve as far as month-to-month improvements go. Maybe I'll get discouraged when I finally plateau, which should be in a year or two?