Just weighed myself at the gym this morning and I was at 162lbs with gym clothes and shoes on. I don't know if I ever that light even when I was running. I don't need to lose anymore weight, in fact, the last couple of rides and days I have felt pretty fatigued and weak. That might have something to do with all the gym workouts, bike riding and painting and stuff I have been doing in preparation for relatives visiting this week. If something is to suffer, it is usually my sleep, so I will probably take off a couple days. Saturday, I did a 24mile in town ride (Silver Lake Loop) followed by a 20mile group ride (Vinings Loop). I felt good on the first ride but hit the wall about 10miles into the second ride. It was hot and humid as it has been for the last two weeks, 90's and high humidity. I guess I did not hydrate early or as much as I needed. At lunch after the rides I felt light headed and exhausted. It took two days to recover from that one, but I think and hope lesson learned. I rode at Stone Mountain on Tuesday and did 20 hilly miles. Felt decent for this ride but I wound up passing some young experienced cyclist on the flats who was determined to catch and pass me and I was determined that he wouldn't. Anyway, youth typically wins in the end as it did here, on one of the steeper climbs at the end but I made him work really hard and I suffered because of it. All I can say is, it's a cycling thing.

Rode the Silver Lake group ride last night and although not quite as fast as it has been the two previous weeks, it was still plenty fast. There had to have been 60+ on the ride. I did a 5mile pre-ride so I wound up with almost 30miles total. I was pretty much spent after this ride.

Just got the itinerary for the Tour trip and it looks very exciting. Once I convert all the meters and kilometers to feet and miles I will give you the run down. I do know that one of the rides/climbs I will be riding is the Col du Tourmalet which is a very famous TDF climb with a lot of history. It's 18 kilometers from the base which based on my calculations is 11.16miles of climbing at an average grade of 6% (Ugh!!).

I will probably not do my 150miles this week, probably closer to 125 or so. The heat wave that came in on Saturday really knocked me down and it took two full days to recover from what I like to call my near death experience, 50 mile fast ride with 90 degree heat and high humidity. Normally I would try and do at least a shorter ride on Sunday but not this week. I didn't even want to go outside on Sunday let alone get on the bike. I did however do the Monday Nite Recovery Ride at Atlanta Cycling. We had about 80 people and it was at a fairly tame pace. I rode the Silver Lake AC Ride last night and it started at a blistering pace. I fell off the pack at about 6 miles along with others but finished strong and at over 18mph pace which is pretty fast considering the rolling/hilly terrain. Once again very hot and humid but it was only 24miles and I hydrated well before and during. No cramping this time.

Well, just under one month before the trip and I have started getting some stuff in order. Got the bike serviced. I'm adding a carbon handlebar and seat post that will reduce weight and hopefully some of the road vibration. I got a new rolling/duffel backpack travel bag that should work well for this trip. There is a lot of stuff you have to carry in cycling, clothes, shoes, helmet, gloves, hydration stuff, water bottles etc. and that is in addition to regular clothes for the trip. Cycling clothes can be washed out at night and dries fast so I will probably only take 2 maybe 3 kits. It's going to be hot there, but then again we are riding in the mountains so it could be cool up there, so I have to prepare for pretty much any kind of weather.

I've been watching the Dauphenie Libre and Tour de Suisse on Versus TV most nights. The Dauphenie ended last Sunday and the Tour de Suisse is on right now. It's a 9day stage race. Lance Armstrong along with many of the other favorites are riding it as a tune up for the Tour. It's ramping up to be a really good competetive tour this year.

Well, I am going to do the Decatur 20mile ride tonite and would like to go to the Gaps (north GA mountains) on Saturday. They are calling for hot weather (90's) again so even though the ride will be hard, it should be a little cooler up there and at a survive the ride, slow pace. So far, I'm right on track fitness and weight wise.

Good News/Bad News (sorta)

The good news is that gosh awful sound coming from my bike was the rear wheel free hub. My mechanic was able to clean it real well and re-grease it and I'm as good as new. I did need to put a new cassette (rear wheel gears) and chain on the bike as they had probably 3,000+ miles on them and were pretty worn. Mfg suggest changing them out every 1,500 miles or so. I got a pretty good deal on the parts and my mechanic didn't really charge me much. He also put new shifter cable ends on (mine were about to break) and cleaned, lubed and adjusted everything. I rode it again for the first time Thursday at Stone Mountain and everything worked well. It was hot, hot, hot and very humid. I only did 20 miles but looked like I probably had ridden a century (100 mile ride).

The sorta bad news is that I took Friday off after 6 straight days of riding and rode the Tucker "B" ride again today. I rode it for the first time last week and rode strong, so I was maybe feeling a little cocky or say over-confident. I rode my friend Richard's Ekko (independent fabricated) bike that is really awsome. It probably weighs about 2lbs less than my bike and has gearing set up for more top end speed. The Tucker Ride has been around for 20+ years. It's predominantly flat and rolling with a few not too long or steep climbs. It's a 45 mile ride. I ride to it from the house which makes it a little over 50 miles total for me. Anyway, most of the 15-20 people that were there, weren't there last week. There were mostly younger (30's) guys and a few very fit young ladies. About 5 miles into it, I realized that we were riding at a clip that I estimated to be about 2miles and hour faster than the previous week. That's all well and good five miles into it, but 30 miles (roughly an hour and a half) later it sucks big time. I held on till about the 32mile mark then just could not dig down any deeper to stay on the back and fell off. The other older guy, Alan who had ridden with me last week bailed out and headed home but not before he told me we only had a little over 15miles more to go. Richards bike does not have a cyclocomputer on it so I didn't know how far we had gone or even what the avg pace was. Today, that was probably a mistake. Anyway, at the 32 mile mark I reduced my pace and rode on into Stone Mountain Village where most people stop for a short break. At this point I was probably only a minute or two behind. I took a good 15 minute break and tried to regroup for the finish but did not feel very well. I just read in the paper that the heat index is 100 degrees today (93 high with 80+ humidity). I did another gu2o gel and drank some more of my hydration drink and got back on the bike and literally limped home the remaining six miles. I got off the bike and once I dried off and sat down in the lazy boy to rest I started to cramp really bad. Yes, I had pushed the limit today and it was not a pretty sight in the end, but I guess as they say; that which does not kill you makes you stronger. No more riding until Monday's recovery ride.

Rode 5 days this past week, probably around 150miles total. Funny thing, I rode the Decatur Group Ride on Thursday, flatted about 100yds outside Piedmont Park. Fixed my flat and continued on my way through the park and noticed people kind of scurrying everywhere. Next morning I read in the paper that they were having Screen on the Green (giant outdoor free movie viewing) and some punk kids started a big fight towards the back and some people claimed to have heard shots. Needless to say they stopped the movie about 15mins into it. Went from dodging cars to dodging bullets I guess (ha!).

On Saturday I did the Tucker Ride for the first time, which is one of the oldest group rides in the metro area. Correction, I did the "Baby" Tucker Ride. The B ride is for the slower riders. The A ride which leaves a half hour later is for all the hammerhead racers and such. Needless to say the B ride was at a 18+mph pace for the 50miles so it was just about right for me. I could probably do a B+ ride if there was such a one.

On Saturday afternoon we had our first Tour de France meet and greet so to speak and I picked up my bike box. We've got 80 people (cyclists and non-cyclists) going. I'm going Delta where most of the group is flying Air France, so I am sure I'll look like Barney Fife goes to NYC when I arrive about 3hrs earlier than most everyone else. I guess I'll hit the airport eatery for a little escargot eggs benedict. Actually, I think I'll pass on the EEB.

Went to Dahlonega yesterday for our second installment of mountain training, climbing the gaps, this time backwards. My bike had been making a kind of creaking sound and one of the guys who rode up near me, thought it might be a cracked frame. Oh great, just what I need, a cracked frame on my bike flying down the mountain at 30+mph for 5+ miles, oops!! there goes the handlebars. Anyway, I finished the first mountain climb got about halfway to the next and thought I better turn around and go back and have the bike checked out. I still wound up riding 31miles. Got home, cleaned the bike real well and couldn't see anything really. One of the water bottle mounts was a little loose, I tightened it and didn't really hear the creaking anymore. I'm still not convinced, so I'm going to ride tonite then have it checked at the shop tomorrow. I borrowed a friends bike that I can use while mine is in the shop and if the frame is cracked, I'll be fighting with the manufacturer for a new one. Stay tuned.