50 States Bike Ride

Yesterday, September 22nd, I participated in the '50 State Ride' that went all throughout Washington D.C. In a nutshell, this bike ride was 66 miles long and took each cyclist for a ride through all 8 districts of our nation's capital and - at least briefly, but sometimes for a significant distance - on each of the 50 streets that have are named after each of the 50 states that make up the U.S.A. We literally traveled to every corner of DC, along bridges that crossed the Potomac River in a couple places, weaved our way in and out of some of the richest and poorest neighborhoods, and through many gorgeous parks and areas of our nation's capital that I otherwise probably never would have known existed.

 

My favorite places were riding along Pennsylvania Avenue and riding right in front of the White House, riding along the Potomac River and seeing all the fresh seafood vendors at the National Harbor, criss-crossing in and out of the heavily wooded national parks such as Rock Creek Park, and any time I could see one of the beautiful monuments or memorials such as the Washington Monument as a backdrop while I was riding.

 

The ride started at Adams Morgan, which is 10 miles from where we live. Thus, I had an extra 20 miles total at the beginning and end of the 66 mile bike ride. I am glad I did the whole ride and stuck it out to the end, but to be honest it was really a really gruelling bike ride. Doing this type of mileage in a busy city, with no roads closed, requires a lot more energy and fortitude than it would on a trail or traditional bike path. Specifically, the constant stopping and going at stoplights and not being able to hit a consistent speed or stride due to traffic, stop signs, and the many turns made it a challenging bike ride. I believe that this type of bike ride required just as much mental and physical fortitude than a 100 miler - if not much much more!

 

While there were hundreds of us that all started out at the same time and place, as the miles and hours passed the group of us at the front got smaller and smaller. By the very end I was one of a group of just 5 that led the way and finished first. As the ride went on - it ultimately took about five and a half hours to finish - our group started to chat less, hang our heads and pant heavier while stopped at stop lights, and became more and more anxious to just finish the ride. I never even got my fellow cyclists names, but by the end I know our small group felt a sense of comaraderie, watching out for each other on the streets and signaling to cars where we were going. When we finished at Adams Morgan where we started, 66 miles and five and a half hours later, it was kind of a strange feeling that it was all over; we had just spent so much time and energy informally working as a team and watching each others' backs, and then it was just, "well, seeya layer!" The ride officially ended with everyone going to a nearby bar and everyone celebrating, but obviously that wasn't for me. I was anxious to get home to Michelle and Mason and spend the rest of the day recovering with them.

The link below is a map of the 2011 50 State Ride, which was more or less the same as this year's, in case you are interested in seeing how we were able to navigate our way through the city and get to all 50 State streets.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51850216

Training and Ironman Update

I have signed up for what will be my third 'Ironman,' each in a different calendar year.  I did the Chesapeake Man in 2011, I did the Coeur d'Alene Ironman this year, and in January 2013 I will be participating in the HITS Full (Ironman) Distance Triathlon in Naples, Flordia.  I like the fact that each of the Ironmans will have been in a different year.  It is my goal to do at least one Ironman every year for...well...for forever!

I thought my next Ironman was going to be the NYC U.S. Championship in 2013, but after I volunteered at it this year and signed up for it for next year, they sent out an email saying that they rushed into opening registration for next year's event and that they had to work out some logistics as well as how much it would need to cost before opening registration up for the event.  They sent out full refunds to all who had registered for next year's race, and to be honest, I am really glad I got my refund.  The race was extremely expensive, way more than I ever thought I would pay just to sign up for the race, not even counting transportation costs or anything else.  I had signed up for the race because I felt it would have been silly to have gone all the way up to NYC and volunteered at the race with the intent to sign up for next year's race and not go through with signing up, even though I felt sick when they told me how much it was going to cost.  After reflecting on the whole experience and the cost of the race, it was welcome news when I got the email saying they were suspending registration and all would receive full refunds.

This experience led me to reflect on my future in the sport of Triathlon and the potential costs involved with it.  As I have grown and progressed as a Triathlete, the sport has become more and more expensive.  I do not plan on slowing down, but I do plan on choosing races more strategically; otherwise I don't know how I would afford to do at least one ultra distance Triathlon a year for the rest of my life.  At the same time that I learned I would be getting a refund for the 2013 NYC Ironman, I got an email from a new Triathlon company called 'HITS.'  They sent out an email saying that while some companies that put on Triathlons were starting to take advantage of the growing demand and charging more for registration, they would conversely be making their events affordable and more open to all athletes by offering an extremely low price for the Full Triathlon distance if you signed up over 4 months in advance.  This price is a mind-bendingly low $150!  It may not sound like it, but that is unheard of cheap for a 140.6 mile Iron distance Triathlon.  It took me all of about 0 seconds to get over not doing the 2013 NYC Ironman and instead sign up for the HITS race in Florida in 2013.  Furthermore, the course in Florida is 'flat and fast,' as they say, and will be conducive to me reaching my goal of finishing the race in under 11 hours.  This is a goal I am taking very seriously.  I have incorporated lower body weight training to give my legs the extra strength to keep going towards the end of the race that you can't get from just logging tons of miles on the bike and running.  I have also started doing interval training while running to also help build more strength for ultra endurance events in my legs.  I consider this to be part of a more advanced, technical training that I was not ready for earlier in my career as a Triathlete.

Having said that, let me bring you up to date on my mileage for the year in training:

Running: 784.9 miles

Biking: 4,498.65 miles