Jim's Bicycle Life

Ah, Life!!

2015-10-24T10:16:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to write something for the past few weeks and just haven't had the energy or the time. I have taken up teaching and my bike riding has ultimately fallen by the wayside. Mind you, I went out and had two of my fastest training runs to date, but the amount of time I have to spend on my bike has fallen to only the type to let me stay with previous times in the short. And, not any faster in the long haul. The good news is that if I continue to stay in shape, it won't take long to get back into peak shape. So, the goal is to ride on the weekends and maybe once or twice on the weekdays if my job gets out early or if I have a three day weekend. But, I won't try to change plans to incorporate my riding into my life is something important comes up.
SO, it looks as if my bike riding has taken a back seat to LIFE! Instead of Jim's Bicycle Life it is Jim's life. I'm happy with that.

Tour de Tow

2015-09-21T08:08:00.002-04:00

Good ride with a lot of local talent. I should have a write up soon...


Kent and I Pounding It Out

M5 Carbon Seat For Sale...Sold

2015-08-31T11:24:00.000-04:00

I am selling my large M5 Carbon Seat that came with my red M5 CHR. It is drilled for posts (front and back position), drain hole, and water bottles (behind shoulders) and a neck rest. I used this seat for a couple months before moving to the Railgun seat. This seat is in very good condition!!! Pictures below. Asking $230.00 Shipping on you.

X-Florida

2015-08-04T18:58:00.001-04:00

It has been a while again, but recent not so friendly comments have given me an excuse to write again. Back in April, Kent, Doug, and I along with a couple of my good friends from Lakeland on what they would call normal bikes did the X-Florida ride. This is about 170 miles of fast paced (race) miles. It was hot and miserable. I bonked pretty hard as I overheated at about 110 miles in and had to recoup at the rest stop while Kent motored on, but I made it up and we both finished pretty close to one another and I was glad for the great company of the day. My friends from Lakeland came in about a half an hour behind me. They busted it this year!! Great Job!!

I have two pictures and a couple videos as people have been asking. Get out and ride :-)

Me and the Crew Chief

All's Well

2015-03-06T21:14:00.001-05:00

It's been a while. I'm fine. I'm still cycling and having a great time with my son. For the most part, I'm healing well from a recent knee injury so I had to hold off for a record Sebring run for another year...haha!!
My son is doing fantastic! He is 13 and has become quite the violin player. He still manages to give his dad big bear hugs from time to time and ride his bike with me. What more could a dad ask for?!

At Work!! David's World Cycle

With the recent wane in cold weather, I've been cycling outside!! YAY!! I was even able to cycle to work yesterday and will again in the morning very slowly as I have put on so many miles in the last week back to back. The M5 is still treating me like a king. This is a wonderful bike and takes anything I can throw at it. Fast!! It is even fun to just ride along. On Sunday, I join some of the other riders for a slower ride and it just glides over everything.
And then, there is the seat!! Kent is the man is all I can say!! It is comfortable and I can produce power without having to be upright. The little box is amazing as I can reach right into it on the go for a snack or whatever. Great job, Kent!! He is riding a brevet right now without me and I am jealous!! Here is a link to his seat page if any wish to contact him about his seat.
Anyway, I'm still here and just doing my thing. Riding, gardening, parenting....working...LOL!!! Enjoy the evening!

The fall

2014-11-26T09:42:00.002-05:00

I am loving my bike!!! I noticed some of the leaves are sticking to the bike and well, it needs to be cleaned anyway as it's been so rainy. Awesome machine!!

New Seat!!!

2014-09-10T21:58:00.002-04:00

Random Pics

2014-09-06T07:58:00.002-04:00

I've found myself getting back into one of my forever loves as of late. Photography has always been fun to me. And, while I am not the best at it, it passes the time constructively and doesn't require any money. Here are a few random shots from recently.

I need to start taking my camera on the bike with me :-)

Ooooo LaLah!!

2014-07-31T19:27:00.003-04:00

Got to say my bike is pretty cool!!!

Starting to see improvements!

2014-07-28T19:30:00.000-04:00

I have been riding quite a bit as of late and have started to put power back into the pedals for the last three or so weeks. I can't say that I have been improving radically, but I have been improving my speed and endurance. I am looking forward to having a new seat and some relief from pushing on my back. I am also enjoying some down time from overwork so healing is going much faster as well! I don't have any pictures as of late, but should bring some to the next post.
Cheers!!!

Pics!!!

2014-04-19T12:09:00.001-04:00

I don't have a bunch of time, but figured I would post some final pics of my bike. It is beautiful!! This morning was my first group ride back in the saddle. And, while it was slow, I couldn't stop smiling!! I snapped a cool pic after the ride at the Starbucks for fun. Enjoy.

Down Time

2014-03-17T19:14:00.001-04:00

This has been an excrutiating wait for me. Working to heal and waiting on a good time for my body to say, "Let's go"! No biking and a cut in work schedule to either pain or dr. appts has me rather grouchy and just not in a mood to socialize (Not that I do the latter much anyway). I have spent a lot of time reading and hanging out with my wonderful son.
I have been reading a good book by Neal Stephenson called "Anathem" and another by Neil Gaiman called "American Gods". While Neil is much easier to read, I find Neal more rewarding. I read Neal during the day..haha.
I am hoping that I can build up to some walking time enough to take Jared to Busch Gardens this weekend. It has been so bad for me to not be able to take him as for a while I couldn't walk much, but hoping this weekend we'll get to go. He'll love it!!
I know this has been a rather brief update, but I am tired of Facebook and this is a good way for people, if interested, to see what I have been up to.
Oh yeah!....The garden is planted and I have a good start on the trimming of the roses for the year. I also have a Hefeweisen in the fermentor. Hopefully this will be a good year!!!!

Sebring Disappointment....

2014-02-18T19:55:00.001-05:00

Me before the accident...

This was going to be my first shot at a RAAM qualifier. Sebring 12/24hr race came and I was ready. My legs were overdone physically from an emergency stop a couple of weeks before the race, but I knew that if I were to keep my power level low, that I could make 400 easily if I had it mentally.
Friday afternoon I showed up, pitched the tent and headed out for a nice pre-ride with Kent Polk, Allan Duhm and a few other new friends. It was fun to chat it up again. After the ride, I headed back to the tent and prepped for dinner. It was cool to sit
across the table from so many great riders: John and Jacquie Schlitter, Jim Kern, and Tim Woudenburg. We had a good time and after that I headed into town to get some much needed supplies.
Off to bed I went...at 12:30 some people showed up and pitched a tent in a not so quiet way and this kept me up for an hour before I went back to sleep. No problem as sleep is what I was going to lack the next night so why not this night...
At 4 in the morning I awoke to the alarm and I started my morning ritual and was ready to check in. I rolled up to the starting line and as the horn went off, I was off. I tried not to go oout too fast and it is hard when the testosterone is pumping and people are pulling away. Doing my best, I stayed back and got my 3 laps in and was escorted out of the track by John Schlitter who assured me I didn't do too many laps.
Out on the road, I did well. I would roll up hills and keep power at a minimum. Maria Parker caught me as she was doing the 100 and we chatted for a bit before she walked away from me. I was amazed at how strong she was. Jim Kern came next in the velo. He came slow and I watched him looking like a space ship pulling beside me. He opened his visor and we talked and laughed before he pulled away. I passed him up the hill to the lake and then he bombed past me like I was standing still. I made it up to the turn around and passed my chip in the box. The ride back was less forgiving. The crosswinds were brutal and I was wishing for a lower profile front wheel than the Firecrest 404. I was still managing a 22.7 average when a car from the left at a stop sign decided to pull out and broadside me from my left. I got hit by an SUV!!!! I watched in slow motion as my bike and the SUV exploded in pieces around me. I flew a ways almost to the stop sign on the right side of the road.
The rest was a blur. The woman called 911 and the police and I lay on the grass not wanting to get up. I hurt all over. The ambulance came and helped me up and checked me over noting nothing was broken noticeably and that I wouldn't need stitches in the gash on my left leg. My M5 was in pieces; broken fork, wheels, frame cracked, seat damaged, and pieces of components like my headlight and speedo were disconnected from the bike. My helmet was off my head and so was my headset and glasses.
John and my crew, Jeff Clark, came and got my bike and gave me a lift to the track where I changed and crewed for a bit before loading up and going home. On the way home, I checked myself into Bartow Regional Medical Center for a full set of scans and x-rays. The doctors couldn't find anything other than massive bruising and contusions, cuts and scrapes, some rod rash, but they did find a bulged disc. I will have to see an orthopedic surgeon for follow up and hopefully I can get back to normal soon.
For the sake of me and others just wanting to get over that day, I will not post any pics. I don't want to remember it. I just want to get back on my bike and ride.
I want to thank Jeff Clark, my crew chief from LeRoy's Bikeworks, for coming to get me and for buying me a beer to help cool me down and to John Schlitter for coming as well and calling my parents and letting them know I was OK. Vite and LeRoy's members are the best and if you are ever in the Bradenton or Lakeland area give the shop a call and come and shop!

M5 CHR Review

2014-01-08T08:54:00.002-05:00

I was wrong...
It was not too long ago that I was arguing with Kent over the phone with what I thought was a lack of ability with the utilitarian argument. My Corsa and his CA 2 were what I believed a great utilitarian bike. They served up everything I needed. You could go fast and then hook them up with whatever luggage you needed and take off. And, I just wasn't sure about his and others move to a different s-frame platform. Don't get me
wrong, I thought the M5 was amazing and the Zockra was a piece of art on wheels.
What I didn't understand at the time was this...everything.

I rode the M5 very briefly before Sebring of last year. It was just weird getting into the thing. It was so low and I was not set up properly and had my tennis shoes on while pedaling speedplays...yes it was odd. My feet would hit the tire and my steering was bit all over the place as I was so used to the tweener bars of my Corsa. The chain was dropped and right hand turns were a bit weird...the speed was amazing, though.

After many questions to John and Kent and listening to updates from Kent, I just did it...I upgraded. The M5 is fast as I have said before. I have beaten all of my times and I am not nearly as in shape as I was this time last year...not nearly...not even close. I have worked through most of the questions that I asked and will list them here with my answer.

The biggest question will always come to this...the chain. There is a limit to wheel turn in relation to the chain. The tire will hit the chain in a turn...more in a right turn than a left. This has not been an issue at all. I only rub when in 180 degree turns on two lane roads and 90 degree right hand turns on sidewalks. I have only run into this twice and had my chain on the small ring and didn't have a problem. I heard rubbing for 2 seconds. The cool thing is you can run the chain through a tube and not have issues at all. The second question will come to length of xseam.

I don't have any issues and know Jacquie and another Vite rider who is the same height as her and they don't have a problem. M5 has come up with a solution on the website where you can run the seat closer to the frame and this seems to be a good deal. Of course you can always run a 650 on the front and have even more room.

Tiller...for many coming from a stick bike, the tweener bars are a great advantage to them. I loved my tweeners. After a month on the tiller, I would not go back. I love having my stuff close to me. The view is better. I run a 13 or so seat angle and I see better than when I had a 22 angle on my Corsa. The other is stability. I can ride no hands. What? No hands? While I am scared to do it for long periods of time, I can do it. It is very stable. The center bias of the weight distribution makes this bike very stable. Cruising down hills at 40+ is not scary at all. The Corsa starts to get quite scary at high speeds. Even sprinting at 40+ was scary at times with it being so light on the front end especially with a cross wind blowing.

I have wanted to do a long 1200k or 600k Brevet and the Corsa has a 230 lb weight limit. This is a setback. The CA is 250. For a big guy, this is limiting. I was a 230 for a bit and can say this is a limit. The M5 doesn't have this limit. Load it for bear :-) I have read on this forum that in real world conditions the M5 would not be as good as a CA2. I don't believe this at all. In fact, the author was called out on this and couldn't respond. Go to the M5 website and check out what people do with these things. It's pretty amazing.

So, yes, I was wrong! I am sure that in any conditions, the M5 would prevail and there is no doubt a reason some of the fastest of my team members are moving to them. Europeans have known this for some time. I guess we are just slow learners... :-)

A Drink or Ten...Gallons

2013-11-15T11:57:00.001-05:00

It's been so nice to be able to ride my bike the last few weeks. Speed is up and fitness is up. I am still about ten pounds over race weight, but when you aren't riding 60 miles a day, your normal weight comes back. No biggie. I still fit into my 34s and feel pretty good minus the back (usual). An easy change at my second job has allowed me to ride my bike to work a few days a week. I take the long way to add in some elevation and more miles, of course.
While doing this, I was pondering about how if my bees had lived that I would have loved to have made some mead as it would be cheaper than buying the 20 dollar bottle at the store...yikes! I mentioned this in passing to my friend Kim and he said he had some brewing materials in the shed that I could use if I ever wanted to make some.
What?! Heck yes!! So, off to the races...like everything I do, I guess. I proceeded to clean up two 6 gallon fermentors and some other equipment. The only thing I would need would be a hydrometer and another stopper. While ordering those, I noticed a great deal on a pumpkin ale so I figured what the heck...I would start the mead in one and the beer in the other. One would be ready by Thanksgiving and the other by Christmas or New Years.
The mead was easy and took about 20 minutes to ready. The 17 pounds of honey came from a coworker who has an apiary and the other ingredients I had in the cupboard. I heated up the honey and added the ingredients and then pitched the yeast and swirled a few times...off it went to bubbling. I stuck it in the back room so it would be out of the way for a couple months or until ready to bottle.
The mail came in the following week and I mixed it up with my son who also had a little chemistry project to do for school at the same time. We helped each other and learned how to mix and create! The ale was a little more complex requiring some timing on the boil and trying not to overheat and boil-over was a constant battle requiring watching the pot boil for over an hour.
But, all went well and they are both fermenting and looking good! I have tried the ale as a test and it is coming along nicely, although I don't think it will be ready for Thanksgiving unless it backs down a little on the sour notes. I have some faith that it will turn out great!
Here are some pics of the fun. Enjoy!

The Mead


Jared getting his project done :-)

And, of course, some of my fall roses going strong :-)

0 - 100

2013-09-11T19:09:00.002-04:00

Wow! It's been awhile. I have been working two jobs so no rest. Basically, I go to work around 5am and get home around 6:30. Two jobs is enough to make anybody go crazy, but I seem to be handling it ok. The one thing I miss is riding my bike a bunch. Well, not really. I still ride..just not enough to keep me up with the big boys, but I run more and am still quite strong and fit. Hopefully I can keep the schedule up until Christmas or after. It's nice to pay bills and take Jared out. So,for now, My goal is to stay fit and work. Rest when I'm dead.
Jared is enjoying his new school and is involved with the TV crew and is in the orchestra. His school has P. E. Every day and I love it. Noki is blind in one eye now from playing with one of his friends, but he still goes full speed ahead all the time and it's not slowing him down. We should all be like that :-)
Later, friends!

The Team Vite Site Is Up!!!

2013-07-18T19:59:00.002-04:00

Woohoo!! Recumbent racers unite!!! It has been a long time coming, but the wait was worth it. Yes, there are a few learning curves and it will take a little getting used to, but it is awesome. The site consists of many cool features including articles by riders and forums for those recumbent racers/riders or soon to be recumbent racers/riders interested in partaking...
Come and give it a look! LINK

Just no urge...

2013-07-16T11:37:00.004-04:00

I had a great ride this weekend , but not felt any urge to ride the last couple of days. So, I'm not going to. it's been hot! So, what do I do?...ride in it. This is the best way to train, in my opinion. Races don't stop because of the weather. It may be hot, cold, raining, and snowing and you just have to be ready. All of my rrides have been going well this summer. While not all have been fast or fun, most have been progressive and I've learned even more about myself. One of the things I don't quite understand is my lack of ability in a time trial. Why can I push myself at 28mph for miles and miles, but in a time trial, choke on my own cookies?
I don't know. I'll just keep on trucking. I have no real need to be the fastest person on the planet and nobody but myself to please when it comes to a wonderful hobby. Today, I will have fun with my son and maybe run. Tomorrow...ride

Nice Week

2013-06-22T19:05:00.001-04:00

I had a good week this week! One of the best things was riding with my son who put in 50 miles on his bike. He loves it and continues to improve. I then put in about 250 of my own miles and am feeling as strong as ever. My speed is better and I don't seem to mind the extreme heat and humidity of the day. I like to ride in the heat and ride in the rain unless it is torrential. On Thursday, Jared and I rode 10 miles and then I rode another fifty. In the evening, it was raining and the riders seemed to love it. Why not just keep riding...it is generally cooler and most of the time I am sweaty anyway.
The only downside is the amount of grass that keeps expanding over the property. When I mowed this week, I had to go really slow as not to bog the mower as it was just so tall from all the rain. The vegetable garden is doing well, although the heat is starting to get to the peas. The tomatoes are excellent and the greens are awesome and won't stop growing.
My neighbor gave me some organic corn seed that I can't wait to plant. Wouldn't it be cool to have a huge acre garden and share with the neighbors? :-)

A Wonderful Day

2013-06-05T18:54:00.001-04:00

Jared and I were invited to spend the day on the water with our friends Matt and Lisa. We had a great time playing with dogs, swimming in the pool, chatting it up, and some fun time in the power boat going out to the beach! They even loaned out to Jared a BikeE to ride. He loves it!!!!! Here are some good pictures. Enjoy!

Sophie and Honey Bun

Pepper

Note the Team Vite sign in the background :-)

Space: The Final Frontier...

2013-06-02T07:25:00.002-04:00

I have stumbled upon a real treat. A continuation of a five year mission in "Star Trek Continues". I have watched most of the first episode and am impressed with how it is like the original in filming. I can't say the actors are exactly like the original, but they work. The lighting and the hoaky sets are perfect. I'm ready for more! Check it out here Star Trek fans: http://www.startrekcontinues.com/

Planting Fun

2013-05-12T21:04:00.003-04:00

I have been busy the last month with work and cycling and parenting and with gardening. The uptick in work has been good! I hope it is not the calm before the storm. Jared has been awesome as usual. I was able to go to his Concert last week and
he did great! He went to his new school to check it out and told me all about the band and some other very cool stuff they do there. I am excited for him!

He has also been reading up a storm and we are starting to make headway together again on the book we are reading together. Most of you who follow my blog and started with us may be ahead at the moment, but we are picking up the pace as it gets to be a faster, more exciting read. Now for the garden...

It has been a long time coming to get a good crop out of my garden. This year, my mom sent out a book and I think we were able to get the soil just right to jump start the madness. The greens are huge and I have given some out already. The squash is taking its time, but is growing very large. The green beans are growing all the way up a large tomato planter and will start to break out soon. And the tomatoes and green peppers are doing very well. For my birthday last year, mom bought me a cover and it has helped keep the big pests away like bunnies and my dog who likes greens...

But, it hasn't kept out some of the smaller pests like the little worms on the back of the greens. I just kill them, though, and move on. It's nice to sit down to a meal with the fruits er vegetables of your labor.

And, the roses and other plants around the house are doing well too. I hope it continues to be a great growing season and the rain can help keep the temps down during the middle of the summer.


And to end with another shot of the wonderful, crazy Noki!!:-)

A little cross Florida fun:-)

2013-04-13T21:48:00.003-04:00

Last Sunday was the cross Florida ride. Knowing that my legs were recuperating and as I was still not quite able to handle the long trek, I asked Kent Polk if I could tag along somewhere along the halfway point and help with any issues he may have and help pace if possible. He said, "Yeah"! The only concern being that I didn't want to get in the way of any racers that may be trying to break records. I new that ckaudio from bentrider would be there in his Quest velomobile and that he would be pushing the pace if anyone wanted to go. So it was decided.

I parked and rode out about 25 miles to cr54 and proceeded to get lost on the way not knowing how to read the directions and not being able to get my gps to find my location. I finally called Kent's wife, Judy and spoke with her. She was lost as well and didn't know where Kent was. I took a stab at it and just pulled up to where I needed to be by luck as just then a white velo and Kent appeared over the hill. It was going to be a fun ride...no other racers close by and the quest wasn't going to mind if I helped Kent a little. I pulled out and joined Kent at the front and chatted for a bit before ck rang his bell and passed.

Kent with ckaudio in white Quest just ahead

He cruised down the road at a healthy pace and I would be lying if I said it wasn't impressive seeing the Quest in full race spec with hood glide down the road like spaceship. You couldn't even tell if it had wheels or not...Very cool!
Right about this time Judy called and I told her where we were and where to start heading. Now it was time to get some work done. I took some pictures and went to pulling. If you could call it that...you have to know Kent to understand that he doesn't really like to draft and will sit back just far enough to get a little but not in the drafting sense of the word. Maybe a 10 or so watt savings. Off we went after the spaceship. I pulled up to almost 30 for a bit trying to gauge his speed and then settled at 28. I would pull for a long while and then have Kent take a turn at the front for a bit so I could recover and then pull for some more. It was fun. We were even able to draft off of ck for a while before he pulled over and let us pass. I spoke a little to him, but it was hard to hear through the wind...He did play his cool stereo tunes for me. Here is a cool video of Kent and I from ck's video camera!!
It didn't take too long at this speed to reach my ending, but already I was regretting not doing the whole thing. I felt really good and strong. There was a bit of an issue, but nothing I couldn't pace out of. Probably not team friendly in a pack for long as I would have to be thinking of myself too much, but still could probably do it. I am grateful to Kent for allowing me the honor. It was really cool to have the 12hr and 24hr Sebring champs kicking butt together and I can't wait to do it again! Kent went on to win out and has written a summary with my video link included in the story.

Some Reflection...

2013-03-30T17:08:00.000-04:00

With the beginnings of my legs coming back from the near dead of overuse, I have been reflecting on the past year. Almost one year ago was the worst time of my life. I had injured myself in a work related accident a year before and was told that since the surgery required was very dangerous and that so far nothing was impinging on my nerves; that nothing would be done other than trying to make me feel better with drugs. I would now be partially disabled. Some people would look at me weird because I couldn't move my neck and some would just feel sorry for me. And, coming from being a very physically active person with a very active family, this caused severe emotional stress and I proceeded to gain a lot of weight. This weight gain caused even more stress. And, then I lost the most important person in my life other than my son...my best friend. I can't blame her.
I wanted out. I saw no future for me. My son, family, and friends kept close. They believed in me more than I believed in myself. They were there
when I needed them and tried to make me laugh through the tears. I had a hard time trying to vent and cycling was there to help. I focused my effort into a mighty goal. Sebring 12hr. I had always wanted to ride in this event and I knew that I had some talent. Fortunately, the bike that I was riding was a perfect match already, but lacked the goal oriented person to ride it.
With nothing but time, I focused and rode hard! Everyday! I would sleep 3 to 4 hours a night, go to work, and then ride. I rode hard and then started running hard as my legs got stronger. Some weeks were seeing 350 miles on the bike and 25 miles in the shoes. I would show up to the hard rides; the ones that I would get dropped on and get dropped some more. It was so difficult. I signed up for a time trial series. I would not finish first or even the top 3. How would I finish a 12hr race at the top if the average ride I trained at wasn't at the same pace required? I didn't quit! I was starting to believe in myself. I would tell people I was going to win Sebring. I think they thought I was crazy! I trucked on and won new supportive friends. I started to get faster. This translated to pushing me into other events and I started winning. I gained the use of my neck with new muscle growth. Sebring was still lingering. As time passed, my riding started to pay off. Average speeds were up and with the ever present pain in my neck, I was winning.
Sebring came and I did my best. I won! I learned so much about myself through all this time. I learned that no matter what happens in my life, there are others that are dealing with the same things as me or worse. I learned to believe in myself and believe in others and salute their accomplishments for we are all different. I learned that the worst things you can say to me are "I feel sorry for you". Leave those people behind that ever look at you funny or feel sorry for you. These people will hold you back! If they are in your way, go somewhere else or go around. Find a way to succeed! Your legs may not work one day, but with continued work, they will if you don't give up. If you look for a way, eventually you will find it. Maybe not today, but someday.
The most important thing I have learned is acceptance. I am normal. I am different. There will, FOR SURE, be times of pain and defeat and there WILL be times of greatness. Accept both and be all the better for the both and maintain goals.
My goals right now are not fixed. I am in recovery mode and I want to enjoy the time that I have on my bike right now...truly enjoy it. It is nice to be ranked number one in something(there is still many faster), but not the most important thing in my life. I want to be the best dad I can be even if that means sacrificing rides to do it as a good dad is there for his son. Living a great life is what I want to do and am doing!

A rebuttal...

2013-03-10T10:41:00.000-04:00

I read a blog post this morning. It was an interesting read on the justification of riding ultras and riding in general. I kind of read it in disbelief, though. Why would one put themselves through all of the training, and the so called emotional detachment of not living a "balanced life" for the sake of just not being gruff? There are so many wonderful things to do in this world. Why waste it on something you don't enjoy? Why do you do what you do? Surely there has to be a reason aside from just having a goal to complete or because your family is "dysfunctional"...?
In my efforts to be a reasonably descent cyclist, all of the so called negative aspects of training, were all negated by the lack of negativity. Truly enjoying what one does for a hobby is wonderful! If you have more than one, that is cool too! Yes, there are boring days, but life is boring sometimes. People usually have one question when they learn of my riding and that is how do you manage to put in the miles? The answer is not as complex as they think it is. It doesn't require me to be gone everyday for three hours at a time. Averaging above 250 miles a week is actually not a huge task. I found I was doing it with only a minimum of time taken out of my life. More often than not, it is making choices like riding to the rides to add miles. Most of the rides would take that long to drive to anyway. I know some people who work out at the gym more than I ride my bike hour wise. I even manage to find rides where I just smell the roses and check out the scenery. Watching the sunrise on Saturday mornings is amazing. Most people nowadays sleep in from staying out on the Friday before. This also gives me the chance to be get back to being a good dad to my ever so wonderful son.
In the blog post, Ultra cyclists are placed into categories:

Top Ranked: most of these people are rich...and only do it because they want to stay busy...
My thoughts are that I haven't met anybody yet...yes it would take a crud load of money to travel all over to different places to race. Many of these people are fundraising and sponsored and manage money very well. Most of the people I have met are older and retired. Some do have good jobs...rich? I'm sure there are rich lazy people around as well...
Really Good: These people try to live the ever impossible balanced life that will never exist because they live in denial....
My response is whatever...it must all be negative...a balanced life is great. I think that if one has a balanced life, he/she is not living in denial.
The Gifted with Talent: These people are forty and play video games on their moms couch. They only don't read this person's blog because he/she is lazy...
Talent doesn't make a rider only. I think the blogger knows this deep down. Talent must be shaped and worked or there is no reward, period. The whole statement is fallacy...

Why does it seem prevalent for one person to place anyone into categories? What about those really good cyclists who just work hard (friends, family, work) (not crazy for doing so) for everything they have and love to ride a bicycle for fun and fitness? This person likes to make goals so he/she can continue to improve. They have a wonderful family and nobody in the family is suffering. Yes, there are struggles in life; especially in this economy of ever increasing have and have nots, but there is hope in life. I do commend the blogger's riding. He has been around for a long time and one has to respect that, but at what cost to him does he do it?
I have been off the bike for about 6 days with only some light spinning to recover from some fantastic riding. This is not turning me into a gruff. I have other things that I love to do. My bike is probably loving the time alone to meditate on how it is nice to not have to carry around all of the weight.
My suggestion to anyone who wants to ride a bicycle. Do it because you love it. Do it because you want to improve the environment. Or, do it because it is a great way to get in shape and meet like minded friends who love to ride. Don't do it because you hate it. I do understand that everyone is different, but to hate something is too much energy. A good suggestion may be to add something you do love to it. Like, if you like to teach, maybe teach kids at the YMCA proper cycling rules and how to ride. I love just showing up to rides and talking to people and then enjoying some fun afterwards chatting about the ride and how life is. This is fun! Have fun! Be merry! Enjoy life! And, then write about it:-)


Live, Love, and Have Fun!!