Annual Omro Cycling Classic

Well, just finished my first race. I wasn't going to do any races, but thought it would be a good learning experience being a 45 mile race of mixed skill level. To my benefit it was shortened to 35 miles due to construction. I was still feeling the 52 miles I biked on Friday. So my goal was to finish and not to come in last! I made both, although I was hoping for better than 93rd out of 101! I started out a little fast and pooped myself out on the first hill a few miles in. Took me a while to recover from that and then went at my own pace and still felt like I finished strong. I ended up improving my average mph to 17.9 mph and learned a lot. On top of that, it was a beautiful day and a beautiful route, so it was a great ride! Helped get my weekend total mileage up over 85 miles too!! Another new personal record. In all actuality I have had less than 1/2 dozen 20+ mile rides on the road bike or any road bike for that matter so I feel pretty good, aside from exhausted. Unfortunately I have no pix as Maddox was to tired and fussy for that stuff. I guess the 9:45pm start for fireworks last night was as ridiculous as I had been ranting about. All in all it was a great ride and a great day. I hope next year if I do it again, I can ride my bike to Omro and then do the race!! To big of a goal??


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Maddox Sportin' Proper Attire

Just a pic of Maddox at the 1st annual Irish Fest in Oshkosh. This was taken after my 5k warm for the Bellin. Note Maddox rocking a cycling hat and his own kilt!!


Please click on any LiveStrong Banner on this page or on the following link to be directed to my fund raising page. Donations go directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and are tax deductible. Every dollar counts! ;D Thank you for your support.


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Back to the Original Game Plan

Ok, back to the original gameplan. I started riding the road bike again last weekend and am planning on 30+ miler a week and getting on the fixed gear at least 2 or 3 times a week. Last weekend I road to Neenah from Oshkosh and back. That was a 32.1 mile ride and nice. I realized by mile 28 that I could actually stop peddling! The fixed gear paid itself off already, as I felt strong at the end of the ride felt good about my time too! I remember the last time I just went for a 20 mile ride, I was hurting pretty bad! Saw a massive turtle on this ride too. I've never seen a turtle this big around this neck of the woods before. The thing was the size of a basketball trying to cross the hwy! I gotta remember to take some pictures of this stuff!!

Well, today I decided and surprisingly got approval to take the day off at the last minute so I decided to go for a slightly bigger ride. I went to Appleton and back from Oshkosh. This was 51.2 miles and I also scored my first sunburn in a few years!! Not too bad though. I would have had a nice time as I felt pretty good throughout this whole ride if I hadn't stopped to help some kid with a duck crisis in Appleton on Memorial drive. 3 ducklings fell in a sewer and this kid was stopping traffic trying to get the ducks to the river. So I stopped to help, we ended up getting the police involved, got the ducks out of the sewer, caught the Mom and the other ducklings and the cops took them down to the river. I guess the break wasn't so bad and I did a good deed! Finished the rest of the ride strong and with more confidence for the next rides I'm planning!!

I'm thinking about doing the Omro Cycling Classic this Sunday. It is a 42 mile race. I wasn't so much into the race thing, but think it will be good practice and fun. Most importantly I feel confident I can finish it and avoid last place!! So that is looking like a possiblity. I also mapped out a ride to work in Green Bay. Some morning I'll have to leave a few hours earlier but can now ride to work someday. Most importantly I think I have secured a shower to use near work too!! Probably a pretty good idea, I'm guessing Corporate America wouldn't want you working in spandex!!! Hopefully I'll get a little more dedicated with this thing and offer up something for everybody to follow along too!
Cheers


Please click on any LiveStrong Banner on this page or on the following link to be directed to my fund raising page. Donations go directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and are tax deductible. Every dollar counts! ;D Thank you for your support.


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7/3/09 - Fixies, Car Wrecks & the Bellin

Hmmm, where to start, there has been a lot going on and I've been slacking on this blog big time!! Well, until recently I've been slacking on the road bike due to some running. I signed up for the Bellin Run in Green Bay which is a 10k. I did the 1st annual Oshkosh Irish Fest 5k for preparation also. That was very fun but definitely cut into my biking.

I have however been riding the fixed gear religiously. At least 2 of the 3 nights a week I have class I ride from work to class and back. It is 8.6 miles there and 9.3 miles back. So it is just long enough to beat me up and just short enough for me to push it the whole time!! I have realized how much this helps on the road bike now too! As getting on that was very easy and I forgot until after 28 miles that I could actually stop peddling when I was tired! Lolz!

I did have 1 scare on the fixxie though. I was coming back from class on Military Ave in Green Bay and 1/2 a block in front of me this lady skips through the red light in an SUV and clips the tail end of some little Honda, the SUV flips over and slides all over the road right in front of me upside down. I raced up and somebody else had called 911 by the time I got my phone out of my bag. The driver was scared to move but was talking when they got her out of the truck. Fortunately the other girl was not hurt but pretty shook up. 1/2 a block up and I would have been 1 with the pavement, little surreal!!



Please click on any LiveStrong Banner on this page or on the following link to be directed to my fund raising page. Donations go directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and are tax deductible. Every dollar counts! ;D Thank you for your support.


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Uno Mas Fuji Pic

Here is one more as I realized those last pics posted were a bit small, hopefully you can see the new beast a little closer!





Please click on any LiveStrong Banner on this page or on the following link to be directed to my fund raising page. Donations go directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and are tax deductible. Every dollar counts! ;D Thank you for your support.


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First Pix of my new Fixed Gear Beauty!

Alright, I've been stuck home with a sick little boy all week but I managed to get this and start the transformation a little bit! Here's a few pix, 1st 2 are how she looked coming home from the store and the last one is after the 1st step in transformation! I'm thinking Sugino Messenger Crankset, blue of course, and possible a black and blue Fizik Arione seat as the red looks sweet on the road bike! I'll post up some more picks after a little more work is done! I'll also make some new posts after I can finally return to work and ride this thing to class after work! Fixed Gear is a whole new world, even just riding circles around my living room and kitchen!! Maddox loves that though!! Thanks as always for checking this out!!











Please click on any LiveStrong Banner on this page or on the following link to be directed to my fund raising page. Donations go directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and are tax deductible. Every dollar counts! ;D Thank you for your support.


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A Couple of Pix for You

Here you have it a couple of pix of a few of the bikes! I will add some of the new Fuji Track as soon as it comes in, hopefully this weekend! That will be the new commuter from work to school and back to the car at work again on school nights. Should make for a fun extra 20 miles a pop with a few bonus hills in between!



This is the bike that I will ride in the LiveStrong Challenge this October in Austin. Not top of the line, but my baby none the less!




This is the Shorty Toten' Cruiser!




This is Maddox's 1st 'Big Boy Bike'!! He'll tell you it's a motorcycle though!




Look how proud my boy is of his 1st Battle Scar!! 20 seconds of fussin' then he told me we should go, I asked if he wanted to ride his bike and he said Yeah! Yet another proud moment for Dads!




Please click on any LiveStrong Banner on this page or on the following link to be directed to my fund raising page. Donations go directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and are tax deductible. Every dollar counts! ;D Thank you for your support.


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