       
|
Welcome to My Cycling Pages!! Here you'll find some info on bicycling and events in the Cleveland Ohio area. After completing the MS 150 - Pedal to The Point in 1999, I've got the Fever!! Check the Calendar for upcoming bicycling events! 2,004.0 Miles Logged in The Year 2004 This year, I set a goal for myself. I did it in 2000, so I KNEW I could do it again! My business and life in general got in the way the past 3 years, but I HAD TO get it done this year! On Sunday, September 19th, at 6:50 PM EST, I circled the parking lot at Bedford's Viaduct Park until I reached 2,000 miles! The ride home got me an additional 4 miles. Wow - 2,004 miles... in September - After 6 months of riding! What if I lived in a climate where I could ride year round? ;-) 2,000.7 Miles Logged in The Year 2000 On April 5th, 2000, I set a goal for myself. Actually, I "borrowed" it from a cycling buddy (thanks Anne!). My goal was to ride 2,000 miles in the Year 2000. Well, it took a cold Sunday in November to reach my goal, but I did it!!! Those last 15 miles took forever!! <I had 1,985 miles logged for over a month!> For 2001, I plan to "up the ante" by one mile, just to see if I can do it again. Hey, Lance Armstrong repeated his 1999 Tour de France win in 2000... why can't I repeat another 2,000 mile year? :o) 1,266.7 Miles Logged in The Year 2001 1/1/2002 - Well, I'm not going to make excuses - I missed my goal. 2002 is here, the odometer has been reset to zero, and I'll take advantage of every opportunity I can to get a few miles in over the winter. The weather has been unseasonably warm, so maybe it will continue to allow me to ride. I can't wait 'till SPRING!!! 11/18/2001 - A gorgeous Sunday, and I'm stuck "volunteering" at my brother's new house to level out his backyard and finish the new driveway extension. Sounds like a day of hard work. It was... but not only did I get an upper body workout from raking, shoveling and lifting, I also got my lower body and cardio workout by riding 39 miles each way! It was a nice ride... The morning air was still a bit chilly, but I was dressed for it. The ride was a gradual uphill, and a bit of a wind was a factor in keeping my average speed to 12 MPH. Coming back, I maintained 15.1 MPH easily! Will I get enough opportunities to get 740 more miles?? Let's see... that's over 100 miles a week for the next 6 weeks... it could be done, I suppose. We'll see if Mother Nature and my work schedule permit it! :) 9/3/2001 - 2001 has NOT been the year I was hoping for. I'm still singing the "Back Rim Blues." My bike has been in the shop more than it has been on rides! On Labor Day, I bent the newly hand built rim beyond repair. I was riding the Cleveland/Akron Bike & Hike Trail, when along came a hill. You know me... I proceeded to attack the hill! When I reached the top, I saw a nice downhill with S-turns at the bottom! YEAH!! The downhill was a bit fast... The first curve of the S was easy. I had my lines in and out of the turns all mapped out while I was descending the hill. The second curve looked good... I entered it right where I wanted to, leaned just right, and prepared for curve #3. All of a sudden, my back tire locked up! I lost control of the bike momentarily, and all I saw was the ditch next to the path! Somehow, I regained control, stopped the bike and kept it on the path. I looked at the rear wheel to see why it locked up - it had BENT AGAIN! The rim bent far enough to lock itself in the brakes. My friends came down the hill... seeing me holding my bike in the air. "What's wrong, Brian?" Long story short - The only thing that stopped me from throwing the bike into the ditch was the fact that my car was about 18 miles away! I disconnected the rear brake, and rode it, bent wheel and all, the rest of the ride. 9/9/2001 - The Hancock Horizontal Hundred Ride on the following Sunday was a VERY nice ride. Nice routes, nice scenery, nice city (Findlay, OH), nice everything! I did the ride with my bike, temporarily repaired with "cadaver parts" from other bikes. With the holiday falling on Monday, my bike shop's order was delayed, so my new rim wasn't available. Erica loaned me a rim from a cadaver bike at the shop so I could ride. She is such a sweetheart! I also put some pedals on my bike from another cadaver bike, seeing that the pedals I ordered weren't in yet. Unfortunately, the gear ratios on that rim SUCKED!! I was starting out in Fifth gear (unheard of!), shifting up to sixth, skipping seventh (the borrowed rim had one less gear than mine), and maxing out in eighth. Talk about SLOW! I tried getting on a few pace lines. No Way!! I was pedaling as hard as I could, and I could barely keep up! After about 20 miles, my left toe strap broke. Not a really big deal, but enough to piss you off! I was unable to pull up with my left leg on the pedals. Then, we took a turn towards the South.. and the headwinds were horrendous! A 10 MPH pace was VERY difficult to maintain. After lunch, my left pedal broke! First, the toe strap, now the entire pedal! I MacGyver'ed it, and it held up for a while. I then found myself stopping every few minutes to beat it back into place! Each time I did, it weakened the metal even more. I was on the verge of giving up. I continued, and met up with a couple of riders I had met earlier. We finished the ride at a good pace (about 18 - 20 MPH). 106 miles... IN THE BAG!! And I did it on a borrowed rear rim with shitty gears, nasty headwinds, a broken toe clip AND a broken pedal! :) 11/4/2001 - I completed The Red Flannel Metric on a borrowed cross bike. The gears were a challenge - I was not used to them at all! It took me most of the 63.5 mile ride to get used to them! Also, keeping up with pace lines was very difficult, mainly due to not being comfortable with the bike, plus the extra weight and bigger tires. I'm open for suggestions for other content on this page. Feel free to share your thoughts, stories, ideas and pictures!! I'm looking forward to hear from you!
|