Goal: Platinum on El Tour

I can't believe it.

In less than 3 weeks I'll be riding my first Tour de Tucson. I'm officially starting to get a little nervous. Why? Let me count the ways (and also grade them!!! Oh, I've missed TA'ing):

• First off, it will be the first time I've ever cycled over 100 miles. Although I can semi-convince myself now that 100 miles is just another number. I've done 94 fairly easily and gone 85 miles up and down Mt. Lemmon. The miles I'll do on El Tour should not be as difficult. If they are, then I'm doing something wrong. Like the route itself. [Nervousness Rating (NR) = 2/10]
• Stemming from that bullet point; going the wrong way. Out of 5,000 cyclists I can almost guarantee that somehow I'll be the one that strays off-course. To counteract my 'wandering nature' I'll be doing part of the course this weekend, making sure I know where the route goes. [NR? A pathetic 1/10]

• Oh! There's another point I've raised. 5,000 cyclists. Nope, I didn't just mash an extra couple of '0''s on the keyboard. I really do mean five thousand cyclists!  I'll be trying to rush past them at the start too. The first few miles could translate into 10's of minutes either way on my final time. I'll explain in a later post. [NR = 7/10]
• Crossing the washes: Problems. The race clock doesn't stop here. You've got to unclip and run across the wash carrying your bike and get back on the other side. The last one, at mile 60-odd is over a 1/4 mile run. [NR = 5/10]. I'm not a good runner. Especially with a bike on my shoulder and have cycling shoes on that provide no grip or cushioning. My goal will be just to stick with the peloton.

Crossing the wash. Arizona Daily Star

• Pressure on myself: Getting a Platinum medal. This is the goal of the race. If I manage to complete the 111 miles in under 5 hours (ave. 22.2 mph), I'll receive a platinum medal and everyone I know will be like, "Wow. You did that!?!", and will probably be followed by "You're amazing" / "Can I have your autograph?". I'd so say "Ladies, ladies... please! Not all at once". However, the [NR = 8/10]. I like to put pressure on myself, and I'll be pretty disappointed if I finish outside of 5 hours.

So adding up all the nerves, I get a top-heavy 23/10 NR. I guess that means I should be cowering under my desk right now, afraid to even take a look at the world outside my door. Good job I don't see much of it anyway as a grad student.

Milestone: The Breadth of a Nation!!!

Readers,
I'm happy to announce that as of last week, I've accumulated over 3,400 miles on the bike. That's a big milestone for me: It's enough to travel coast-to-coast across the United States!!!

Seattle to Miami (3,350 miles). Google Images

Despite not actually crossing the US by bike, this milestone still feels special to me. It illustrates the distance I've covered more than saying '3,000 miles' ever could; providing me with a clearer sense of scale, and to that extent, a heightened sense of achievement.

I'm thrilled to be able to say I've covered this distance in just under 5 1/2 months. And if you know me well enough, you'll realise I'm not quitting there. The 5,000 mile mark is next! It's just that sometimes it's good to pause and take-in these initial, 'small' accomplishments.

Here are some stats (for the stat lovers):

• 3,536 total miles
• 193 hours in the saddle
• Average speed of 18.2 mph (It's hilly in Tucson)
• 180,000 calories burnt
• 7 flat tyres
• 2 complete climbs of Mt. Lemmon
• 1 separated shoulder

Keep on ridin'! In Houston with the Saturday Ride Group. Me on the left!

Estimated Date to reach 5,000 miles? January 2012!

Endless Pasta*

*Olive Garden should note that providing this option to cyclists results in fiscal losses.

It was an easy call to make. Having cycled 94 miles and burnt something close to 5000 calories, we rolled up to the nationwide chain Olive Garden. The sky, having been beautiful an hour before, now hung low; the dense, black clouds gathered, waiting for the impending show. I didn't even need to see the menu. Kate did, so actually that kind of destroyed the focused "We don't need to see the menu" vibe, but so be it.

The reason we went to the OG? It's the title of the post, and it's only $9 (£6):

This is going to be a massacre...

I once asked a waiter and the internet what the average number of bowls consumed were. Apparently you're doing very well if you can get past your first. No wonder why they keep running this promotion. It doesn't take Rain Man to work out that's a crazy $9 a plate.

Sadly for the the OG's profit margins, a cyclist is not the average patron. The first bowl was ordered, and soon came out. Penne and an alfredo sauce with mushrooms and peppers. It had great flavour and was awesomely creamy, but sadly for the OG once again, all this meant was that it got devoured faster by my monster appetite. It was over in less than 5 minutes; the pasta putting up a next-to-nothing fight, just like Arizona football 1. OHHHH SNAP! The waitress was a little surprised and probably thought I had put half the plate down my shirt. I gave off a 'I never waste pasta, so don't even think it' look and upon realising this, she happily asked if I wanted another one.

"Yes please."

She rushed off to the kitchen. The second bowl came out 5 minutes later and I once again went to town. It was gone in another 5 minutes. I don't even remember what the sauce was. I was too far in the zone now. I ordered a third. It was only then that I looked over at my fellow cyclist: Kate had barely made a dent in her plate. She fell for the 5 cheese, protein extravaganza and was paying the price. I said something like "Oh never mind, you made a good effort", but that was a facade. Inside I was shaking my head. A rookie error had spelled defeat, and all that was left was for her to admit it and ask for a doggy bag; the diner's white flag.

Defeat is never pretty, but sometimes it's damn cute. (Photo from szrhnd on flickr)

It might have been a social obligation to politely finish with her, saying that I too had had enough, and leave the restaurant. Not me though. The third came up, and was soon put down.

Same with the forth.

Same with the fifth.

By now the waitress was wondering how a 150 pound man could eat this much pasta. She might also have been getting frustrated that she was having to go to the kitchen so many times to order more bowls. But I'm afraid that's OG's fault, I wish I could order more than one at a go. It's forbidden.  Also I'd been noticing a trend with the bowls as they came out. Each one had been getting progressively hotter in temperature. The fifth was piping hot, meaning it took me far longer to eat. I think the waitress sensed my weakness and went for the kill as I ordered the 6th.


They must have superheated the sauce, because this horseshit was well above 100 C. I even let it sit for a couple of minutes before finally giving into temptation and eating it. Wow! After two bites I couldn't feel my mouth anymore, but I was determined to finish the bowl. It was a painful 10, maybe even 15 minutes, as I somehow got through it. Enough was enough though; any thoughts of a 7th bowl was truly extinguished when I thought the next sauce up would have the ability to cauterise my tongue. 6 was a solid effort ($1.50 a bowl).


We paid up and then wandered over to REI where we got told off for putting on all the ski goggles when we obviously had no intention of buying them. But that's a different story.


The bottom line is that this is how the Olive Garden gets you to stop. They bring the heat. 

...Bastards

1 Can someone please give me an American sporting-reference "HELL YEAH"!?!

Set your tentative clocks -- May 2012!!!

Have I really just set a month? Albeit tentatively, this now looks like the best time for me to do something crazy, like going through with my blog title. The reason? I've decided what I'm going to do for the rest of my summer, which prior to today was something I wasn't sure about. I had three main options:

1. Do nothing for the rest of the summer but travel. That would have included going back to London for the Olympics and seeing friends / family. Happiness level: High. Financially: Wallet rebellion.
2. Go back to Arizona and continue my research for the remaining ten weeks. Hopefully my advisor would give me an RA over the summer. Happiness: Ehhh. Financially: Ehhh.
3. Accept an internship offer in Houston if they had flexible starting times. Happiness: Crap, not Houston again. Financially: Waaaaahhhhooooooo!!!!!!

Although I haven't officially accepted yet, I think I'm going with option 3. The money to pay for this trip is a factor, granted, but also the company that I'd work for is heavily involved in my research back at Arizona. Therefore I'm hoping that this allow me to continue my work, just like in option 2, but be able to live off more than cans of Chef Boyardee's ravioli.

"Don't make me eat it mummy"

The internship dates at present are from late-May to mid-August, with a degree of flexibility. This would leave the majority of May open (Arizona finishes on 3rd May) for me to get up to Vancouver, cycle, spend a bit of time visiting friends in Calgary, and then flying back down.

Cool, eh?

In other news, despite Craigslist's best efforts, I'm still searching for a touring bike. My price range has increased significantly though, having realised the options below $250 weren't exactly options. In the past few days I've turned to ebay, and found an excellent make of bike that I'm going to focus on buying; the classic Trek 520. The one that I was looking at, having been outbid earlier, sold for $720. However, there seems to be a new one up every few days, so I'm not worried. I think I can get a better price as well.

Trek 520

Why have I focused on this model? Here are a few reasons:

1. It's made of steel with additional strength located at luggage points. Wheels have 32 spokes that provide the extra strength required on long tours.
2. The chainstay (the distance from the pedals to the centre of the back wheel) is sufficiently long enough for me to carry rear panniers without them hitting my foot every stroke. Or my foot hitting them every stroke? Either way, it's kind of important.
3. The gears. Triple crankset and normally an 8 speed cassette in the back means that I should be set going up the mountains at any pace. Some people complain about the gearing being too high, but I just think that's because they're slow.
4. It's an absolute classic, as previously mentioned. This bike has been on many tours, some over thousands of miles, and held up. It's well respected, and I'd certainly have faith in it.

People have also mentioned the Surly LHT to me as another option. They've been selling for $900 +, but doesn't appear to have any additional benefits on the 520. So for now I'm going to continue looking for the Trek.

Other than that in the past week I got another PB up Gates Pass (1:03) and went on a 94 mile ride with some members of the UA Cycling Club. That was a great Saturday morning, taking 4:43 to complete. Some of the riders I cycled with compete in 200 mile endurance races, so I was happy just to stay with them.


So that's been my week. Trying to move this tour slowly forward.

My Frustration with Craigslist

So since I've been back I've been looking for a touring bike for BC, and as a secondary role, a commuter for AZ. I don't fancy using my actual road bike unless I absolutely have to (due to problems with spokes / frame breaking under a loaded weight). So I've started by looking on Craigslist. And after 3 days, I'm seriously fed up with looking on Craigslist.

I've been looking at prices between $50 - $250, and searching for 'road bike' or 'touring bike'. Now in my (albeit slightly naive) book this appears to be a pretty standard way of finding either road or touring bikes between, say, $50 and $250. However, I clearly must not understand the complexities of CL's search bar, because it appears I've been searching for overpriced filth. Honestly, the quality of results I've received back could choke a mule:

After 3 days of searching, I thought nothing could shock me anymore. Then I found the tin food, priced at $80 in the Tucson Bike section

WTF Tucson!?! Is my best option really the kids bike!?! Although, if we put a positive twist on things, it does have stabilisers meaning my mum won't worry about me falling off and it's accompanied by a neat paint job. In the picture I can't quite see the gear ratios, but I'm sure it's a barbie standard.

Please don't make me search anymore...

Did Kenya Slow me Down?

Amazingly, it looks like the answer is no!!! I just managed to get up Gates Pass and down 3 minutes quicker than I've ever done it before (1:05)!

*Cue fanfare, fireworks and God Save the Queen*

Yeah, so I'm still not fully convinced, so I better keep the training level high, especially with El Tour de Tucson in mid-November. There I'm expected to ride 109 miles. If I fail to do that, well, I'll have to admit maybe I'm not the best cyclist in the world (an unbelievable thought, I know). I'm sure I'll be talking about it more as the event nears, but for now here is a map of the course:

Oh my god: I'm going to die.

In other news I also bought a pocket knife. I'm going to use it to shank bears.

Follow arrows for optimal shanking motion