Thursday, October 25, 2007

This Was a Beach of a Ride!


Wow - what a great weekend! Steve, Frances, and her sister Merrin battled wind, rough roads, and heat in the Valero MS-150 on October 20-21 to finish strong both days. It was a rewarding, if challenging, ride.

Since Shell does not sponsor a team in the Valero MS-150, we formed our own informal team - Team TriCoastal Mermaids. Merrin likes mermaids, and the Johnson sisters have lived on all 3 coasts - hence the name. Steve was fine with the name if it meant he got to travel with 3 beautiful women!

Ride Weekend began with a journey to Austin to join up with our driver, sister Kristin who lives in Austin. Merrin, another sister of Frances, had flown into Austin from Santa Fe, so we set her up on Frances' road bike. Then, we all headed to San Antonio Friday night, excited by the news that we might have tailwinds and cooler weather for the weekend.

Our plan was to leave our hotel in south San Antonio at about 8:30 and ride the five miles to Rest Stop 2, cutting off about 15 miles of the route and avoiding the nerve-wracking mass start. However, getting everyone up, ready, and fed on Saturday morning proved to be more time-consuming than planned, so we ended up driving to Rest Stop 2 and departing from there about 9:20. Then, we discovered a problem on the tandem - a skipping chain in high gear. This really ticked us off because we had stopped at a bike shop on the way out of Houston on Friday for the MS-150 bike inspection, and they had recommended replacing the drive chain - which had been working fine. The bike mechanics at Rest Stop 3 were unable to correct the problem, so we lost high gear for the duration of the ride.

We made good progress, with a bit of a tail wind, and were feeling good as we rolled into Lunch. The meal was unexceptional, but the break was nice. Then, it got much tougher. The winds turned into a head wind, the road surface turned to rough chip seal, the temperature rose, and that combination made the rolling terrain seem much hillier. At the first rest stop after lunch, Steve looked and felt bad, and we weren't sure we could continue. However, Merrin saved the day with her advice to apply cold water-soaked paper towels behind the knees and elbows. These icy paper towels (available at each rest stop over the two days) proved to be invaluable in relieving the heat.

Revived, we continued the ride, settling into a slow, but steady, pace as we continued to battle the wind, heat, road surface, and hills. There were many riders sagging out on the road and at rest stops, so everyone was feeling the pain. Because of the slow pace, the last 3 rest stops were shut down by the time we got to them, so we created out own rest breaks, stopping to stretch, snack, and drink. Hydration became a critical success factor.





Finally, at about 6:15, we reached the Day One finish in Beeville - tired, but happy that we had persisted. Many people finished after us, which was an indicator of the difficulty of the day's ride. Kristin picked us up and we drove to our hotel in Corpus.





On Sunday morning, we once again got a late start, so Kristin drove us to a spot about 10 miles outside Beeville, where we unloaded the bikes and began about 8:30. Despite the tough ride on Saturday, we all felt pretty good, and were optimistic about the day. And, the ride to lunch was great - fast and fun. We again had a bit of a tailwind, but our energy was also good, so we were flyin'.

After lunch, the winds again shifted and we were once again riding into a head wind. Today, the winds were worse, but we had some cloud cover and a much flatter route, so we just put our heads down and plodded on.


After a long last rest stop to minister to Frances' sunburn, we began the home stretch. After a short ride, we arrived at the causeway over Corpus Christi Bay. With the end in sight, we found new energy reserves and rode faster over the last 9 miles. Riders all around us were whooping and pre-celebrating the finish. Soon we were in Corpus Christi and crossing the finish line. What a rush!




After we finished, my sister-in-law the driver asked us "Why do you do this?" Good question! For sure, the Cause is a big factor. Our interest in the MS-150 rose substantially when a friend of ours was diagnosed with MS. It feels good to raise money - and awareness - for the MS Society. There's also the mental and physical challenge - accomplishing something that seems so daunting. And, the camaraderie with other bicyclists is also a factor.

Thanks to all who provided encouragement for this endeavor, and double thanks to all who gave to the MS Society in our names. For those who have not yet contributed - we have until November 20 to turn in donations, so there's still time. Check out the donation link on the right for the quickest and easiest method of giving.

We're not planning to do a ride next year, but who knows in 2009? Stay tuned!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Ready as We're Gonna Get!

The big ride is drawing near, and we're in our final prep stage. We have been riding every weekend in September & October, except for last weekend, and are feeling more comfortable with our training. We had a great test weekend in September, when we rode in a tandem rally in hilly Jefferson, Texas (40 miles on Saturday, followed by 30 on Sunday), and did a 50/40 mile weekend in early October. Heights Blvd. continues to be our base training route. No tandem training last weekend because I discovered a broken spoke on the rear wheel last Friday. Frances has also been very consistently training on our spining bike during the week. Steve has not been so consistent :-)

Monday, August 13, 2007

Hot Ride

We took 2rmalina out on Heights Blvd. on Sunday morning, starting about 7:30. I was hoping we could do about 20 miles, but we hung in there for about 27, which is about 8 laps. We took only one water bottle apiece, plus our coffee travel mugs, and quickly ran through the water. Fortunately, there are a couple of c-stores on the route, so we were able to replenish. We only averaged 13. 3 mph, but that's because we had to manage the six stop lights per lap. When we were cruising, we were easily 15+. Al in all, given the hot weather (88 at the end), we were pleased with the ride. Now we need to keep boosting mileage every week - and get some wind and/or hill work.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Back in the Saddle

Today we rode our tandem for the first time since Frances injured her back. We stayed at a B&B near Round Top for the weekend, and took our tandem with us. We only rode for about an hour, but it felt good to be back on 2rmalina.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

A Bump in the Road

We got some bad news this week. Frances, who was in an auto accident last month, was diagnosed as having micro-tears in her back , and was told that she cannot do anything that stretches the back for a couple of months. That definitely includes cycling. That makes training for the BP MS-150 impossible, so that event is out for 2007.

So, we're changing our goal. There is another MS-150 in Texas in October - the Valero MS-150 that goes from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, and is about 160 miles over 2 days. It's a smaller ride, which is good - but we won't have the benefits of all the organized training rides that precede the BP MS-150, and we'll have to train in the summer. We're going to give it a shot.

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Big Chill Ride

Today we rode in the Big Chill Ride, one of the official MS-150 training rides. It was cold - about 40 degrees at the start - but it was dry, and our cold weather gear worked fairly well. We rode the short ride (about 22 miles) , since we are still not in great shape, and did not want to push too much in our first training outing on the tandem.

This ride began in Katy, and the short route went to Brookshire and back, so it was very flat. There was some wind, but it was not terrible. We finished in about an hour and a half, and felt good about the ride.

The Big Chill Ride was conducted by the Brazos Valley Subbury School, and we were very impressed by how well organized the ride was. Very clear route marking, efficient packet pickup, and great chili at the finish.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Welcome!

Once again, Frances & I will be training for and riding in the BP MS-150. This event benefits the Multiple Sclerosis Society and is the largest MS-150 ride in the country! It has become a very popular event for Texas cyclists - registration opened in October and reached the maximum 13,000 registrants within a few weeks.

This will be my third MS-150, Frances' second. (Picture at left is from 2006 MS-150.) Once again we will be riding our tandem bicycle, which I have nicknamed 2rmalina, since it is a beautiful tourmaline color. Frances' sister from Santa Fe will be joining us this year (last year she was our driver).

Frances has been regularly using our spinning bike, but I've been a slug in the last couple of months. I started my training last Friday with an hour ride on Heights Blvd. - doing 3 laps. No training over the weekend, since were out of town doing care-taking for Frances' parents. We'll try to keep you up-to-date on our training progress.