Middle-Aged-Man

It was a beautiful Sunday for a ride and I talked Chris Twogood, one of the high school guys to go out riding. He had some obligations, but he managed to change them or drop them. We left the house around 1:30pm and rode out to H, G, 30th, and west to 110th west. Up to avenue I and out the Poppy Reserve. We met up with Pat from the High Desert Cyclist group. We also saw many lambs being moved my dogs and a Shepard, while many cars stopped to take photographs of these lambs. Many folks were out hoping for poppies but they were still being shy. The ride was 37 miles and was a great day.

I got on the bike, the first time this year and cycled West. It was cold and the wind was way up. I thought of quitting before the first mile was done. I stuck it out and rode from the house to 30th West and went North; Just to keep the wind at bay. I rode out to 60th street West and Avenue B in Rosamond and returned. It took me an hour and 50 minutes to go 22 miles. I got chased by a dog on Avenue F, so my max speed was over 24 mph. My average speed was only 11.7 mph.

This is my GPS activity: Garmin Connect – Activity Details for Untitled.

I just signed up for a metric century called the Tour De Sewer, it is a road cycling of 62 miles starting in Bell Gardens on March 6th.

I have some big plans this year. I would like to revisit Mt. Whitney (mid July) and cycle more. With the High Schoolers each year we head up to Reedley. That is 200 miles from the house. I would like to cycle up there in two days.

So, I am way too out of shape for those events. I am starting to get back in shape. I am 210 lbs today and need to be about 190 lbs in July. So let the fat and laziness go away and let’s start being active.

If anyone local wants to join me in road cycling, local hikes, or walking let me know! Yes, I am still walking. I am about to reach 10 million steps. Today I am at 9,614,669 steps.

I  managed to get out of the house and go for a ride. I left the house in the afternoon in about 80 degrees. There was no wind, but it did picked up a bit and was a good breeze.

Overall, it was about 27 miles and an average speed in the 14 mph. Here is my Garmin data.

Getting my large self out on the bike, I cycled about 22 miles. I rode from the house to 110th West. It is a normal ride for me. The wind was up, but not too hot.

Here is my garmin data.

I took a little side trip to go by Fox field to watch the fire fighting airplanes land and take off.

Dave Schroeder, Chris Twogood and myself headed the Aqueduct for a ride at around 4:00pm on Sunday. Riding at the Aqueduct is nice and a bit hard. At least we got there in the afternoon, at this time some of the heat of the day was less. On the ride, the wind is the biggest issue. The wind whips up on the hills to make the wind more intense and it can be a tail wind and switch to a strong head wind in a blink of an eye. The overall speed of this ride is not high, mostly because of the wind and having to stop at each cross-street. At those streets which connect the Aqueduct the gates are locked. You have to stop, clip-out and lift your bike over the gate.

It was fun to ride with these guys. Look forward to riding with them soon.

Here is my Garmin Data for this ride

I recieved a couple of weeks ago a new jersey and shorts. Dan Dunn from work, designed them. They are retro Northrop Grumman. Way cool. So, I was encouraged to get back on the bike. I have rode a little here and there in the last couple of weeks. About riding once a week. I will start up soon riding to and from work at least a couple of time during the work week.

This morning, I got and rode from my house to 110th west and back for a total of 21 miles with an average speed of 16 MPH. The wind was low in the beginning, but picked up. Also, I have using my GPS Garmin Forerunner 305. I usually upload the data to Motionbase. However, Garmin has been updating a new site connect.garmin.com to replace motionbase. Well, they finally moved my data to Connect. This is the first upload from my device to Connect. Check it out here.

After returning from a business trip in Orlando, Florida this last week, without a doubt I need to recommit to some level of fitness. I talked to one really nice lady, named Carol Hess, who happens to run. She has fun running marathons and has been running for a few decades. She really inspired me to get back on “track”. What inspired me was her story about over coming cancer. She is a true over comer, and I was impressed.

I want to pattern my fitness after the saying of “12 Days of Christmas Fitness”. Starting tonight December 8th. This does not line up with the actual 12 Days of Christmas, but I feel motivated and did not want to wait.

Each day, I want to commit to doing my walking (1-1/2 hours to 2 hours), followed up by at least 1/2 hour of more strenuous exercise. For example, running a minimum of two miles, swimming, cycling on the trainer (too cold to ride outside and at night). Stair climbing, such as at work, we have 16 flights of stairs in the corner of our building. When I was in better shape that would whip me good, running up those babies.

Tonight, I ran two miles on the treadmill doing it in 19:45 minutes. Because of my bad calf (today, it did not hurt), I like the consistency of the treadmill, plus it does have less impact on this old frame.

Today, my steps are over 23,700. I place my steps on my activity calendar, if you would like to it check it out.

The High Desert Cyclist had their 4th Annual Antelope Valley Fall Century. There are three rides the 26 miles, the Metric Century (62 miles), and the full Century (100 miles). Last year I wanted to ride in the century, but the weather was so bad that I rode the metric. I was told only four riders completed the century.
This year I rode the century!
I left Gil’s Bike Shop at 7:07am and rode by myself. This year the riders were few, I guess from the high winds we been having. I got three miles from the first stop and the wind did pick up. I pulled into the stop (110th W and Ave G), refilled my water and eat. On the road north to Ave A, down to 100th street, and out to Rosemond Blvd. With the wind behind me for one mile, before turning left on Tehachapi Willow Springs Road. It was nice to petal up to Backus Road where the second rest stop was. I eat and refilled my water. A few other riders that I knew were there (they had passed me). Dan Dunn (did the artwork for the ride), Tim (I cannot remember his last name), and Richard White, who I remember from Central Christian Church. I arrived last and left first. Riding up Tehachapi Willow Springs Road for 8.3 miles to Cameron Road. This is where the wind was very strong and very much up hill and it got cold (4,000+ elevation).  On Cameron it was half uphill, but the back side was all downhill for 2.5 miles, riding over to the 58 Freeway, which I rode for 1.7 miles in very strong winds. Getting off at Sand Canyon and riding head on in wind on Tehachapi Road for seven miles. Arriving at Central Park for lunch. More food and sitting in the sun, I was cold, I had layers but I was still cold. Left the park, did a few miles before getting back on the Tehachapi Willow Springs road, again a lot of up hills, but the wind was behind. At this point in the ride (65 mile) I was feeling tired. I got to the top and some nice downhills, so nice in fact that I reached 50 MPH, the (fastest I have ever been on a bike), and it was a bit scary. It was mostly downhill to the rest stop at Backus, I stopped to refill my water and continue to retrace my path back. I got to the 110th Avenue and G and again refilled my water, some food and off. The ride from there to 30th Street West was the best. A very strong wind behind me, it was no effort to ride at 30 MPH, (wishing the whole ride was like this). This is where my larger GPS unit battery died. It warned me at mile 20, the batteries were dying, but died at 98 miles. The smaller GPS unit during the ride, ran out of space, prompt me to remove older laps (thinking older rides, runs, etc). Well, both units did not give me ride data. What disappointment.
I finished the ride, at this point at 3:30 pm, I think it comes in total of a 105 miles. I was the 5 rider to finish the century of a guess of 12-15 riders. This ride help me accomplish one of my goals of resolutions for 2008.

I was tired, but not wiped. I changed and put my bike away and went to the have pizza and a beer. Home to shower and small nap, (did I mention that I am almost 50, nap required).

Antelope Valley Fall Century

Bib Number for AV Century