Legs of lead

No rain today. Rode my 15 hours in an hour, but legs felt like lead, despite my speed. Will ride another hour tomorrow tomorrow and then 50 on Sat and Sunday. Leave Monday for Italy. Arrive on Tuesday and ride on Wednesday. I am always superstitious about riding the day of my flight when I am going biking. Why tempt fate? I could ride an hour that morning on my spare bike (the good one will be packed), but probably will not. The two days off will be fine.
Weighed myself this morning and am done to 158, and 8% body fat. That's where I should be. But it took one way over the top week to achieve it.

Wednesday -- Rain

Well, I got up early and dressed in my cycling clothes, opened the garage door and saw lightning and couldn't believe it. The thunder indicated it was off in the distance but the skies were threatening so I did 5 miles and called it a day. My legs felt like lead. Will try again tomorrow.

Rest Days

I came back to Dallas with a horrendous cough, cold and sore throat, so I have decided to take a few days off. Getting in the pool with this didn't seem like a great idea.

RAGBRAI Pictures of my Group

End of the road

We were bused back to Marshalltown yesterday and were loaded up and ready to go by 6 pm. I drove the next 5 hours, to just below Kansas City, so we'd have only a 7 hour drive on Sunday. Next year I will fly!
The parking lot at the end is filled with all of us exchanging warm greatings with the knowledge that we won't see each other until next year, but that most of us will do.
And yes, today is a rest day!

It's over!

It's over. 500 miles. 7 days. Today was a breeze, literally. 52 miles, wind at our back virtually the whole way and seemingly all done hill. I even drafted Mark and Julie Evans for the fouth time in 2 years as they ride a tandem and are very strong. They averaged 18 mph and on the flat section we averaged 22 - 24 mph, which is an insane pace for me, but my horse knows where the barn door is and we flew!. I had strong legs today, which was great. Similar to Tuesday. It felt like the invisible hand of God was at my back!

And once again, the best day is when it's over!

Almost There!

Today's ride, on Friday is over, and the ride ends tomorrow. Today was a hilly 65 miles, with almost no wind, but 90 percent humidity as we rode through a fog and clouds all morning. Have not seen the sun for days. Today's ride was 65 miles and I was ok but tired until mile 50 when my mind was just going numb. Finally my saviours appeared, two cyclists just a bit faster than I and was able to draft and talk to them for the final 15 miles of the day.talking woke me up and my speed and strength returned.
Everything I own is pretty much dirty or wet. I love camping!
We are in Tipton tonight, in the main campground, right next to the LiveStrong team that Lance is the titular head of -- although he was here only one day as opposed to other years. Guess Kate Hudson beckons. Or maybe he overshadowed the Ragbrai and they politely asked him off. There are no celebrities in this like in the NY marathon.

Saw a state trooper this morning being thoughtful and sweeping a corner turn free of gravel with a large broom.

BTW, Iowa much be the unofficial pie capitol of the country. At every stop they sell slices.

We actually walked out of a real restaurant last night because they were charging a dollar for water. I went to tell the manager but it was the other 5 guys who made the decision. We went to a church and stuffed ourselves on Pork (it is Iowa) potatoes, salad and pie. The drinks were "free". Total cost was $7.

They really provide the best value.

This is the 33rd ragbrai and one of the seniors in our group, Jane, who could be in her 70's, has done 32 of them. She and her husband used to ride it but he passed some years ago and she goes on. Bev is also in her 60's and is perhaps half as fast as I. It takes her almost 8 hours to cover what I do in 4 or 5 hours.

Btw, Mr. UAW won the next 19 chess games over all comers.

I'd like to see the Tour de france riders tenting it! Not that staying in motels would help me go faster.

The Chess Match of my life!

One of the nicer guys here, a rank and file UAW member has over 300 chess sets and plays a very strong game. He brought a chess set and set it up and asked if I played. I used to be ok, but never good. Well, after an epic 2 hour match this afternoon I beat him. Honestly haven't played against a human in a decade or more. Computers only and I can't beat them.
But I slowly took his game apart, and it was as elegant a game I have ever played. What luck. I made one glaring error and he failed to see it. Luck.

Notes From The Road

Some idiot kids threw a box of tacks on the road yesterday and flatted at least 50 unsuspecting riders before dawn.

What happens in the corn fields stays in the corn field, when nature calls!

I walked in to a lake road for a nature call and about 1000 frogs kept jumping out of my path. I felt like the Lizard king!

Chris Cakes serves 1000 pancakes every morning. You pay your 5$ and take a plate and the griddle man flips them about 5 feet on to your plate. The key is you have to catch them.

Mr Porkcop serves about 3000 porkcops a day. He's put 11 kids through college and retired last year.they had a ceremony for him before the Styx concert this year.

Portopoties in Iowa are called Kybos. They can not be avoided.

When you bike with the Air Force the state troopers give you a lot of respect.

The ride is an exercise in sleep deprivation. Trains whistle all night long in these small towns, and we are near highways a lot at night. I get maybe 4 hours of sleep a night and not consecutively.

rode today!

I did manage to ride today! 75 miles at slow speed until the last 18 when I met up with 2 airforce team members I had met at the pool and we rode in together for company. It was cold today, 65 degrees, and it rained for an hour, after raining all last night. I got a late start at 6:30 as it was raining. We were in at 1. I failed setting up the tent in a howling wind. No one is taking me to Everest real soon!
Several people in camp sagged today. One due to bad knees, and two others didn't feel well. I had a sore throut in the middle of the night, and felt not too well this morning but I went anyway and just didn't puch it.
And I met two people from a bike team near me.

Sore Hamstring

Disaster strikes. My hamstring reinjured itself at mile 45 today. A slight twinge at first and then a more constant pain. I had 30 miles to go and no relief in sight. To make matters worse I took a "vitamin" water bottle from some one at the side of the road, drank it and it made me feel wierd for about an hour, as if I had taken Vick's Nyquil. It was bizarre. It put me in a stupor. As obsessive compulsive as I am about only eating and drinking what I bring I can't believe I did that. Istopped for a fewminutes but it didn't help so I soldiered on, albeit 30 percent slower, a snail's pace for me. It was awful.after an hour the fog lifted but the hamstring didn't get much better or much worse. I pedales softly and only with my left leg. Was still the 4th or 5th person in out of 110 but I left early.
So the big question is what I do tomorrow and the rest of the week. I may sag with Rose tomorrow in her van, as she is injured and driving it for an older man who wanted a personal sag wagon in case of issues as he is 79.

I am at Tamo Toledo, north east of Des Moines. The aquatic park here is 5 stars.

small town pools

If america of "yesterday" is what you want look no further than small town pools. The one in Ames was built by a family inthe 40's and eventually donated to the city. It's about 50 yds by 22 yards. There are still lots of little kids enjoying a flawless summer day with blue skies and no clouds.
The man in the lane next to me loaned me his pull buoy and I let him try my mp3 player that I use.
He saw my Superman cap and told me that he knows the current Superman, Brandon Routh, well, as they both come from the same nearby town.
Adult lap swim was from noon to one and now all the kids are in. We have been here an hour and seen only one other rider, as this pool is out of the way.
The pool is well represented by the usual caste of characters: the old thin man who is very dark and oiling himself self up in the sun, the heavy ladies, the cool high school girls and seemingly only one parent for every 30 kids.

Perfect Day

Today was a flat 55 miles. No wind. No humidity, low temps. And I was in 3 pace lanes most of the way, the last being behind a tandem at 21 mph for the last 15 miles. It was my best hour of cycling ever. Day 3 is always good. But I hit the campground at 9:15 and the truck wasn't even unloaded. But there is internet service and we are in a ladies yard that is several acres. There is now a gentle breeze and the property is spectacular.
Off to the pool.

camping

There's a train line very close to our campground and they blow the whistle constantly for several minutes as they go through town.
My sleeping bad is still wet from last night but the tent is dry.
The church here served 700 dinners tonight and could have served 500 more. The volunteers cooked at 5 huge grills for 8 hours.
Why do we all do this? For the people and comraderie. There are numerous granparents in this group and it may take them 10 hours to get through the day but they do it.
My biggest complaint is that I can't find anything in my bags at night. I never remember where I pack it.
The band downtown at the beer garder has finally finished.
Lance armstrong is supposed to be biking tomorrow with people who have raised over 1500$ for his foundation
Btw, some idiot around here is smoking a cigar!
Tomorrow night Lance will speak in Ames, and Styx will be playing. Tickets $5.
Hopefully it won't rain tonight.

dinner in Jefferson City

A nfl lineman lives here, a gold medal archery winner lives here and there's a 120 foot bell tower. Who knew. Tonight's dinner is at another church. Excellent bbq chicken cooked in front with baked potato, green beans and apple pie, a staple of every dinner here.
These cities know a year in advance that they will be on the route and do it up right. Particularly the churches, who feed thousands and bring good humor, hospitality and cheer to all.
It just stormed again, thunder and lightning for a half hour.
Tomorrow is an easy 60 miles. Looking forward to that.

day 2

The internet service in Iowa is spotty and sitting here at the smallest pool I do have service, so I am dropping
All my posts in.
Today was brutal. 85 miles of hills that kicked my butt. The first 55 miles were all up and down and then not so much. Met a nice person from texas at mile 20 and rode the rest of way in good company, stopping for a 15 minute lunch of an Iowa delicacy, a breaded and fried port tenderloin. Along the way we did see the tornado damage from last night. A metal silo twister and broken in pieces, trees down, etc. We were luck. Even corn field flattened.

Got in at 1 and headd for the pool with some new found friends, Rose and Bill.

another tornado alert

It's 2:30am and we are in the emergency shelter. The park rangers woke every one up with bullhorns and luckily I was sleeping with my bike clothes on. we huddled into a shelter for an hour until the storm passed. (And my tent was still there.) There was a little leakage but we were not hit hard.
At 3:30 we were allowed back. Slept for an hour and woke up and headed out for the hardest day: 85 miles of hills.

day 1

Day one was absolutely perfect.there was no wind, and no rain. And miracle of miracles it did not rain yeaterday night. Despite the lightning storm. And we count our blessings!
The first day was 65 miles and I started at 6 am after a restless night where I threw in the towel at 4 am and got up.I finished at 10:15 and headed for the pool, which was a great aquatic center. I saw people there that recognised me from last year. I sat there for 5 hours and dozed after swimming laps for a mile.finally found a good church dinner and called it a night at 10 after watching Tom down at least 20 beers. Yes 20. And we was still standing.

Tornado Watch

We are under a tornado watch and there is lightning all around us. Not too thrilling. I am sitting here in a church and I am surrounded by wonderful people, all looking to get out of any possible rain. We had to do this once last year too. Oh well, at least there is internet service on my mobile.the people in the bike club are a great group and range from 14 to 78. I met most of them last year. One guy comes from england every year.

The Boys on The Bus

Its like a college reunion. 100 people, most of whom know each other, but in some cases haven't seen each other since last year. I've already seen about 20 people I met last year.
It's a 3 hour bus trip to the Missouri valley, our starting point.Our group is the Iowa Valley Bicycle Association. Ast year was my first with them and I didn't know anyone, but this year its like being welcomed into the family after a year's absence.

I am a member of the IVBC, The Iowa Valley Bicycle Club. A friend's father is a member, Rene Weber -- and the people on this trip are the best! There are so many great people in this club and on this trip it would take too much time to describe everyone: There are two Tom's, one a truck driver, the other a RR Engineer, The Hunters, He's an attorney. Chris, the President. Tony, who does the logistics. Dana who coordinates this all, and is from Texas originally. Cody and his dad. Val and Gavin, Craig, Rose and Pat, Ray (he went to Law school with Bill Hunter). It's taken me a while to know most of them, as I was new to the group last year, but they have welcomed me with open arms.

Day Zero

Woke up at 4:30 and then very lightly dozed to 6 and finally got up. The excitement builds. Today is a transition day. Transport to the start.
My last night in a bed, wwith a real bathroom, for a week.
We start loading up in an hour. The man whose house I am in spent a lot of time with Obama when he was here campaigning before his big primary win, and introduced his at rallies in the district he represents.
I have noticed that while I have cell service almost all over, my mobile phone internet coverage is not always existent, so if my daily blog is absent that's the most likely reason.

Here in Iowa

FInally arrived in Marshalltown, A city about 50 miles northwest of Des Moines -- after a mind numbing 12 hours with just 2 splash and dash stops.
But we finally arrived at my new found friend's house -- a local politician, and fellow Democrat -- and most interesting man. It's been fun discussing politics with him and looking at his collection of political buttons from presidential campaigns for the past 50 years.
Tomorrow at 7 am the 100 of us will board two buses for the western border of Iowa and set up our tents for the first night of camping. An 18 wheeler will carry the 100 bikes to the start.
Every one has butterflies from nerves, including yours truly. The forecast is for rain on Sunday and Monday. Let's hope not!

on the road with the "serial killer"

So at last we are on our way. A 12 hour drive to des moines. I am catching a ride with a man I have never met, but is also doing the ride. A bike club put us together. My friends at work joked that he could be a serial killer. I told him that and he laughed and said that his friends at work said the same thing about me.in fact he"s a high school economics teacher.
We are staying with his college roomate tonight.
So settle back, only another 12 hours of driving.

T Minus One Day

Swam today listening to a mixture of Grieg and Bruce Springsteen. The latter was better to swim to. Born In The USA CD. The swim team was absent this morning, but my duck mascot was there the whole time and was a pain. He (she?) persisted in swimming across the pool instead of in lanes. Someone should net him and bring him to lake grapevine.

Read today that another rider was found to be drugging in the TDF. That makes 3 this week and is making a mockery of the race, yet again. And also making a mockery of the Versus TV network campaign about the tour which was a very clever series of ads that ran backwards and talk about taking the tour back from the bikers that drug, even showing the head of the TDF taking the winning jersey off of Floyd (the biggest liar in sports, next to Tyler Hamilton). But the campaign has backfired, as "we" can't go backwards here. The cyclists still drug. The whole team of Ricco withdrew today, but that solves nothing. Yet another mess in the Tour. Ricco came in second in the Giro in Italy last month. I have to believe he was doping there too, but not caught.

As Lance used to say, what am I on? I'm on my bike, how about you?

T Minus 2 days

OK, rest day today. The pool is closed for chemical treatment and I slept in because the All Star baseball game ran until well after midnight. And I also thought that I didn't want any risk of injury given the fact that my May trip to Italy to bike was canceled the week before with a pulled hamstring.
The excitement and tension is building day by day as we get closer to starting this thing (this despite the fact that on the second day last year, with my leg hurting and riding into the wind I kept saying that if my wife were to show up with a car and an offer to take me home I might have taken it). But my leg injury miraculously disappeared and I finished the day well and had my best day ever the third day, averaging over 17 mph for 75 miles. (Drafting a group all the way!)

T - 3 Days!

Swam today. Good swim. Featured artist was Grieg. Per Gynt Suite selections as well as his brilliant Piano Concerto which sounds just like Rachmaninoff composed it. It took 1/4 mile to figure out how to increase the volume but eventually I got it. The swim team was in a frisky mood as they drive to U of Texas tonight for a state wide meet at the Jamaal Pool in Austin -- where my daughter won her first diving meet -- 3 meter springboard. She was very sick with nerves before the meet and wanted to go home but I drove her back to the meet after lunch and she won.
Perhaps rest day tomorrow and then swim Thursday and drive all day Friday to Des Moines. Saturday the bus leaves for western Iowa and Sunday is the big day.

Messing With My MP3 Player

Today's swim started off OK (Although I was seriously thinking of sleeping in!) and ended a mess as I was fooling around with my MP3 player and accidentally turned the volume off and couldn't figure out how to turn it up so I could hear something. Eventually I gave up, did a few more laps and called it a day. Probably lost 2 or 3 minutes screwing around. Fixed it when I got home. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Pool is closed on Wednesday so that's my rest day, unless I decide to ride one last hour, which I am considering.

Final Tune Up Ride

Rode a labored 30 miles today, where every push of the pedal felt hard and took effort. The exact opposite of yesterday where my legs felt light and I could spin forever. Who knows why. The one bizarre aspect of the ride that while I did the same basic route as yesterday, and the wind was the same, if not stronger -- I was a mile per hour faster today than yesterday. Go figure.

About 7 miles from home I saw 2 cyclists approaching me from behind (in my mirror). I geared down to meet the challenge when they went by, and they did, at 23 mph -- with nary a wave or a hello. Both the 30 something man and then his powerfully built girlfriend/wife/training partner. She said nothing and never even looked my way. I gave up on them as there was no reason to ride with rude people -- and after they had a 25 yard lead I decided to catch up to them, which I did, but realised that biking at 23/24 mph was not for me so I let them go. But I was close enough to see the cellulite on her left upper leg!

Weighed in at 161, 7.7% fat and 58% water, as I tried to drink a lot out there. That's it for riding until next Sunday. Will swim the rest of the week and clean the bike.

Final Weigh In

For grins I decided to weigh myself after my ride today -- and I was at 161.4, 7.8% body fat and 57.8 % water. All good numbers, so I shall treasure the memory and not weigh in until after the ride.

Great Tune Up Ride

Having worn out my old saddle after 5 or 6 years, and about 25,000 miles, I put on a new saddle yesterday and figured I had better try it out before I go 450 miles on it. Was planning on doing maybe 15 miles but soon switched to 25 when I started.

Saw a bicyclist minutes after entering the road today, and he motioned to me to stop at the corner. I didn't recognise him and figured he mistook me for someone else. When he came around and stopped at the corner I recognised him as being from my old cycling group -- and actually the one reason why I no longer cycle with them. He was as pleased to see me as I him. And then my good friend Greg came up from behind me and I figured this was the morning's start. Greg was going to do 43 and the rest of the gang about 65. After talking briefly with Greg I pedaled away figuring they would catch me but in the first 6 miles they didn't.

I had put the whole bike group together some 4 or 5 years ago, but after a few years I realised that the chemistry between this one guy and myself was not good. And they were all too fast for me in any event -- and it was no longer fun, so I dropped out. Have found a really nice guy to cycle with a few times a week and he's the perfect partner, albeit about 20% faster than I am.

I times my 40 mile ride to end with Greg's 43/44 miles ride and it worked out to the minute as I saw him rounding the corner to his street in our neighborhood just as soon as I was.

We chatted for a few minutes as we cooled our legs down and then pedaled home. Nothing feels sore, but it might tomorrow so I am cautiously optimistic.I will ride tomorrow and then hang i up for the week until next Sunday when the race, um, ride, starts. As Dave Scott says, with a smile, when you get on your bike...it's always a race! (He should know. I think he won the Hawaii Ironman 5 0r 6 times or more.) I rode with him and the Saturday group from the local bike shop a few years ago.

More Laps, More Pain

Another day, another mile.
This winds up the week, as I will bike through the weekend.
Swam Monday, rested Tuesday/Wednesday and swam Thursday, Friday.
Not a stellar exercise week.
But I do believe my tendinitis has been caused by using only the leg buoy for the 30 minutes with no other kick, so my arms are doing 100% of the work.
It's always something!
And yes, our mascot, the duck was there again.

Swimming Tendinitis

It never ends!
Swam today, with swim team and duck mascot -- and can still feel the soreness in my right forearm that hasn't gone away in the past two weeks, and let's face it -- will probably not heal while I swim through it.
So now what?
Will probably still swim tomorrow and then bike over the weekend and see what Monday brings.
I am having a hard time remembering my last injury free day!

Second Rest Day

Would have swam today but the pool is closed so I will take a second rest day. Will swim on Thursday and Friday and bike on Saturday and Sunday -- but only one hour each day. Then I will rest the bike until Thursday, when I will do an hour. Will hope to swim next Monday, Tuesday and rest Wednesday. Next Friday will drive the 12 hours to Iowa and on Sunday the RAGBRAI begins!

Sleeping In

So I ended my 17 days in a row of exercise and slept in today. I can still feel my sore hamstring, which is not a thrill. I will also take off tomorrow, as the pool is closed for maintenance on Wednesdays when they dump chemicals in it. BAck in the pool on Thursday.

Watched a little of the TDF, but w/o Lance it's a bit boring.

Monday Swim

Day two of my self imposed rest and taper before Iowa. The full swim team was there this morning and I talked to the coach and the girl that had gone to the trials in Omaha. They both thought it was awesome.
And yes, my duck was back. Creature of habit. He did a few laps in my lane and then left, as apparently the commotion caused by 6 swimmers was distracting enough.
I followed the final blog post by the NYTIMES guy who did the Etape De Tour yesterday, and he finished the 105 mile ride in about 8 hours. 3 hours to do the first 60 miles and the rest of the time to finish up two major TDF climbs in the Pyrenees.
Will try and swim all week -- using the leg buoy, as I did today so I wouldn't tax my leg.

my new friend in the pool

Woke up without any pain in the hamstring, which is good. Wonder how tyson gay feel this morning. His hamstring pull yesterday in the 200 meter was disasterous. Shame. It will be interesting to see if he can recover in 5 weeks for the olympics.
I had already decided to not ride for the day and week, and rest my leg, so I swam instead. The pool was clean and clear, which was great, as a lot of days they have the chemical balance wrong and its cloudy, although it's a "salt" pool now, as they switched a few years ago from straight chemicals.
I noticed that a duck had joined me for my swim today from the lake next to the pool, and I was not pleased, as I am not a fan of injesting even the small amount of water that I do while swimming with ducks in the pool.
I tried to shoo him away by splashing him, but that was, obviosly futile. Water off this duck's back.
So I swam, finished and was doing my post stretching exercising when the duck paddled over, hopped out of the pool and came over to sniff me out.
I thought it odd, but was unsure of what natural preditors ducks have these days.
Then the duck nipped my toe with his beak, so I sprayed him with my water bottle. He didn't like that. I finished stretching and walked out, with the duck waddling after me. I walked to my car and he still followed me, and did so all the way to my car.
Will swim tomorrow too,

The Hamstring Issue Returns

Had basically 2 rides today. The first 90 minutes was wonderful, and caught some nice wind riding across a one mile dam at 20 mph -- and the second 90 minutes I could feel my sore hamstring and decided to "coast" in pedalling softly.

And out there on the road I decided to shut down my biking for a week. My fitness level is pretty much where I need it to be for the RAGBAI, so I'll rest the leg and see what happens. The RAGBRAI starts in 2 weeks from tomorrow.

Sandbagging

My favorite part of the ride today was mile 14, where there's a nice gentle downhill for about a mile (with one short hill in the middle) just before the 4 way stop at the entrance to my development; I asked my cycling partner to hammer it while I drafted him and kept asking him to go one more gear until he hit about 26 of 27 mph and we flew home. It was one great mile!

John had to peal off after our hour and I was going for another 2 hours. We'd picked up another rider, about 15 minutes into our ride, who caught us from behind and was content to draft us for the full hour, not wanting to ride ahead because he was unsure of the roads and just getting back on his bike after some years of not riding. He was certainly pleasant enough, although said little as John and I rode pretty much side by side for the hour with him right behind us. And he missed our hammering last mile dash as his drafting skills were not up to the challenge, or he felt uncomfortable doing so.

When John turned for home he joined me for the continuation of the ride, as I invited him along -- and he followed me and promptly sped up another 2 mph faster than the three of us had been going, and suddenly I was struggling to keep up. Mind you, if my leg was 100% I could have, but I couldn't see the point in risking injury -- so I kept my pace and forced him to slow up -- since I knew the way and he didn't. Thankfully he pulled off after another hour when he was in more familiar territory.

But clearly this guy had some decent ability. For a person not to have ridden in years, and just get back on the bike and do about 35 miles at 18-20 is pretty good, from my slow vantage point. He had told me that he was content to do 15/16 -- but he was clearly faster than that.

I finished today's 48 in good aerobic fashion, but can still feel the groin soreness and the hamstring soreness. Clearly doing 160 miles a week is not facilitating healing!

Today was the one month "anniversary" of getting back on the bike after my 2 month layoff. Getting back in shape.Slowly. And with the exception of the non-healing injury I'd say my fitness level is back where it typically is this time of year.

Etape De Tour

Swim was fine, although at 5:45 when the alarm went off I seriously thought about blowing it off and sleeping an extra hour.
But I swam.
Finished off Beethoven and a few Rossini overtures.
Read the ongoing blog in the NYTIMES about a recreational rider who has decided to train for 2 months for the Etape de Tour, wan annual event where amatuers can test themselves on a segment of the tour, typically one of the tougher stages (Etape). I believe they sweep the slower folks off as the real tour comes through in the afternoon. His blog is good and it's a stage I have always wanted to do, but figured my time would get me swept off. His ride is this Sunday, I believe.
Hoping to do 45 to 50 tomorrow and finish the week off at 160. And that will end my first month of training this year with week long totals of about 90,90, 145, 160 if memory serves me right. I will need to Excel this soon. That's about 500 for the month, which is decent. But only 2 more full weeks until Ragbrai, and I suppose I should taper off the last week.

Fastest Morning RIde

I'm almost 4 weeks back into my training and John and I had our fastest morning hour so far, riding pretty much side by side the whole way -- meaning there was no drafting involved on my part. The conditions were perfect, identical to Monday: no wind, no humidity and cool temps. We averaged 16mph. Behind him I might have done 17 or 18 today. With 50 on Saturday, 28 on Sunday and 30 so far this week I'm at 108 for the week and hope to do 50 on July 4th and end up with about 160 plus 2 miles of swimming.

Swimming to Beethoven

Actually the soundtrack to Immortal Beloved, so named because Beethoven penned a letter to a woman using that phrase. He was a solitary man with a bad temper, few friends, and constant stomach illnesses. He was constantly on the move, stole his nephew from his brother's widow in a long court case, and of course wrote some of the greatest music in history. He and Mozart are generally rated tied for first as greatest classical musicians.

The swim team was back this morning, although the coach and one of their girls is in Omaha for the Olympic trials. 200 meter breaststroke.

Was very dehydrated on my scale this morning at 56%. Either the scale is wrong or I need to hydrate more.