So, I picked a horrid time to create this blog apparently. In the aftermath of doing so, I went through that whole "get out of grad school, move across the country, and get a job" thing. Now that I've found myself in New Mexico with a postoc though, it's time to get started with a few things. It turns out that the people here are on average pretty sporty, so I'm expanding my exercise-related stuff to include running/trail running and hiking. Cycling is still my primary interest, but it doesn't hurt to have variety does it?
In terms of actual goals for this calendar year, they are pretty conservative with respect to cycling but pretty ambitious otherwise. Here's the breakdown for 2012:
9/9/2012:
Enchanted Circle Tour - Century
9/22/2012:
Pajarito Trail Fest - 15 mile trail run just across town.
10/16/2012:
Day of the Tread - Marathon
The century should be a decent way to see how I do with long endurance rides in this new climate (high desert is a very different animal than Michigan). Assuming that goes well, next May I'll probably try the Valles Caldera Double Cross which will finally be a legitimately nasty ride. In terms of training, for the moment it is coming almost entirely from commuting to work. I'll get the course profile up here at some point, but the vital stats are a round trip of 16.3 miles and 1k' climbing daily - so actually pretty legit for a mere commute. I have every other Friday off with my work schedule, and I'm looking into spending some of that doing "the loop" as it's called here (30 mile loop starting in LA, heading down to White Rock and back up again so you get some decent climbing). Again, I'll get the course profile up here at some point.
As for the running, I only started running regularly about two weeks ago (primarily treadmill miles since that works with the kiddo's schedule) which would be why I claim that the running goals are pretty ambitious. As it happens, there are 17 weeks between when I began running to the DotT marathon, and this training plan required 18 - perfect right? We'll see if I can make it - I'm not having any problems with cardio, just the specific leg muscles for running instead of cycling so in principle this is a tractable problem.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Ride of the Immortals!
Addendum to our crazy rides!
A must:
Ride of the immortals!
138 miles, 17,500' of Climbing
Epic
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Michigan Mountain Mayhem 2011
The first of our stupid rides was attempted on June 11. Michigan Mountain Mayhem (MMM)'s particular challenge is that the climbs are all relatively short, but comparatively steep. Therefore, throughout the ride the cyclist's tempo is continuously changing.
Our day began early, leaving the hotel at 6:30 a.m. to ride the the starting line. Torrential downpours caused the official start to get delayed, but our timing chips were able to be activated at 7:15 so we took off into the horrid weather. For the first hour, we kept up a particularly high pace simply trying to keep warm in the cold rain. The hills are mostly uniformly distributed throughout the ride, and there wasn't anything of particular note until we got past the 45 mile mark, where we hit one of the two notorious climbs of the ride - the optional "Super Hill" which, as it turns out, people were being ordered to not do because of the weather.
We of course didn't get this memo, and happily attempted this optional climb which tops out at 29%. All was well until about half way up, when Evan's rear hub self-destructed. Thinking he had simply dropped his chain and knowing I wouldn't be able to keep going on the bike if I stopped, I kept climbing. At the top I thought I had to wait an awfully long time for him to catch up... whoops. Not realizing what really had happened to his bike, we continued for another couple miles before another climb completely finished off his hub. Great sadness!
So I was left on my own with more than half the ride to complete on my own. For the next several hours, I attempted to find other riders who were interested in maintaining a moderately rapid pace like mine... and failed because the horrible weather made most of the folks near my fitness level drop down from the 200k route to the 160k. So, I was left trying to chase the legitimately crazy riders for the last 70 miles. Whee!
Fortunately, the rain stopped about half way through the ride. Nevertheless, my bike very emphatically informed me that it was unhappy with the abuse being heaped on it. None of my shifting was working properly after about the halfway point, and I had to periodically stop and tighten one of my crank arms which insisted on loosening. Despite that I was rather fortunate - a large number of riders had to drop out with technical failures on their fancy bikes / components.
Overall, it was a fairly epic adventure. The horrible weather certainly made life more interesting, and being able to complete it only a couple months after Oliver was born made it even more fulfilling. Because of the technical failure on Evan's bike, we of course feel that there must be a rematch some time in the future.
Our day began early, leaving the hotel at 6:30 a.m. to ride the the starting line. Torrential downpours caused the official start to get delayed, but our timing chips were able to be activated at 7:15 so we took off into the horrid weather. For the first hour, we kept up a particularly high pace simply trying to keep warm in the cold rain. The hills are mostly uniformly distributed throughout the ride, and there wasn't anything of particular note until we got past the 45 mile mark, where we hit one of the two notorious climbs of the ride - the optional "Super Hill" which, as it turns out, people were being ordered to not do because of the weather.
We of course didn't get this memo, and happily attempted this optional climb which tops out at 29%. All was well until about half way up, when Evan's rear hub self-destructed. Thinking he had simply dropped his chain and knowing I wouldn't be able to keep going on the bike if I stopped, I kept climbing. At the top I thought I had to wait an awfully long time for him to catch up... whoops. Not realizing what really had happened to his bike, we continued for another couple miles before another climb completely finished off his hub. Great sadness!
So I was left on my own with more than half the ride to complete on my own. For the next several hours, I attempted to find other riders who were interested in maintaining a moderately rapid pace like mine... and failed because the horrible weather made most of the folks near my fitness level drop down from the 200k route to the 160k. So, I was left trying to chase the legitimately crazy riders for the last 70 miles. Whee!
Fortunately, the rain stopped about half way through the ride. Nevertheless, my bike very emphatically informed me that it was unhappy with the abuse being heaped on it. None of my shifting was working properly after about the halfway point, and I had to periodically stop and tighten one of my crank arms which insisted on loosening. Despite that I was rather fortunate - a large number of riders had to drop out with technical failures on their fancy bikes / components.
Overall, it was a fairly epic adventure. The horrible weather certainly made life more interesting, and being able to complete it only a couple months after Oliver was born made it even more fulfilling. Because of the technical failure on Evan's bike, we of course feel that there must be a rematch some time in the future.
Hello, World!
So the point of this blog is to track the shenanigans of the two Brothers Mosby as they endeavor to complete a lifetime goal of participating in as many stupidly-hard cycling events as possible. A preliminary list of events under consideration:
California:
Death Ride
Davis Double
King of the Mountains Challenge
Solvang Double
Mulholland Double
Tour of the Unknown Coast
Heartbreak Double
Tour of Two Forests
Terrible Two
Solvang Autumn Double
Colorado:
Triple Bypass
The Grand Loop
Denver to Aspen Classic
CO Death Ride
Michigan:
Michigan Mountain Mayhem
Naturally, being a blog this will be a living document. The ride list will undoubtedly change, and the posts will cover training and other topics over the course of the next multiple years. It's going to be fun!
California:
Death Ride
Davis Double
King of the Mountains Challenge
Solvang Double
Mulholland Double
Tour of the Unknown Coast
Heartbreak Double
Tour of Two Forests
Terrible Two
Solvang Autumn Double
Colorado:
Triple Bypass
The Grand Loop
Denver to Aspen Classic
CO Death Ride
Michigan:
Michigan Mountain Mayhem
Naturally, being a blog this will be a living document. The ride list will undoubtedly change, and the posts will cover training and other topics over the course of the next multiple years. It's going to be fun!
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