10.5 minutes of Glory!!

Connor and I went for a bike ride along the Greenway tonight. Nearing the conclusion of the 10-mile loop, he asked...

CONNOR
How long do you think I can go no hands dad?

ME
I don't know. How long do you think you can go?

CONNOR
I bet I can go 10 minutes.

ME
(in a gently challenging voice)
Alright, let's see you do it then.

--

So Connor started riding no hands as we passed under the Point Bridge. He made it all the way to Lincoln Park, down along the river, through Lincoln Golf Course, and finally had to grab the handles after dropping over a curb in the process of getting off the greenway trail. He went up and down hills, around corners, and past many people all while going NO HANDS!!

The boy is a cycling stud!!

I could not stop grinning at his feat! I can barely last 5-10 seconds no hands, so what Connor did amazed me, and continues to amaze me! Awesome ride son!!


Connor checking to see how far behind dad is.


Short segment of "no hands," just to get warmed up for the main event...


No hands/victory salute!

Bike Ride - TRNP South Unit Loop

Today I rode the ca. 35-mi paved road loop through the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Temps were in the upper 70s I'd guess, with sunny skies, and light breezes out of the south. I did the counter-clockwise version of the loop, so that I could tackle the flat part at the end when I was already tired; otherwise, I'd have to tackle the biggest meanest climbs when I was gassed.

Here's the route, courtesy of MapMyRide.com:





Me.
Sweating.
In my Team Type 1 jersey.
And in my wicked cool new Oakley sunglasses that I love so very very much.




View of badlands along the roadway.








Prairie dog town mounds next to the road, in the Little Missouri River valley bottoms.







In terms of my diabetes, here's what I did.

• Turned my basal rate down to 60% at 10:04 am. 10:30am blood glucose (BG) test was 110 mg/dl. Looking good so far.
• Started the ride at 11:15 am, ended at 2:00pm. 2:45 hours:minutes total ride time.
• Heart rate monitor said I burned 2606 calories, 30% of which were fat calories.
• Maximum Heart Rate was 203 beats/min (110% of my prior measured maximum!)
• Average HR was 147 bpm (80% of previous max).
• During the ride, I took on 149 carbs/650 calories: 4 servings gatorade, 10 glucose tablets, 2 granola bars.
• Immediate post-ride BG was 110 mg/dl. Success!!
• At 4:37 pm (2.5 hours post-ride), my BG was 113 mg/dl. Success continues!!

The ride was hard and great at the same time. I was really gassed by the time I rolled back into Medora. Highlights:

• saw a few bison at a safe distance (none were right next to the road),
• Saw quite a few wild horses. Even rode through a group of six grazing on the road side. No photo, sorry...had to enjoy the moment.
• I got passed by a couple of guys on road bikes. One blew past me on an uphill, second slowly passed me. We chatted for a few moments. And then they were gone. Oh yes, I forgot: these guys had just finished a loop when I was leaving to start my ride. So when they hammered past me...THEY WERE ON THEIR SECOND TRIP THROUGH THE PARK!!

UND-NDSU Hillsboro Bike Race/Ride

Quite the title, eh?

Sounds like a competition that's not quite sure what it is. Actually, it's a fundraiser that goes for a good cause. For me, it's a race, pure and simple. And it was my chance to test myself against my results 2 years ago, the last time I raced this race, and my only race to date.

Two years ago I did the 35/37-ish mile race in just over 2 hours, averaged around 18 mph, and finished in 34th place among the UND racers. I reached 2 of my 3 race goals: (1) finish, (2) average 20 mph, and (3) finish top-50. So for a first race, I was pretty happy. Now looking back, I realize there were plenty of places I could have improved. So 2009 was my chance to see if I could improve.

My goal for 2009? Finish Top-10.

Did I do it...no. I finished 18th. But I raced much better. I started at the front, so I didn't have to fight through a gaggle of non-racers before being able to race. That happened to me in 2007, and it took a couple of miles of dodging and weaving to clear the main pack. By the time I'd done that, I couldn't even see the leaders, who were gone down the road.

In 2009, I started at the front and found myself being passed again and again. So it was a different feeling, less positive. In 2007, I started at the back and worked my way forward. In 2009, I started at the front and drifted back. Every time someone passed me, I made a mental tally and once I got down to 15 or so people having passed me, I realized my top-10 finish was unlikely.

After about 15-20 miles of racing, I hooked up with a group of guys I could hang with. We stayed together until about the last 4-5 miles, when I couldn't keep up. Of my group of 7, I finished 5th. Why was I so lame? My saddle!! I'd had my bike into the shop for a tuneup just prior to the race, and when I got it back, the saddle had been tipped nose-up and had been slid back on the rails about 1-1.5 inches. So at about the 30 mile mark, the incorrect saddle position had really dug into my backside and the soreness was making it hard to pedal. So I couldn't keep up.

Lesson learned. Be like Lance (Mr. Millimeter, one of his nicknames). Double check EVERYTHING before a big competition. Make sure it dialed in just right for your ride.

All in all, the race was great and I felt really good. And you say "But Mike, you didn't reach your goal!" True, but the positives are:

• I moved up 16 places in finishing order.
• I finished in 1:27:## hrs:min:sec.
• I averaged 38 km/hr, which is around 23 m/hr.
• I kept my blood glucose levels in a good range, so my diabetes didn't interfere with my desire to race!

Here's a couple of photos the family took. The one on the road was taken during my sore backside phase near the end of the race.

Cheers all,
Mike



The tools of my trade.


Cockpit of my ride; note the BG meter.


Me pre-race. Cool temps require warm clothes.


My fan club on the side of the road.


Suffering near the end.


Unable to step off the bike with extreme tush pain. Lifting my leg over the top tube felt like I was getting hit with a knife!


Enjoying being done with the race, not enjoying the pain in my tush.


Hugs from my 3 littlest fan club members and bike racers in their own rights: Connor, Emma, and Grace.

Black Hills Redux

Hi all,

Been doing some mountain bike riding here in the Black Hills the past couple of weeks. First pic is of me at the trailhead to Old Baldy Trail, in the northern "HIlls." I took it after the ride, when I was pretty well spent. My brohter and I hiked this trail about 6 years ago and thought it quite tame. I found it quite hard on a bike, this time around, what with all the rocks in the way and everything.




I don't know what to say about this one. It's a self portrait taken whilst riding the bike up a side canyon on the outskirts of Hot Springs, in the southern "Hills." Looks like I've just seen a ghost, or maybe a grizzly!




Don't know much else at the present.

Cheers,
Mike

My hardest MTB ride to date...

I tried the Blacktail Trail yesterday. It's a new hiking/biking trail in the Grand River National Grasslands, south of Lemmon, SD. I was really excited to find out there was a trail to be ridden, but that joy quickly dissipated when I got on the trail. It was covered in pea gravels, I guess to help control erosion. There was cattle dookie everywhere, the gravel surface was like riding on mini marbles, and the trail was very choppy because of cattle traffic. I was riding so hard, mainly because of the boggy surface and my own girth, I had stop at one point and thought I was going to throw up!! After a 10-minute break, I ate some food, drank some gatorade, and my heart decided not to explode...I was able to continue on.

A disappointing ride, but at least I did get to go for a ride...

I hope the trails are better in Belle Fourche, SD. I'll find out next week...

Cheers all,
MJ














This pretty much sums up the trail.













Best attempt from my bike at being scenic...













Judging by "the Look" I wasn't too impressed by the trail.

Bismarck Mountain Biking

Over the 4th of July weekend, I got the rare chance to go bike riding with my big brother Doug. We had three contests, two of which I won handily.

Contest #1: Biggest potbelly.
Contest #2: Most likely not to die climbing the hills.

The third contest was a dead heat.

Contest #3: Most in need of a great-granny gear ('cause the granny gear just wasn't getting the job done!).

Here's some picks...er...pics!

Mike

80 miles of Chip-Seal Heaven

I had my first weekend off in a long long time where I wasn’t traveling home or somewhere else. Carrie’s off with the kids camping, so I was left to my own deviced in Elgin. “Elgin?” you may say…

Seeings how I haven’t posted anything lately, let me bring you up to speed. After 2 weeks of surveying in the badlands, our merry band of archeologists moved to Jamestown ND for a 4-week excavation project on a potentially important and potentially deep site at Jamestown Reservoir. That did not seem to pan out, however. Our lack of archeological success was made up for the legions of ticks that we fed. An average day would see me pull 30-40 ticks off myself. Most of the time only 3-4 would get buried, but that was 3-4 too many. About halfway through the project, the summer heat got turned on, which turned out the mosquito population, who also found our crew to be “yummy.” The blood-letting that ensued kept the bugs happy, the archeologists less so. The highlight of the project, for me, was discovering the nice mountain bike trails at Pipestem Dam. Many kudos to the guys to built and maintain those trails. Please build more granny trails, if not for you, then for me…

That project ended and after a short week at home, I’m back out west, directing a survey project at Heart Butte Reservoir (Lake Tschida). There are virtually no mosquitos, and I’ve only had 2 ticks in the past week. Much better than the last project. So back to my story…

I had this past weekend to myself. My choices were nap, watch the Tour de France on the internet machine, read, sleep, nap, eat leftovers or at the restaurant, etc. I spent 5+ hours of the weekend riding my Franken-road bike. Saturday saw me log 49 km (30 mi) on a ride from Elgin up to the Heart Butte dam and back again. Averaged 24 km/hr, in a just a hair over 2 hours. Sunday saw me ride from Elgin to Mott and back again, for another 78 km (ca. 50 mi). All the roads were chip seal, and they weren’t too terribly sticky. No flats, lots of friendly drivers, and plenty of water and food to keep my blood sugars good. Did the ride in 3 hr, 15 min, or an average of about 24 km/hr (15 mi/hr). Good times.

Here’s a pick of me riding in my new Team Type 1 cycling kit.

Cheers,

Mike