Donald’s Daily Draft

I’ve ridden in the rain plenty of times.  Sometimes light showers, other times pouring down rain. I’ve even descended in these very mountains on soaked roads when I could barely see.  That’s not saying I enjoy it or that I’m good at it! 

So, here’s Ray’s Weather hourly Blood, Sweat & Gears forecast … a source that’s always right on.  Hopefully, I can avoid any major thunder showers before I cross the finish line. 
If not,  good thing I have the new Lance Armstrong Foundation Edition Oakley sunglasses with the Hydrophobic™ lens coating that repels water.  Thanks to my wife for that nice gift! 

I’ll post details on my experience next Tuesday.  Sorry for the wait… but if I can get back to a computer before then, I’ll post sooner.  Thanks again to everyone for the well wishes and support.  I wish you were all along for the ride.  Hey, maybe next year… who’s in?

Well, it’s almost here.  Last year, at this time, I was preparing to ride my first ever mountain century event… 
Blood, Sweat  & Gears. 

This Saturday, I’m heading back for the second time and I hope to best my time from last year.  It’s works out to be 103 miles with a lot of climbing. 

Here’s the description of the course: “The route roughly circles Boone through the outskirts of Watauga County, the heart of North Carolina’s High Country. The terrain is constantly changing with hills of all lengths and curves too numerous to count. The cumulative climbing elevation is 13,000+ feet, with the climb up to the gap at Snake Mountain, milepoint 63, reaching an 18-20% grade near the top.”

I finished last year in 6 hrs. 26 mins.  Again, that was the first time I’d ever ridden an event like that so I feel I’ve learned some things where I can improve my ride.  I’ve had some strong training rides the last 3 weekends of 70, 94 and 60 miles.  The 60 I pedaled yesterday was a solid ride averaging 19.3 mph.  I plan to take it easy this week and not push it.  Right now, the weather for Saturday looks pretty good… becoming cloudy in the mid 70’s.  Now, I focus on my rest, sleep and diet.   

Thanks to Ron at Cozy Beehive I too have to say… I’ve never taken part in a more serious discourse in my life. I have been tagged by Ron in the “chain of fortune”. The rules are here. I have to find the time to blog and now I’m actually participating in a chain… RON… PLEASE!:) So, basically I will now tick off 5 of my blogging friends. So, if I choose you… please blame Ron. Ron can then blame Fritz… or wherever this thing started. Here’s what I have to do:

I am to pick the nearest book to me, open to page 123 and type out the 6th, 7th and 8th sentences into this post. The nearest book happens to be “We Might As Well Win” by Johan Buyneel. I talked about it in my last post. The chapter is “When Failure Is Inevitable, Limit The Damage”

So here it is:

“I also wanted to defuse some of the tension that everyone had felt building around Lance and Pantani. And, riding in the car with me that day was a VIP guest, the prime minister of Belgium, my homeland. I smiled at him and said, “This will be fun now, to watch.”

Here’s the horrible part where I have to annoy another 5 people with this chain. So… I WAS going to tag Pedalman, Will, Sprocketboy, Jeff and Arlyn. But I can’t do it!  I just can’t subject them to this.  Please forgive me Ron!

Here are the fun details on the chain:

If you continue this chain you will win the lottery, piles of cash will fall from the sky straight to you, you’ll be promoted to CEO of your employer, and you’ll be able to influence everybody around you. Break the chain, though, and you’ll be arrested and charged with every heinous unsolved murder in your state, but before your trial agents from Blackwater Security will break you out of prison, frame you for the anthrax attack that terrorizes a minor city in the Middle East and loose you in the streets of Tehran where crazed mobs tear you apart limb from limb.

***IF I DO END UP IN THE STREETS OF TEHRAN WILL SOMEONE PLEASE COME GET ME BEFORE THE MOBS DO. OH, AND BRING A COUPLE OF BIKES. WE COULD BLOG ABOUT CYCLING THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST. HECK, LOOK AT THE CLIMBING OPPORTUNITY… GREAT TRAINING!

I just finished reading Johan Bruyneel’s book, “We Might As Well Win.” 
My thoughts?  I really liked it.  Actually, I thought it was great.  A quick read… and it’s full of pretty cool behind the scenes conversations.  Bruyneel takes you back to his days as a professional cyclist, how he got started and how he became an 8 time Tour de France winning Team Director.  As Phil Liggett says, “Johan Bruyneel could inspire a tortoise to sprint.”  Robin Williams says, “…you have to lack a pulse not to be inspired.”
I say… buy it and add it to your collection of cycling books.  I don’t want to go into too much detail but it felt like I was either in the team car or on the bike next to all the action while I was reading (and dreaming).  Just as you anticipated those great attacks from Lance… you can’t wait to get to the next page.  Johan Bruyneel is a smart man… and you gain from his insight not just on cycling but life as well.  Have you already read it?  What did you think?

It was great because I have two wonderful boys to celebrate…  Troupe and Mac.  Of course, I owe all the credit to my beautiful wife, Jan.  
I woke up early and was on the bike by 6:30am. 

Cloudy at first… it turned into a beautiful day as I pedaled for 94 fantastic miles. 

I was solo for the first 60 which gave me a chance to think about my wonderful family.  Then, I met up with a buddy for the last 34.  Great ride! 

I got home, cleaned up and headed out with Jan and our boys for a Father’s Day brunch and Kung Fu Panda.  I hugged my boys a lot… and smothered them with kisses. 

Of course, I do that on a regular day but it was extra special to recognize all that I have on Father’s Day!  I trust all you other cycling Dads out there had a great day as well.       

Who’s the best stage racer going into the Tour?  Alejandro Valverde is showing   great form in the Dauphine’… especially with his smashing stage 3 ITT  performance.  Levi had a strong ride as well but finished 19 seconds behind Valverde.  But thanks to the ASO… we all know Levi will be watching the Tour on TV, maybe even having a beer alongside Alberto.  Then there’s the Aussie favorite Cadel Evans.  With such strong finishes in past Tours… he’s determined to wear Yellow into Paris.  VeloNews has talked about this year’s race being a “classic course with many unnowns.”   Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme has said,  “We want to create a race that is not predictable.” 
I’m sure I’m leaving out some of your favorites or at least possible contenders. 
So, what are your thoughts on who’s got the legs to wear yellow?   

As I, and I’m sure many of you, anticipate the start of the Tour de France… I’m especially excited NOW to see I’ll have TV access to the race here in the States for years to come.  Versus is the cable network that runs the race live everyday.  The great news is that Versus has signed a contract to carry the Tour for another 5 years!  Along with the announcement, Versus has a new ad campaign called “Take Back The Tour” …  Here’s the spot:

Here’s what Versus is saying in their new advertising campaign to counter the sport’s bad image, “Screw the dopers, politics and critics, the false allegations and the fair weather fans. They ripped the soul out of this race. But the Tour doesn’t belong to them. We’re the ones grinding every mile, pushing past the limits of pain and exhaustion. The most gruelling competition in the world – it belongs to us. We’re masochists. We’re believers. And it’s our time. Take back the Tour.”

So… I’m curious… what’s your take?  Especially… those of you who live outside of the US, love the Tour and watch it on other networks. 
What do you think of the “Take Back The Tour” campaign? 

OK… It’s not the Bird Flu… and I’ve ruled out Dengue Fever.  So why have I gotten this rash on the top of my legs the last two times I’ve been on the bike.  I was in the heat/sun for a while on both rides.  Last Thursday’s ride was 60 miles and then yesterday’s ride was 70 miles.  As you can see by the pics, they’re reddish bumpy splotches on each of my quads.  It doesn’t hurt… no itch… no pain… maybe a slight burn feeling… very slight. 
I say heat rash because the two times it has happened the temperature was in the upper 90’s and it felt even hotter.  I was also in direct sun most of the time.  Now, I do use Coppertone Sport, a waterproof sunscreen.  It’s one I have always used and never had a problem.  But could it be a combination of that… the heat and all the salt on my body from sweat?  I just don’t know.  I’ve ridden in hot conditions in the past and never experienced anything like this.

STOP THE PRESS!  How funny… as I wrote the paragraph above… I remembered a random comment from Ron (Cozy Beehive) talking about how some waterproof sunscreens might make you overheat by blocking the sweat from escaping your body.  We were talking about getting too hot and needing more fluids than normal.  Well check this out.  I just went back and found this under a heat rash description:

“If sweat cannot reach the skin’s surface, it may break through the duct wall and remain trapped in an inner layer of the skin, where it can cause inflammation and a rash.”
So, maybe Ron solved this before it even happened.  Has anyone else experienced the same? Let me know because a second opinion never hurts (no offense Dr. Ron).     

Man… did I drink a lot of fluids on the bike yesterday.  I could have used more because after 60 miles I still didn’t feel the overwhelming urge to take a “natural break”.    I drank a total of 168 ounces…  that’s a combination of Gatorade and Water.  I’m not exaggerating… we truly are in a heat wave.  When I wiped my forehead it burned from the salt scraping across my skin.  But if I didn’t catch it in time… it would hit my eyes and then more burn.  There was a bit of a breeze but unfortunately it felt like a convection oven. All of a sudden, we’re in 90+ degree temperatures.
 It was 94 yesterday on my ride but factoring in the humidity it felt like  the upper 90’s.  Today, there’s a forecast high of 97 with a heat index or “feel like” temp of close to 105.  I think it was harder on me because I just haven’t ridden in temps this hot yet this season.  Even on my vacation in Florida last week, it was in the low to mid 80’s with low humidity.  I’ll take that again.  Funny, it seemed like yesterday when I was cursing the arm warmers… leg warmers… base layer… full finger gloves and booties.  Now, my cycling tan lines are looking like I’ve ridden a Grand Tour (sorry no picture).  I know sunny and 78 degrees would be an ideal day for most cyclists… but I’m wondering what are your favorite conditions.  What’s your take on the temperature when on the bike?  

You may have noticed I didn’t post anything over the past 10 days.  Why?  VACATION! 
You may have also noticed my header picture changed.  It now has a picture of me cycling up a snow covered Sugar Mountain even though we’re heading into the Summer season.  Why?  VACATION!
I had trouble fixing a problem so I had to go with what I had.  At least it has a picture now, thanks to the help of Mr. Cycling Challenge.  Thanks again Will!
Anyway, I’m refreshed, stress free and I have a little less of a farmer’s tan.  My Florida vacation took me and my family to the beach, the pool, on the boat and for some great rides.  I was able to get in 190 miles last week.  My course was A1A… the road that runs along the east coast.  I was south of St. Augustine… near Hammock Beach.  Oh, did I mention the massage I had at the Hammock Beach Resort Spa.  It was a great refresher before my 60 miler the next morning.  And…  my massage therapist, Alessandra, is a cyclist and she told me about a great group ride that I caught up with early Sunday morning.  I was able to capture this shot of the sunrise on the way there.  The group was made up of about 25 cyclists in Ormond Beach and we rode ”The Loop” which was about 26 miles.  But these guys and gals were out to get their heart rates up.  At times, we were cruising 25-27 mph and then they would sprint.  So, I got a pretty good workout even on my last day of vacation.  All those miles helped me burn off the calories I consumed over the week.  Great eats, great drinks, great times… now it’s back to work.