Riding For A Reason

yesterday was quite an experience! We climbed another mountain, literally! It was very challenging, with over 100 switchback turns, and an average grade of 6.5 for 7 miles...The views were incredible! The good news was that we got to defend after the peak.  The road was very twisty.  We reached speeds of around 40 MPH on the way down. It was terrifying and excillerating at the same time. We stopped in a great little town called Jerome and ate at the Haunted Hamburger. The food was great and the company better!  One of the riders got a nice surprise, her husband flew out to be here for the last day! After lunch we continued to defend into Cottonwood, where we stayed. One of the riders, whose father recently passed from Myeloma, held a lovely toast the celebrate his Dad’s birthday.  It is odd how you can be so excited about the accomplishment of the ride, and then very quickly be reminded of what this is really all about. Finding a cure so Fathers and sons can sh...

Today was CRAZY! 100 miles in 110 degree heat, and only 1 turn!  We passed into Arizona today, which was very satisfying.  It is really hard to ride in this heat. Nothing can prepare you for it.  The support team is going through 300 lbs of ice per day, trying to keep us safe. It is quite the experience riding a bike on the interstate with cars going by at 80 mph... I have been having saddle sore issues, which are NOT fun.  I had to wear two pairs of riding shorts just to get through the 100 miles...who knows what tomorrow will bring. At least we begin to move into the mountains, so we should get some relief from the heat...but that also means 6100 feet of climbing...my legs are threatening to go on strike!

Holy Hot Batman! The last three days have been the hardest combined thing I have ever done.  Today was a 110 degree day that started with a steep 12 mile climb. I began to show signs of heat exhaustion, so I was pulled off the course for a little bit, but as soon I was cleared to ride, I started again.  There are so many people who are inspiring me on this ride. I have no idea how the patients are making it through! This is not a “tour” this is a CHALLANGE! Mental, physical and emotional. Day 4 will be the hardest yet, with temps reaching over 100 again, and more climbing, and over 110 miles...I thought the desert was supposed to be flat!  I hope at some point I can stop to take a picture!

Hello! Sorry for no post or pics last night...I was too busy trying to keep focused on the task at hand.... We had a really rough start to the day.  We began with a 6 mile climb at a 7% grade.  It was the hardest climb I have ever done. The good news was, that was most of the climbing for the day; the bad news was that the wind started on the other side of the mountain.  Paul and I hung back with a bigger pack and tried to help pull them through the wind.  The group started to fall back, so the tour company put them in a van to catch them back up.  They gave Paul, me, and two others the option to try to catch up on our own... What came next was challenging and exillerating all at once.  We fell into a pace line where all of our wheels were inches from each other and maintained a 20mph pace into a still headwind for 13 miles.  We caught up on time, but we're really rushed at the rest stop. We would have never made it if Howard, a rider from Cr...

Today was the start of the actual riding...WOW! There was a lot of excitement at the beginning with a wheel dip in the Pacific and then a pretty impressive climb up a big hill.  The route took us through a TON of stop lights.  It was hard to get any kind of  rhythm going... My power meter battery died at mile 5, so I wasn't able to pace myself well...Paul and I were in the front group most of the day, but at mile 50 I started cramping pretty bad...I spent a little (or a lot) more time in the rest stop (SAG) than normal..I had to cool my core body temp down.  As we pulled out and started to climb, my legs seized up again...I really thought about calling it a day, but after slamming down a V8 and getting a new battery for my power meter, we moved on...plus, I couldn't let Paul steal all the glory... As long as I didn't push too hard, my legs behaved...we ended up finishing strong. After a much needed shower, we went next store and chowed on some great Medite...

Today was all about getting ready for tomorrow. We all met in the lobby at 7 AM and rode down to the ocean to do a dry run for tomorrow's wheel dip.  It was a nice 10 mile ride along the ocean to get there Paul and I had more pictures taken than either of us are used to... When we got back to the hotel, we had interviews  for the web site, and then we had some lunch.  This afternoon we will have our orientation by our tour company, CrossRoads, which should outline our daily routine over the next 7 days...tomorrow is 78.8 miles tomorrow and around 3000 feet climbed....here we go!

The journey begins! 6:00 AM came earlier than normal today…maybe because of My birthday celebration going a little long, or maybe because I knew I was getting on a plane in a couple of hours…I'm typing this as I fly across the country to LA.  Have been spending my time between watching movies and reading a book that I received for my birthday…the book is called “Tomorrow We Ride” and it is a true story about two brothers who were also professional cyclists….I have two hours before I land, so I’ll continue the post later. Reunited (and it feels so good....) is it odd that I had some separation anxiety while I shipped it?   Met up with Paul Avery at the airport and we headed to the hotel.  I lost my tail light somehow, so we had to go get another one....we had the stellar idea to walk 5 miles in the 90 degree heat to the nearest bike shop...at least I got the blood flowing! We are planning on heading down to the beach for dinner...will try to take pics

I am only a couple of days away from starting the trip...it has been challenging preparing and packing and training, while still trying to stay on top of work.  That is on top of the kids staring school next week... I got the GPS files for the rides and had a chance to look at the elevation change...the last two days have about 9000 feet of climbing over 100 miles... I had a similar climb in VT, but it was the first two days, not the last two...I did my last hard climbing day today to prep.  I will just spin down over the last couple of days.  I have tomorrow to get the rest of my ride prep done, and then I get to enjoy my birthday with my family before I leave. I had a few more people make generous donations today...I would never have thought that $15,000 would be a reachable goal, but I’m honored that people got behind me and supported my effort!

A week from today, I will be riding through California on the way to the desert!  It is strange that I feel so lost trying to train without the bike I am going to be riding... I shipped it last week, so I have been on my mountain bike in the interim...The family and I took a nice ride on the bike path along the Delaware River this Saturday.  It was nice to get to share time on the bike with them.  We stopped for lunch at a little store along the path.  I think the boys got an appreciation for how hard cycling can be. I am not in the process of getting ready to pack.  I leave on Friday, and have a busy week at work.  My birthday is on Thursday, so I won't have much time to pack then, so I will have to get my things together early in the week. I have to get all of my stuff in two small duffel bags!  Clothing wise it won't be a problem, but there is so much cycling gear to transport! The fundraising is still going well!  I have started to try...

OK, I know it has been awhile since I have posted on this blog...my bad!  I wasn't sure if anyone was reading it...however, since I am only 9 days away from starting the ride, I will begin to ramp up my communication. So much has happened since my last post...somewhere along the way, I became a legit cyclist!  I have been through more equipment, become an expert on Strava, learned about ride nutrition, and met many amazing people... I am going to focus this post on the last training ride that I went on last week.  I was blessed to have the chance to ride in the Vermont Challenge with 4 of the people who are going across country with me.  Two of the riders actually have multiple myeloma!  It was one of the inspiring 3 days of my life. L We all rode the 70 miles course the first day.  We also climbed around 3000 vertical feet.  I didn't pay attention to my power meter (cyclist lingo) and went out too hard.  By mile 50 I was cramping pretty ...

I am finally building up the miles...virtually.  I finally got all of my technology working and have been hitting the bike.  I have to admit, the CycleOps Magnus is a great training tool.  I am using the CycleOps Virtual Training Software and finding that it is challenging and entertaining.  It has a nice balance between "real world" rides and specific training workouts. For example, the other day, I had the chance to ride the first leg of the 2017 Tour de France!  I had the video playing through my apple TV on the big screen TV in my basement, and I was pedaling the streets to see how quickly I could finish the time trial.  We won't go into the details of my performance (you can follow me on Strava for the scary details) but it gave me a sense of accomplishment that I have yet to feel on this bike.  The next day I was able to do a 60 minute interval workout, which pushed me to improve my cardio conditioning. Since I don't really have the ...

Ok, most of the people that know me would call me a "gadget guy".  So one would think, with all of the cool new tech available for cyclists that I would be in my glory... I bought a "smart" trainer, bluetooth cadence, heart rate monitor, Magellan Cyclo315 computer, and a Zwift membership. Problem 1. If you buy a bike with disk brakes, you need to buy an adapter before you can put your bike into ANY trainer.   Problem 2. The width of the adapter is more important than one would think....The first Smart Trainer I purchased, the Tacx Vortex Smart Trainer was too narrow for my bike, even after two different adapters were purchase.  I sent the trainer back and went into my local store and bought the new CycleOps Magnus smart trainer.  This one is just barely able to fit my bike, but at least I was in business. Next was to get the trainer to talk to all the peripherals....The cycling computer deserves its own blog with the issues it posed, so I will s...

So, things are moving along nicely.... I finally got my brand spanking new, amazing, and beautiful bike delivered on Friday.  Then I find out that it has a thru-axle on the back tire, and won't fit on my trainer....(that I just spent $550 on).  The good news is that you can order a conversion axle that will fit in the trainer.  Waiting a couple of extra days wouldn't have been that big a deal, I could have just bundled up and ridden outside....However, winter storm Stella has promised to deliver a large amount of snow over the next couple of days, which would make that prospect messy...and dangerous. So here I sit...23 weeks before my ride...with a great new bike....hi-tech trainer....new cycling computer (I will review in a later blog), new shoes, and absolutely no way to use them!  So I guess it is back to my spin bike for the next couple of days...I'm sure there will be times through this process that the prospect of getting on my bike will be a painful th...

What a week since my last post!  I have literally been half way around the world since the last entry.  I spent last week in India, at the International Myeloma Workshop.  There was a lot of good data presented around new data for the treatment of Myeloma.  When I returned on Saturday morning (I landed at 4:00AM) I got in the car and drove to VT to ski for the weekend. While I was there, I ordered a "Smart Trainer" so I can begin to put some time in the saddle, even before the weather breaks....  Due to my schedule, I think I will need to train indoors during the week, and do my long outdoor rides on the weekend.  I ordered the TASCX Vortex Smart Trainer...I will write a review as soon as I have put some miles on it. My bike should have been delivered last week, so I am hoping to pick it up tonight. Not that I needed another reason to ride to raise money for Cancer, but we got some really bad news this Sunday.  My wife's dad let us know that he h...

I ordered my Bike on Friday Night!!!! It is the Specialized Roubaix Elite...  I was between 3 bikes: the Cannondale Synapse 105 disc, the Specialized Tarmac, and this beauty... I was amazed at how different they all felt.  I have a bad left hip (I need to get it replaced eventually) and also a bad right shoulder (replacement needed there also).   I was only looking at the Roubaix and the Cannondale, but when I walked into the store, the owner, who rides all the time, told me he had a 2016 Tarmac, in my size, that I could get a good deal on.  Those of you who know me appreciate the impact of hearing the words "good deal"...  I really wanted to like that bike... Review of the Tarmac:  Really Fast!  It was very responsive, almost to the point of being skittish...I am a mountain biker by choice, so going from a fat boy to this lean, mean speed machine was an epic leap...I was stressed just trying to keep it on the road.  It wa...

This past weekend was the turning point in my seasons.   We had an AMAZING 5 days in the mountains of Vermont, tearing up the slopes.  However, it looks like the weather is changing and the skis will need to go away shortly...I guess God wants me to focus on my riding and not my mogul skills.... So, today I did my first two-a-day...I rode for an hour this morning before work.  I tried to keep in the 85 RPM and 145 heart rate for the entire hour...goal: to begin to get used to being in the saddle.  This evening, I did an hour spin class, focusing on interval work.  I have a feeling that A lot of my training will be done indoor, either on a trainer or a spin bike.  I only have time to train when it is dark out (except the weekends), so I need to make the most of it. I have still not purchased a road bike.  I am getting a little irritated.  I know what bike I want, the Specialized Roubaix, but my local shop can't get it in stock...I don't want to...

"Reaching for the Stars", and "Daring to Dream" have always been slogans that I can get behind...My life has always been about striving to reach for something that my rational mind would not find possible.... For example, I thought that the hardest part of this journey would be to raise enough money to have an impact on MM research.  The program set a goal of $7500.00, which I thought was going to be a stretch...I would need to get 70 people to give over $100.00 each in order to make that happen. 5 days after agreeing to ride, very amazing and generous people have donated over $10,000.00 to my challenge!  I am overwhelmed by the hearts of these people.  I believe that God gives you opportunities to do things, and then, if you accept, blows you away with the results.... This challenge started out with me questioning if I could even do the ride...I was diagnosed with severe hip arthritis last year, and I worried that the the wear and tear would be too much....

So, I text one of my best friends, whose mom died of MM last year.  I was originally just wanting to ask him if I could dedicate my ride in her name.  As we were communicating back and forth, he asked about being able to ride with us.  I wasn't sure it was possible, since I thought I was the final spot on the team, but I told him to apply and see how it goes. He got word this weekend that he was accepted as part of the team!  I think it will be great being able to take on this challenge with a long-time friend.  He and I live in different parts of the country, so it will be a long-distance training situation, but I am sure that it will increase both of our motivation. Funny thing is that he doesn't have a road bike either! To that note...My family and I were force to come home early from the mountains this weekend, due to a pending snow storm....While the skier in me was really disappointed I was driving AWAY from great snow, the rider in me saw a chance t...

So, I set up my donation site last night: endurance.themmrf.org/MMyRide/Forbesfam.  I was thrilled to see, when I logged in this morning, that I had already gotten two donations!!! I want to thank the two people who got the ball (or wheel in this case) rolling for me!  It is funny how from the time I was selling things to raise money for school trips, to now, my Mom has always been one of the first people to sign on...Now I just need to get the rest of my friends, family, and acquaintances to buy in.  The good news is that there is not a goose egg in my donation column anymore! I have decided to collect of list on names of people who are either fighting MM or have lost their battle, and carry them with me as I train and eventually ride in the event.  It will be my way of giving tribute to them.  If you have any names you want me to include, please let me know and I will add them to my list.  Depending on how many I get, I want to put them all on one of ...

Today I decided to do what I can to help patients with Multiple Myeloma.  Even though I work as a marketer on a drug to treat Multiple Myeloma, I wanted to make it more personal. I have the opportunity to raise awareness and funding for Myeloma research by riding a bike from Los Angeles, California to Flagstaff, Arizona.  I am supposed to raise $7500.00 for the cause, but I would really like to blow that goal away....first things first....I need to buy a bike. I will be documenting my journey as I prepare for the ride on September 2, 2017.  I hope you will join me on my journey! Feel free to lend me moral (and financial) support along the way. I hope you enjoy the ride.