Shock and Awe Part Two

Hey Friends,

We've once again done it! Just a few short days after raising the fundraising goal from $250 to $400, we've hit the ceiling! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all of you who have helped to support this amazing cause!

This week as it would turn out is a roadkill warrior fundraising week, and each dollar we raise is applied toward different incentives, including team tents and rest areas that are fully stocked. Simply put, your support this week not only supports the fight against MS, but it truly and deeply supports the ride for me and my teammates. If you have been considering giving to our team, but just haven't been able to yet, I strongly encourage you to click here and make a donation today.

Tomorrow I'll be back on the road and hitting up some training, so be sure to tune in for another exciting training day episode!

Thanks again for all your support and encouragement! It means the world to me!

Godspeed,

Jason

Share the Road Episode One

Hello friends!

I was thinking about the Crankset, and what all it could be and what all it is. I was thinking that it would probably be pretty lame if the blog only consisted of my training routine, exhilarating as it might be!

So one of the series I'd like to work through is "Share The Road", where I'll post stories I see of cyclists involved in accidents with motorists. The idea here is not to point fingers or to assign blame, as I think that both groups (motorists and cyclists) do some fairly unintelligent things on the roadways. So I think these articles A) have a lot to teach us about how to better share the road and B) offer us a chance to lift up folks who have been in these accidents in prayer, again, both the cyclist and the motorist.

For instance, this evening (as I was procrastinating from writing tomorrow's sermon) I came across this article. I hope sincerely that everybody is ok, but I think we can learn a bit from this story. Even when I'm riding at high noon, I have my rear light blinking and always make sure to have my reflectors on my bike. It's also a pretty good idea to try to be as predictable as possible on your bike. Signal when you're going to make turns, that sort of thing, but also be predictable in terms of where you enter the road, which lane you're going to be in.

I believe with all my heart that cyclists should have the full rights and privileges of motor vehicles on the roads. But I also believe that if we're going to expect or demand those privileges, we need to act responsibly on our bikes.

But also as I mentioned up front, this is a good opportunity to pray. Not just for the young lady on the bike for a quick recovery, but also for the gentlemen who was driving. That cannot be an easy thing to deal with!

Let's all be careful out there, and share the roads!

Godspeed,

Jason

Training Ride Episode Three and Four: Against the Wind

Hello friends!


Sorry its been a bit since I've updated! I've actually taken two training rides since my last post, trying to get as many rides in between the raindrops as I can. 


My attention has been on working on hills, both uphill and downhill. Downhill because I'm a tremendous nerd who's afraid of biting it at high speeds. So I've been doing my best to leave the Montour Trail behind, and spend a bit more time in South Park, where the hills are a bit more challenging. 


On Sunday the 17th, I hit up South Park after my typical church activities. Now, I only managed to go for 13 some odd miles, because the wind was so unreal I was almost blown off the road twice. I had to stop at the top of the hill (by the Buffalo Pen, whose smell added to the experience) to hide behind a parked car to get out of the wind. I cut the ride short at that point, but 13 miles was nothing to sneeze at!


Today I was completely unprepared to ride. I had looked at the weather report last night, and was told that we'd be experiencing world-ending thunderstorms. When I woke up, the sunny skies begged to differ. So with absolutely no plan in place, my route looks a bit like a kindergartner went to town on the map with a Crayon. I really just hopped in the saddle and went for a ride. It felt like it would probably feel if you hadn't been on a bike or worked out in any other way for a week. My legs are crazy sore, but I still managed to swing 17 miles. 


We're still a little bit behind the ball on the new goal of $400 before the ride. If you haven't done so yet, please make sure to click on the banner to the left and make a donation. Even just $5 or something like that would be an amazing way to help support the team, and hopefully do away with MS. 


The weather says rain all week, but I've been lied to before!


Godspeed,


Jason

Training Ride Episode 2

Hello friends!

I completely forgot to take any pictures or video or map my ride. Sadly, I think we're going to have to get used to that being a reality!

My day started at 7:00 am with a ride to work. I'm actually always pretty thankful for the short little 4 mile trek to work. I used to do a 1.25 mile trip, down McMurray road and up the big hill at the high school. When I first started getting into cycling, I couldn't make it up that hill. I'd have to stop and walk my bike up while I wheezed and panted. Now, that ride is too easy, I get to work and barely feel like I've done anything.

So now I take a loop from my house, up Bethel Church Rd, and then down Fort Couch through the mall. All in all it's about 4 miles, with some minor hills. It's nothing amazing, but it's a really great way to start your day. The sun was just coming up over the hills, and it felt really great to be out and be on the road.

Later on in the day, Ed and I rode our bikes back up to the mall to hang out with some of our students on a field trip. Again, not much to write home about, but it was another two miles on the bike that I wouldn't otherwise have had. I would really like to get to a place where I don't use my car hardly at all, so it was a victory in that sense.

Then, to close the day I met up with some guys from the Fort Couch Potatoes for a training ride in South Park. I am a proud member of the Road Kill Warriors, but they're based out of Monroeville, so it's a bit harder to get out to do training rides with them, so I the guys from FCP were nice enough to adopt me for a day. Well, that's where the niceness stopped, because they kicked my butt all up and down the hills of South Park.

I really need to get stronger on hills, both up and down. Going up, I think I'm carrying way too much weight with me still. I felt better as the ride went on, but up front I was panting pretty madly again. Coming down the hills, I'm still not used to the massive speeds that a road bike is capable of reaching when you just let it go. Something in my brain tells me that there's no way those half inch tires can hold me up when I'm going 30+ miles an hour. So these are two areas that I want to work on, so I think I need to spend a bunch more time at South Park. The lack of cars there is nice!

All told, the stats of the day are:

18 miles
13.4 average mph.
1:20 on the bike.

Tonight, Sarah and I are going for a walk/jog around the neighborhood, and tomorrow (rain) I'm hoping to get to the gym to build a bit more strength in my legs.
More to come!

Godspeed,

J

Training Ride Episode One

Hey friends,

Every time I do a training ride, I'm hoping to blog a bit about it. So far, so good I suppose!

Today Training Peaks had me do an hour with a sort of light effort. So I took off on the Montour Trail with every intention of doing an hour of easy flat riding. But then I got bored! So I took the off ramp to 88, and climbed a hill that I don't usually get along with. In fact, today was the first day I could make it to the top of this hill without getting off and walking! I was pretty pumped about that. The course then takes a rolling couple of turns back into Peter's Township, and I hoped back on to the trail and made my way back up the slow climb to Al's Cafe. 

I felt really good about the ride, as I have for the last bunch of rides. I still struggle with climbing, so I'm hoping I can do a bit more work there over the next few weeks. Tomorrow if there's time after work, I'm hoping to put in about 20 miles. 

See you then!

Jason

Shock and Awe

This is crazy!

Thanks to some pretty awesome sponsors, we have already cleared the $250 level for the MS 150. In just three days! That's spectacular!

What do you say we go for more! I've moved to goal from $250 to $400. Again, the more people that chip in even just a little bit, the easier it will be to hit the goal.

If you are one of those folks who sponsored me in the ride, thank you thank you thank you thank you! I appreciate it so very much!

More to come today, including a video from the road.

Godspeed,

J

Rest stop

This was a photo I took at one of the rest stops on the Montour Trail, one of my favorite training areas. I love riding through woods like this!

It Starts

Hello friends,

A little over a year ago, I picked up my bike and dusted it off and started riding around town for little trips. It started with the 1.25 mile ride from my house to the church where I work. My Diamondback Sorrento (a gift from my lovely wife) struggled to support my weight as we attempted to summit the hill inbetween McMurray Road and the church parking lot. It was even worse when I picked up a rack, and started trying to do our family's grocery shopping by bike, at the Giant Eagle about 3 miles away. As the months wore on and on, I started to take longer and longer rides, just to be out on the road or the trails and feel the wind in my hair. I used to love cycling as a child, and so getting back to it just seemed to connect me to something from my past. I was starting to feel like a real cyclist.

That is of course until a very dear friend challenged me to do something spectacular: The MS 150.

At this point, I weighed 247 pounds. I could barely go 5 miles in a trip, let alone 150 miles in two days. The excuses started pouring in: I'm out of shape. I don't have the right bike. I'll never be able to raise enough money. Summers are always so busy. But instead of opening up with excuses, something (probably crazy) in me said "Yeah, I'll do that."

What have I gotten myself into?

So starting in January of 2011, I threw myself into training for the MS 150. I started reading great books about cycling training, and joined a gym to do some strength training in the winter. I bought a mag trainer for riding in the basement while watching episodes of Futurama. If the sun came out even for a couple of seconds, I was on the bike and taking a ride. I even rode once in a (not particularly vicious) winter weather advisory. I purchased a Trek 1.1, and promptly wrecked it learning how road bikes cannot overcome obsticles in the same way that a mountain bike could. And of course, I signed up for an account at livestrong to track my calories, and get advice on fitness and nutrition. In the process, I've lost 14 pounds, and I've started to feel much better about my appearence and overall health.

And so here we are, 60 days out from the MS 150. I want to do more than just ask people for money. I want to invite folks into the story with me. I'd like to post some blogs, photos, and even videos from my training, just about each and every time I set foot on a bike. If you can, I would encourage you to support me financially by going here and making a contribution. If not, I'd love to have your comments and notes of encouragement here on the blog. And of course, there will be other rides, other opprotunities to get involved, and more adventures to find ourselves taking. So keep checking back as much as you can!

For now, time to spend about an hour on the trainer!

Godspeed,

Jason

@freyer28