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Monthly Archives: September 2011
Exciting News….finally!
Well here is an unexpected pleasant bit of news (for me); I had a really good ride!
As you may know from my previous entries, I have been struggling BIG TIME with my cycling. My mind remembers my previous fitness level and how capable I was at all sorts of things. Climbing, sprints, long distance…all of it…I was good once. And for a cyclist to suffer during a contest or training ride is expected. And I was pretty good at that too! Ride to the pain, then ride through it….made me a better rider, it did. But that was then. My NOW? My body rebels at the mere <i>thought</i> of going faster, harder, or longer. I suffer, but that’s about it.
Yes, the suffering has been great, and I still know how to get there, but the results have been pretty much the same. Every ride begins with me hoping for a shred of evidence of my past strength, but ends with me wondering when something good is going to happen. Every. Single. Day.
I saddle up and struggle to get comfortable. Then it is SNAFU….and nothing to report. Oh sure, there is an occasional glimpse of power like when I tuck into the TT position and TRY to go fast. But that always ends with my heart POUNDING like a drum during the High School fight song, sweat pouring down my face like someone dumped a bucket of water on my head, and my legs SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER to stop or at least slow down. Dutifully I wind it down and plod the rest of the way to work or home. Every day. And you know wut? It’s getting old!
Yesterday’s Ride
Which is why yesterday’s ride was so much a pleasure that I am pounding out this note. First, I took the sunrise photo….wait a second, that was a little later in the ride. First, I had a nice little warm up…..no wait, that was before I realized it was going to be a good day! The first thing I did was…wow, I’m writing myself into a corner. Back in a sec…..
Much time has passed. Cup of coffee in hand, a Saturday morning happening all around, and a clear mind. OK, here is how the ride happened; I started the day off at 5:30 am with a shower, got some breakfast and pondered the day. The weather has been trending hotter and hotter until yesterday when we actually busted a hundred degrees. So it’s been hot. I’ve also been having trouble with my weight. After 9 months of being off the bike, I gained 16 pounds. This is understandable (not acceptable, but I’m past that). So after being ON the bike for almost three months, I thought I might have some success to share. Alas, that is not the case, as I am down only 6 pounds (might be the beer, or my darn sweet tooth…don’t know for certain). Anyway, clocking the scale at 186, I am still carrying 10 lbs. too many. So I’m working on that too.
But I stopped after my morning cereal and thought, “today is going to be a good day”. And way back in the 80’s I learned from Jack and Gary Kinder, “If it is to be, it is up to me.” So what happens today is my fault. I can make it or break it. Today is my day. It’s up to me.
So I got in the closet and dressed for success. Instead of riding shorts, I put on my bibs. These provide excellent comfort and do not allow any chafing in the seat area. They also wick away moisture really well and just make for an all around better feeling outfit for a long ride. And today was going to be that 18 mile ride in to work and eighteen mile back home; with the return during the 100 degree sunny afternoon. Comfort would be important.
The day got going with some really good energy, a good vibe, and some hope for a good ride. I was a little late out the door so I decided to cut corners if I could. Having shed some demons by giving myself a little pep talk is a good thing to do anytime you can do it, and by golly I did it, so lets get this thing underway! I pushed off and here we go.
I ride back behind my old High School, note the darkness all around, and quietly thank the manufacturer for the light I bought a couple of years ago. I can see the street really well and I’m fairly certain drivers and anyone looking my way won’t miss the glowing orb coming toward them. I’m seriously lit up!
Then it is past the old bridge on Norris and I’m taking back roads all the way over to the bike trail at Watt Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard. In a zig zag pattern I’m crossing Marconi Avenue, then Arden Way, and then I’m across Fair Oaks Blvd. before dropping down onto the bike trail. And here is where I have a decision to make, do I continue on for the sake of getting the full 18 miles or do I take the shortcut through Sacramento State University and arrive to work on time. Since I started my ride ten minutes late, I take the shortcut. It cuts the ride by about 4 miles and will easily save a few minutes, so I’ll be okay on time.
Morning Rides are BEST!
This is why I ride a bike...Sunrise over the American River
The ride gets started up again and I am noticing I have some “legs” today. But the streets of downtown are waiting for me and I don’t really feel like going hard, so I continue on to work and arrive in the bike lock-up room at the designated time of 7:20. Here it is Friday and an 8 hour shift awaits.
The workday is over and here is the good part; time to ride! Like I’ve said before, “work is the thing I do between rides.”
Warm up with a ride through the streets of Old Sacramento. There’s Fannie Anne’s on the right, there’s the old candy shop, here comes the Train Depot. People are everywhere walking the planks out in front of the shops, I have only a few cars to contend with, and it’s on to the bike trail. Here comes Discovery Park, and just like that it is behind me. I decide to test my legs.
And here is where it gets REALLY good. I tuck in to the Time Trial position. Elbows are resting on the handlebars and my hands lightly hold the shifter cables out in front of the bike. My neck has been getting better and better at holding my head up to see the road streaming in front of me and the bike is in its highest gear selection. This is a hard test and you can get going around 28 to 32 mph…..and that is what I am going! Mile one comes and goes. My heart rate is hammering out a nice tempo, my mouth is agape and pulling in air for my lungs to process the coveted oxygen, and my legs are busy just doing their job of mashing the pedals toward the ground again and again; today with power!
Huh? What is happening?? My mind is REELING! Is this really going on? Like a finely tuned athlete, I am SCORCHING the bike path and seriously LOVING IT! This is very similar to some of the efforts I was able to do before Cancer came a calling on my prostate!!
Mile two is here and yes, I am spent. But I should be! Maybe I should not have gone so hard for so long, but I did….and here I am to talk about it. I survived the test! And my brain is now thinking (and worrying just a little) about how I’m going to get the rest of the way home. And instead of LISTENING TO THAT CRAP, I motored home, pushing it the entire way. My ride of 18 miles was completed in just less than the 70 minutes it has been taking me. Pre-surgery I was doing this regularly at 60 minutes, and I am very pleased with the results of this ride of 58 minutes!
The take-away here? Never, ever, stop trying. Strive to do something and then give yourself a chance to be the winner you are.
Today is your day….what are you going to do with it?
Believe it. Do it. Begin now.
HowzitGoin’ David?
First, I have a couple of anniversaries to note:
September 12, 2011 – Two Month Anniversary of my first bicycle ride (7/12) after a nine month medical leave
September 20, 2011 – Four Month Anniversary of the day my prostate was removed
And then, this is how things are going on the bike:
My comfort in the saddle is finally getting manageable and the amount of energy I have post-ride is a lot better than before. I can do longer rides without too much struggle and the 9 mile morning/evening commute is getting a little faster all the time. I can take the pain of a hard effort better this week than last, and the recovery time seems to be a little shorter too. All of that is really good news!
On the flip side; Man is it depressing how much fitness I still don’t have! If a glass of water is my level of fitness, and FULL is where I was nine months previous to July 12th; I was EMPTY. Up 16 pounds, soft jello-like muscles, and no cardio to speak of, I was just empty. Nothing to offer but a new reality to endure.
Currently, the fitness glass is either half-full or half-empty, depending how you see things, and filling slowly. I have lost 6 pounds and the cardio is on its way back. The soft jello-muscles are slowly transitioning their way into the hard-working pistons they were – way back in October, 2010. And, as an added plus, my resting heart rate is down around 58 bpm. Good news!
“Think of what you want most, then become it”. June is when I began thinking.
When Doc said I could begin walking, I walked. If you read this bLog while I was recovering you know I walked several times and each time was better than the time before. I remember the first time I couldn’t get down to the end of the street without having to turn around and practically RUNNING back home to get in to the bathroom! A week or two later, I was down the street and around the corner for a 3 mile walk. After that a 7 mile jaunt. When you dedicate your life to a thing, nothing is terribly difficult!
After the first post-surgery PSA blood test I was told I could ride, so I rode. And it hurted me….but I hung in there anyway. And I rode every day for as long as I could handle the pain. I think the first ride was about 12 miles. After my neck muscles allowed it, I was back on the bike for a little longer ride of 18 miles. After my butt stopped feeling like I had left the saddle inside it, I was out again for more. I don’t recall the progression now, but suffice it to say I rode EVERY chance I got. And while I was not working, it was so easy!
After one month of riding as often as I could, on August 15th, I was back to work. After three months off (two of which were all about healing, the final about getting strong), I was back on the job. Which is when the bike commute began anew.
To refresh your memory, the bicycle commute takes me along the top of a really flat and paved levee for 3 miles before dropping on to our local river-hugging bike trail. Fully paved, lined, and marked for runners/walkers/bicycles there are no cars or motorized vehicles of any kind on any part of this ride, and that goes for another 4 miles. Then, I pick up another levee on the other side of the river that winds over to the downtown area where I integrate on to an actual road for a half mile and find myself at work with 9 miles logged. It is a nice ride of 30 minutes and it doesn’t hurt all day like it did one month ago….which is really good news because I turn around and go back the same way after work, and do this every workday! I make the commute as difficult as I can handle by keeping constant pressure on the pedals, and about half-way thru going into Time Trial mode for a dose of true effort. The commute is anything but mundane and it helps make me strong again.
Work is the thing I do between rides.
Health Stuff
Just yesterday I went to Vampire House where they drew blood from my arm again. PSA test and hoping for zeroes. Results next week….wish me luck!
And OK boys and girls, this is the serious part. If you don’t want to know the details about what happens when a doctor removes a man’s prostate, read no further.
Seriously….if you don’t want to know, stop reading.
I’ll wait.
{insert music here. Use the theme from “Jeapordy”}
OK, if everyone is gone who should be/wants to be gone, and the rest of you are interested in the embarrassing details, here you go:
Peeing. This WAS a problem. And I did not think it would ever get back to normal. They did the surgery and left a catheter in to allow the urethra to heal. They cut and reattach this pipe during surgery. After ten days they removed the catheter and I was certain I would never control my pee again. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to…wow, there’s a thought. Or maybe I would be in that awkward 10% of folks who never get that control back. Wear diapers? Ugh, THERE’S a lifetime of embarrassment! What a bummer it is to even THINK like that! Fortunately I did not need to harbor those thoughts as it became less and less of a problem to control starting/stopping and when/where for the next session in front of the porcelin. Today I have about 99% of that control back and have little concern knowing it will completely heal the way it should. I’ll put a check in the box marked “Success” for that problem.
Erection. Nope. None to report. It is easy (and disappointing) to report this as the one malady I currently endure. This was/is a concern they prepare you for and they also seem to think it will work itself out over the first year or so. I guess the nerves – even though they were spared during surgery – take time to heal. I guess. Fantastically, my wife is very supportive and has no concern either way. And really truly, me too. I mean, I don’t NEED an erection, but it is still weird I don’t get them anymore. After a lifetime of success, failure is the new reality. So I’ll put a check in the box for “Hopeful”. Not a complete failure yet. They say it needs more time. And apparently, thanks to the surgery, I’ve got that. Thanks doc!
Update: New Wheels
This is the revision I promised to the 08/08/2011 post titled: NEW WHEELS
I bought some new wheels for my bicycle, CashFlow. The wheels came from a company named “Neuvation” located in San Luis Obisbo. The guy who runs it, John, has been doing so for quite some time and he is really good at what he does! And what he does is this, buy the parts and pieces overseas, assemble those parts/pieces into bicycle wheels, and make them available to any interested parties.
Recently, I was one of those “interested parties” because my previous, expensive, Bontrager XL rear wheel had been producing flats as frequently as I could finance the purchase of the next one. Some rides would see a single flat while other rides would see two or three. It got to be a real drag to pull over to the side of the trail and show off my repair skills while dripping sweat all over the pavement. So, with great trepidation, I dipped my toes into the pond where new wheels glisten in the horizon like so many oasis glimmering in the desert. The purchase of new wheels seemed so far away! Everywhere I looked the cost was right around $800 a set. For CHEAP wheels. Bottom-fishing stuff. The stuff you buy and wonder why. Discouraged, I wanted to give up, but wanted to stop fixing flats even more.
And right about then, I remembered my friend over in Utah who last summer was sporting some new wheels from Neuvation. I emailed him asking about ride quality, wheel stiffness/response, and his overall impression. His reply? “Love them!”
So, to save you from the headache(s) I suffered while shopping for a new set of wheels, do this: visit the Neuvation site and buy yourself a set. Mine? I love them!
You will too.
Visit the website: http://www.neuvationcycling.com
This is an excerpt from a review about John’s R28 Aero’s:
“The economics behind Neuvation’s business model are simple enough: Product is sourced overseas and then sold directly to consumers. Neuvation’s brain trust has a single Social Security number: John Neugent’s. Neugent was the head of Sachs here in the U.S. and his skill set is unusually broad; the guy has done everything from CAD drawings to sales and marketing, but relationships being what they are, Neugent’s most important asset is his 25 years of experience sourcing product in Taiwan. And if you’ve ever heard anyone haggle with a Taiwanese businessman then you know that garage sales are for the faint of heart.
It’s true that his web design isn’t too exciting and the graphics on the wheels aren’t exactly sexy, but that’s really the point: You purchase Neuvation wheels not because they have the allure of a Victoria’s Secret model, but because anyone gainfully employed has the coin for a set.”
Read the full article at: http://www.belgiumkneewarmers.com/2008/05/neuvation-r28-aero4-wheels.html
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