Like a leaf in the wind

Two weeks ago, Jenn and I ordered a new bike TT bike for her.  It arrived last week which meant she would most likely be spending a lot of time on "him".  Yep you guessed it, it's a boy.  Nope, I'm not jealous.

If you remember, 23 months ago (you can tell there is a baby in the house because all ages are communicated in months) I drove off after a ride leaving my front wheel in the parking lot.  Despite my attempts of having an Amber alert dispatched, it was never seen again.  The arrival of Jenn's new bike (name still TBD) meant there would be a set of matching wheels going unused inside the house.  I decided to switch them over to Le Antique for a ride or two.

The first ride on them was pretty rough.  Wind blowing me all over the place had me feeling like a new rider all over again.  I was a bit impatient when I mounted them up and didn't switch the cassettes over from my wheels to the new ones which lead to some chain skippage not only at the misopportune times but all the time.  Her used cassette didn't mate well with my worn chain.  Sad really but that's the reality sometimes.  Once home, I made the ole switch-a-roo and prepared for a ride the next day.

I now have three or four decent rides on them and I have to say, the new gear has me excited to not only get on the bike but once I am on it, the ride hasn't been long enough.  I just don't want to stop riding.  Like a leaf in the wind, I just want to cruise thru the air.

My Wish

As you all know, Jenn and I have been working alongside with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for the past couple of years.  Over that time, we have both gotten to know many fortunate people who have benefited from the research and treatment opportunities provided to cancer patients and their families by the LLS.  With all things in life, with the good comes the bad.  Thankfully, today I have no bad news. 

I recently watched a series on ESPN called My Wish.  They featured a story of a young man named Brendan who just like all of us had a sports hero growing up.  That is one of the two things he and I have in common.  The second is how we both pretended to be Landon Donovan while playing soccer in the backyard.

After watching the video, please help Jenn and I in our quest to help find the cure for Leukemia.  We are hoping to raise another $1300 by Sept 11th. You can help save another young boys dream by clicking this link and following it to the "Donate Now" button on the right. 

Three Thousand

The number 3000 has always had a significant meaning in sports, particularly cycling and baseball.  About 2 weeks ago, Derek Jeter reached the very select and illustrious 3000 hit club.  Not as amazing of a feat, I just noticed about the same time as he reached that milestone, I crossed over the 3000 mile mark for this year.  I found this to be pretty exciting because I haven't been chasing the long rides or miles which means only one thing, I have been riding my bike and riding it often.  In case you missed Jeter's hit here is the highlight video.  Sorry for not having video coverage of me crossing over the 3000 mile mark where ever it was on the road.  Maybe next year I will hire a film crew to follow me around, but probably not.

This past week was full of work, stress and riding.  It was nice that the stress only came from work and not from any particular ride or lack thereof.  In the end, I finished the week with a couple more than 250 miles.  It has been awhile since I got over 200 and today my legs are feeling it.

On Saturday, I started the morning off with a 4am wake up call.  After a quick breakfast and shower, I jumped on the bike and heading over to Westcreek to meet Jenn and other Team in Training members for the Silent Mile proceedings.

After the Silent Mile, a few of us headed out to Goochland and parts of Hanover for a nice leisurely ride.  Once back to the cars in Westcreek, I grabbed a handful of donuts which were left over from the Silent Mile breakfast, filled up my bottles and headed for home.  For the second ride in a row (Friday's ride through P-town) my feet felt like they were broken.  The pain made it quite undesirable to put any sort of pressure onto the pedals.  With the feet feeling the opposite from great, I just cruised home.  All in all, it was a great day in the saddle which leaves me full of confidence as to where my fitness levels are for the ADK540.