Monthly Archives: July 2012

Done with benchmarks, time to improve!

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First Sunday ride after returning from France, so what better to do than ride again the last Sunday ride we did before leaving? And, actually, the Wednesday prior to that.

Today’s ride, with Kevin-

Last ride prior to leaving for France (Bike Friday “test” ride), also with Kevin. The Bike Fridays seem to run about 10% slower on the climbs, but it’s not entirely a fair test we also loaded them down a bit with racks & bags (on my bike anyway).

Exact-same ride a few days earlier, on my Madone (like today). Just me that day; July 4th and Kevin was off paint-balling.

Obviously, I have a whole lot of comparative data! Weeks, months, years, even decades of the regular Tuesday/Thursday-morning ride, and then quite a few like this, often called the “Coastal Classic”. And, over the years, I’ve watched myself get steadily slower, at least past 50. I’d actually done pretty well in the run-up to 50, working hard to be in as good, if not better shape at 50 than I was at 35, and pretty much succeeded at it. But since then it’s been downhill, and not in a good way. My breathing issues have caught up to me, but soon that will be a thing of the past (once all testing is finished and they figure out the best therapy, as in drug, to open up my airways).

I’ve got enough benchmarks of the “old” me. Soon it will be time to start posting identical rides with a new trend. Faster times up the hills. Can’t wait!

Counting the days (until I can dope like the racers)

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It was tough to say whether a sub-par ride up Kings this morning was partly the result of knowing why I’ve slowed down over the past year or if it was simply a high-gravity day. Probably just a coincidence, and it’s not as if a 29-something time up Kings, when riding through the park, is all that slow anyway. Nevertheless, it did serve as that thing at the back of my mind that caused me to send an email to my doctor, asking if he’d seen the results of the tests, and wonder what the timetable looks like from here on.

So is the question as simple as it seems? My desire to go faster up the hill, and the knowledge that a drug (probably albuterol) that will reduce the effects of exercise-induced asthma will help, and now I’m pushing the doctor to get things moving along… am I much different from the healthy athlete who wants something to help him or her keep up with the rest of the pack?

Let’s face it, my exercise-induced asthma is exactly that. Exercise-induced. There’s nothing about it that hinders everyday normal activity. I have never had any sort of “attack”, just a feeling of being a bit more out-of-breath than I’d like when, say, climbing stairs or, heaven forbid, running for some reason. Big deal. But on my bike, trying to keep up with the faster folk? That’s when the hammer comes down on me. But even then, if I was content to ride at a more-moderate pace, it wouldn’t be that big a deal.

But for me, it is that big a deal. Wanting to push my limits on a bike has always been part of (perhaps a large part of) who and what I am. So much so that it drove me to visit a doctor, something I habitually avoid unless there’s a bone sticking out of my arm or something like that. Obviously, I’ve become highly motivated. To dope. :-)

The 44% Solution (my drug-free days coming to an end)

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This morning I may have seen the light at the end of the tunnel, the reason that I voluntarily set up a doctor’s appointment for the first time in 30+ years (“voluntarily” as in not a visit to fix something broken). That light came from a trip to Kaiser’s pulmonary testing lab, where my lung capacity was measured with, and without, “help.”

You’re hooked up to a breathing tube, your nose is pinched off, and you have a Doctor/Tech/Coach who’s telling you to breathe normal, breathe normal, breathe normal etc etc etc and then, at some random point, suddenly raises her voice and says “BREATHE DEEP!” followed by “EXHALE FAST! KEEP GOING! KEEP GOING! GET EVERY LAST BIT OUT OF YOUR LUNGS! DON’T STOP! KEEP GOING!” (and that “keep going” goes on long after you feel like there’s simply nothing left you can exhale, leaving you wondering what possible reason exists for the last 20 seconds of the exercise, but she insists that it’s important to keep trying to get rid of every last non-existant molecule of air that might still be in your now-collapsed lungs).

Waiting for the start of each breathe deep/exhale fast session is similar to the Drop Zone ride, where you’re sitting at the edge of a precipice, not knowing when you’re suddenly going to be dropped so fast that your stomach and mouth trade places. You try to anticipate, look for body language telling you she’s about to switch gears, but you can’t spend too much effort doing so because you need to have all the strength you can muster to perform the breathe deep/exhale ritual. And being competitive, I want to do as well as I can!

After going through this routine maybe 5 times, I’m then fed a new breathing tube, this one sending some sort of fine mist into my lungs. You breathe this stuff in & out normally for maybe 5 minutes (seems longer; it’s not very exciting), and then do the breathe deep/exhale session again.

Result? Whatever was in that mist improved my lung capacity by 44%. This is the most seriously-good-news I’ve had in a long time. Better life ahead through chemistry. Maybe I can stop wheezing on the climb up Kings in the morning. Maybe I won’t face the humiliation of having to get off the bike for a bit on a steep climb in France ever again.

But wait, there’s more! The woman running these tests? She’s a cyclist. She and her husband are totally into the Tour de France. She’s also a nut for Sunflower photos, of which, sadly, I have none from my most-recent trip. But the bike connection is real, and she’s going to get me set up on the V02 measuring bike, complete with EKG measuring. Basically a stress test and V02 all-in-one. Cool not just because it’s cool, but also because there are times when one wonders about mortality issues related to being 50+ and a stress test can identify all sorts of usually-correctable things that could cause issues.

So overall, I feel like the ordeal of having that thing I fear pretty much more than anything else, a blood test, which kept me away from Doctors for ages, may have been worthwhile. That’s how I feel today. Ask me after I’ve been through a colonoscopy, which is likely hiding out there, ready to show up any day now on my appointment calendar.

You’re not really going to ride tomorrow, are you?

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Arrived back from France around 9pm last night, and as usual, the usual question. “You’re not really going to ride tomorrow, are you?” No different from when it’s going to be raining heavily. “You’re not really going to ride tomorrow, are you?” There must be something pleasurable about the way those syllables roll of the tongue. Because I hear the exact same thing if I’m sick. “You’re not really going to ride tomorrow, are you?” My wife’s smart enough to know the answer before she asks the question, thus leaving me with this sudden realization that those exact sounds do something to strongly stimulate some center pleasure in the brain.

But I’ve been at this long enough to know that getting back into my normal routine, as quickly as possible, resets my clock. Which, in fact, it did. At least until about 10pm tonight, when it started feeling like the 7am it would be in France and my awareness was dimming quickly just as the sun would be expected to be coming up. And for me, there’s nothing more terrifying than staying up all night and watching the sun come up. Happened in college a couple times. Nothing scarier.

But it felt great to get onto my Madone and feel how lively it handled after 6 days on a heavily-loaded-down Bike Friday. And the nearly-perfect weather, maybe 62 degrees and moderately-low humidity as I started out… it’s good to be home. The air, the water, it’s the best here. And, to be truthful, it felt good to be liberated from a breakfast of french pastries.

Eric, Todd, Karen, Karl & Marcus… as usual, it seems like I’m missing someone (Keith!!!!). I did what I could on the climb, but didn’t have any real-time indication as I was riding, since I hadn’t located my Garmin computer after packing it (found it later, buried in a shoe in a suitcase). But since the ride doesnt’ exist if I don’t have evidence from cameras or computers, I used Strava’s iPhone app to keep track of things, and apparently rode up the hill in 27:38. I can live with that. And overall it was a pretty fast pace, getting us back to the start a couple minutes earlier than normal. And I barely lived with that!

Neither Kevin rode this morning; don’t know where the pilot was, but my son was sleeping in. He missed a good ride.

More photos from the last days of the TdF

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It’s bad enough that my son is killing me on the climbs. Looking at his latest photos (not those here; I’m going to post his later), he’s getting better at photography too! And I think I know why. I’m here in O’Hare airport (Chicago) waiting for the final leg home, and managed to snag a shower at the United lounge (long story; I’ll get to that later). They gave me a shower kit, complete with about 6 tubes of various lotions, including, of course, shampoo and body wash. Only one problem. I left my glasses with my son in the lounge area, and couldn’t read the labels. Seriously. Fortunately, the small bag I had my change of clothes in also had my pocket camera, so I took a macro photo, then zoomed in on the result so I could read the label. Again, seriously.

It’s going to be nice being home. The daily grind isn’t so bad, and it was quite clear that while I don’t mind being at the shop 6 days/week, that’s a talent/defect not shared by my wife or daughter, who are in serious need of relief. Me? I’m in serious need of serious sleep.

We stayed until the end… it was worth it.

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Details shortly; for now I’ve got to get a few hours sleep before catching a flight home tomorrow morning. Suffice it to say Kevin and I were in the right place at the right time when the riders did their honor laps around the Champ Elysees. Yes, they do come over when you yell to them, as you can see here!

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The present, past & future of cycling. Bradley Wiggins, Cadel Evans and Tejay Garderen.


7/21/12 Bradley Wiggins wins the final Time Trial in the 2012 Tour de France, sealing his victory. Cadel Evans, defending champion, conceded even more time, and Tejay Van Garderen at just 23 years old, comes in a remarkable 5th place overall. The scene was chaotic; half of the UK must have come across the chunnel in the past day or two to cheer on Wiggins, the first-ever Brit to win the TdF. It was not unlike the Lance Armstrong years, when thousands of Americans would invade France for a week or two in July. I came, I rode, I took pictures. Same as it ever was, but different. It’s time for the older to pass things on to the younger, and nowhere was that more apparent than on my rides in France with my son. First time I’ve been totally on the ropes and he was flying. It’s a good thing. Right? –Mike

On train to Paris, strange not on a bike

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We arrived in Lourdes last Friday, and since then have ridden Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. I was looking forward to today as a “rest” day, but y’know, even this wide “comfy” train seat has me squirming more than I would be on my bike.


Kevin is not just faster on the bike, but also much faster sleeping! 5 minutes and he’s gone. I wish.

Last big day in the Pyrenees… it’s all downhill from here

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That’s my ride. The last big ride in the mountains for us; Riding from Lourdes over the Col du Aspin, then nearly all of the Peyresourde before detouring up to Peyregudes, where today’s Tour de France stage finished. The afterward a mad dash down the mountain because we quite literally had a train to catch. More details soon, including how Kevin had quite the run-in with the Gendarmes, or at least one of them.

Tomorrow morning (Friday) we catch a train to Paris; this will be as close to a “rest” day as we’ve had. Then Saturday we take a train from Paris to the final time trial in Chartres, back to Paris that night, Sunday the final stage, and Monday we fly home. As goes the title of a Calvin & Hobbes collection, the days are just packed!

Epic fail on Tourmalet today

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Thankfully, most of the ride went fine, just the climb up the Campan side of the Tourmalet. An “easy” 100k ride to see today’s Tour de France stage, only it appears I have some issues when it gets really hot. Dang, I used to do pretty well when it’s hot, and I still do fine (better than fine, actually) on the flats and even into headwinds when it’s hot. But today on the Tourmalet, that was not my finest two hours.

Kevin had no such issues; he could ride at whatever speed he wanted up the hill. But starting at about 8k from the top, I was sweating more than normal, I was losing power, and finally had to do the unthinkable. Yes, I actually walked about a kilometer up hill.

At least I didn’t lose anything permanent, like Cadel Evans did today. Another 4 minutes off the pace, so there’s no way Cadel can even hope to make the podium in Paris this year. Me? I just lost face to my son, although there was some measure of redemption on the return when we hit quite a headwind on the gentle lower slopes of the Tourmalet, and I had quite a train of riders drafting behind me for quite a few miles. That, I’ll admit, was fun.