Ravenel Bridge

Leah and I went to Charleston this weekend on a mommy/daddy getaway, thanks to some really kind friends of ours offering to watch the kids. Leah said she wanted to do some mountain biking with me so we took the bikes. Got my first ride at Marrington. Leah did great but her hard tail started taking its toll on her tail. She stopped at about mile 8 and asked if she could throw the bike down and scream. Her bottom was really hurting her and the roots seemed rather rough even to me on the full squish. As we are riding along the old rice ponds, I look over and see an alligator nest. I am no biologist, but I believe they pile up debris on top of the eggs and the heat of decomposition incubates the eggs. I have never seen one of these before so I stop and walk back to the nest to get a closer look. Leah reminds me that the mom is very protective of the nests and "have I lost my mind?" We ended up with 12 miles which is awesome for Leah since the last time she rode was probably two years ago. We rewarded ourselves with dinner at High Cotton on bay street last night.

At the hotel last night, I told Leah I wanted us to ride over the Ravenel Bridge Sunday am. She told me no thanks...I was on my own. We were in Mt. Pleasant and it would be a 6 mile ride to the bridge one way. I wanted to go over the bridge and do my own version of an urban assault in historic Charleston and then back to the hotel. Figured it would be about a 20 mile ride. Well, I got lost. I ended up on Sullivan's Island before I realized I was going to wrong way. And I couldn't see the bridge on the horizon. I asked some other cyclists for directions and after they set me on the right course, I pressed on toward the goal. Finally after backtracking some, I started seeing the main towers on the horizon. I could see the goal now, so I lowered my head and pedaled. Approaching the bridge on a bike, it strikes you that this thing is a behemoth. It is 2.5 miles long and the masts are 600 feet tall. The road is probably 250'ish feet at the crest. So the climb is 1.25 miles long and 250 foot elevation gain. The headwind was a factor. It was so strong that the decent required work...not to mention the ascent. After the decent I called Leah for a shuttle back to the hotel. I ran out of time to attempt the route in reverse. If you ever want to do any hill training, go ride this monster several times. It will get your attention.

Cowbell '08 Race Report

First, not that I have any experience with these events, but I recommed this event to anyone interested in trying an endurance event.

I ended up with 6 laps ~43miles. 4:30 ride time. Good enough for 13th place among 21 or so 6 hour solo riders. The course was fun. The first 2 miles was along the woodline of old pasture fields...occasionally ducking into the woods, mixed descending and climbing. The next three miles were tight single track in the woods with a lot of features thrown in. Skinnies, log piles, elevated ramps, and the "big root". The big root was a 5 foot deep whoopdy-doo with a elevated root at the exit, then a hard right turn around a tree. With momentum, no problem, but this and other tricks led to a lot of people standing around near the tricks, afraid to attempt them and causing everyone behind them to dismount and walk the trick. After about two laps, the traffic thinned out and I cleared all the tricks with not too much trouble. The last two or so miles was flat woodline pasture edge single track and then finish with a nasty climb back to the start finish line.

Regrets: Not doing a seventh lap. I was at the start/finish line with ten minutes to go before the last lap cut off. I was completely gassed but I could have done one more and picked up a few positions. I saw Eric chilling out in the pit and talked myself into joining him. Come to find out, he had a real excuse for stopping early. I had no excuse.

Lesson #1...never quit early, finish all laps that you can.
Lesson #2...figure out nutrition/hydration. First three laps, I was in great shape. Laps 3-6, no energy whatsoever. I was going on pure will only. No legs, no lungs, nothing.
Lesson #3...train more for endurance. I need to get my ride times up above three hours on a consistent basis.

Congrats to Dennis picking up the 7th spot with seven laps and a flat.
Congrats to Eric for doing this race after a surgery on his wrist and being off the bike for a while.
Congrats to Becky for podium 3rd place spot for solo 6 hour female.

Cowbell Challenge

I sent in the registration fee for the 6-hour solo class for the Cowbell Challenge. I have no idea what the course will be like and have no idea what to expect. I think I can safely predict some hot and muggy conditions since the race will be from 10:00 to 2:00. Anybody have any recommendations for nutrition/hydration for 6 hours in these conditions? I need some ideas on cramping also which is something I have struggled with on anything longer than 3 hours.

Edit: I tweeked a quad muscle this weekend while horsing around with the kids and Mr. Mike. Anna Leigh (my ten year old) and some of her friends challenged me and Mr. Mike to a 40-ish yard dash. I barely beat out the kids, but wasn't much for Mr. Mike who beat me by several lengths. So we lined it up a second time. I didn't want to give in to defeat so I wasn't going to play around this time. Got a great start out off the blocks and then 20 yards into the sprint I feel POP-POP-BURN in my upper thigh area. Yikes-that really hurts! Limped across the finish line to see how I did against Mr. Mike. He was still at the starting line chatting with the wives. What? Decided to quit while ahead I guess! Today I have a swollen thigh and decent amount of pain. Looks like I'll be riding the Cowbell with injury, but hey whats new.

the Good Shepherd

My brother found this. Let me just simply say that he understands what the girl in the video is going through better than anyone I can think of....