MSers in Training 2015

[AMFADVENTURES]

Nice ride Dave! And kudos on getting some great pics. I frequently try to get some pics on my rides but for various reasons I rarely succeed so I can really appreciate you're effort.

My Tour de Tucson ride summary is coming, where I also got a push up a hill.

Glad those arm cranks are working out so well.

[Veronica]

Dave, Man, did I feel the joy of your post....love, love that you have the thrill of moving at a fun activity again. Just so very cool. I was literally jumping for joy after reading this (that's the best I can do in the jumping category!) The pics so added to your delight. It was a ride for the body and a ride for the soul... A Freedom Ride for sure..... I applaud you. Keep on Rollin'....and getting those shots!

[AMFADVENTURES]

Tour de Tucson 2015

“May the course be with you” read a poster board sign held up by one of the spectators at this year’s Tour de Tucson. A powerful Jedi that person must be because the course was indeed with us.

I’ve noticed before and had it confirmed by various Tucsonites, the mountains that surround Tucson on three sides set up a unique dynamic, a circular wind pattern within the area defined by the mountains - which is Tucson. The direction of the prevailing wind and how it hits those mountains determines the direction of spin of the resulting vortex. This year the vortex ran counter clockwise, the direction the Tour de Tucson has always been run. The course was with us, we had a tail wind pushing us 360 degrees around the perimiter of Tucson, sometimes at over 20 miles per hour.

My brother, my sister, my youngest daughter and I started the 75-mile ride in a group of five or six hundred other riders. It was the same exciting handle bar to handle bar shotgun start as I’ve experienced every time on this ride. Why there has never been mass carnage on those starts I cannot, for the life of me, explain, but as an adrenaline pump to get the riders going, those starts sure serve their purpose.

We didn’t stop until we hit the Sabino canyon arroyo at about mile 20. I’d managed to skip one arroyo crossing by doing the 75 mile ride this year but Sabino canyon is the longest and most difficult crossing of the two. To some extent, the difficulty this crossing presents is a marker for me of the current state of my MS. This time I crossed with one hand on my bike and the other on my daughters’ shoulder. It worked well enough until the end where there is a 15 foot climb up a dirt/mud bank to get out of the wash. I was struggling on this even with my daughters shoulder and the bike for support until a rider behind me, a complete stranger, gave the saddle of my bike a little push to help get me over the lip of the bank. Thank you kind stranger!

After the usual dumping of sand from and knocking of mud off of the cleats of our shoes, we were off again headed into the hilliest section of the ride. Snider hill is a short but very steep hill on this section that many have walked up, including myself at least once. I knew where it was, I was ready for it, I’d done a fair bit of climbing this year in preparation and I was looking forward to tackling it. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong gear to tackle it with, by one cog, three teeth. I did make it to the top, on the bike, standing on the pedals all the way, but I was barely crawling when I got there.

It was a good thing that I’d forgotten my heart rate monitor that day because seeing my heart rate at the top of that hill may well have given me a heart attack however, not knowing it served to supercharge me. I took off over the next few miles of remaining hills blowing by my daughter, brother and sister with surprising energy. When it all settled down again I was riding with my brother and sister but we had lost my daughter. I stopped to wait for her for a while, letting my brother and sister go ahead, but she never showed up. Come to find out, she had pulled into a fire station/rest stop for pancake breakfast and to chat up the firemen.

A short way further on, we were stopped by the traffic control officers, apparently to allow some automobile congestion to clear. It took about 15 minutes and by the time we started again I figured my brother and sister were so far ahead of me I wouldn’t see them until the end of the ride, but I picked up my pace anyway. The wind was blowing hard as we turned onto the final 20-mile stretch down the I 10 frontage road. Even though it was a slight incline, we found ourselves flying along at 18 to 20 miles an hour. We rode that way until we hit the finish line. When I say we here, I mean you are never alone on this ride.

I averaged 16.3 mph in the saddle, a blistering speed for me. I’ve never ridden 75 miles that fast, of course I know I owe it all to the "The Force" of that tailwind. My brother and sister finished about 20 minutes later. Turned out they had stopped for brownies and were resting on the lawn as I sped by. My daughter came in about 20 minutes after that. She also stopped for brownies. I’ll have to figure out which rest stop those brownies are at so we can all reconnect next time.

Post script:
We spent a lovely Thanksgiving with friends of my daughters in Tucson. And we packed up her house and put it in storage. She has recently accepted a new job overseas. Two days later, my wife and I put my youngest daughter on a plane, sending her off to the refugee camps in the outback of Africa where she will help unaccompanied minors emigrate to safer environments.

[Veronica]

Larry, what a wacky, epic ride! Nothing blase about all that! Riding and, in essence, portaging bikes...yikes! And while you were dismayed by your arroyo climbing abilities, it sure sounds like you make up for it on that hill that you were not in the gear you wanted. Congrats.....nice to hear that this was a family ride....nice timing with your daughter off on a magnificent adventure of her own...

[teena marie]

Larry, what an accomplishment. And so wonderful to have been a family affair. It sounds like your training was right on.

I hope you give yourself a huge pat on the back.

Take good care,

Teena Marie

[Marinadca]

It was in the low 70s on Sunday (in December!!! Not normal) so I got a ride in outside.

This was after a night time gala that has me out and on my feet from 6-1am and I know I should have just relaxed the next day.

Now I feel tired and like poo (though less so then Monday!!) but it was worth it. I got to bike outside (and go way too fast and burn myself the heck out) and feel the warm sun and wind in my face. Worth it!!!

[ActiveMSers]

Thanks all for a fantastic 2015 of training. May 2016 be even better!

[ActiveMSers]

The official 2016 training thread is here:

http://activemsers.wssnoc.net/showthread.php?t=1991

Members, note that some of your titles may have changed to better reflect your commitment to the cause. Thanks for motivating us all!!