Exercise in Contrasts

So I think today was the first day the slow realization of moving my cycling indoors has started to sink in. And it was a very strange time for this realization, because while it was only 50 degrees in West Michigan with wind gusts up to 45 mph, the JDRF West Michigan cycling team was out in Death Valley doing the 105 mile Ride to Cure Diabetes, with temperatures somewhere around 108 degrees today; a ride that I did exactly one year ago.

JDRF riders this year in Death Valley


Cycling on the White Pine Trail last week

It's hard to remember a time when I wasn't an avid cyclist. But in fact, it was February of 2010 when I injured myself running and had to switch to another way of getting a workout. I remember the pain (of what I am convinced was a hairline fracture) very well. It was as if someone were cutting a hot wire across my ankle bone; nothing like shin splints that I've had before. I thought "I'll probably never run again."

Luckily I was able to get access to a recumbent stationary bike to keep my 3/4 days a week workouts going. I even felt like I was getting pretty good at it, and trumpeted my puny little advances on Facebook. This led to a discussion with someone active in JDRF locally (our daughter has Juvenile Diabetes) who talked me into going to an informational meeting about the JDRF Rides to Cure Diabetes, century rides in multiple areas around the United States. I did one in Death Valley 7 months later and a new passion was born.

Jump forward to mid October 2011 for a minute

My typical ride this Fall has been about 20 miles, which takes me a little over an hour to complete. I'd occasionally throw in a 30 mile ride if I had the time on the weekends. I've gotten my cruising speed on flat terrain up to 18 - 22 mph. It used to madden me to be trucking along as fast as I could go (about 16 mph) and have guys passing me as if I were standing still. But my conditioning has improved tremendously this year.

My new Short's Brewing Co. Jersey I got this Summer

I even did a route last week that I haven't done in a long time, and distinctly noticed that uphill stretches that really caused me a lot of pain in the past now just passed without much fanfare, and me barely out of breath. But after doing a grueling 45 mile ride this Summer in Antrim County that included climbing passes through Schuss and Shanty Creek Mountains, all those hills in Ada now seem pretty weak.

Moving Indoors

For some reason this year's transition to riding indoors is a lot harder for me. I've only been riding outdoors since about early April, but in those 7 months I've ridden almost 2000 miles, ON THE ROAD. I've seen much of Northeast Kent County. I've been to Lowell, Rockford, Cedar Springs, and Sand Lake. I've pedaled through Holland, Fennville, South Haven, Douglas, and Saugatuck. I've rolled through Torch River, Kewadin, the town of Torch Lake, Eastport, Central Lake, Bellaire, Alden and Clam River. I rode the 45 miles around Torch Lake, a ride I never thought in a million years would be possible, twice this Summer. I rode my first Grand Cycling Classic in downtown Grand Rapids and felt the first real, albeit small taste of bike racing on an urban track. I even had a train of riders hook on behind me in my last lap.

My odometer reading after my first Holland 100 this year, 102.9 miles, 97 degrees

I bought "leg warmers" to keep my legs warm for riding in cooler weather, which are really just spandex thigh to ankle tights that make you look like Batman. The guy at the bike store told me that when the temps drop to 60 or below, you really need to keep your knees warm when biking. So I bought em.

But alas, with darkness coming earlier in the evening (when I usually ride) and the weather becoming more unpredictable, it's just about that time. I know there will be some people who bicycle commute who will say I'm a wimp, but whatevs.


That's my setup: a Cyclops bike stand, a fan and a TV with built in DVD player. Although that bike is actually a loaner I had for a short period of time. Mine is a Trek 1.5, similar style but not nearly as much carbon as that sweet Cervelo in the picture. In order to make riding indoors more palatable, I used a $100 gift card I had for Amazon.com and ordered the eRock Rocks virtual century ride set of DVD's.




What's the point of all this rambling? Who knows. But I wanted to share that I went from basically a non-cyclist to a 3000 mile a year rider in less than 2 years. And my waistline went from a 38 to a 34 in the same time period. I didn't play sports in high school and I've never thought of myself as "athletic." I also read recently that if you enjoy writing, then you should just write more, as much as possible, just like working out. Exercise your writing muscles.

With two century rides and a "classic" race under my belt, I'm trying to decide what's on the horizon for next year. If I can just get through this painful couple of months of riding in the basement. Maybe we'll get another warmup in the next few weeks...