Getting something back...

 Monday, June 21, 2021

I climbed aboard my road bike and headed out on what I hoped would be a 30-mile ride.  This was to be my fifth day in a row of 30-mile+ rides, something I had not done in several years.  Since Tour Ohio, I've not had anything cycling related to keep me focused on that kind of training.  And I've gotten lazy.  Not anymore!

I live in Cuyahoga Valley, so any ride I do forces me out of the saddle and up some hills, which is what I need if I'm going to ride the Colorado Rockies, I suppose.  I figured my legs would be tired and climbing was going to be a chore.  Look...I'm 66, I've gained a few pounds, and I haven't been doing any consistent cardio in way too long.

I hit Major Road after five miles of level riding and began an ascent that lasts over a mile.  The grades aren't bad, but the heart rate climbs over 150 and it's a good test of the quads.  I had ridden this same course two days ago and had struggled near the top.  But that was then.  I climbed almost effortlessly and continued on hitting my next hill and climbing that without coming out of the saddle, which is a very good sign.  I finished the ride over rolling hills over the next hour and pedaled into my driveway feeling pretty good about myself.  I have always gotten into cycling shape quickly over the years, but I really figured things would be different now.  

I finished the day with a hike and took my steps over 20,000 for the sixth straight day.  I hope to continue that trend, as well.

I've got lots of packing to do for my trip to Michigan, which begins tomorrow after my morning ride.  I'm taking the kayak, mountain bike, running and hiking shoes and intend to come back in ten days or so a much fitter man.  I'll be sleeping in the camped out mini-van and have packed 10 different meals I've been freezing as I make too much to eat at any one sitting over the past month.  I have no set itinerary and will drive through national forests and state parks looking for interesting trails to hike and ride.  If I see a lake or stream I like, I'll stop and pull the kayak from the roof.  Retired and living the dream...

Bike Duration: Two hours

Calories Burned: 1,500

Training Heart Rate:130

Steps for the day: 21,500

Colorado Rocky Mountain High...

Monday, June 21, 2021
 

"It's one of the most beautiful rides I've ever done," Todd Miller explained when I asked him about the Copper Triangle Ride in Colorado.  "It climbs and descends through some amazing mountains including going over Fremont Pass, which is above 11,000 feet.  The descents are a thrill!"

Todd and I have known each other since high school.  We rode together after graduating to visit my grandparents in Buchanan, New York, a two-week trip that covered over 1,100 miles.  We also rode the 1,100 miles of Tour Ohio together.  

Over the years I matured into a normal sixty-plus year-old man who knew his limits and no longer got enjoyment from punishing myself.  He, on the other hand, morphed into a maniac on a bicycle.

"Okay...maybe I'll do it, but I'll take it slow and enjoy the ride," I offered.

"No way!  I'll push you and egg you on and if you dog it, I'll threaten you with embarrassing pictures which I'll post on Facebook," he said.

"Have you seen the pictures I've posted of myself on Facebook?  There is really nothing you can do to embarrass me," I warned.

The ride is in early August and to be ready for this single day 80-mile ride, I need to do some serious training for the next seven weeks.  In that 80 miles which begins at 8,000 feet, it goes over three mountain passes and has a total elevation gain of almost 6,000 feet, which is some serious climbing!  When I made the call to him, I had been riding maybe twice a week with very little climbing.  Things have changed now as I completed my fourth straight day of at least a two-hour ride at distances between 30-35 miles.

I NEED a challenge to really get in shape.  I NEED a destination, though I try to enjoy the journey.  My goal will be at least five days of riding a week and some weight loss along the way.  I'm eating better, following mostly Paleo diet having stepped up my consumption of fruits, smoothies and salads.  

I spoke to Todd's sister, Wendy, who lives almost on the course and got information regarding the ride from a more reasonable, like-minded individual.  

"You're brother is insane," I suggested.

"He is.  Absolutely," she agreed.

She told me she has done the ride twice and it is doable for anyone willing to put in some training, so I'm moving forward with a plan that will have me capable of doing the ride, but with the intention of going out there, doing some riding and some climbing, too.  

"There are some great hikes and peaks nearby, John, and maybe you'd enjoy that more," she said.  

She's right.  Sorry, Todd.  My journey doesn't include the pain to the level you seek, but I enjoy it none the less.

Trying...Again...

 It's been over a year since I last posted my thoughts publicly.  During that time, several things have happened that should have changed my life.  I think they did.

1.  Last fall, after going through a couple of weeks of an unrelenting temperature that was not covid, a tumor was discovered on my lung with corresponding swelling in my lymph nodes.  Together, my doctor explained, it likely meant I had inoperable cancer.  After a biopsy showing it was not, I felt I'd been given a second lease on life.

2.  I fully retired on July 23rd of 2020.

3.  Dakota...my dog, my best buddy, my faithful hiking partner, succumbed to a tumor in her right front paw.  She was fifteen and my house is so empty without her.

4.  My daughter Savannah had her first child, a boy she named Forrest.

5.  My son Jason had his third child, a boy he named William after his grandfather.

6.  I broke off a relationship with a lady I had been seeing for almost five years.

Of course, all of these things have worked to reshape the person I am today - as I write.  Together, they have caused me to access what is important in my life.  Some things that used to seem to have relevance do not, and other have taken on much greater significance.  And it's really the simple things.

I notice more as I take my hikes through the woods.  It's hard not to think of Dakota as I go, but I also tend to take more notice of the things along the way.  The water smells different; better.  The wind seems to make more sound and brush against my cheeks in a more noticeable way.  There seems to be more things for me to photograph; more things catch my eye or seem significant enough to capture digitally...and keep.

So anyways, it's time to do something...do more.  I'm retired and I need to live like I am.  I need to condition myself and take the trips and take on the challenges I've been waiting to take.  I need to write; to do more worth writing about.  And I need or I should say 'want' to find someone who would like to do things with me, to love me and to be loved by me.  That part will be the trickiest because like God tells Bruce in 'Bruce Almighty', he'll have all the power of God but will not be able to make anyone fall in love with him.  

This is just to kick-start my quest to do all of the above.  I've been riding and hiking, but now it will be with a purpose about which I will try to write in some way that makes it interesting enough for people to read.  Here goes...

I went for my third ride on the mountain bike my brother gave to me last week.  My ass continues to take a pounding, likely from being in a position that, for the last fifty years of riding, is not one I'm used to.  On this bike, I sit upright and place most of the weight of my upper body on my butt...and that's painful after an hour or so.  On a road bike, I lean forward on the 'drop' bars and put some portion of the weight of my upper body on my shoulders, arms, hands.  But today, after an hour and fifteen minutes of riding, I actually still felt pretty good.  And...it's fun!

I rode and thought about the difference in the way I feel about the ride itself.  Somehow and in some way, I think it is reminding me of why I got on a bike in the first place and what I liked about that.  Of course that first serious bike was a single gear, chain driven start and stop on large, balloon tires.  The handlebars were essentially straight across and caused us to ride sitting upright.  You could see all around you, and that was the idea...to see where you were going and to look for the next best thing to do.  I certainly didn't ride it to get 'a workout', whatever the hell that was.  In fact, when I was riding for the first time in the middle sixties, I don't think working out had been invented yet.  It certainly hadn't been for kids.  We stayed fit, if you'd call it that, by playing hard and doing our chores.  That's it...and it worked pretty well.

Anyways, I'm riding the towpath, a hard-crushed path of limestone screenings and other road materials used in these multi-purpose trails.  I'm working harder than I ever did on my road bike because I'm trying to maintain a certain speed on a bike that is probably ten pounds heavier than my road bike.  And although it is a good workout, that isn't the purpose of the ride.  I feel like it's about having fun on a bike for the first time in I can't remember when.