Las Vegas Baby

So here at the Tropicana, Las Vegas, without a bike I'm forced to workout at the gym. Rode the upright bike for 1 hour clocking 18.16 miles and burning 279 calories. Spent the time chatting with my friend and fellow Innkeeper, Dan Brown from the Swift House Inn in Middlebury, Vermont. He is an avid cyclist and has done quite a few long distance rides. He was telling me of all his war stories of when he fell of his bike due to weather or road conditions. His accounts of his rides reminds me of how dangerous cycling can be if you are not alert ALL the time. He also reminded me that biking 70 miles a day, I'll be burning over 2,000 calories. One of the hardest thinks for long distance riders is getting the correct fueling down so you don't "crash" or fatique out from lack of nutrition. Knowing what to eat before, during and after the ride is crucial to maintaining stamina and being able to complete the ride. It's Sunday morning here in Vegas. I went down at 6:15 a.m. to work out this morning, but the staff haven't arrived to open the gym yet, hence the post. More later...

Cyclists give and take...

 To all the cyclists out there in the Jackson Metro area, I want you to know I cycled Old Canton Road today and it's a rough ride for cyclists. If the City of Jackson wants to know where all the potholes are they don't have to send out a road crew...just ask us cyclists. In addition the cycling lane on Old Canton by St. Andrews middle school is covered in loose gravel just waiting for a cyclist to go down. Would sure help to get the street swept. A question for seasoned cyclists out there. Anyone know some good music to listen to that goes well with 85rpm cadence riding? My I-Tunes selection is so varied I find my self speeding up or slowing down depending upon the music playing. Another thing...anyone know a good charger for I-Phones while on the bike? Invariably my I-phone loses battery charge about 15 miles into my ride. This is not going to make it when I am riding 6 hours per day. I've heard about cycling chargers working off pedaling, but not sure if they're effective. Please chime in comments and let me know if you have any ideas.
Enough ranting...escaped during a slow lunch to get on the bike before leaving for Las Vegas. I'll be gone eight days, and all I hope to accomplish there (beside learning something), is breaking away from seminars and Board Meetings for a spin class every day. So I was able to get in 13.4 miles in 1 hr. 13 minutes today. Climbed 633 ft and burned 378 calories. Felt good all the way but the roads were really bumpy, potholes and gravel everywhere, which made it difficult along with the traffic. Stopped by Simon's gravesite in the Jackson Jewish Cemetery on the way home. I really think he's with me in spirit while I'm riding. IF YOU FEEL THE URGE, PLEASE CLICK ON THE DONATE  LINK, to you right, AND SUPPORT THE CHARITIES IN SIMON'S HONOR.
Thanks for reading...wish me luck in Vegas. Looking forward to seeing all my Innkeeping buddies at the Professional Association of Innkeeper's International (PAII) Conference. More later..........

Time...my biggest challenge

Well I thought my physical condition or age may be my biggest challenge to completing this goal, yet time seems to be the biggest challenge so far. As much as I have good intentions to get out and ride and train for this adventure....finding the time (minimum 2 hours per day) is proving to be difficult. I know it's easy to say just block out the time and go. But when you make comittments to go to State Assocation meetings in Olive Branch (2 days), and have lunch and dinner functions with Ambassadors from Hong Kong, and Legislators with Astronauts from NASA, and a busy lounge and restaurant, and employee issues, and...and...and...it's hard to find time. BUT, I am and will stay committed to this ride and to the charities and I will prevail!
After Sunday & Monday traveling and attending a conference, I did not work out. Yesterday I spent 52.25 minutes on the bike at St. D's biking 10 miles. Ave. speed 11.4 mph and burned 173.8 calories. I can tell I am getting stronger as I was not winded at all after riding almost an hour, and did not get my heart rate over 108 bpm. I plan on doing as much spin classes as possible over the next 10 days as I leave for Las Vegas Friday. More to come.....

Cycling in the Big City......

Well here it is 2AM on Sunday morning....after going to bed at 2:15AM yesterday, I woke up at 7:40a.m., assigned the staff their responsibilities and got on the bike by 10:00 a.m. Had a really good ride today and could have probably ridden further had I not had to get back to prepare for the evening functions at the Inn.
I rode from the Inn through the posh Eastover community of Jackson and then along Lakeland Drive to the airport junction and back home via Fondren. Some hilly areas in Eastover were challenging and some of the side roads were not too smooth, but beyond that I had good cadence and gear changing going on. I try to keep to a five minute mile. Those of you training and racing regularly probably think that's real slow, but the Surly Long Haul Trucker weighs about three times the aluminum bikes which slows you down. It does help on the steep downward slopes though. Weather was a comortable 57 degrees but still had to wear arm and leg warmers. Completed 21.1 miles in 1 hr 47 minutes at 11.8 mph average. Elevation was 1027 ft and burned 615 calories. So far in 2 weeks I've completed 113 miles on the bike and 26 miles at the gym.
The next two weeks are going to be challenging as I'm traveling. Off to Olive Branch, MS today (Sunday) for a meeting with the Bed & Breakfast Ass. of Mississippi. May take the bike. More later.......

Weather challenges...

So with all good intentions to go to the gym yesterday, my body just crashed. I thought maybe I was getting sick, but after a knap in the late afternoon I still felt tired and had flu-like symptons all evening. So today I woke up, shoveled 4" of snow off our guests cars in the lot. By 11:00 a.m. the snow was all gone and I went for a ride at 1:30 p.m. My intention was to do 30 miles to make up for yesterday. With all good intentions I headed south on the Natchez Trace and felt good. The wind was tricky as it was partly in my face heading South and partly in my face heading back north.There were strong gusts most of the ride and definately hit me hard on the return ride. I need to get more advice on the fueling (nutrition) for riding, because I definately hit a wall around mile 18. Got back to the starting point and decided to try and put in more miles heading north on a side trail. As I stoped at a junction to allow cars to pass guess what? Yep, I did it again. Forgot to step out of my shoe clips and fell sideways as I stopped. No injuries, just hurt my pride! Anyway managed to do 22.9 miles in 2 hours. Elevations were 1122ft and I burned 661 calories. With stops I averaged 11.5 mph. Temp rose to 57 degrees today but still was pretty chilly on the ride. More Friday...

Two for one...

Well you probably realized I did not post Sunday or Monday, so this is a two-for-one post. I took Sunday off and rested up after a pretty good first week. Yesterday (Monday) I hit the gym. Weather has been ugly now for several days and I wasn't ready to hit the rain & cold. Managed to get 10.7 miles on the bike in 46.12 minutes at an average speed of 13 mph and burned 171.8 calories. Did not do any weight training.

Today, Tuesday, braved the cold and rain and took the bike out to the Ridgeland trails. With 37 degree temperatures and steady rain, I chose to be careful and not go too fast given puddles of water, broken tree branches and stuff on the bike paths. Twice I spotted deer today. One doe by herself and two other doe with their young ones. Avoided the Natchez Trace as much as possible as I was cycling during rush hour. Had to quit about 5:30 p.m. as it got dark and I did not want to hit something and regret it later. Managed to do 16.6 miles in 1 hr 25 minutes. Ave speed was 11.7 miles and burned 484 calories. YES, I did remember to unclip my bike shoes before stopping and, therefore, did not fall of the bike today. The inclement weather did not bother me too much and I realized that English weather in May/June won't get much worse that what I experienced today (unles there are gale force winds).

Same weather forecasted for tomorrow.....stay tuned.

Michael warned me.....but.....

Had a great day (75degrees)  and cloudy, but the winds were strong out of the south at 15-20 mph with gusts over 25mph. Started on the Natchez Trace and headed north. Was going a good clip when I changed gears and my chain came off. I was able to get in back in just a couple of minutes and back on the Trace. Felt really good and went 11 miles before turning round and then the headwinds really challenged me as I was heading south. I also got a little sore in my left butt and that nagged me for several miles.I fueled up half way through the ride and hydrated well, so I felt pretty good at the end of the ride (compared to the other day). After 22.2 miles, I pulled into the parking area and that's when I had the ah ha moment. I hadn't released my bike shoe clips. Consequently, I just fell over. A couple of people asked if I was OK and I took a moment to figure our how to get my shoes off before getting up. Embarrasing moment!! Michael from the bike shop warned me about this when he did the fitting, but I was so excited about how well I did on the ride I completely forgot about it. That won't happen again soon. Took 1 hour 47 minutes to go 22.2 miles at an ave. speed of 12.4 mph. Burned 784 calories and climbed 1375 ft in elevation. Great views over the resevoir, with white caps on the water. Still contemplating my plans for Sunday..day off, gym or ride...we'll see tomorrow.

Fitting day....

So you probably noticed I did not post yesterday! Yes, I did work out. Went to the gym as it was pouring with rain (not quite ready to face that on the bike, although I know I will need to train in it, especially going to England). Yesterday rode 10.2 miles in 46.12 minutes. Burned 175 calories at an average speed of 12.9 mph. My heart rate didn't go above 115bpm. In addition, I lifted 14,785 pounds on various weight stations.
Thanks to Lindsay Downs who is now helping me with the blog site and a shout out of thanks to my sister-in-law Judy Gressel from Chicago who helped me get started on blogger.
So Jacqueline and Michael at the Bike Rack, here in Jackson, are awesome.They helped me get set in my bike shoes and fitted me for riding. Also gave me some pointers on fueling and cadence. Since I've been using regular pedals until now, I should notice a big difference tomorrow when I get back on the bike. Hope to take photos of the bike Saturday and get them posted on the site. Plan to get in another 20 miles or more tomorrow. Stay tuned.....

A cog in the wheel....

Had plans to work out at the gym today, but conference calls and functions at the Inn got in the way of my work-out regimen. Have to make up for it on Thursday. Since rain is forecasted all day Thursday, I will probably spend quite some time at the gym.

A Learning Day......

There's a reason in life why we train for things...today I learned quite a bit about cycling. I chose to cycle the Natchez Trace beginning at about mile marker 100 in Ridgeland. I headed south on the Trace soon to find out I was cycling into a 12-15 mile headwind. I did 5 miles and doubled back to where I started. Along the way I felt very good about becoming proficent on shifting gears, keeping my cadence and especially about my aerobic capabilities. I never felt winded all day. As I approached mile 13, heading now north on the Trace, I started to feel my upper and lower body get sluggish and stayed that way through the remainder of my 20.2 mile ride. I also learned that when going uphill, if you sit back in the saddle, you can gain more momentum and speed without feeling under duress. Traffic along the Trace was pretty steady, so I learned to stay close to the line and not waiver too much. The road was very smooth except for one small pothole along the way. Another lesson to always keep eyes on the road in front to avoid obstacles in the way. I hydrated well for the ride, but realized I had not fueled up beforehand (biking on an empty stomach) and did not bring any fuel (snacks) for after the race. Will not allow that to happen again. Completed the 20.2 miles in 1 hour 39 minutes. Averaged 12.2 mph climbing 1289 ft in elevation up and 1296ft elevation down. I burned 599 calories and had a maximum speed of 19.7 mph. Two hours later, I'm now feeling tired and a little sluggish. Will probably take it a little easier on Wednesday. More tomorrow...

Do you know a good B & B in the UK?

Worked out tonight at St. Dominic's Club. Spent 20 minutes on the bicycle doing 4.86 miles. Burned 120 calories at 101 rpm and got my heart rate up to 135 bpm. After cycling I did weight training on several stations lifting 14,820 lbs.

While on my adventure in the U.K., I plan to stay at B & B's and/or small Inns along my route. If anyone has any recommendations given my route, please do not hesitate to let me know. To date I have not booked any accomodations, but plan to do so before leaving for England.

Waiting on my bike shoes to arrive from Minnesota. Should be in this week.

Tomorrow I'm back on the bike probably trying out the Natchez Trace.....stay tuned!

Welcome to my blog! I hope to share with you the ups and downs of preparing, training, fundraising and  completing a 1,000 mile bicycle adventure from Land's End (England) to John O'Groats (Scotland) this May/June to benefit the Simon Sharp Eagle Fund.
So you may ask.....why is he doing this. Well, when I was visiting the UK two years ago, my brother-in-law Richard Stephens indicated he was training for LEJOG (Land's End to John O'Groats) otherwise known in England as the "End to End." I told him that I was interested in joining him on this journey. I contacted Richard recently and he has had recent health issues. I'm not sure if he will make the trip in May, but hope that he will be able to join me.
Regardless, I see this as a bucket list life changing event. I also thought it would be a perfect way to support the charities that we support in honor of my son, Simon, whom we lost five years ago to leukemia. I intend to pay for all expenses associated with the trip, so that ALL donations can go towards the charities. (Boy Scouts of America-Andrew Jackson Council) and (Blair E. Batson Children's Cancer Clinic in Jackson, MS). Hope to get the donation page up soon!!

So, having recently acquired my Surly Long Haul Trucker bike (and all the gear), I started training today for the trip. I'm anticipating training six days a week between now and the middle of May, to build the endurance necessary to complete the ride, (and hopefully also to enjoy it). I'm doing a combination of aerobic bike riding and weight lifting at the gym with long distance (in the saddle) bike riding. Depending on the weather and my work schedule, I plan to alternate these schedules. When I figure out how to load the info, you can check out my daily workout on my training page. Today, I cycled 10 miles in one hour, 4 mins.
at an ave. time of 6:24/mile, with 495 ft of elevations and burning 275 calories. Felt a little winded on the elevations, but no luckily no chafing and was pretty comfortable in the saddle.

Having grown up in the UK, I did some cycling when I was 10-14 yrs old. I remember cycling Exmoor in Devon and staying in a Youth Hostel. I learned all the words to American Pie by listening to a Juke Box all night. I am still able to sing the song from memory even today.

Stay tuned for future posts. Feel free to ask questions about my journey!