Road Rash

One of the main concerns/issues I hear about commuting by bike is the risk, like being hit by a car or just a simple crash. Well I commute a lot, rode through January and February this year when the road were packed with a couple of feet of snow in the dark. Rode last October home from work, a blinding snow storm with no glasses and could barely see. I've commuted on the bike for 10+ years and yesterday had only my second crash ever while commuting.

The first crash was 10 years ago in June, on bike to work day when I worked about 20 miles from home. Leaving the office during a light rain (after a heavy rain) I crashed and hurt my hip. Swelled up to about the size of a grape fruit. No crashes since then while commuting. Probably thousands of miles just pure commute distance (not counting the "extended routes" taken to get in training) and only one crash in ten years.

Yesterday's crash happened just after riding with Seamus to school. The front wheel got caught in a gap between black-top and cement near the curb. I got cut up on the left side (hip, elbow, shoulder, knee etc.) but rode into work the rest of the way no problem. Sleeping last night sucked, but what can you expect. I didn't commute in today, but that was already planned because we had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon. Tomorrow I'm taking off and riding big. But you know what, I'll commute on Tuesday. One crash every ten years is worth it. The stress relief of riding, the environmental savings, the pure joy of riding a bike while looking at a bunch of people stressed in a car. The risks commuting by bike are minimal if you are aware and safe. Yesterday was a decade long wait between commuting crashes. How many car accidents have you been in during that same period?

Mission Accomplished

Well, I'm no George Bush so take the title as you like, but today's donation from one of my aunts officially put me at the $1,000 mark for donations to Environmental Defense. A few more dollars, in theory, will be donated from some matching funds from various companies; however, I have no easy way to track these, only the money sent to me to forward on or donated on-line. A huge thanks to everyone who has donated, I appreciate all of your support.

The last mountain bike race of the year is quickly upon me, the Tipperary Creek race in Winter Park. The course is about 25 miles with a good amount of climbing. This is one of the best courses around so should make a fitting end to the season. Wish I could fit in one or two more, but with other commitments that just isn't going to happen.

The Pink Dude Denver

So everyone who reads SLY's blog you’ll have heard of (or seen) the pink dude. If you’re in SLC maybe you’ve even seen him in person. On all my visits I’ve yet to actually see the Pink Dude, but today in Denver I caught a glimpse of the Pink Dude’s dad (and yes this is a guy). The picture is a little blurry, but a camera phone from 25 feet only does so much.

Today

Well this month has been light for postings, but some times other things take over. Just a quick update though, as of right now I've raised (really you have donated) $850 for the Environmental Defense Fund. Not to bad at all. Also I'm just starting to work on how and what to do with Racing Green moving forward. Nothing is firm yet, but I am going to keep this going forward in some way, most likely by starting a team of like minded individuals to race, promote bicycling as an way to lessen human impact on the earth and to introduce people (especially kids) to riding.

I'll have more details on the program later, but I plan to have some good sponsorship based on a few talks.

MIA

Well, I've been MIA since the FireCracker 50, partially because of how the day went and partially just damn busy. Raced twice since then, once a couple of days later just to mentally get the stress of a DNF off my mind. Today I raced to race. Didn't do great, as it seems the field at the Winter Park races is deep and fast, my neighbor/friend/Seamus's girlfriend's dad/carpool partner won the race (he actually won the one right after the 50 too). Even if I have a bad day racing, or just race as well as I can (like today) it is always cool when someone you hang out with has a great day (or in Kelly's case season) and wins. Makes all the racing seem more successful.

So on the global warming front the little fund raising scoreboard at the top is a little off. A good number of people have sent me money directly or donated because of me just through the mail. Tax reasons I guess, but it is all good. At this point I'm above $600, and people keep telling me more is coming. In my mind it is all good.

A question I've asked a couple times in posts is how to measure success? Well I didn't finish the race, at this point I haven't raised $1000.00 but even with those two factors I think I've had some level of success in this effort. Why? People I know have made choices to change their lifestyles and actions because of what I've done (Patti and Rob), I've talked to school groups, I've written to elected officials, and I've talked to congressional representatives. None of these in and of themselves, or maybe even collectively will end global warming; however, they provide a starting point. They let people know this is a real issue. Talking to Rob today (plus some email), a guy I've raced against for a few years (but don't know well) provided me a feeling that the effort has been worth while. It made me feel I am in some ways accomplishing the goals I set early this year.

The only bad thing about Rob, he beat me by 1 second in the race today (for 24th spot). We fought each other for 3-4 miles at the end. In the end he was faster, maybe his commute is longer, but like I said, success of a friend always feels good. Rob I hope you're reading this post. Great job out there today.

So now is time for the full story on the FireCracker 50. The race started good, I was feeling strong and trying to ride within myself to start the race, knowing it would be a long day. I was making sure I was drinking at least every 15 minutes to stay hydrated. However, as is a usual happening for me in races I was starting to get an upset stomach after about an hour in the race. I was trying to eat some, but only a minimal amount as I was trying not to cause too much of a problem with my stomach.

By the top of the first climb on the second lap (about 31-32 miles into the race) my energy was fading fast and I was barely able to ride. I kept at it, trying to drink as much Gatorade as possible for energy, but after another 6 miles I couldn’t keep the energy needs up and had to call it a day, taking a short cut road back the finish. It definitely wasn’t what I had planned or expected out of the race, but it has made me look at how I prepare for food intake before races. With a normal 2 hour race I can fake nutrition and not (apparently) suffer too much. For a five hour race, nutrition has to be a critical component of racing.

So what does all this mean for my goal of raising awareness of global warming and challenging people to donate money to the Environmental Defense Fund? Well I honestly don’t know. In some ways the goal is still alive, finishing a bike race doesn’t cause success or failure. As my friend Bob said “the cause and your effort are alive and well, thanks in no small part to your efforts. Could be race day is often not so much a point of arrival as it is a point of departure”. I certainly hope he is right. I know people who had pledged to donate prior to the ride still have. I know I’ve talked with a lot of people over the course of six months about global warming. I know some of my habits have changed.

Now really the choice is each of ours. Have I succeeded or failed? I think in small ways I’ve succeeded. I’m going to keep plugging away on the keyboard, and in actions, and in talking with people; make environmental concerns an issue we all address. Keep checking in, as I’ll keep providing some information and stories.

Thanks for the support thus far.

FireCracker 50

I'll post more later, just have to say I'm decompressing and digesting a bad day on the bike.

Thanks to everyone who's supported me in this effort. I'll give more details later.

Resting Up

It’s just four days till the FireCracker 50, so I’m trying to sit around and rest. It is tough before a race because you tend to want to do little things at the end to make you faster, but really at this point recovery is the key thing for going faster. I did ride for about 2 hours this morning and felt pretty good. Now I just need to get the mountain bike all adjusted and ready to race.

Two other pieces of news on the FireCracker 50, word from Sly Fox is he is coming over from Utah from the race. Grandma L will have some Utah racers to cheer for too I guess. Second is be ready for flats. The downhill from Lincoln Park is rocky and causing flats. This is the one section of the course I didn't ride the other day because I kept getting lost and ran low on time, but I've heard it is causing havoc with people pre-riding.

And I have a new kit to race in, all I can say is GREEN.

An anonymous donor of mine sent an email to me on calculating your carbon footprint (how much greenhouse gas you emit). There are a lot of carbon calculators out there but one of the best I’ve found is the EPAs. It has more detail then a lot of others, though it neglects flying which is a big hit for emitting greenhouse gases. The sad truth is I’m probably over the “national average” because of flying for work. It’s interesting but I recently read that if everyone on a plane drove individually to/from their destinations the carbon emissions would still be less than flying.

Anyway, take a few minutes to check out the calculator and get some ideas on ways to reduce your emissions. All the sites I’ve checked out have good ideas for reducing the amount of greenhouse gases you emit.

Six Days

and counting to the FireCracker 50. I cruised up to Breckenridge today to ride the course, aside from getting lost a bunch on the backside (Little French Gulch) of the course and riding up a stream of snow melt for about 2 miles it was a good ride. The opening climb seems to go on forever, part of it on pavement part on dirt. At least when you're done with the climb most of the climbing is done.

While getting lost multiple times I met a few locals out riding the course, all were super cool and helpful in getting me un-lost. It's nice to just run in to people out riding and have them help you out.

Yesterday was bike to work day. I think my office had 22 people sign up and all but one rode in. They give out free breakfast at places in Denver on bike to work day, but I was running late so didn't get to stop. Oh well, maybe next year.

One Week, Two Weeks

Tomorrow marks one week until Bike to Work Day here in Denver and two weeks until the FireCracker 50. I'd like to see a large showing of people participating in BTWD. I'm coordinating the effort for my company and about 20 people have signed up, which is about 10% of the staff.



The FireCracker 50 is a different story, as I know not every can participate by riding, but I hope many of you will consider participating in-kind by donating to Environmental Defense Fund. Some of you may have gotten the newsletter I put out, others may just have happened onto the blog. In either case I'll be posting some of my articles from my most recent newsletter over the next two weeks, along with other information leading up to the FireCracker 50. If anyone would like my newsletter, just send me an email.

Article on EDF

Of all the environmental groups and organizations out there, why did I decide to raise fund for the Environmental Defense Fund (www.environmentaldefense.org)?
Unfortunately, at this point in time global warming and environmental issues have become overly politicized. People wonder: does it exist? should we legislate to help protect the earth? do humans cause it? if so, should corporations self-regulate or be restricted by the government?
I wanted to find a group that was objective and apolitical in its assessment of our environmental state. The Environmental Defense Fund fits the bill. This is a group of scientist and economists who are working to show that environmental sustainability and economic well being can co-exist.
A great example of this is the work Environmental Defense is doing with FedEx, designing new vehicles and looking for ways to lessen the impact of FedEx’s fleet on the environment.

Environmental Defense has also been at the lead of a business coalition (U.S. Climate Action Partnership) that is trying to force governmental action on the climate issue. This coalition includes companies such as GM, Shell, General Electric as well as environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and National Wildlife Federation. Environmental Defense Fund staff have proven that they are able to work across politics and industries to further improvement to the environment.
I’d ask each of you to make a small donation to them, through my blog or on your own, to allow them to continue their work.

Utah Racing

Well the weekend of racing went well in Utah. Big thanks go out to mom-in-law Lynda for driving, letting me stay at the house, and feeding me in the race. It sure makes the racing easier when you have someone there to take care of you. Back to the racing in a minute though.

I was reading an article Saturday in the Salt Lake Tribune that discussed how the western US Governors are pushing for environmental legislation on both the stat and federal level. Even governors from some of the more “conservative” western states, like Utah are supporting this work. This is a huge change over the course of just a few years in perception about the need to move environmental concerns to the forefront. However support from the governors is only a small step, as:

“The opposition in Utah, moreover, doesn't just come from the GOP. "Huntsman, before he gets too far into it, should look at the economics," said Sen. Mike Dmitrich, D-Price. Dmitrich, who represents Utah's coal country, was the author of a 1998 resolution - passed overwhelmingly in the Legislature - calling on the governor to prohibit state agencies from taking any action to reduce greenhouse gases.”

Take some time to contact your local legislator about global warming and the environment. Let them know that the issues are real and that you support the stance of the western governors. Here are links for the local officials in Utah or Colorado.
Now onto racing. While the field at the race was small I’m still pleased with how the weekend went. I first upgraded to Expert last year at Deer Valley, finished last and knew I had a long way to go. This year I knocked 7+ minutes off my time from last year and finished in 4th spot. Given the small size of the field the placing is good, not great, but the time improvement is pretty sweet. It’s about a 5% improvement over last year and given that it was very windy this year maybe even slightly better. I’ve still got work to do to be at the top of the Expert group (like the 30-40 people in Colorado races) but I’m moving the right direction. With just 17 days before the FireCracker 50 I have some time for a little more improvement before starting to taper/rest for the race. I’ll be working on long intervals again this week and hopefully sneak in one more long ride this weekend to get ready. Then I’ll recover for a few days early next week before reducing my training volume but keeping some intensity for the week before the race. Since it takes 7-10 days for training to really improve performance after this week of training my efforts will be focused on keeping fitness, not improving it any more.

Utah

I'm heading to Utah for the National Mountain Bike Series Race at Deer Valley. Staying with Lyn (my mother in law) for the weekend of racing. We're heading up to watch the semi-pro race when I get in. Hopefully Sly (http://bikehusla.blogspot.com/) will put on a show for the home town crowd.

This will be my last race before the FireCracker 50. It should be good training, about 25 miles, 2.25 hours and a lot of climbing. I'm going in a little tired from training, but the goal is the FireCracker 50 not this race. It should be interesting to see the results and time of the race though, as this race last year was my first as an Expert. Finished DFL (Dead F****** Last) so shouldn't be hard to improve. This is the biggest and toughest series in the country which is why I'm going, race against the best to get better. Hopefully this race will help my abilities for the FireCracker 50.

The only bad news, I'll be gone for Father's Day, but Seamus made me a sweet card so I'm set.

Monday

Damn I feel like I should post something, but don't really have much to say. I did some editing on the site tonight, added a few links. There is now a link with information about the FireCracker 50, though all that really needs to be said is 50 miles, 10,000+ vertical feet, marathon national championship and 6 hours.

I also moved the link for donating to the Environmental Defense Fund to the top of the page (thanks for the idea Kip). As some (hopefully many) of you remember one of my primary goals is to raise $1,000 for the Environmental Defense Fund. The EDF is a group of scientist created to raise awareness and provide facts about global warming, trying to limit the political rhetoric and provide sound information/facts. I'm hoping that people will consider donating $0.50 - $1.00 per mile of the FireCracker 50 to the Environmental Defense Fund ($25-$50 total). With the race just a few weeks away it seems like a good time to start reminding people of this portion of the goal.

Of course this is only one facet of my goal with the others being:
Begin to provide people information and resources on the effects of global
Educate people on the ease and benefits of using the bike as a means of transportation

I think I'm accomplishing these two in some ways so hopefully I can raise some funds too. One of my aunts was in town this weekend and she's been reading the blog and changed her bag habits at the grocery store as a result. If we each start with small steps like this improvement will come. Thanks for making some personal changes Patty, it's news like this that makes my efforts seem worth the time and energy.

Why Should You Vote?

Because our current leadership won't admit there is a problem with global warming.

From Reuters (blatently stolen from my company)
World leaders meeting in Germany have agreed to pursue "substantial" cuts in greenhouse gases, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.

"In terms of targets, we agreed on clear language ... that recognizes that (rises in) CO2 emissions must first be stopped and then followed by substantial reductions," Merkel told reporters at the G8 summit in the Baltic coast resort of Heiligendamm.

But alas Presidnet George...Group of Eight (G8) powers failed to overcome U.S. resistance to committing to specific numerical targets to curb global warming but did refer to the goal of some countries of cutting emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

For the full article head over to: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0528791320070607?src=060707_1004_TOPSTORY_emissions_cuts_deal

Bike to Work Day

Bike to Work Day in Denver is three weeks from today, Wednesday June 27. This is a well run, metro area event that makes commuting to work using alternative transportation fun and easy. I'm working to coordinate efforts at my company and thus far we have 15 people signed up to commute, a few for the first time ever.

It is the small steps and efforts, like commuting to work on the bike (or walking) once in a while that can provide a starting point for bigger changes. The more people who are involved/participate in events like Bike to Work Day and let officials know they are becoming involved because of global warming, the more officials will take notice. Get out there on the 27th and give a bike commute a try. Let your friends know, and more importantly let elected officials know the reason behind your participation.

I'll be riding, and in fact have volunteered to ride in with a few novice co-workers, if you need any help preparing let me know. I commuted through our snow-packed streets all winter so riding in the Denver summer should be easy.

Smaller Footprints

Each week we are making small steps at my house to reduce our Carbon Footprint (how much greenhouse gas we put in the air) with last week being a big one we bought Ade a bike. She hasn’t ridden one in about 20 years (I know hard to believe being married to me and not riding a bike) but the Schwinn cruiser is perfect. We all rode to the swimming pool on Saturday afternoon. Not a big ride but in the past we would have driven a wasteful 2-3 miles to go to the pool. Instead now we all have bikes to ride and an easy fun free (don’t forget gas prices) way to the pool.

The whole cruiser bike is pretty cool for getting around the neighborhood, so much so I might have to buy one soon. The racing bikes are nice but to be casual and look good a cruiser might be a better fit. I also found a grocery store, Albertsons on 2nd and Quebec that has plastic bag recycling. This is huge as Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year with a minimal number being recycled. The Albertsons will let you recycle newspaper bags, grocery bags, and even the plastic used to cover dry cleaning. As much as I’ve never been a fan of shopping at Albertsons this may be enough to get me to switch, at least some of what I buy, to support their efforts.

Another beauty of the summer is farmers markets which are great for food. Inexpensive, local, organic fruits and vegetables. The food tastes better and there is less environmental impact. It is still early in the veggie season here in Colorado but some things were great. As the summer goes on more fresh foods will appear and many places have recipes that let you try out the fresh crops.

Sunday was a big riding day, another 6 hours on the bike. I rode to Golden up Chimney Gulch (the dirt trail up Lookout Mountain) down Apex (the backside of Lookout) and home. I got in about 2 hours of mountain biking and 6 hours total. A 2 hour mountain bike ride is pretty damn good and usually involves at least a ½ hour of drive time each way, but the commute by bike makes the dirt even more fun and doesn’t waste gas. I tell you I’m trying to reduce my waste, maybe not great yet but all the little efforts help. What have you done recently?

Rest Week

A couple of random thoughts:

It was a rest week, didn't ride much about 5 hours but actually rode the mountain bike in the dirt.

Camping must suck, I've been "camping" in the living room with Seamus for two nights with Ade out of town and the floor is hard, imagine no carpet to help soften where you sleep.

Nothing beats a bike ride with your kid. We cruised to the pool yesterday on our bikes. Every time I ride with Seamus I'm reminded why riding is so much fun. (Plus check out his new helmet with flames, I wish they painted adult helmets cool like that)

A little while...

I've been in hiding, actually just way too much going on. June is Bike Month in Colorado and June 27th is Bike to Work Day (check out www.drcog.org for more info) so I've been working on a few things related to BTWD instead of blogging. Time is limited so I have to make choices on if blogging is more important; or are actions related to making people aware of human impact on the environment more important. I've decided the latter and as a result have been working to coordinate my company's BTWD participation, trying to get an article written and published for a community newspaper (doesn't look like they are going to use it) and a few other things that are still in the beginning stages.

Bottom line though, if you live in the Denver area try to participate in BTWD. It has a ton of cool stuff associated (free breakfast stations on bike routes, chances to win prizes, guaranteed rides home if needed) and is great for the environment and your health. With gas prices at $3.30ish a gallon riding a bike doesn't seem all bad.

I've also raced again since my last post, busted out a 7th place at Battle of the Bear, a race held just east of Morrison (Red Rocks). The course is brutal as it is fairly flat with a few short steep hills. Basically you are on the gas the entire time and there is no shade to reduce the heat. Last Sunday when racing it was in the mid 80's making the race significantly harder. Add to that a few beers and not eating well the night before because we were at a party and the racing was tough. I almost didn't race but knew the effort would be good for training and getting me going fast. With the FireCracker 50 just 5 1/2 weeks away (and a lot of shorter races before and after) I need to start working on my speed and not just my endurance. The race at Bear Creek certainly got me some speed work and let me know I have a lot of room to progress. After this week, which has been a recovery week, I will start to focus more on hard efforts (intervals) to get my speed up for racing. Hopefully with this concentrated work on speed the results will improve as well (though my first top 10 as an expert felt good it was a small weakish field).

Since the FireCracker 50 is so long I'm going to try longer intervals than I have done in the past. In past seasons I would go for 9-12 minutes at about 90% of my max heart rate (171-175 bpms). This year I am going to try for 15-20 and maybe longer at the same effort. This may seem extreme, but to give a baseline for my heart rate my averages from Chalk Creek and Battle at the Bear were 174 bpm at Chalk Creek (1:48) and 178 bpm at Battle at the Bear (1:45). There is no way in training to keep the heart rate that high for nearly two hours, so short efforts that are repeated are the best tool to get ready for racing. Hopefully I can take the longer efforts, we'll see starting Tuesday.

Another Long Day

I went for another long ride yesterday, right around the 6:30 range. It was a little rough after racing a couple of days before, but the work should pay big later. The first part of the ride, about 15 minutes, was far and away the best part of the ride. Seamus and I rode to school together, his first bike commute. There is nothing like hanging out with a five year old to get you to appreciate the routine tasks in life. He was completly excited about riding, checking out birds, riding through some puddles where people had watered, cruising down the little hill by our house.

He was very pleased and happy with himself when the ride was over and we were walking into school. To me it was cool because we could have just as easily driven in, but instead rode and reduced two miles of useless driving. On the way home, even after 6:30 on the bike, we rode home and Ade joined us by walking. All in all far more fun than driving the car.

Chalk Creek Race Report

Chalk Creek Race Report, or How the Mountain States Cup went Big Time:

The first cross-country race of the year (for me) and in the Mountain States Cup was yesterday in Nathrop. The course is pretty unique for the typical MSC schedule which usually centers itself on ski resorts with big climbs. Chalk Creek is held on a cattle ranch with one short steep climb, a lot of false flats and one short downhill. There is some fun single track after the downhill, but for most of the race you are on cattle path or service roads.

I showed up to the race on Saturday with less than ideal preparation was running late and was just glad to actually make it to the start line. As SLY says to race well you need to train, eat, sleep and repeat, if you throw in a bunch of other stuff you aren’t sleeping enough and your racing won’t be great. To give you an idea of my week leading up to the race training was minimal, work was more than it should have been, my mom was in the hospital and Friday, which I had planned to take off to relax ended up with going to work at 5:30, working till 9:30, riding hard home to see field day, riding to the hospital, riding home to pick up Shay, cleaning the house, then driving with Ade to pick up car #2 after way too much in repair bills so I could race. By the time Saturday came around I wasn’t racing for fun, I was racing because I had invested so much time already this year in training and I wanted to get out and finally race.

When I got to the start area, which was about a 10 minute ride from parking, I was shocked. The little old MSC had been replaced by a full pit area, lots of team rigs, pro level signage, close to a NORBA National. It’s fun to see what a little cash infusion can do for a series, many improvements but the good from last year (and the years before) was still around. The small local club teams still had tents up, most of the people working the races were the same and many of the racers were the same. Having moved up to Expert midway through last season this was my first MSC race as an expert and I wasn’t sure what to expect after a winter of training in solitude. The race started fast, and with about 40 racers in the 35-39 age group it was tough to see because the road was very dusty. By the time we hit the first (and only real) climb I was towards the back half of the group. My goal for the race was to ride steady and consistent for the race and see how I did against the expert field. I’ve been riding a lot of hours, but little intensity so I was hoping to be able to maintain or pick people off at the end. I felt good the first lap and ripped a 33:30 first lap time which is about 2.5 minutes faster than before on the course. Starting the second lap I was riding with a few people and feeling good. I did loose ground a few times on tighter sections of single-track, mostly I think because of very limited riding on the dirt this year. Including the race I’ve ridden in the dirt 3 times this year so the technical skills are off to say the least. But overall the second lap kept me near the same people and I put in another 33:30. To start to third lap I got ahead of the people I had been riding with on the short climb and kept it going on the false flat on the top. I felt pretty good to have actually put distance on a few riders and not feel like I was out of my league in the expert race. Coming through at the end of 3 laps I was at 1:40 for the race. Three laps is the sport distance so lap 4 was uncharted ground for me. I wanted to keep steady and stay in front of the people who I had gapped on the third lap. I started the lap feeling good, but on the false flat my legs started to give and I eased up the pace. By the time of the downhill (about 8 minutes to the finish) I could barely pedal or keep the bike going. I managed to get some more Gatorade down and hung on tight to the finish without getting passed.

I ended up at 2:17 for the race. Not sure of a placing as I had to leave right after, and I mean right after, I was on the road back to Denver 20 minutes after I finished. The race was good. Clearly I have a long way to go in the Expert group but compared to the second half of last year I don’t feel completely overwhelmed. I do need to figure out how to do intervals that will get me more competitive/increase my tempo pace. I’ll start to work on that soon and hopefully by June will be even more competitive.