Too many errands...

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

I

 suspected that the day would get away from me and I’d be unable to work out…and I was right.

I came home and ran out to Sherwin Williams with Savannah to pick out the paint we’d be using to paint her new apartment in Columbus on Friday.  We grabbed some apple cider for smoothies and I dropped her back home and drove to pick Jack up from work since his Jeep is now a total loss.  He went with me to drive to Junction Auto in Chesterland where Jason was waiting to get my opinion on a pickup truck he wanted to buy.

“I’m no good at dickering for a different price,” he said.

I am.  I know the Manager from years of buying vehicles there and respect their operation, but when it comes to used vehicles, you just have to be careful.  He was looking at a Dodge Ram for 19K and a very healthy $350 monthly payment.

“That’s the best you can do for a price?” I asked the sales person.  “We came out here looking to spend no more than 15K.  Don’t suppose you’d come down a tad?”

She took the ticket back to the unknown man behind the curtain and when she returned with a $500 reduction, we headed for the door.

We returned home, took the seats out of the minivan and loaded it with the furniture Holly would be driving to Savannah’s apartment on Thursday.  By the time this project was finished, it was 10 p.m. and there was no exercise in sight.  Not that I’d felt much like doing anything as my stomach ailments continued.  Hopefully the cat scan scheduled for the next morning would reveal the cause of my discomfort.

Car Accidents...

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Nothing good ever comes of a phone call at four in the morning and the vibration from Holly’s cell phone by the side of our bed proved to be no acceptation.   Jack was calling to say he had been in an accident on his way to the gym.  He goes there for a two-hour workout before going to work each day.

I changed quickly and drove the short distance to the gym.  It sickened me to see his Jeep, smashed and horn blowing, and the other car turned sideways and equally crumpled, in the middle of Wilson Mills.  I parked quickly and walked to where he was standing.

“I’m okay, dad.  I don’t know what happened…I don’t think she had her lights on.  I never saw her,” he said.

We spent the next half hour going through the things you need to do at an accident scene and eventually went home to try and get some sleep before work.  Blame was undetermined at the scene since Jack had turned into her path, but she appeared to have been driving without her headlights on.  She, too, was uninjured except from the impact of the air bag.

Jason had been driving our second Jeep Cherokee, having switched cars with Savannah for the summer to allow her to drive his Buick, which got 30 miles to the gallon; a much better equation for someone driving to Avon Lake each day.  When I saw his name pop up on my phone, I quickly answered, thinking he was checking on Jack.  He wasn't.

"Some lady just rear-ended me.  There's not too much damage and she was at fault," he said.

I laughed.  "Real funny.  So...I'm guessing you heard Jack totaled the Jeep this morning?"

"Dad...what?  No...I didn't hear about Jack and I did just get rear-ended," he said.

I realized he wasn't kidding, told him the story and hung up the phone wondering what the odds were of having two cars in separate accidents on the same day...two identical Jeeps, to boot.  

My stomach continued to bother me throughout the day, but I didn’t let it stop me from exercising.  John joined me for another ride and we did the same one we’d done last week a hair faster.  He isn’t riding much and the rolling hills of the Waite Hill course provide quite a challenge.  After the ride, I made a smoothie for us and ate some cold chicken.  It was about all my stomach wanted to handle.

Bike duration:  One hour and 54 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.

Calories burned during workout:  1600.

Stomach pains return...

Monday, July 22, 2013

Shortly after returning home from the ship yesterday, my stomach pains returned with a flourish.  I’d felt good since the end of March, but here they were again and on what appeared to be a 4-month cycle.  I went to bed early feeling nauseous and will tremendous abdominal pain.

Morning showed some improvement, but I wasted no time making an appointment with the digestive doc I’d seen for my colonoscopy.  He was able to fit me in that afternoon and after a physical exam and much questioning, decided he wanted to order a cat scan and blood work.

“I’m looking for gall stones and other things, and I want to know more about that bulge  above your naval.  It looks like a hernia,” he said.

I told him how that had been there for several years and didn’t bother me so, like any such things, I ignored it.  We scheduled the cat scan for Thursday and he sent me home with some ulcer medication.  “If we don’t find anything from the blood work and scan, I’ll want to do a endoscope,” he said as I left.

I put in a solid Survival Workout since I didn’t have time for a ride before celebrating Jack’s birthday.  It had been two weeks since my last and I could see that my strength levels had suffered, as I knew they would.  I can only do so much right now and my focus continues to be on training for Tour Ohio.

Survival Workout:  60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  100-150 bpm.

Calories burned:  600.

Aboard the Pathfinder

Sunday, July 21, 2013

I may have felt good riding four-plus hours yesterday, but that kind of stuff comes back to haunt your legs…as it did on today’s ride. 

I started out feeling a little lethargic and went downhill from there.  I didn’t fight the feeling and decided it would just be a scenic, serene ride – pain or not.  I took to my Waite Hill course, which is full of small to medium-sized hills, and completed it in my normal time of a little more than two hours.  Once home, I hurried through my personal cleaning process of jumping in the neighbor’s pool, made a smoothie and drove downtown to the Cuyahoga River and the Osborne Stone plant.  I was going there to meet my nephew, Nathan Duer, who serves as Chief Engineer on the 700’ Pathfinder barge/tug.  He wanted to show me around the ship and go over navigational charts for our upcoming kayaking trip for Tour Ohio.  I drove onto the property and pulled up alongside the ship, which was in the process of unloading its almost 18,000 tons of stone, quarried somewhere in the upper Great Lakes and transported here.  I saw my nephew on the deck and tried to hear what he was yelling.

“WE CAN’T REACH THE DOCK WITH THE GANGPLANK.  YOU’LL HAVE TO CLIMB UP ON THE LADDER WE’RE THROWING OVER,” I understood him to say.

I was holding my camera, some maps, a pad and a book on the Lake Erie shoreline and realized I’d have to climb this extension ladder, angled at 45 degrees ship to shore and bouncing on the cable over which it was being propelled down to me with one hand.  If I should slip, I’d drop thirty or so feet to the muddy Cuyahoga River between the ship and the pier…not a good scenario.  To hell with all that I thought as I took hold of the ladder and began to ascend.  When I reached the top where a hand was holding securely to the ladder to keep it from swaying and falling, I handed him my gear, put a foot on the steel cable which acted as a rail for the ship and was supporting the ladder, and bounded off the ladder and onto the deck.  I landed cleanly and with grace and dignity.  Thankfully.

Nathan took me on a full tour of the barge/ship, including climbing down into the bowels of the 7,000 horsepower engine room that propelled this beast at 10 knots through the waters of the Great Lakes.  It was an impressive vessel, particularly the tug that did the propelling.  I was surprised to find a workout room outfitted with weight training and aerobic exercise equipment, though it was steaming hot and rather small.

“Interlake Steamship is looking to improve fitness and wellness of its employees,” he said, which surprised me since it would seem that the work would require people to be in good shape.

We climbed four stories to the bridge where we went over some maps of the waters heading east of Sandusky Bay.  There did not appear to be any opportunities for camping.  We then finished our tour and I climbed down the normal gangplank to the shore below.  I had some work to do on the kayaking course and little time left to act. 

Bike duration:  Two hours and 5 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.

Calories burned during workout:  1750.

Suprises in Amish country...

Saturday, July 20, 2013
I rose early (for me on a Saturday), had a banana for breakfast, filled my bottles with water and Gatorade and climbed aboard UB Express for a long ride.  I had the foresight to put some Vaseline on critical rub areas under my biking shorts since I knew I’d be sweating profusely and for a long time.  Sweat crystals are quite abrasive and when I’ve ridden over three hours, tend to have painful rashes if I don’t slather.

Whenever I ride long, I find it’s easiest to just head east for a long time and then turn around at some point.  I used that line of thinking as I headed east on Dines/Pekin Road…destination: Amish country.  I felt extremely strong as I rode the first hour, climbing hills quickly and easily and began wondering if I shouldn’t back off and save myself for later in the ride.  I didn’t.

I hit the church on the corner of Aquilla and Butternut after 90 minutes of riding and stopped to replenish my water bottle at their outdoor spigot.  I offered a quick prayer for the convenience and headed off.  My shoulders and neck continued to feel good as I approached the two-hour mark…something that had not been the case in some years.  I suppose it could be the increased riding or my constant attention to shifting my hand position on the bars to relieve tension.  As I approached my turnaround in what was becoming a 70+ mile ride, I thought I could easily go further.

As I started back, I rode more upright so I could take in the surroundings of the large Amish community through which I was passing.  I like to do this to take in the ambiance of this simpler, mechanized-free life these people lead…and mostly I wasn’t disappointed.  But then I heard a noise I hate as I approached a farm dwelling by the side of the road.  Holding a long tube and walking with what looked and sounded like a jetpack was a young Amish women with a leaf blower.  It looked so out of place on this plain blue, long-skirted and bonneted woman.  I passed by in distress.  Then…it got worse.  I saw a buggy approaching and always look to the occupants to pass a friendly smile and wave.  Except this buggy, driven by a younger man and with a young woman sitting in the ‘passenger’ seat were not looking out to wave to anybody.  As I rode past and looked in to what was diverting their attention, I was shocked to see her tapping away on some type of smart phone and him watching her text.  I pulled over my bike, grabbed my water bottle and rinsed my eyes to wash away what I’d just seen.  Holy hell…Amish people texting from buggies?  What was the world coming to?

I passed the 50-mile mark still feeling strong and continued that way through the final climb up River to Chardon Road just north of Squires Castle.  I finished feeling like I could have easily ridden another couple of hours with my neck and shoulders intact and reasonably pain free.  It had taken me a little over 4 hours to cover approximately 72 miles; a very positive note for me and Tour Ohio.

Bike duration:  Four hours and 20 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  3650.

Just another ride...

Friday, July 19, 2013
I felt very strong after a one-day hiatus.  I headed out on the Waite Hill course with nothing in mind other than a decent ride…nothing killer.  I had a plan for the weekend that included a 4-hour ride and I wanted something in the tank for that effort.  Tonight’s ride would be nothing more than a warm-up and time in the saddle.

It was a humid evening with temperatures in the high 80’s again, but I’m acclimatizing and it really didn’t seem that bad.  I did the ride in a little over 2 hours, washing down the bike upon my return and cleansing myself in the neighbor’s pool.  I made a large smoothie to begin the fluid replenishment as soon as I dried off.

So…tomorrow I’ll be going for the longest ride of the year.  I’m planning to launch early and try to beat some of the heat, though I’ll likely be finishing in it.  I suppose it’s good to continue to train hard and long in adverse conditions since I have no guarantees that it will be cooler during Tour Ohio.  Time for the tough to get going.

Bike duration:  Two hours and 5 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1750.

A night off for eel...

Thursday, July 18, 2013
After four days of hard riding, I elected to take a night off.  The dehydration is catching up with me and nothing good can come from too much exercise at this point.  Instead, I joined Holly and Savannah for dinner at a sushi bar in Beachwood where the menu may as well have been in Japanese for all the sense I could make of it.  Part of the blame goes to the low lighting, though I’d grabbed my reading glasses on the way out of the car, quite proudly.

“I can’t read this at all, but I remembered to bring in my reading glasses,” I said, reaching for the case from my pocket.  I opened it only to find it was empty.

“Damn…that sucks,” I said.  Savannah and Holly laughed.  They could read the menu and since they’d eaten raw fish many times before, knew what they were ordering.

“Are these things on the left page here dinners?  They look like it, but with the appetizers on the right side, I’m not so sure,” I said in frustration.  I could read the entrée’s but not the explanations under them.  I could see things like ‘salmon’ and ‘eel’, but that was about it.  Neither of the ladies with me was interested in helping, either.  I like unusual things and will eat most anything, so I went with the eel when the waitress appeared to take our orders.  I did notice that it was grilled at least.

And it was very good.  There was no bread, salad, vegetable or potato on the side or any of the traditional things I’ve come to expect whenever I eat out…or eat at all.  There were nine hunks of eel wrapped around something squishy, but tasty and with a sampling from both Holly and Savannah, I was satisfied by the time I finished.  With a stop at East Coast Custard on the ride home and a waffle cone full of mint chocolate chip ice cream, I returned a happy, contented man.  Tomorrow…back in the saddle.

OhioActive - up and running...

Wednesday, July 17, 2013
I met with Marla and Joe, the OhioActive team, to discuss the second publication.  Our first edition hit the web waves last week and we have been getting back fantastic feedback.  The mission of the publication is to increase awareness of Ohio’s outdoor recreational opportunities while providing in-depth fitness knowledge to individuals seeking to live an active lifestyle. I'll be writing occasional articles, but more importantly, trying to secure sponsors and ad revenues to further that mission. Tour Ohio will be sponsored by OhioActive and is an example of the kind of thing we want to bring to readers’ attention, both to get them interested and motivated to get active and to demonstrate the kind of event we hope to promote through our non-profit efforts at increasing awareness of the value of this activity.  Tour Ohio has as its goal creating a venue for Ohioans interested in exploring what they’re capable of doing when they put their minds to it.  Though I’ll be doing the entire course at one time, it doesn’t have to be done that way.  ANY activity is good activity and what I’m hoping is people will look to complete the Tour in any fashion that suits them.

I rode for the fourth consecutive day…first time I’ve pulled that off in many months.  The heat and humidity continues to bake me as I ride and replacing fluids before the next ride is becoming a bit of a problem.  Thirst is never a good indicator of dehydration and I don’t like to drink water just to drink.  I’m making myself consume extra fluids, but know that I’m running low.  Since I drop about 3 pounds an hour on the bike, I seem to be in a constant state of dehydration right now.  I’m watching my weight, knowing that large dips are simply water and that I need to bring it back before going out for the next ride.  It’s a good problem as problems go.

Bike duration:  Two hours and 5 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1750.

Still feeling strong in the heat...

Tuesday, July 17, 2013
The heat and humidity continued to top 90 degrees and 90% as John pulled into the driveway and began unloading his bike.  He’s still in the recovery phase, but was looking for a ride of 25-30 miles at a decent pace.  Since I’d ridden four hours on Sunday and then crushed my Waite Hill course pr on Monday, I wasn’t too sure how my legs would be feeling on a third straight day of hard riding in the heat.

We were both dripping before we mounted, but the breeze created by moving helped.  I thought I’d take him on an abbreviated Waite Hill course, which suited him fine.  He hung right with me and said he felt strong, so we decided to make it 30 miles.  Three miles later, he was wondering about that decision.

“I’m so used to riding flat around my house that this is killing me,” he said as we rode east on Eagle Road.  The entire course in rolling with a couple of reasonably hard climbs.  I tend to go easy up the longer ones and blast through the smaller hills.  It’s part of a strategy I’m using to make sure I’ll last all day long on Tour Ohio.  John was taking the same approach, but his lack of hill training took a toll.

“These hills and the heat are killing me, man,” he said after huffing up an incline on Mulberry.  I downshifted into an easier gear and decided it would be better to slow down and not kill him.  Besides, all I’m really looking for at this point is time in the saddle.  I continued to climb hard to help my conditioning, but was more than happy to back off once I crested any rise.  We finished in a little under two hours, having covered 30 miles at a little over 16 mph.  The dunk in the neighbor’s pool and the smoothie that followed were refreshing and I am continually encouraged with how easily I am riding. 

Bike duration:  One hour and 53 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1500.

Trying to keep my brain from exploding when dealing with bureaucrats...

Monday, July 15, 2013
A couple of weeks earlier, I’d stopped by the Admissions office at Cuyahoga Community College, Eastern Campus, to get information about the college for Jack.  I waited in a line and when it was my turn, explained that I was interested in speaking to someone regarding courses and their transferability to Cleveland State for a four year degree.  I was told that I’d have to enroll, go through pre-testing for math and English before I could schedule time with an advisor.
“Well…I’d like to speak to someone basically just to see if this is the place my son should be going to school.  Does he have to enroll and pretest just to ask some questions?” I asked.

“I don’t think you can do a ‘drop-in’ with the advisors so, yes, he’d have to enroll,” she answered.  I found this perplexing, but didn’t see what else I could do at that moment.  I did get the schedule of times they were open to process his enrollment with Monday’s being the only day they were open beyond 5 p.m.

So…I had this evening scheduled to go up there with him and see what we could get done.  I’d called ahead to see what he needed to have to enroll and found out that it was free and a photo ID was all he needed.  When he arrived home from work, I told him about the photo ID, so he ran and changed into shorts and we drove to the campus.  He waited in line for about 10 minutes and was next to be served when I asked him about the photo ID.

“Umm…I don’t have it,” he said.

Completely disbelieving and more than a little irritated, I said, “I told you 5 minutes before we got in the car that it was the only thing you needed…and you didn’t bring it?”

He’d changed his clothes and left it in the pants pocket he’d left behind.  I do stupid things on occasion and tried to remain calm as we raced home to get it and get back before 6 p.m.  We made it with moments to spare and when he again found himself at the window, the clerk handed him an application and said he needed to have it filled out to enroll.

“I was at this window two weeks ago checking on what had to be done to enroll.  Is there some reason you suppose I was not told at that time that we needed to fill out this application?” I asked, getting towards the end of my fuse.

She didn’t know and we went off to fill it out.  When we returned to the line and handed it to her, she informed us that he’d need his Selective Service number to complete the application.

“I called two hours ago and specifically asked what we should bring to complete this process.  I was told a photo ID only.  I’m guessing not too many people memorize their selective service number and would know that off-hand.  Why wasn’t I told to have that ready, too?” I asked…fuse at explosion length.

She could see what was coming and was helpful.  She hadn’t answered the phone or been the person who hadn’t told me about the application…and I knew that.  She directed me to a student computer where we were able to look up his number and complete the process.  I asked more questions about the rest of the process necessary to actually signing up for and taking classes and she was quite helpful.  I drove home though, knowing that I’d have to be on top of whatever Jack did to get signed up and to leave no stones unturned. 

I headed out on the bike at 7 p.m. with about 2 hours of light.  I wanted to ride the Waite Hill course, but knew that I’d have to push since my best time ever was 2:02, which would have me finishing in the dark.  So I pushed.  Hard.  I was spinning down Wilson Mills over the final mile in the low light of the setting sun at 30 mph and pulled into my driveway in 1:56, a full 6 minutes faster than I’d ever ridden the course before.

I’m getting stronger by the day on the bike.  I’ve eliminated the Survival Workout for the time being in an effort to ride whenever possible.  It’s making a difference, though I’m not looking forward to the next several days when I’ll have to be riding in 90-degree weather with what will certainly be high humidity.  If I can handle these conditions, I should be in good shape for Tour Ohio by which time the weather will have hopefully began to cool. 

Bike duration:  One hour and 56 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1675.

Long, hard ride...

Sunday, July 14, 2013
Our church service was scheduled to be outside on a sultry Sunday morning and I was going to have none of it.  I don’t mind sweating in my workout clothes, but hate to have to sweat through dress pants and shirt and to sit in a puddle of water. 

I changed into my riding outfit and headed for the bike at 8:30 a.m. hoping to beat some of the heat though I knew I’d be up against it at the end of the ride, which I figured to be somewhere around noon.  I filled my bottles with water and Gatorade, loaded them in their holders and reached for my tires to check the pressure.  Only there wasn’t any in the back tire.

That’s right…always the back tire.  I’d been feeling a bump with each revolution on my previous ride, an indicator that the tube had a bulge and could be ready to break.  One option is to ignore it and hope it will go away.  It went away alright and now I needed to change it before riding.  It took ten minutes and during that time, I completely sweated through my riding jersey.  This concerned me.  I was down a pound and I hadn’t rolled down the driveway yet.  There was no way I’d be able to replace the water I’d be losing with what I could drink during the ride.  Since I wanted to go 50+ miles, it would be difficult to keep from overheating and/or cramping.  I decided I’d take my Pekin Road course because there is a church on the route where I can fill my water bottles.

I started conservatively thinking I would need to save my legs for final miles in 90-degree heat.  It would turn out to be a fortuitous call.  I rode due east for 90 minutes before stopping to fill my water bottle and then continued on well into Amish country in Middlefield.  I was feeling good and elected to make it a 60+ mile ride, hoping I wouldn’t regret the decision later.

And I really never did.  I hit 50 miles in good form and slowed some over the last hour, but ended up at 65 miles in a little less than 4 hours.  The good news was that I made it without cramping and reasonably intact.  My biggest concern with Tour Ohio is being in the saddle for 7-8 hours per day and how my body will react.  Things like saddle sores and rashes concern me, as does dehydration and general fatigue.  I can drink and rest, but the rashes can be an annoying killer of fun.

Once home, I began the process of trying to replace 10 pounds of fluids.  I started with a large smoothie, but found that I was exhausted just walking around the house and ended up napping for an hour.  It would take me until after dinner to start feeling like myself again…heat and humidity WILL take their toll.  It was a good experience overall though, and I’m beginning to actually feel confident in my conditioning.

Bike duration:  Three hours and 50 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  3220.

Yard work, rugby, running and Savannah's 22nd...

Saturday, July 13, 2013

I started out what was supposed to be the beginning of a very hot, humid stretch of weather working in Mimi’s yard.  She had a nice list for me which included the chance of bumping up against more poison ivy, so I needed to be careful.  I spent the next five hours pulling and hauling weeds, pruning trees, cleaning out gutters and a garage and, with the help of her two granddaughters, Madison and Mikala, washing her car.  I’d remembered how much, as a child, I’d enjoyed hosing off the car once my dad had soaped it up, so I put them in charge of hose spraying.  I kind of figured this would mean more water on each other and me than on the car, which was about right.  With the heat and sweat pouring off my body, it actually felt pretty good.

I left her place and drove to Jason’s rugby match where they were playing a 7’s tournament.  Basically, it’s the same game played on the same size field, but with half the amount of players...7.  Since there is so much ground to cover and the running is much more exhaustive, they only play two seven-minute halves.  Jason got in one half of one game, so I managed to spend another couple of hours in the sun for seven minutes of action.  It’s what dad’s are supposed to do.

By the time I got home, it was too late for a ride.  Instead, I suited up for a humid run and drove to the park.  On the way, I received a call from Heidi asking me to pick her up on the way home from a birthday/pool party she was attending for Savannah, who was 22 today.

“I know you haven’t seen her today yet, so that’ll work out,” she offered.

She was right.  Savannah had been sleeping when I’d left in the morning and off to the party by the time I’d returned from the rugby.  I had every intention of tracking her down at some point, even if it meant following her to whatever bar the group was going.  This was better.  I arrived at her friend’s house sweaty from my run, but quite huggable.  I opened the gate to the pool in the back yard only to watch a white blur move past my feet and through the neighbor’s yard to freedom.

“I’m betting I shouldn’t have let that dog out,” I said as two half-drunk party goers took up the chase…one of them was my daughter.  When she returned with the dog, I gave her a birthday hug while Heidi snapped the picture.  We agreed that we’d meet up at ‘The Harry Buffalo’, a local sports bar/watering hole after we’d all cleaned up.  

The run had gone well, too.  Though I prefer all workouts to be riding right now, when they can’t be, running is a good substitute and helps prepare me for the 115-mile hike I’ll be taking.  I continue to feel stronger with each passing day and if I can get the piriformis under control, Tour Ohio should be a big success.

Yard Work duration: 5 hours.  Run duration:  32 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  75 for yard work and 140 bpm for the run.
Calories burned:  1250 for yard work and 550 for the run.

Squeaky chain...

Friday, July 12, 2013
When the bike mechanic suggested I wash down my bike after each ride in an effort to limit the damage of my ‘corrosive’ sweat, I asked about re-lubing.

“Bikes are designed for water so maybe…once a week?”

Sounded good to me, until I was about ten minutes into my ride and could hear squeaking coming from the vicinity of the crank.  I was riding by Kim’s street and considered swinging past her house.  With all the cyclists in that family, they were sure to have chain lubricant.  I hate to stop, though, and I’d convinced myself it was getting better.  Well…it wasn’t.

I rode on thinking at one point that my chain was going to snap.  I intentionally rode easier as I climbed just for that reason.  I’d taken my tires to 130 psi before starting the ride and had hoped it would make a difference in my performance time, but now that I was backing off on climbs, that couldn’t happen.

I felt extremely strong as I rode, though, squeaking be damned.  I powered slight rises and knew I was riding well.  I’d been riding consistently and had taken a day off to kayak, so I wasn’t surprised.  What did surprise me was pulling into the driveway three minutes faster than I’d ever ridden the course before.  I immediately washed off the bike…and re-lubed the chain.  My excessive sweating seems to break down the lubricants and adding water to the mix means lubing before every ride from now on.

Nilesh had seen me earlier in the day and pronounced that he was ‘pretty sure’ my hip pain was piriformis syndrome.  He didn’t completely rule out a bulging disc in my back, which would also lead to the sciatica pain I’d been experiencing, and prescribed stretching and strengthening exercises to deal with both.  He also has me taking one Aleve tablet with breakfast and dinner in an effort to bring down the inflammation.  He said that if this doesn’t work, we’ll try a more aggressive steroidal approach just before I leave on Tour Ohio. 

Bike duration:  Two hours and 2 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1750.

Kayaking on East Branch Reservoir...

Thursday, July 11, 2013

My hip problems while kayaking are a great cause for concern.  Within 45 minutes of getting into the kayak, I get severe pains in my left buttocks that radiates down my left hamstring and sometimes into my calf.  No matter how I shift or lean, the pain continues unabated.  Since I looking to be kayaking eight hours a day in a little over two weeks, this could be a problem.  I had an appointment with Nilesh Shah, my sports med doc, the next day and wanted to inflame the area so I’d have something to show him.  With this in mind, I loaded the kayaks on the roof and picked Marie up after work for a trip to the East Branch Reservoir and eagle hunting.

“I’m doing this to see how much pain I can cause myself.  I may not be too pleasant after 40 minutes, but I really don’t care if I’m grumpy with you,” I said.  She’s young, in college, working towards a great career, and has a life ride that looks pretty good.  My unpleasantness could have little effect on her.  Besides, she might get to see an eagle.

“Okay Mr. Rolf…thanks for the warning,” she said as we undid the kayaks and tried to take them from the roof of the Jeep.  I kept lifting up on my end, but hers stayed mysteriously on top on the vehicle, in the rack.  I could see her fingertips reaching for the bottom of the boat, but never quite getting there.

“Would you quit fooling around and grab the thing?  We can’t kayak if it stays on the roof,” I said.

“I…can’t…reach…it…,” she said, straining to push up but running out of vertical.

“Why did I bring a midget,” I mumbled as I went to her end of the boat and sent her to mine.

The water was very high from two weeks of rain and after putting herself through a fog of mosquito spray, we entered the main body of water from the cove.  I immediately spotted a large, flying object across the lake and swooping low.

“Marie…an eagle!” I said excitedly while reaching to pull the camera around my neck to my eyeball.

While fumbling with the Nikon, I watched the eagle glide low over the water and then suddenly drops its talons below the surface and quickly come up and out with a fish ensnared.  It flew off effortlessly towards the grove of trees bordering the water a short distance from its nest. 

“Did you see that ?” I asked in pure delirium.  I’d never witnessed one catching prey and felt pretty lucky.

“Umm…I saw a bird I’m pretty sure,” she said.

Holy shit.  Another one…though I think she was trying to get my goat, Holly style.  We paddled quickly in the direction the eagle had flown and in a few short minutes, found ourselves floating 20 feet off-shore and staring up at our eagle, perched on the branch of a dead tree and tearing away at the flesh of the fish it had just caught.  Absolutely awesome, I thought as I snapped picture after picture.  Marie, I thought, was extremely lucky to be getting this opportunity on her maiden voyage at East Branch.  She had her camera out and was doing the same…and maybe thinking the same.

We moved on to the nest, which appeared to be empty and after snapping some more shots, paddled to the far end of the reservoir where an osprey was gliding and hunting and cliff swallows, nesting under the bridge that separated the main branch of the reservoir from the nature preserve, were flying back and forth madly at our approach.  There were probably 30 nests under the bridge, but the birds spilling from those nests seemed to be so plentiful that they could have made one of the scenes from Alfred Hitchcock’s movie ‘The Birds’.

As we paddled back towards the car, the pain in my buttocks began in earnest…right on time at about 45 minutes into the trip.  I remained pleasant and continued to hunt for more eagle sightings to photograph, but the pain made me paddle a little faster to the takeout point.

 

Once on shore, the pain abated, as it always does, with a little walking.  The good news…I’d seen an eagle catch a fish AND I had pain to show Nilesh the next day.  When I asked Marie how she’d sum up her first trip to East Branch Reservoir, she said, “I saw a bunch of birds.”

God love her.

Kayak duration:  60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  90 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  350.

Tornado averted...ride accomplished.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Global warming…maybe, but we’ve been having some crazy storms these past two summers.  I returned to the office in Beachwood about 2:30 p.m. and was quickly shuffled to the building’s basement.  The entire staff and their clients were huddled there because the city was under tornado watch.  I’m a bit of a fatalist.  Had I known I’d be asked to go to a basement, I wouldn’t have left my car and would have instead chosen to sit or drive and just watch things develop.  If something’s going to happen to me, it’s just going to happen whether I was in a basement, driving my car and hunkered in a ditch.  I certainly don’t like being told what I have to do to protect myself.

I kept all this to myself of course as we spent the next 30 minutes chatting and sweating.  Finally, and for no obvious reason, we were allowed back to the offices.  As far as anyone could tell, the weather pattern that had sent us to the basement in the first place was still hovering over Northeast Ohio.  My thoughts were less about foul weather striking me and more about how I’d get in a ride later. 

Rains pelted the house until early evening, but then stopped.  Thunder continued to rumble, but by 7 p.m. I was starting to think a ride was in the cards.  I suited up and was on the road by 7:15 and though they were wet/damp and I was picking up plenty of road spray, no drops fell.  I took extra caution cornering and on descents, but for the most part it was a normal, albeit humid, ride.  I managed to get in a little over an hour and a half before I knew I’d have to wrap it up because of coming darkness.  I felt strong throughout the ride and can only attribute that to acclimatization and conditioning.  It was my third day in a row, something I’d not achieved in several weeks, and my legs were coming back fast.  I felt proud that I’d taken a night that had almost become another throw-away and gotten in a hard ride.  My goal of 200 miles for the week is still in play.

Bike duration:  One hour and 35 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1325.

Washing down UB after rides...

Tuesday, July 9, 2013
I’ve been riding my bike for exercise since I was probably 14.  That’s a very long time and in all those years, I don’t think I’ve ever been through such a stretch of muggy weather.  The Cleveland weather channel announced that we set another terrific weather by having rain for 15 consecutive days during the summer months.  Never happened before in over 113 years of recording that kind of information.  I saw a facebook post from a friend living in Kirtland the other day saying he was thankful for the ‘much needed’ inch+ of rainfall they’d received.  Much needed?  Maybe if you’re trying to float an ark or own a mosquito colony.

Anyway, I started my ride thinking I was breathing molasses.  The air felt so thick and heavy; almost like I had a blanket over my shoulders.  I planned to ride two hours, but was prepared to shorten that depending on how I felt.  It went well, though I kept the pace to 16-17 mph, not worried about speed but only time in the saddle.  Once home, I took the advice of the bike mechanic and immediately hosed the sweat from the bike.  I wiped it down paying special attention to the cables and derailleur to remove as much grime and sweat as I possibly could.  He says it will make a difference, so I’ll give it a try.

After completing crud removal from the bike, I went to the neighbor’s pool to do the same to myself.  I’m wondering what all that corrosive sweat is doing to me if it can chew through, steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber.  My neighbor is probably wondering what it’s going to do to his pool liner.  Well…not my problem.  I toweled off and went inside to close up the house and put on the air conditioner for the first time this year.  I followed that with a large, delicious smoothie to replenish the carbs I’d been burning up.  I must admit, I love the routine following the bike ride.

Bike duration:  Two hours and 10 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1800.

Bad news about UB Express...

Monday, July 8, 2013
I started into my ride thinking I’d go long if I felt okay.  Since I’d been having trouble with my derailleur, I rode past Performance Bikes to have them make the adjustment.  Brian was working the mechanic shop and put my bike on his rack.  He adjusted the cable, then began a series of pulling and twisting moves on the bars that make up the frame of the bike before finally taking it off and returning it to me.

“You planning on riding this bike a lot?” he asked.

“Actually, yes.  I’m going to be putting in a couple of thousand miles on it over the next several weeks,” I said and told him about Tour Ohio.

“Frankly…this is the third generation of carbon bikes and they made some real mistakes in the design.  I’m not so sure I’d want to be counting on this bike for something as important as that.  You have some extremely corrosive sweat and I’d be concerned about the integrity of the frame.  You should be riding on titanium,” he concluded.

Well…I knew about the corrosive level of my sweat since I’d destroyed three frames in my lifetime already.  In fact, I’d had a titanium frame once and corroded all the components from the frame though the frame was still good.  I should have hung onto that, but…water under the bridge.

“I can’t afford to be getting a new bike at this point; I’m leaving on my trip in six weeks,” I explained.

He shook his head and wished me ‘good luck’, but left me with an empty feeling as I pedaled out of the store for my ride.

Which went well.  The rest day had done me some good.  It was very hot and extremely humid again…in the 90% range…but I felt strong as I rode and managed to go a little over three hours and 50 miles.  I know that I need to get out on consecutive days to really begin building my saddle endurance and to keep my body from bonking once the ride begins.  Bonking…a cyclists term for low blood sugar and energy depletion…is common on long rides, or rides over consecutive days when muscle energy is not completely replenished.  Training the muscles to absorb more energy by riding long and often is a proven technique to increasing the amount a muscle can store and the secret to completing Tour Ohio.  In fact, during the ride I’ll need to pack in the carbohydrates (the fuel of aerobic exercise) by eating pastas, pancakes, fruits, vegetables and other forms of the energy source.  I should be burning in excess of 6,000 calories per day, so no amount of eating will add any weight to my frame once the Tour begins.  Nice.

Bike duration:  Three hours and 10 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  2650.

Planning day...

Sunday, July 7, 2013
It was another extremely humid day and when I returned from shopping for flowers with Holly, decided to lie down and nap.  Two hours later, I was up and feeling groggy and unambitious.  I decided that there was little point in forcing myself to do something and went instead with what I was feeling. 

I went to my office however, and spent several hours poring over the notes I had made on the cycling route for Tour Ohio and committed most of it to an Excel spreadsheet.  Kim is putting the information into some kind of mapping program that will locate way points for camping and other amenities…at least that’s what I think she’s doing…and so I have to find those spots and give her the information.  In working with my sag wagon, I have discovered that he’ll be driving his two-seat sports car and pulling a small trailer with the camping gear, but that we won’t be hopping in the car after setting up camp to drive back to a nearby town for dinner.  Energy is critical on a ride that includes continuous days of 100 mile rides and so that final meal of the day is extremely important to the next day’s ride.  We’ll likely stop and eat a meal in the late afternoon and then have snacks at the camp site later on.

So…I’m really starting to get into the planning mode.  I need to be physically ready, but I also have a lot of details I need to cover to make three weeks on the road a success.  Regardless, it’ll happen.