Awareness Test

Our team captain sent us this link to a youtube video. It makes a good point and its also pretty funny. Enjoy!

Youtube awareness video!

Bluebonnet Bike Ride!

Today I went out for a casual 30 miler. I say casual because I wasn't going to push myself on speed. I really wanted to just enjoy the beautiful day. And it was a beautiful day. 75 degrees, blue sky and bluebonnets were abundant. I did the usual "head-out-to-hwy-47" ride. It was excellent. With it being Easter weekend, not very many students are in town, therefore the traffic is practically non-existent. The ride probably took me about 2 and a half hours. I probably came in just shy of a full 30 miles, but oh well, I got some "butt time" in. Part of training for these long rides, is getting your bum ready for the long amount of time on the saddle. I think I'm getting close to being ready in all respects. My leg muscles feel strong, my butt seems to be getting used to the long rides, and my arms are in pretty solid shape too (in some way I'm sure that's helpful). I've even acquired a bit of a cyclists' tan. So, let the countdown begin: 21 days to go!

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White Rock On!

Since it's spring break I've been home in Dallas for a few days. With the miles and miles of highways and busy streets in DFW, it's difficult to find a safe area to ride for a long distance. So I did what most serious cyclists in Dallas do and that is to go down to White Rock and ride around the lake. The lake is 9.3 miles and this past weekend I was trying to go for a 40 miler. So, it took 4 laps and then a little bit to complete the full forty. I did it and it was outstanding. But, before the ride even started I had to deal with a not so fun reality. When I got down to White Rock I parallel parked down by West Lawther. Well I get out of the car and then go to pull out my pump to get my tires reloaded with air. Right as I come around to the passenger side of my jeep I hear this pretty loud whistling, and I look down at my front right tire and sure enough its losing air. I just sat there and watched it go completely flat. I had to laugh. The number of flats I've had lately, between my bike and jeep, probably outnumbers my limbs. Or atleast it feels like it. Well the whole family was busy with this or that, so I called mom and said, how about I go ahead and ride then when y'all have a chance to come down here we'll deal with it. The ride took about 3 hours. Then mom, my Aunt Leila (who is in town right now) and my brother came down. Kyle fixed the flat, and taught me how so next I could do it myself! So, it turned out to be an okay day with an outstanding ride around the lake...four times.

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Not so fast, hot shot.

So today was tough. I went out with the intention of putting in a 40 miler. Last week was 30 miles, what's another 10, right? Well it was windy today. Very windy. I was going into the wind dead-on for about 80 percent of the ride. At one point I was in my lowest gear and was struggling to actually move because the wind was so strong. This picture I posted is basically of my view through much of the ride. I was cranking hard on the pedals and keeping my head down in the process, just trying to make head-way against the wind. The ride took about 2 and a half hours. I went out to highway 47 via University today then swung back through Villa Maria. I took a little detour through Traditions golf course to see what that was all about. It's nice out there, but not as great as it is hyped up to be. On the way back in I took a little water break at starbucks on northgate. Today was an overall good ride. It's nice to enjoy the weather, the day and collect my thoughts, but man, 2 and a half hours is a long ride by yourself. Andrea needs to hurry home from her americorps trip so we can get back to riding together.

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