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.

New bike... Check!

Last week I purchased a new bike for my training and the ride. I opted for the Giant OCR3 and so far I have been completely satisfied (Aggieland Cycling is a great shop by the way). I considered the Specialized Allez, a comparable bike that was a bit more in price and did not recieve as strong of reviews on the internet. People seemed to rave about what the Giant offered new riders.

The Giant OCR3 is an entry level road bike and was recently voted best entry level bike for 2007 by Bicycling Magazine. This bike is very light by my standards as I used to ride a Raleigh Mojave 2.0 mountain bike that had to weight nearly 50 pounds.

So, in the past week or so I've put a fair number of miles on the bike learning its intricacies. It has combo shifters (you shift with a trigger and by rotating the front brake levers sideways) so that took a little getting used to. I'm also trying to get used to throwing my feet quickly in and out of the strapped petals. You do not clip into the these pedals like some high-end bikes, but you do have to get your feet into the straps quickly. Eventually this will be normal I'm sure, but right now I still look a little silly starting off.

Up next: Taking on Highway 47... Aggieland's premier road route.

This is the story of two runners turned cyclists

I recently registered for the MS150 with my friend Andrea. The MS150 is a two-day 150 mile cycling event from Houston to Austin. The MS150 benefits people living with Multiple Sclerosis. The ride is for a great cause and a great reason to learn cycling.

This blog will chronicle our adventures and experiences on the "rookie road" to the MS150. Although we are solid runners and athletes, we have a lot of learning and training to do over the coming months. We've quickly discovered cycling is no cake-walk.

So, we'll keep you posted on all our fun happenings through the next six months. In the meantime read more about the MS150.

Up Next: Buying the right bike!