Now that I've had a chance to process it.......

I have to confess, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't finish up the Century on the track this year.......AGAIN! I need to stop getting hurt and screwing up my body, I guess. Well, there's always next year. A broken tailbone apparently hangs on with the pain for a while and I couldn't break past the 32 mile point.

I'm happy to say that 4 members of Team Stormcrowe completes their Century ride. Their Bike Forum nicknames are scummer, Philcycle, 10 wheels, and trekden.

scummer, from Northern Indiana, made the 100 miles in less than five hours, outstanding! 10 wheels, up from Galveston County, TX, is the oldest member of Team Stormcrowe, and is a tough old guy at 67 years of age. He completed his Century in less than 6 hours, along with Phil (from Missouri) and Denny (from Pennsylvania).

My wife, crazylady, completed 15 miles on the track, riding her Sun EZ3 trike, and was just there to have a good time for the day and do a little riding. All in all, though, it was a great day, and it's almost as sweet to see the victories of my teammates as to grab my own. Next year, though, the damn track isn't going to beat me, nor is my body.

Tour de Cure, 2009, in the bag!

I'm totally strung out and hurting right now, so this is going to be a short post. I did 32 out of 100 miles today. I'm a bit disappointed, but given the fall and the residual tailbone pain from my fall this winter, I can't really complain. So, I'll just let you see the pics and video from today for now.

Totally Off the Normal Topic: Celtic Music: Skye Boat Song

This little piece is called Skye Boat Song. It's a traditional tune and commemorates Charles Edward Stuart's escape after the battle of Culloden. I was thinking of my Grandmother this morning for some reason, and this was her favorite tune. She was born n in Scotland and this piece alwways reminded her of home.



I have some scenes from the Isle of Skye I culled from the internet, and played the piece with more of a slow Irish air interpretation, since I used an Irish Tin Whistle, but here it is......the Skye Boat Song.

Memorial Day Weekend Tour

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Well, we did a brief bike camping this weekend, a 23 mile ride out to Ross Camp from the house. This was the wife's first loaded bike camping trip. We did have a great time, and she got to find out a bit about my love of long distance touring, and wants to try more and longer trips as she gets stronger.

I am back on the bike, officially!

Sunday, my wife and I took our first joint ride, post fall. I'm happy to say it went well. Minimal pain from the tailbone injury, and it felt great to be back in the saddle again.


We did make a little stop at Panera's for coffee after fighting 15-30 MPH winds for about 15 miles.




On the flip side, Crazylady, my wife, got her first ride on with clipless rather than platform pedals. She did notice a huge difference, and brother, she's sure got one advantage.........riding a recumbent trike, she never has to worry about the dreaded 0 MPH tipover.

We're looking forward to our Summer activities, now. She has 3 classes left to finish out, and she graduates with her MBA and certification as a Forensic Accountant in July. She's been doing an accelerated masters program.....not fun at all. After Tour de Cure and her graduation, we'll be doing some touring around Indiana, I think.

I also bike commuted to classes today for the first time in months. I rode the Allez, and I gotta say, it looked like an Arabian tethered in a cart horse paddock locked in the racks over at Purdue among the Huffys, Magnas, and old beaters of all descriptions. It is true, what they say, though about all bikes weighing 42 pounds. A 40 pound Huffy or Magna has a 2 pound, $1.99 lock because no one really wants to steal it, and a 16 pound road bike seems to need a 26 pound lock and cable or chain to secure it, so all bikes weigh 42 pounds.

I've been recovering!

I took a wee fall a month ago. I had one of those Kodak Moment falls, walking on some ice, where your feet come out from under you, and rise to chest level, and you hang in the air for enough time to think "Oh shit, this is gonna hurt!"

I woke up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. As of right now, I'm almost recovered from a concussion, and healing up a busted coccyx (Tail Bone. I have a few issues with Post Concussion Syndrome, recurrent cluster headaches, light sensitivity, reduced stamina, and mood swings, as well as some short term memory issues, but all in all, I'm just glad I wasn't hurt worse!

I'm on a cane, and off the bike for another month or so. I'll have to get back in training soon, though, since I signed up for Tour de Cure again this year. Team Stormcrowe is back at it again, and it's likely to be a challenge to meet our fundraising goals this year, with the economy in the shape it's in.

Here is the link that will take you to my Tour de Cure fundraising page, by the way:

http://tinyurl.com/Tour-de-Cure

I'd also like to introduce another Cycling/Weight Loss Blogger. His name is Kennie, and he's just starting out his journey. Let's welcome him. I have him down in my links below, but here he is as well!

Goal met on New Years Eve!

Now what do I do? There are 2 terrible times in a mans life, one when he fails at a goal, and one when he succeeds. I succeeded at one, a huge one! As you know, I started this crazy journey at 581 pounds. I weighed in today (I haven't been to bed yet). The scale read 199 pounds! I have gone from wearing 8X T shirts to a size Large shirt.



Now, all I have to do is figure out where to go from here. I'm working on a degree in Psychology, that's a major goal. I haven't done a couple of goals yet, though. I haven't done the Triple Century ride yet. That was taken out of the picture last summer when I crashed in may and screwed up my training. I guess that's as good a goal as any.

June 21, 2009, I am going to attempt to ride from lake Michigan to the Ohio River in a day. Big goals give a person the drive to succeed, and that's a pretty ambitious goal. Other than that, I'm going to keep riding my bike and working toward my degree.

Meantime, Happy New Year for 2009!