Day 240: 1 Day Left - The Night Before

Update: 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. Current weight - 206.6 lbs - 8.6 lbs to 60 lb goal.

...and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Just heard that the news is predicting record-breaking rainfall for tomorrow.

Well, here we are, the night before the race. I won't update the blog until probably the day after the ride, unless I'm feeling particularly motivated tomorrow evening. I think I'm good to go with all the stuff I need, at least as well as I can best guess. I'm still going through everything to make sure I've got just enough stuff to get through the day, while still being able to fit it all into my Bushwacker pack.

Today we ran up to the Tiger Woods Center at the Nike World Headquarters to get my pre-race packet. As you can see above, I'm #937 - no real significance there, but if it wasn't getting close to the pre-ride bed time, I'd figure out some math equation to make it somehow mean something...just not tonight. When we got to Nikeland, one of the first things we saw was everything being set up, and covered in plastic. Once inside the TW building, we immediately saw a sign that said the 100 mile ride had been cancelled due to the dangerous winds that would be up on the Bald Peak segment of the ride. I am now officially slotted to ride the longest ride you can do in the Portland Livestrong Challenge for 2007...how about that? And since I've just heard 'record breaking rainfall,' perhaps we'll all just end up taking laps around the parking lot for the entire day!

To be honest, I'm pretty nervous about the ride now. Wet roads make me nervous, but roads that are just hard to see because the monsoon season snuck up on us seem especially dangerous. Where I was previously excited to celebrate all the hard work I've done up to this point with a glorious early fall ride, I am now wondering if I'm just going to have to cruise along at a snail's pace so I don't put my bike down on every turn. I still think I'll be able to get through the whole thing, I'm just not sure how long its going to take, and/or how crazy it's going to be in the getting there. Pray for safety...I'd like to get to come home to my warm, cozy house tomorrow. When you think of me, I'll probably look like this guy:

I'll be sure to post again, but I want to say THANK YOU again to everyone who was so generous in giving to the cause. Today we were counting all the people we know who've been touched by cancer in the past few years, and I'm amazed at how everyone nowadays it seems can say the same thing. Our friends and family will be on my mind tomorrow as we ride. I'll post a recap when (if) I get back!

Hasta!

Day 239: 2 Days Left & The Jersey

Update: 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. Current weight - 206.6 lbs - 8.6 lbs to 60 lb goal.

Still trying to reach my fundraising goal, so next paragraph is cut from yesterdays post:

I'm getting closer to my goal for the Livestrong Challenge. I've sent out some follow-up support letters, but if you would like to help contribute to the LAF, and help me reach my goal of $2500 for this event, you can click here, or click on the logo to the right. It is for a great organization doing a lot of wonderful work in the area of cancer research and advocacy. Also a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who've been so generous so far..I really appreciate it!

We got our team jerseys on Saturday, so I thought I'd post some pics. This is my first real bike jersey, as the current one I use is really a tennis jersey because it was $12 at the Adidas outlet. The only thing that my fake jesery is missing is the stowaway pocket in the back that real ones have. Most bike jerseys run from $60 to $90 in bike shops and I just can't seem to bring myself to forking that over for them. These team jerseys were discounted for us and *only* cost $40, so I figured it was a decent time to step up and buy one.

I've been eating less the past few days and it's helping a little in the gutteral department, as I was worried about the jersey huggin' the gut a little too much. However, as it turns out, the current forecast is for 100% chance of rain, and winds at 18mph....good gosh oh golly. Guess I don't have to worry about the jersey gut huggin' too much since it's going to be burried underneath a rain coat for the whole day.

5+ hours, on a bike, in the rain and wind. This has got to be some kind of joke...right?

Hasta.

Day 238: 3 Days Left!

Update: 207.2 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 9 lbs to 60 lb goal.

Looks like there's no turning back now...a few notes heading into the last days.

I'm getting closer to my goal for the Livestrong Challenge. I've sent out some follow-up support letters, but if you would like to help contribute to the LAF, and help me reach my goal of $2500 for this event, you can click here, or click on the logo to the right. It is for a great organization doing a lot of wonderful work in the area of cancer research and advocacy. Also a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who've been so generous so far..I really appreciate it!

Next, it's looking more and more like it's going to rain on the day of the ride. I've done 50 miles, and I've done 1300 ft of elevation in 15 miles now, but never both of them together, and never either of them in the rain. I'm not looking forward to that. If you could send up some prayers that the majority of the rain hit AFTER our ride, I would appreciate it. I'm sure God has it all planned out perfectly, I'd just like his perfect plan to be for later in the afternoon. I need to go add a lightweight, waterproof jacket to my gear for the day, but at least I should be ready for riding in the damp Oregon fall.

Lastly, if anyone knows of any quick, gut-reducing actions I can take, I'd appreciate it. Our jerseys came in, which I think look great (I'll post a photo later on) but even though I got an XXL size (dang Euro-cut size) it's still kind of hugging my gut like a baby panda hangin' on to it's momma for dear life. Ok, it's not that bad, but I am keeping the food intake down just a bit in an effort to free up a little space.

That's it for now, I'm sure I'll put something else up before the ride, and of course after DownpourFest '07.

Hasta!

Day 234: Back To The Hagg!

Update: 207.2 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 9 lbs to 60 lb goal.

Less than a week now until my ride...final preparations underway for the big day!

On Saturday I drove back up to Hagg Lake in order to give it a pre-Livestrong Challenge test ride. I was nervous to see what would happen. On one hand, if I got into it and hated it, or couldn't finish, then it would make this whole next week stink, knowing what would be waiting for me 25 miles into my 70 mile ride. However, if on the other hand I could get around the lake without too much trouble, then I could feel like I was ready for the challenge at hand. So without going on and on, the good news is...I think I'm ready!


The day was beautiful despite forecasts calling for showers in the morning. The air up around Hagg is brisk, and I was thankful for arm and knee warmers (see image below) that kept me from freezing on my ride. I've been enjoying the sun, but know that colder mornings are coming, so I'm slowly starting to gear up for riding in Oregon fall days.


On my bike I have three gear rings up front, and spend most of my time in the middle ring. If I get up over 20 mph, then I'll shift up into the outside ring, but that doesn't happen all that often. Only once or twice before have I shifted into the smallest ring for climbing, but I figured I may need to use it at Hagg, which is either uphill or downhill the whole time without any real flat spots. As it turns out, I only dropped down to it for one longer hill, and pretty much stayed in my saddle in the middle ring on the other hills, aside from standing up for one shorter steeper segment. Below is the arial satelite view from my GPS export of the ride. You can get my Motion Based animated version of the route by clicking here.

I also passed a couple on one hill (they *were* on mountain bikes) and left another guy in the dust who was following me up the first hill. All in all I felt pretty strong, and finished the 15 mile ride with an average speed of 15.3 mph, which combines the slow climbs uphill and the fast coasts down the other sides.


On another note, I made a pitstop back at Maggies Buns after my ride and picked up some rolls for the fam. Let me just say, they are ginormous. See the picture above...I put an oreo sized cookie on top of one the rolls so you can see just how big they are. And that's a big old trough of icing for them too. Definitely worth the stop!

Hasta!