Team Skinner Nurseries!

The MS150 was an absolute blast. So much comraderie all weekend. There were around 13,000 cyclists riding and probably just as many people supporting the riders. We started our MS150 adventure on Friday night. Andrea, Brad and Mike came into College Station for dinner and a night's rest before leaving early for Houston on Saturday morning. Alejandro, Chad and Preston came over to celebrate with us. Alejandro actually cooked our pasta dinner for us and Preston brought over a cake. Needless to say it was outstanding start to the weekend festivities. Mike drove Andrea, Brad and I to Houston at about 4AM on Saturday morning. We were at the stadium ready to go at 5:45AM and cycling by 6:45AM. It was a cold start, but it warmed up to be a perfect day. We had a serious head wind on the first day. It made the quads burn just a little bit more on the hills, and there were plenty of hills. Beautiful route. We got to lunch at about 11AM I think. We started feeling the pain real bad at the last break point. It took a lot of energy to get back on the bike and finish our 84 mile first day. We cruised into the overnight campgrounds at about 4PM and were in bed by 8PM. No joke. It was a great first day for Team Skinner Nurseries. Skinner sponsored a boy scout troup to ride on the team. It was fun to ride with them. And scout parents were abound all weekend as a result so we were never under-prepared. Day two was just as beautiful with less wind, which was nice. Enough talk though. Just check out the photographs. They tell the story better. Thank you to everyone who supported my ride. The MS150 is slated to bring in 14 million dollars for the National MS Society! Until next year...

Burning up the quads in Austin

So this past weekend I went to Austin to put in a long ride with Andrea in the wonderful westlake area. I think I've written about that area in a previous post. It was quite beautiful. We went at it a little harder this time than the last time we rode it (or atleast we let ourselves think that!). As it has been pratically all season, it was wonderful. 65 degrees and cloud-free. We rode for probably 25-ish miles. But, it was so terribly hilly that it counted for a good solid ride. We were feeling it when we were done. The exhaustion you feel after a bike ride is so different from a running exhaustion, it's this general fatigue that makes you want a margarita. It's crazy, but trust me, that's what happens. So, to make sure we recovered properly we listened to our bodies and went to get some margaritas after the ride. After the ride we decided to ride a little more and rode to the UT campus to watch the Texas Relays. Very fun. Who doesn't love a good track meet? Actually probably a lot of people. But WE loved it. Then we rode to El Chile for those margaritas we needed. Then we rode back to downtown to watch a free concert. So, needless to say we got plenty of riding in Saturday. Countdown to the MS150...5 days!

Tandem!

Today was a long ride. Just shy of 50 miles. Beautiful day to ride. Andrea just got back in town from her americorps trip and she came in to College Station so we could get a long ride in together. We went all over the place today. Aggieland is a great place to get a long ride in, safely and without having to get way out of the city. I'm sure going to miss that when I leave this town. So, we did really well on the ride. It was a bit hilly here and there, but it made for good practice. I think we both feel ready. But, we were quite tired after the ride and were getting a little sloppy with our riding. We'll have to really rest at the lunch breaks before the second half of each day's ride. Last night we had our MS 150 team meeting in Houston, which also helped with out preparation. The logistics of getting here and there for the start of the MS150 is a bit crazy, but we have a great team captain so I'm not worried a bit. Follow the leader! Thanks for reading. I'll probably do another post or two before the ride (April 12-13). After the ride I'll post photos.

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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Visit Andrea's Fundraising Page: Andrea's E-Donate Page

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.

Visit Ashley's Fundraising Page: My E-Donate page
Visit Andrea's Fundraising Page: Andrea's E-Donate Page

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.

Visit Ashley's Fundraising Page: My E-Donate page
Visit Andrea's Fundraising Page: Andrea's E-Donate Page

Sunny Sunday

All week I had planned to go for a 30 miler on the weekend. Well when Sunday rolled around it could not have been a better day for a ride. Not a cloud in the sky and about 65 degrees. I hit the road at about 9:20AM. I left the apartment and headed out to the George Bush Library then swung back around to Agronomy Road. I weaved my way to Wellborn then Villa Maria. Finally I got out to 47 and did a couple miles out there before doubling back and heading through campus again then out to highway 6. From 6 I went out to Harvey Mitchell then headed home. Outstanding ride. I saw so much of Brazos county! So you think...30 miles. Ya I'll just bust that out. Reality check! It took me 2 hours and 20 minutes. So, doing about 90 miles each day for the MS150 is going to be a serious feat! I'm excited though.

Luckily this ride I managed to be flat free too. Last week I took my bike into Aggieland Cycling because I kept getting flats and I couldn't find anything in my tire that might be causing them. After a little investigation one of the guys found a tiny piece of glass embedded in the tire. You couldn't see it until you stretched the tire a little bit. Anyways, we got that solved and they installed a kevlar strip in my front tire, which gives the tube greater protection. It certainly helped. I wish all rides could be as wonderful as today's!

Visit Ashley's Fundraising Page: My E-Donate page
Visit Andrea's Fundraising Page: Andrea's E-Donate Page

Clip in, Clip out! (and try not to fall)

So last week I upgraded my pedals to "clipless" pedals. I had mentioned earlier how I had ordered them (thanks mom & dad for the sweet valentine's gift!). The guys at Aggieland Cycling were real helpful; they installed them for me and let me practice clipping-in on the indoor trainer. I'm still not sure why they call them clipless, as you actually clip into them with cycling cleats. Basically when you clip in you are completely connected with the bikes mechanics. I have used them on about five rides at this point and they are wonderful. You can really feel a difference. More of your energy is properly used with these pedals. Only thing is you ARE clipped in, so you have to make sure you clip out in time for stopping. Which is actually easier than being strapped in, but you do have to make sure you clip out while you still have enough momentum. If you wait too long to clip out you won't be able to twist out and you'll end up on the ground still connected to the bike.

They say everyone falls atleast once when they start. I haven't fallen yet, knock on wood, but my time will come I'm sure. I'm ready though. I already fell in my strapped pedals a couple weeks ago. It was quite embarassing. Picture this, I'm at a red light waiting to for the light to change. When the light turns green I go to crunch on the right pedal to get going, but then my foot slips. Well, my left foot was already strapped in. So I couldn't get my left foot out to break the slip. I ended up falling from a standing start. I'm sure it made everyone's day at the intersection. I would have been laughing at me too if I weren't so busy wondering how the hell that happened. I'm sure there will be more great stories to come!

Visit Ashley's Fundraising Page: My E-Donate page
Visit Andrea's Fundraising Page: Andrea's E-Donate Page

Beers & Bikes

So we had a little shindig in Austin this past weekend to help raise money for our MS150 ride. We had some rock star fajitas and lots of fat tire and lone star beer. Everyone got a kick out of my little photoshopped beer-biker-man. We had little cards printed of him to hand out to everyone, so that later, when they sobered-up they'd remember to donate! haha. Anyways it was a good time. I'll probably throw one here in College Station soon to accomodate the non-Austinites; lots of people got on my case for doing it in Austin and not College Station. So don't worry...Beers & Bikes: Round II will be coming soon.

Visit Ashley's Fundraising Page: My E-Donate page
Visit Andrea's Fundraising Page: Andrea's E-Donate Page

Lesson number one: always bring an extra tube!

First of all...thanks are in order for our dear friend Alejandro! He saved the day on Tuesday when I got a flat tire about 5 miles out from the apartment. Andrea came into town to do a 30 miler on Tuesday. So we left about 8AM and rode through town then got out to Highway 47. Highway 47 is about 6 miles long and connects University to Highway 21. So once we got to 21 we turned back. The wind on the way back in was horrible. It was a real struggle, but good practice. Once we got back into town we started riding through the agriculture area of campus and that's when it happened. Pesssssssss. I look down. Yup I'm losing air fast. So we pull over on F&B Road and take a look. We have everything to fix a flat except a fresh tube (lesson learned!). So, we pumped it up as much as we could then rode for another mile maybe and got a little closer to campus. At that point I was almost on rims so we gave it up and called Alejandro. Within 5 minutes he was there with a bike rack to get us back to the apartment. So, the 30 miler ended about 5 miles early, but we still got a solid ride in! And surprisingly I'm not sore from it. I must be getting a little better at this cycling stuff.

Visit Ashley's Fundraising Page: My E-Donate page

Visit Andrea's Fundraising Page: Andrea's E-Donate Page

Let the Long Rides Begin!

So last week I went to Austin to ride with Andrea and some other people on our MS150 team. We rode a hilly 20 miles. The route started just past the West Lake area and went through Bee Caves. It was beautiful, but very very cold. When we started it was 35 degrees. The ride was wonderful, but I noticed a slight pain behind my knee during the ride.

After the ride I looked up in my cyclists manual what that injury might be result of; it said if your feet are "floating" in the pedals (pushing down on half the rotation and pulling up on the other half) then that could cause a pain in the back of the knee. That was the last thing I needed to hear in order to purchase some new pedals. Currently I have pedals that you do not clip into, mine have a strapping cage to keep your foot on and near the pedal. But, what are called clipless pedals actually connect you to the bike and make you a part of the bike mechanics, which I believe will help alleviate the knee pain. So those come in on Tuesday!

As the ride is just over 2 months away, I am not only training seriously but also beginning my fundraising effort for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Each rider in the MS150 has to raise at least $400 for the MS Society. I'd really appreciate your support!

Visit my Fundraising Page: My E-Donate page on the MS150 website.