Well, we're home now. Highlights of the trip to Glacier National Park

OK, to start things off, we stayed in Whitefish, at the Super 8. They gave us great service and an inexpensive, comfortable room. The weather was warm, and unfortunately all the snow melted and left the trails and slopes a sheet of ice.

One of the results of this was my wife taking a nasty fall. Her crampon broke loose on some rotten ice on the trail and she took a 20 foot fall, cartwheeling down a near vertical slope....on St Paddies Day, no less. The luck of the Irish did protect her, though. She came out of it with a massive body bruise, rather than broken bones. This happened on Brown's Peak.



Here are some highlights of Glacier































I'm headed back out this Summer for some backpacking out in Glacier, spending a week or two tramping around, that's for sure!

Planning Spring Break: Back Country Snowshoeing and Montana

Cutbank Valley
Photo courtesy of the National Park Service
Iceberg Lake
Photo courtesy of the National Park Service
Glacier National Park Multimedia Site

Well, as y'all saw from my last post, I've gotten into a new sport, to me......snowshoeing. We're planning a Spring Break trip to Glacier National Park for some back country snowshoeing. I'm starting a series of posts here to organize for the trip.

Our Equipment List:

1. 2 65 Liter backpacks
2. 100 feet of rope each
3. Snowshoes and Poles (Cabella's Snowy Range Shoes, made by Atlas)
4. Nautica Wind Shells, waterproof
5. Polarguard vests under, packable
6. Fleeces
7. Fleece long underwear and foundation layer
8. Waterproof wind pants
9. Goretex Gloves
10. 3 pairs wool socks, each in the packs
11. Packcloth waterproof gaiters, tall
12. Cabella's Sorrel Packer boots for me, or Herman Survivors as an alternate. My wife has some lighter weight packer boots with Thinsulate and a goretex inner boot.
    
13. 2 Surveyors compasses
14. Set of waterproof Topo maps of Glacier each
15. Avalanche beacon each.
16. GMRS Radios
17. We'll rent the snowshovels from Glacier Outdoor Center and I don't think we'll really need ice axes, since we aren't really going to be doing any traverses on steep glacier faces and we can't carry ice axes on Amtrak, anyway.
18. 2 1 liter Nalgene Bottles each for water
19. Small backpackers stove, and fuel, to melt snow if we run short on liquids as well as 2 lighters and waterproof matches
    
20. Small thermos for hot chocolate at the Overlook looking down on Lake McDonald from the mountaintop. (Good photo opportunity)
21. Survival bivvy sacks if we get caught out in the back country in a Spring Storm + 3 days food. If we get caught in a bad one, we'll just dig in in a snow cave and ride it out.
    
22. Glacier sunglasses for the wife and sunscreen for both. I have some very good polarized cycling/ski glasses, already
23. Flashlights and survival whistles
24. Back Country First Aid Kit
    

We'll also be carrying food, and if anyone has suggestions that I've missed, let me know!

Here's a bit of our planned terrain: This is about 15 miles out in the park.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3473659

I've found a new to me sport! Snowshoeing!

Man, it's a blast! The followig is a bit of video and stills from our trip to Michigan over the MLK long weekend. It's also a great whole body workout.

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!

Short, cold ride!

Wow, I forgot how cold - 30 wind chill is. I did a little 2 mile errand ride today and I'll tell ya what! It exposed the chinks in my cold weather gear, that's for sure. My gloves need replacing....the seams leak cold air.

My balaclava from Dick's Sporting Goods was a godsend, though. Neofleece and it kept the face and head nicely warm without too much bulk or sweating. It fit under the helmet nicely. The only thing is, it's the brightest orange I've ever seen. Good for visibility, though.

Merry Christmas To All!

I've been absolutely swamped this semester, so I haven't posted with any regularity. I really got nothing right now that is cycling related, but I did have a few minutes free today, so I recorded my favorite Christmas song, and put together a little video.

Merry Christmas or Seasons Greetings, or Happy Hanukkah, or happy Solstice, depending on your particular flavor of faith or even lack thereof.

I Started A Lafayette Cycling Forum

As the headline says, I started Lafayettefixedgear today. It's a local forum, for Tippecanoe County and surrounding Communities. Think about signing up! I'll add a road bike forum if there seems to be interest as well, but I'm concentrating on Fixed Gear for now.

If you ride Fixed in the surrounding counties, or are just interested, we'll be adding content as we get new members. What we feature is the ability to embed video, images, and it's even FREE!

Drop on by and check it out!

Time for Bicycle Commuting!

Classes have started for the fall now, and I must say, the weather has been spectacular for a bike commuter. I'm attending Purdue University now, and things are shiney! Purdue is interesting to commute both to, and around, though.

First off, traffic can get pretty intense on the edge of campus, what with the parking spot vultures, oblivious student drivers, and everyone being in a hurry. The pedestrians aren't much better either. I understand far better the derisive use of the term "Meat Pylon" in referring to a pedestrian. It's often like an obstacle course where the obstacles can suddenly and unpredictable move into your path!

One example, today, well, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I have to get across campus during a 10 minute break. This requires some pretty fast pacing to pull it off, and it seems like every walker on campus is determined to get in front of me and slow me up.

Cross Campus Route

The are a lot of bike facilities, such as racks, on campus,and a lot of cyclists as well. Fortunately, soon enough, the new Freshman class will get a little better trained in how to deal with cyclists, etc, and learn their way about campus as well, so they won't be so blind to their surroundings. Meantime, I get to ride with extreme care.

Cranky-T's....Cycling Wear for the Average Guy!

Cranky T's in Pennsylvania is a start up, selling T-Shirts centered around Cycling. It's a nice company with a great guy running it. Operated by Digix Consulting, they offer a line of very comfortable T's with various colors available. If you aren't one of the folk that likes to wear Lycra Jerseys that are skin tight, these are for you!

http://www.digixconsulting.com/t-shirts

Triathlon Video!

I started an account with Veoh TV. I have the tri video uo there, as well as started a Clydesdale and Athena gropu where you can upload videos you create as well. Just watch the copyrights.....Veoh is positively anal about it! I used a bit of Techno that is under Creative Commons, and it actually improved the video.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Enjoy!

Race Report: My First Triathlon Event!

Allrighty! As y'all know, I did my first Triathlon as part of a 2 person team this weekend.......only because I couldn't do the swim this time. First feedback: A Tri is TOUGH! I did the cycling and running part, and that was near enough to kill me.

Part I: Cycling.............

My Niece did the swim, so she made the 1K swim in 11 minutes and change, first transition was done in 1:45. Here is where I came in. I took off on the cycling course. 13.82 miles, and I was riding against a 10-15 MPH headwind on rolling terrain. The course ran from Warsaw, Indiana to Pierceton, Indiana and back. The course was very well marked. I hammered as hard as I could against the wind, and generally uphill against a headwind. When I got to the turnaround point, my wonderful luck strikes. The blasted wind switched, and it was starting to look like storms were moving in. The wind switch no meant I was riding back, you guessed it, against a headwind......again! So much for the good thoughts of a tailwind!

So, I'm slogging back against the headwind, pushing through the wind like a wall. I got passed by a kid on a full suspension mountain bike....a Huffy, no less, with knobbies. This wasn't going to fly, I can tell you. I pushed hard and managed to pass this kid back. he was holding an 18 MPH average speed, and was really a strong rider. I dropped down into the aerobars and just held on to the ride....and can guarantee you I went anaerobic on the return. 58 minutes on the cycling section, and a 4:45 transition to the run. I could have done better, I think, but still managed to hit a peak of 28 MPH coming back into Warsaw at the very end of the cycling leg. I got into the transition area and that last sprint had nearly done me in, and I still had the run segment to do.













I did the 5 K in 1:08 and a few seconds, and I really am NOT a runner. I had to shuttle back and forth between a run and a walk. I did make the finish at a run, though. That's my Aunt running along beside me, encouraging me to keep pushing. That last quarter mile of the run was literally the worst hurting from exercise I've ever experienced. I made it across the line so bonked I couldn't even undo the ankle tag device and could barely stand. I was literally on the edge of falling, I was so spent. I was pretty cooked at the end, and I really have no idea where I got the push from for that final run, but where ever it came from, I love it! My finish was at the middle of the pack out of 50 teams, we placed at 25.













This was bar none, the toughest event I've ever done. I definitely have the triathlon bug......bad! Our time of 2:31.6 wasn't the fastest, by any means, but when you consider that 3 years ago, I was more or less in a wheelchair, you can get the scope of this in my mind. I'm in the Tri game for the long haul....it's a blast! If you really want to challenge yourself, this is where you can do it.

I've also added a bit of video from the race. It's time compressed to make it a bit more interesting. http://www.badongo.com/vid/777019

Nice Training Ride today....

I have a training partner, one of my former instructors from School. Her name is Jennie. I'll tell you, she has some serious potential as a rider! She's strong pushing into the wind, and steady and rides the dame pace as my average. She likes to push it, too.

We did a nice little 20 miler today, just playing around in Lafayette, but have set the goal of a loop to Frankfort and back by the end of July, a nice little 59 miler. I may tweak the route a bit to make it a full metric century though.

Things are also looking up for my upcoming triathlon Saturday up in Warsaw, Indiana. It's the Optimist Club Triathlon, and this will be my first one. As I mentioned, my shoulder is still giving me issues, so I'll be doing the cycling and running part only, and my niece will be doing the swim.

I'm able to hold a decent average speed, so, I don't think I''ll be coming in dead last......I really don't care what place I finish, though. I just plan on finishing it.