Saxobank (Page 2)

Hiya all, I'm Shawn and I'm a TDF newbie (or noobie, depending on which part of the internet you're from).  I just did my first mini-tri today (500 m swim, 8 mi bike ride and 5 k run).  I'm planning on using July to work on my fitness since I just started training in March at a level that felt less than zero, so this challenge should be a good motivator to get on the bike and lots of fun.  I've only done one other challenge and it really helped get me out the door on those nights when the couch looked oh-so-inviting.

Oh, one other note, I actually went to sleep last night with the TDF one and I heard Cat, our time trial specialist, did really well yesterday (or is she one of the brothers and someone else is the time trial champ for a day)?

I think I'm destined to be the team's crusty old guy who specializes in "support."  Now, who wanted more water?  

Shawn are you the guy with all the water bottles stuffed allover his Jersey?
How did your tri go today?

Sure am - when I'm not driving the station wagon. 

I wrote about it in my log - it went as well as I could have hoped for, though I seem to go through transitions like a teenage girl choosing an outfit. 

Yeah, I get that a lot, haha. My mother-in-law has the same name (different spelling), so it's kinda funny. There are, however, definitely dudes named "Jody"

How did your ride go Sunday anyway? Stop raining? I enjoyed a restful day off and am gearing up to have a more active Monday!

Good morning everyone,

I did my FIRST stage yesterday for a total of 190 minutes.    The race was really good.   My first 2km swim and 90km bike, actually 85; the course was short.   There were 37 participants in the Aqua/Bike and 495 in the full half group.    I think I might have been able to run a couple of kilometers off the bike.       Race report is coming.....

Three stages down!

Something I should have mentioned in my original post - the internet I have at home is painfully slow. Sometimes I have the willpower to deal with it, but most of the time I don't. So I will sometimes have zero posts or updates for a couple of days, then I do it all at once when I'm back in the world of high speed.

Edited by KrisSeer 2009-07-06 10:45 AM

Also, my team in the June running challenge explained to me the importance of splitting posts up into smaller pieces to get the post count as high as make each piece more readable.

So here are all of the updates I should have posted over the weekend!

Stage 1

I'd intended to make Saturday's ride my inaugural ride on my new bike, but I caved on Friday and went out for a little while because I couldn't stand looking at it anymore without riding it. So Saturday's ride was my test commute ride, to find out how much time I needed to allow if I wanted to ride my bike to my job. I rode from home to work, which is about 4.5 miles. It took me 38 minutes, which seemed horrendously slow to me, but I figured between being a touch sore from the day before, out of shape, and new to riding, it was as good a place as any to start.

Stage 2

Sunday was my first foray into mountain biking. I took my bike to the trails east of town, and rode for over an hour and a half. It was a blast - mud, roots, really fast downhills (and yes, some really slow up ones ), as well as an introduction to what the trail map called Bike Bumps... are these something seen frequently, or is this specific to those trails? They were basically a bunch of smallish natural ups and down in the terrain, and lots of fun to ride. I can see myself taking my bike there to ride back and forth over them at some point.

There were a couple of scary moments. I discovered at least one reason for clipless pedals -which I don't have- while coming down a pretty fast hill. I hit a root, and my right foot came off my standard pedal, then missed it complete going back down. I wound up plopping onto my seat, and swerving a bit, but no actual harm done. Then later I was concentrating too hard on the terrain right in front of me, and missed a sharp turn so I went off the trail into a field (better than a tree!). Still managed to remain upright, but it was a quick lesson in why I should be paying attention to things at least somewhat further ahead!

Edited by KrisSeer 2009-07-06 11:04 AM

Stage 2 - part 2

Oh, I also discovered the art of patching a tire. I punctured my rear tube at some point (I think probably during the aforementioned downhill) and had to stop, take the tire off, and go through that whole routine. One of my friends told me that in races, riders change their tire in just a couple of minutes - it took me 30, and that was with two people to help!!

Stage 3

Which brings us to today. Today, this resident newbie learned about tire pressure.

This was my first actual commute to work. Last night, I pumped up my tires in preparation for today's bike path ride. My tires had been set at about 45 for yesterday's trail ride, and were probably at 50-55 the day before, during my test ride. Today, I pumped them up to 70 psi. I was exhausted, my legs were tired, my rear was sore, and I'm a little under-hydrated.

Regardless, the ride that took my fresh legs 38 minutes on Saturday? It took me 24 minutes this morning.

Huh.

*tire pressure toppage*

Edited by KrisSeer 2009-07-06 11:10 AM

Hrm - this just reeks of 1stTimeTri's influence! 

Hee hee - I learned a simiar lesson a little while ago.  Doesn't it just make you feel silly when you go so much faster over the same path/trail/road? 

Congrats on all of your stages - it looks like you are well on your way!

Hey Saxobankees! How is the week going so far?

Silly me. I'd planned on going for a ride today, but I had to do some yard work. The lawn needed mowing, some weeds needed to be plucked, and then I just had to put our new kiddie pool out there and have some fun with my son and daughter this afternoon. After that I had two softball games - we won the championship, yay us! - and now I'm working.

PHEW! What a loaded, productive, fun day. Don't worry, though, I'll get my stage in tomorrow.

I would never reveal my sources of wisdom. . .