Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Surviving the Plague

So after three weeks of hacking up my lungs and barely being able to swallow due to a bummer of a sore throat, I woke up Monday morning with my eyelids crusted together. Yep, pink eye at 30 wtf?!! Went to the doc who confirmed my pink eye, bronchitis suspicions and sent me home armed with codeine tussin, an inhaler, and antibiotic eye drops. Take that immune system! Looks like I'll be on the mend of some kind soon and hopefully well enough to start doing some distance rides. I think I'm in good bike shape given I ride about 10-15 miles everyday but, its the distance and endurance/stamina I need to work on. Trying to climb as many hills during work as I can to build up those muscle groups. On a positive note, all my bits and pieces are finally together for my tour bike and it should be built up within a week!! Yes, finally! Once the Surly is built I'm gonna load it down with my panniers and gear everyday and do my dog route like that. So yeah word stoked! See you nerds soon!!!

back at it.

Soooooooooooooooo, haven't posted in a while. I have been on a biking brake of sorts due to going on a few traveling expeditions. Went to cancun to watch my sister get married then went on a weekend of shows with vile gash. These trips hindered any sort of cycling. With that said... these past few weeks have been the least riding I have done since the month I was in europe. I was slightly worried my ass might have lost it's steel like properties and a long ride may fuck with me. Lucky for me that shit didn't happen as I just returned from my first longish ride in weeks.

Today was the first day this year that I got to ride in decent weather. It was high 50s low 60s which was pretty raging compared to the garbage days zach and I were riding in a few weeks ago. Still a little cold while riding in a hoodie, but much better than the days of yore. Anyway, so I decided to just go out and aimlessly ride around the clarksville / wilmington area. I rode about 20 miles up and down some mega appalachian border zone hills and I must say it was pretty easy. I guess I didn't lose any stamina from the previous weeks of training. But yeah, I rode past many of my high school friend's houses including those of tara harbert and dean johnson. Popped by robert's arena. Then from there took a bunch of back roads that I had no idea existed and thought for sure I was going to get lost. Fortunately I popped out on some road that I drove on during drivers ed. and found my way back to civilization upon stopping at my sister's house. I then ran in to old high school chum brooke crane at the family dollar in clarksville who I don't think I had seen in 10 years.


here is my route


Tomorrow zach and I will be continuing our training by riding from clarksville to xenia and back. This will be about 52 miles or something. THAT'S ALL FOR NOW!!!! WHERE IS LENORA?!

Monday, March 22, 2010

When oh When?!

Dear Last Two Bike Parts,
For why? You have forsaken me so and after all I did for you. The endless searching, the tireless nights awake to find just you, the right fit, the right amount. Yet here I remain longingly awaiting your arrival nearly a month after we met. You said you would be here for me so we could begin our life together. I beg you please, please come soon the time for departure is nigh!
Love Me

Saturday, March 20, 2010

counting down..

so less than three weeks before we fly out west to get this started. feeling less and less nervous after every ride i take but well aware i havent faced the winds and climbs that we're going to hit on the daily. today my grandma made it home from the hospital so i made the ride to milford to visit and then back to my brothers. ride there was super hilly w/ heavy traffic and no shoulder. tight roped the lane line the best i could but still managed to piss a few off.. may need to learn to keep my finger in my pocket on this tour. nobody wants to get smashed up by some texas good ol' boys.. anyway, 34 miles in all and the hills that buggered me and brian just last week feel easier already.

fetching groceries w/ my panniers yesterday, i decided to go ahead and get front panniers as well. dont like the feel of the bike at all with all the weight in the back. feel like that shit will get squirelly for sure. brian doesnt want to hear that mess but i just dont like it ok?!

got a letter in the mail confirming my unemployment which i was banking on for this trip. FEELS GOOD.

OK.. well need to get some rest.. tomorrow morning is United v Liverpool get the f in.

XXX

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Gotta Get on This

Hey! First post and all, started feeling like I should be writing on this here blicky! So yeah super proud of Zack and Brain for battling the nar weather of the midwest to do some training. I'd like to say I've been doing the same but uhm does work count. I carry my 20lb dog on my back while I ride from house to house to walk dogs. Six hours of none stop movement either in the saddle or walking up some beast hill with dogs in tow. Alright, I know this is not the same as endurance distance stuff, I'll get there. I promise to dedicate April to mileage and time. Well I'll see you guys soon, keep up the good work. iL.

i miss brian so much..

Met up with my friend Adam for a short ride today. Did about 26 miles with some decent climbs. Legs feel awesome and the weather is sweet. Like any ride on the west side youve just gotta get hit w/ some homophobic heckles right?! Stopped at a deer sanctuary to see what that was all about. They were bummed.. the one with a bum leg especially. Went back to Adam's and watched Paramore unplugged and then went to dinner.

anyway, here's Deuce with the huge winner today over Juve! god bless america. XXX



Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Training update

killin this trail

A couple of days ago zach and I rode from cinci to my parent's house in clarksville. This was basically just the opposite way as the ride I took the day before. Anyway, I am not sure if we were just tired from the day before, but this ride seemed a bit more tiring than the way down. I think it was probably more uphill on the way back than down, also it was like 39 degrees out and we were all layered up and shit. Also, shit got real dumb once we got off the bike trail and had to bike up all the hills around fort ancient. We were already pretty faded by the time we got off the trail, so hitting those hills killed us. One of them was so steep we ended up getting off and walking the bikes (which I am not sure if it sucked more or less).

Due to me getting kind of tired by the end of the trip down to cinci, we decided to try taking a break in the middle and see if that made things easier toward the end. However, our break may have actually back fired on us because it was so damn cold. We stopped to eat lunch about 2 hours in to the ride but it was not quite the relaxing stop we had hoped for as we spent the entire time freezing our asses off and stiffening up. We sat and ate for maybe 15 minutes until we couldn't bare the cold anymore and just started riding again. At this point my finger tips felt like they were going to fall off. I feel like that particular weather is the worst shit to ride in. It isn't quite warm enough that you don't want to wear multiple layers... but it isn't quite cold enough that you don't sweat your ass off. Halfway through the ride I was feeling pretty warm and good... but then by the end I was so drenched with sweat that I was cold again because I was soaking wet.

By the end of the ride (and after all the bullshit hills at fort ancient) we were both pretty exhausted. After making it to my parent's house and sitting still for a minute I was feeling pretty all right and could have ridden some more... however, poor little zach hasn't ridden as much as me in recent months so he was feeling a bit sore. On that note here is a picture of zach eating my dust:

zach eating my dust

I think that is about it for now. I'm about to go to mexico for a few days then get back at it. I leave you with some lovely pictures of bikes:

my rig:
mine

zach's rig (yeah he wants to be just like me):
zachs

here is a cow:
found a muppet

here is our route:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=3018+kinmont+st.+45208&daddr=4055+clarksville+rd+clarksville+oh&hl=en&geocode=FQsVVQId_KP3-ikPKsjli61BiDFXLtBcVVR9mA%3BFYA7WQIdWKr--ikjJko2nelAiDHxcjcfP1_q4w&mra=ls&dirflg=b&sll=39.26685,-84.204145&sspn=0.502898,0.462799&ie=UTF8&ll=39.310925,-84.199219&spn=1.00516,0.925598&z=10&lci=bike

Sunday, March 14, 2010

First real day of training

So today was my first real day of training. rode from my parents house in Clarksville to Cincinnati. This was about 43 miles. I must say it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I rode the entire 43 with only one 5 minute break and a couple stops to take pictures of weird animals and shit.


I rode about 3/4 the way there by myself before meeting up with Zach toward the end. About 29 miles of the ride was on the little Miami bike trail which I got on around fort ancient. However, Zach popped on the trail at the other end down in mt. Lookout and we rode until we saw eachother.


I felt pretty solid until maybe the last 10 miles where I started losing some steam. Just my luck... Right when I started getting tired was at the end where we had the pleasure of riding uphill for about 4 miles. That shit sucked.


Anyway, that was the longest ride I have ever done and it really wasn't that bad. Shit will be cake once we become mega bike warriors.


Oh yeah, after all was said and done Zach and I were both the hungriest we had ever been in our lives. We went to the Indian buffet and it was a 3 plater.


Tomorrow will be round 2 of mega ride. We shall see how far we can go.


Friday, March 12, 2010

holleration

zach speaking. just returned from my second to last day of work. the night ended with a fuel cart electrocuting me while i stood in a puddle in the pouring rain.. nearly causing me to "alpha 2" myself. bogus.
with tomorrow being my last day of work and brian being back from new york we can finally start hitting the road hard as all get out. sunday we'll ride the little miami trail to the top (approx. 70 miles), camp out, and ride back home on monday. should give us an idea of our fitness situation and we can see how we like camping in the rain. debating strapping a soccer ball to my rear rack. hmmm...

xxx

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Tentative itinerary

All right, so here is our tentative itinerary. We probably wont follow this... but this is more of a guide for where we need to be by certain dates to make it where we need to go in time.

Actual real trip dates are:
-leave san fran on april 16th in the afternoon
-get to san diego by april 30th
-leave san diego on may 2nd
-get to austin by may 27th


So here are our OH SHIT! dates and locations:

:: PART 1 :: SAN FRANCISCO TO SAN DIEGO ::


// DAY 1 : 04.19 // SAN FRANCISCO - HALF MOON BAY

-31.5 miles ( depending on where we leave from in san fran)


// DAY 2 : 04.20 // HALF MOON BAY - SANTA CRUZ

-47 miles


// DAY 3 : 04.21 // SANTA CRUZ - BIG SUR

-77 miles (maybe a little less depending on where we camp)


// DAY 4 : 04.22 // BIG SUR

-chillax at big sur


// DAY 5 : 04.23 // BIG SUR - SAN SIMEON VILLAGE

-69 miles


// DAY 6 : 04.24 // BIG SUR - OCEANO

-57.5 miles


// DAY 7 : 04.25 // OCEANO - GAVIOTA STATE PARK

-61 miles


// DAY 8 : 04.26 // GAVIOTA STATE PARK - VENTURA

-63 miles


// DAY 9 : 04.27 // VENTURA - LOS ANGELES

-68.5 miles


// DAY 10 : 04.28 // LOS ANGELES

-hang out


// DAY 11 : 04.29 // LOS ANGELES - SAN CLEMENTE

-63 miles


// DAY 12 : 04.30 // LOS ANGELES - SAN DIEGO

-65 miles


// DAY 13 : 05.01 // SAN DIEGO

-hang out in san diego



:: PART 2 :: SAN DIEGO TO AUSTIN ::


// DAY 1 : 05.06 // SAN DIEGO - LIVE OAK SPRINGS

-70.5 miles ( depending on where we leave from in san diego)


// DAY 2 : 05.07// LIVE OAK SPRINGS - BRAWLEY

-77.5 miles


// DAY 3 : 05.08// BRAWLEY - EHRENBERG

-88 miles


// DAY 4 : 05.09// EHRENBERG - AGUILA

-87 miles


// DAY 5 : 05.10// AGUILA - PHEONIX

-81 miles


// DAY 6 : 05.11 // DAY OFF

-rage in pheonix


// DAY 7 : 05.12 // PHEONIX - SUPERIOR

-67 miles (mostly up hill)


// DAY 8 : 05.13 // SUPERIOR - THATCHER

-94 miles


// DAY 9 : 05.14 // THATCHER - NEW MEXICO

-59 miles (this is supposedly the steepest portion of this leg)


// DAY 10 : 05.15 // NEW MEXICO - SILVER CITY

-68 miles (more hills)


// DAY 11 : 05.16 // SILVER CITY - ARREY

-81 miles


// DAY 12 : 05.17 // ARREY - EL PASO

-94 miles


// DAY 13 : 05.18 // EL PASO - SOCORRO

-14 miles


// DAY 14 : 05.19 // SOCORRO - VAN HORN

-83 miles


// DAY 15 : 05.20 // VAN HORN - FORT DAVIS

-93 miles


// DAY 16 : 05.21 // FORT DAVIS - SANDERSON

-110 miles (all down hill)


// DAY 17 : 05.22 // SANDERSON - AMISTAD

-109 miles (all down hill)


// DAY 18 : 05.23 // DAY OFF AT AMISTAD

-let's take a day off to rage at amistad!


// DAY 19 : 05.24 // AMISTAD - CAMP WOOD

-87 miles


// DAY 20 : 05.25 // CAMP WOOD - HUNT

-74 miles


// DAY 21 : 05.26 // HUNT - BLANCO

-76 miles


// DAY 22 : 05.27 // BLANCO - AUSTIN

-62.5 miles



Wednesday, March 10, 2010

FIRST POST!

All right, so zach started this bog so that we can post shit about our bike trip. However, thus far we have not posted anything to it. So here comes the first post!

I suppose for a quick rundown of what's up... Zach, lenora, and I are going to bike across the country. Well, zach and I are going to bike ALL the way across while lenora will be joining us for a large portion of the trip.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are basically 3 legs of the trip with a few goals in mind.

here are the legs:
Leg 1: april 16th - may 2nd // San Francisco to San Diego (Zach + Brian + some lenora)
Leg 2: may 2nd - may 27th // San Diego to Austin for chaos in tejas (Zach + Lenora + Brian)
leg 3: may 30th - june 16th Austin to Cincinnati (Zach + Brian)

here are goals:
A) make it to austin by may 27th for chaos in tejas (WE BETTER)
B) make it back to ohio by june 16th so I can fly to philly for a wedding
C) I guess survive
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So those are the basics of the trip... with all of that said... I half ass started training today. Only got to ride a whopping 7 miles around clarksville ohio. However, I managed to do it in like 25 minutes up and down some decent hills (which made me huff and puff haha). Anyway... I weighed myself earlier to see that I currently weigh 183 lbs before starting training... I am curious to see if I actually lose any weight or if it just transfers to more heavy ass muscles in my legs. I will probably end up weighing more after this whole trip fiasco.

Anyway... I am scatter brained right now. I will post something that is maybe slightly interesting soon (maybe).

Oh yeah, I got my panniers, rack and some other bullshit. My rig is basically ready to go. Here is a picture: