Biking

The lack of any running is driving me a little crazy. I’m ready to get back out to the trails but know that I can’t do that. At least not until next week.

This week I managed to do some cross-training to keep up the fitness level. I swam laps at the pool one day and road my bike a couple times this weekend. Both times I was just doing road biking. Once through the neighborhood for about 6 miles. Then today I rode for 1 hour on a hilly area beside the highway.

Looking forward to next week when I test out my leg on the trail again.

All this resting my legs from running is starting to drive me crazy. I hate it that I can’t be out on the trails but I’m dealing with it. This past week I went to the pool and swam quite a few laps. Then this weekend I rode my bike about 1:30 hours. I pushed it pretty hard on hills to get some good leg workouts in. Another week and I’ll attempt a run again.

Not long after the Discovery team disbanded, T-Mobile has pulled it’s sponsorship of it’s team. Road cycling has taken quite a few hits both domestically and abroad. It’s a little sad but not entirely unexpected.

I’m not sure what the entire story is but from what I hear a bad thing happened to a cyclist and to LA if this is true. Apparently a bus hit a cyclist twice because he wouldn’t get out of the lane, or share the lane, and then the cyclist was cuffed and arrested.

The absurdity of this is what is truly unbelievable. I don’t know California law, but in Texas a bicyclist is considered another vehicle that must observe all the laws of the road. As such, a cyclist also has the rights of other vehicles such as using a lane. In fact, it’s illegal for bicyclists to ride their bikes on sidewalks. Now a car cannot under any circumstances share a lane with a bike and keep both vehicles safe. What’s even more absurd is thinking that it’s appropriate to take a 3-5 ton vehicle like a bus and hit a 20 pound bike! Are you kidding?

The bus driver, the city of LA, and California should be ashamed.

Today wasn’t feeling like a running day for me but I wanted to get a good workout in. Since it has been several weeks without mountain biking, I decided that would be a good alternative.

I am happy to say that I didn’t take one fall today. I did, unfortunately, have to hop off the bike a couple times when the going got tough, and slow…

It sounds like the thunder and rain is starting to come so I finished in good time.

May is designated, among other things, as National Bike Awareness Month in the US. This week has been the bike to work week with Friday being designated as a bike to work day.

I try to bike to work every day that I am not meeting a client or appearing in court. I think that the benefits are great: lower amounts of miles on my car, less fuel, exercise, being able to see my community at a slower pace, and stress relief. The negatives are only few: not being able to get to work immediately, being sweaty, drivers who don’t want to share the road, coworkers thinking it’s odd, and not being able to run out and buy a lunch.

How do I deal with the negatives? Well, I bring a messenger bag with me that has my change of clothes. I also put a couple of moisture wipes in it to take off the sweat. In my office, I have an underarm deodorant bar so that I can freshen up. I ride in on back road routes so that I won’t have to deal with as many cars, and I can explore new areas that way. I bring my lunch which also saves money.

I really enjoy it and hope that a few people try it. I didn’t think it would be as easy as it actually is.  As for the distance — this guy I knew in Dallas rides 42 miles a day, three times a week. Give it a try this week!

Ethan Stone, a high school student, was interrupted while riding his bike on Thursday by a driver of a vehicle who allegedly hit him on the head with a baseball bat. Stone was wearing a helmet which potentially saved his life. He was able to walk away with a broken helmet, and an intact head.

In an effort to rest for the race, I decided that it would be a good idea to ride the trail I normally run. Today was a really nice day for mountain biking. I went out to the trail and found one of my running buddies. He was just getting in from the run and let me know there was one other biker out there.

Off I went to see if I could find the other biker. It’s weird to experience the trail from a different vantage point. There were sections of the trail that were much quicker on the bike, but I found areas that were far easier on foot.

I’m excited about the run on Saturday. I’m going to camp out at Tyler State Park tomorrow night. Then I’ll be ready for the run on Saturday morning.

I’m still such a newbie at mountain biking that it’s usually a trainwreck when I ride. Today I went to a fairly technical trail in Dallas — Boulder Park — and hit the turf a few times.

My first fall was early on in the ride. When I arrived at the park, I noticed that the trail head had a sign saying that it was closed and their was no trespassing allowed. This didn’t surprise me because the DORBA website stated there were some issues but you could still ride it. I went off to another entrance and started my ride but I didn’t see anyone else there. Out on the trail, I heard a noise and decided to look, yes, while riding, for the other person. When I looked back in front of me, I was driving into tree. This threw me from my bike onto the trail.

The second fall happened while I was going downhill. I think that I hit my brakes which planted my front wheel. Of course, I ended up going over the top of the handlebars as my bike flipped over! Ouch!

The worst fall was the third one and it happened going up hill. There is a more difficult section of the trail where you go down a short embankment and then ascent through rocks. As soon as I ascended, I ended up planting my front wheel and flying off the bike into rocks. I bruised my hip, hurt my hand (a little), and cut up my leg. Oh, and I also dislodged my handlebars from their alignment with the wheel.

All in all an awesome ride!

Today I did a little cross training with a ride around the lake. It’s funny, when I pass the road bikers (I don’t pass many of them) on a mountain bike, they sometimes get a little upset.

About 10 minutes into the ride I noticed that the crank was coming lose. Mind you, this is a very new bike and has only gone on trails a few times. I was pissed! The crank came off once before so I wasn’t too shocked. I lost the lug nut that was holding it in place, so I had to take it to the bike store. They gave me a temporary crank and I was back on my way.

The worst part about the ride was there was a horrible headwind. It was coming from what seemed like the south but it was hard to tell with the wind patterns around the lake. I didn’t see many runners out on the path, but I imagined they are resting for tomorrow.

I ended up getting about 13 good miles of riding in. I wanted to go about twenty but with the crank coming off and other things, I had to give in early. I hope that I see some of you tomorrow! Remember, I’ll be between miles 16 and 18 cheering you on!