Can't keep a good man down...
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Tuesday, 09 September 08 - 10:14 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Biking |
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Have you seen this? Wow. I, for one, will be cheering very loudly for his hopeful success:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6A-Qsbau4RcCI-YEdg49dlhCUEgD933DT9O0
Another challenge....done...
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Wednesday, 27 August 08 - 02:18 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Biking |
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I declared back in April that this would be the Summer of 1000 miles, on my bike, and then capping it off with a Century ride in October.
I haven't quite hit the 1000 mile mark yet (I am over 1/2 way though), but plans changed slightly, and I signed up for a century ride that I completed this past weekend. Yes, you read that right, I COMPLETED this past weekend.
So, the first question everyone asks is "how was it?" Well, let's give a little synopsis:
Saturday evening, drive to location to make sure we know where to go Sunday morning. My friend Brian and I went together. "We can do this! Eye of the Tiger!"
Saturday night in hotel - "Man, this is going to be hard, but we can do it!"
Sunday pre-ride - "We are PUMPED! Let's do this!"
Mile 1-30 - "No problem, a little tired, but we can push through, we've ridden 60miles each of the last two Saturdays" "Let's make this an annual tradition!"
Mile 44 (after realizing a large pack of cyclists, including us, made a wrong turn) "No problem, when we get back to the next support station we'll figure out how to make up the miles to hit 100. We're almost 1/2 done!" "It's hard, but we can see ourselves coming back year after year"
Mile 58 (after lunch and a break) - "Starting the last loop. We got this in the bag - push through!"
Mile 59-75 - "Whoever said Nebraska is flat has clearly never seen this road" "OUCH!" "We're never doing this again!"
Mile 76 - support station - group of cyclists figure out the course is measured wrong and we have 30-35 miles left instead of 25. Not good from a mental standpoint.
Mile 77-83 - "Is this a friggin FREEWAY we are riding on?"
Mile 83-100 - "These Nebraska people aren't very friendly!" We were on a narrow 2-lane road with no shoulder that was being used as a detour for the Freeway. Let's just say the locals weren't happy to have bikers in the way and they let us know it. Oh, and just for fun, let's add a 15mph headwind. "If I don't get off this bike soon, I'm going to hurt someone!"
Mile 100-104 - straight uphill. "I don't know if I can make it, my legs aren't moving" "I think I can, I think I can"
Mile 104-105.87 - downhill coast to the finish, collapse off the bike.
Post ride - sun burn, blisters, heat exhaustion, cramps. "Should I throw up or pass out first?"
1 Hour post ride - "I think I can feel my legs again, but they don't move properly. Maybe we should gorge ourselves on cheeseburgers and fries"
4 hours post ride - back home, stuck in the recliner "I can't move, I'm never riding my bike again, I should have left it in Nebraska!"
1 day post ride - "Every part of my body that moves, and some that don't, are in excruciating pain. Next time I do 100miles I'll do it differently"
2 days post ride - "I can actually move most of my body again, with only regular pain. Wonder where there is a 100 mile ride with better roads and flatter course?"
So, the story goes. It was hot, windy, HILLY, poorly managed event, bad/dangerous roads to ride on, and they measured the distance wrong! But....I DID IT! I completed a century ride and here is my proof:
Yes, I know the picture is blurry, but in my artistic touch, that was to represent how I was feeling...foggy, hazy, blurry and exhausted. Ok, truth be told, I was just trying not to pass out when I snapped the picture on my cell phone.
I don't know how soon, if ever, I'll do a century again, but it's another challenge that I put before myself and overcame!
What will next year bring?
The summer of George!!
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Sunday, 20 April 08 - 07:10 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Biking |
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There is a hilarious "Seinfeld" episode where George declares "The summer of GEORGE!", meaning, it's all about him and what he wants/doesn't want to do during that particular summer. At one point he brags to his friends that he was "eating a block of cheese the size of a car battery!"
Well, my summer declaration isn't quite so hilarious, but fun nevertheless...
Recall that last year, I declared the summer (actually the whole year) to train for and compete in a triathlon in memory of my Dad. Actually, the impetus that started this whole blog. Going into it, I wasn't much of a runner, I didn't have a good bike, and I didn't know how to swim. But with sheer determination, and a strong will gifted to me by God, I completed my first ever 8k, a duathlon, a team triathlon, various 5k's and capped the year with my solo triathlon. I did it!
Liking the idea of a big challenge every year, the 2008 goal was to run a 1/2 marathon. But, with another knee surgery now behind me, not sure this is the smartest goal. So, off I went to find a new one. Here it is. Un-veiled the first time publicly (and that is my accountability to push toward it):
The summer of 1000 miles. On a bicycle that is.... Between today and October 19th (there is a bike ride on Oct 18th I plan to do), I will attempt to log 1000 miles on my bicycle. I have no idea at this point if that is aggessive, too easy, too hard, will my knee hold up, etc...but I'm declaring it anyway.
What if I can't do it? That's ok, I'll try my best. The same theory I had for the triathlon. Reaching, or not reaching, the 1000 miles will not be a measure of success or failure for me. There are several bike races (I'll treat them as rides, not races) between now and then that I hope to compete in, each with varying distances. Those will be my milestones. I'll cap it off with the closest thing we have locally to a century ride (100 miles in one day) on Oct 18th.
Success will be measured by giving it my best effort, knowing I did my best.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
--Vince Lombardi
We'll see you along the (bike) trail.
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