Race Update and other events

After week 2 of our Race Across America, we're back in the running. Josiah logged 243 miles last week to make up for the miles that he missed the previous week due to participating in the Fargo Marathon. Jeffrey and I logged our standard 125 and Torey waited for better weather that never came and finished with 102 for the week. That means he's got 148 to log this week to put us back on track. I think he hates road cycling and may never touch a roadie again, even if he wins one.

I've already done three rides this week for about 90 of my maximum allowable 125 miles and have felt pretty good. I rode with Jeffrey on Monday morning and Tuesday morning and with Dave from the shop tonight for about 30 miles. Dave is borrowing my LeMond Zurich while I'm riding the bike they gave me for the race. I thought Dave was going to kill me he started so fast. We were cruising through town at 25 mph and once we hit the open road outside of town he was pulling me along at 32 mph (with the wind). I was thinking, "We've got 20 miles to go and I'm going to completely blow up soon."

Thankfully, we hit the hills pretty soon. I was in the front for the first hills and rode them pretty aggressively. I was hurting, but I felt like I was climbing stronger than I have all year. These hills were the same ones that Bryan, Dick and the boys destroyed me on a few months back. When we hit the end of the first rolling section, I could tell Dave was a bit tired. After we turned and hit a few more hills, he had hit the wall. Thankfully, the pace slowed at that point as we had about 12 miles into the wind to do from there. Dave recovered pretty well by the time we were back in town and we got back to the house at about 8:00.

We changed clothes and headed to Bob's Diner for dinner. Bob's is a great, lunch counter joint that I love and don't get to experience all that often. We closed Bob's down and now I've got the rest of the night to myself.

Amy and the kids are in Yankton for the night. I'll get together with Aaron for coffee in the morning, do a light 35 mile ride to finish my required miles for the week and maybe do a little songwriting and planning for Sunday's outdoor bash at church. I'm looking forward to having the day off and have this weekend off as well. A little time off will be much appreciated.

Race Update and doping scandal(s)

I hit my 125 mile contribution to the team's weekly goal for the Race Across America yesterday morning after a 53 mile ride and three mile commute for my noon-9pm shift. Jeffrey finished his miles on Thursday night and Torey didn't have far to go this weekend to finish up. Josiah, after his marathon last weekend, had 243 miles to log this week. He was making good headway through the week, but still had 100+ to do this weekend to finish up. The fact that it was windy today couldn't have helped him, but I'm sure he'll get us back up to the front of the race.

The other big news in cycling has been the continued revelations of doping among the T-Mobile (Telekom) team of the '90's. It has recently come to light that team doctors had been administering doping products to riders on a regular basis and it took on a new dimension when former team riders started coming forward to confess participation. Rolf Aldag and Erik Zabel (who currently rides for team Milram) spoke of their involvement mid-week which was a huge revelation and to top it off, Bjarne Riis, the 1996 Tour de France champ confessed to doping during the Tour he won and more or less offered to forfeit his Tour win.

What makes Riis' confession more important for today is that he is the Director of the CSC team which is currently the top team in the world. Tyler Hamilton tested positive while on the team and Ivan Basso apparently at least pursued doping while on CSC. Riis' admission could prove problematic for the future of his team, but I do applaud any rider that comes clean as my hope is that it will usher in a new era in pro cycling where we don't have the "I hope he was clean" though every time that a rider wins a race. I am all for a clean sport and believe that the sport provides enough drama without the over the top performances brought on by performance enhancers.

Now we just wait to see how Floyd's case goes...

Race Across America Update

After week 1, our team is a little bit behind. Three of our four team members logged the maximum amount allowed, but our fourth member ran a marathon on Saturday and needed to focus on the requirements of that effort in order to have a successful race. Thankfully, the race regulations stipulate that he'll be able to make up the missed miles this week. He was only able to get 7 of his 125 last week which means he'll need 243 this week to keep us at the front of the race. It will be a hard week, but the dude's in shape. He just ran a marathon.

I'll be getting together with Jeffrey in the morning again to kick off week two and will aim for 40-50 miles in the morning before I go to work at noon. The weather is supposed to be less than ideal with a chance of storms and winds at 20+mph, so we'll see how well I do. I only have to do 125 a week, but that still takes a bit of planning with a full time job, a part time job and the fam, so I can't afford to miss too many opportunities. I won't start worrying about our team's chances until later this week.

Race Across America

Well, the store's virtual "Race Across America" started the other day. This is the ride where each store, represented by a four person team will log miles on bikes provided by the store and Trek or Specialized (depending on which brand the individual store carries) with the winning team being awarded with the bikes.

I kicked things off the other morning by getting together with Jeffrey (another rider from the store) and logging about 20 miles on the bike path. It was a good chance to spend a little time getting to know him and teaching him a little about drafting as the wind was a solid 20-25mph throughout the ride.

After parting ways, I headed out of town for an additional 30 miles to finish with a total of 51. Each of us are only allowed to log 125 miles per week, so I did another 30 this morning leaving me with 45 miles to ride before work on Monday. I'm hoping to get to ride at Mom and Dad's this weekend and shouldn't have too much trouble with the remaining miles.

Jeffrey called me last night at work to check in and had already done 133 in the first two days of the ride. Let's just say he's one committed individual. He's a former pro boxer who fought Sugar Ray Leonard and is in phenomenal physical condition. I don't know another team with a rider near his age and I think he could bury most of the guys on the other teams. Glad he's on mine. He's also about the most gracious guy you could hope to know and it's been a joy getting to spend time with him at work and around the bike.

The pics are of the Trek Madone 5.0 that I am sharing with Josiah (another team member and the manager for bike accessories at the store). We're also sharing a LeMond Versailles which Josiah is currently riding. We'll trade in a few weeks and I'll have some pics of that one as well. We're going to have to flip a coin if we end up winning or buying the bikes to see who gets which one.

About the Madone... I love it. I love my current bike, but have noticed that this one accelerates faster, climbs a bit easier and I can carry larger gears with less effort. I'm actually toying with the idea of selling the Zurich and which ever one of the team bikes I might end up with and buying something even a step up. My only complaints about the Madone 5.0 is that the wheel set is a step down from my Zurich as are the stem and handlebar. The wheels and stem aren't a huge deal, but the handlebar is a constant frustration for me. I'm used to a Bontrager Race Lite and this one is a Bontrager Race, the biggest difference being that the Race Lite has some ergonomic design that provides a flat spot in the drops right below the brakes while the Race is a curved bar all the way through. I ride in the drops quite a bit and need as many hand positions as I can get because of numbness in my hands that I've experienced for the last year. Sometimes it's better than others, but I've noticed it is much harder to find relief on the Madone. If I were to keep this bike, I would change the bar in a heartbeat, but probably not much else.

I'll keep updating on mileage over the next six weeks (the approximate length of the race) and hope to enjoy getting to ride borrowed bikes for awhile.

Advice for recreation

A friend posted a comment a few postings ago that I'd like to address in a broader sense because I think in a lot of cases we've lost sight of the purpose for recreation.

For many of us, weight loss and "getting in shape" serve as the main reason why we exercise. When we make weight loss the primary goal of exercise, we become a slave to weight loss, body image, competitive drive or whatever else it may be that is our main motivator. It sucks the joy out of the activity. I think you're better off making the experience the primary goal recognizing that some of these other areas will take care of themselves if you are simply enjoying what you do.

Cycling is that way for me. I really don't have much in terms of performance goals (usually) other than a few organized rides like the Tour de Kota where I know that when the event comes around, I need to be up to the task of riding a 100 mile day or I won't enjoy it at all. Because I don't set as many performance goals, I am free to ride because I love the experience. I love the opportunity for meditation and to be out in the beauty of nature. I love how the endorphins it releases makes me feel more rested and alert. I love that it does help me look better, but also allows me to eat more of the foods that I like. I also love when I'm able to see that I've accomplished something whether it is a long ride or a fast ride. But it all comes back to the fact that I just love the bike.

Recreation should be just that: re-creation. It should be something that shapes us in new ways to better enjoy the life that God has given us. We fight a battle with recreation on two fronts. On one front, we are so driven by the demands of job, family, school, ministry... that we feel guilty about doing things that aren't "productive" in the sense of meeting a responsibility or perceived expectation. On the other front, we engage in "recreation" that isn't life giving in an attempt to escape the demands we feel that either are self-destructive or mind numbing and disengaging (I'll allow you to decide which activities fit those descriptions).

I'm still early in my thinking on this and would love to hear what you think. I may write more later, but would welcome the insights of others as well.

Integrity and Authenticity

I've been reading Stand Against the Wind by Erwin McManus over the last week and came across a thought that hadn't occurred to me before. We hear so much in worship circles about the need to be authentic in our presentation of worship so that we don't fall into the "happy, shiny people" cliche of contemporary worship. I haven't spent enough time thinking about how this emphasis on authenticity carries outside of the worship context.

McManus writes: "In our culture we have put an increasing value on authenticity and a decreasing focus on integrity. We have disdain for the pretentious and we long for anything that is real. But we mustn't romanticize authenticity. When calling for authenticity, we need to take seriously the brokenness of the human heart. If we're not careful, authentic can be the new word for arrogance. As long as you're true to yourself how can anyone fault you, right? Authenticity can establish a self-righteousness that justifies abuse."

This is a universal problem that displays its selfishness in ways that deny any kind of social responisibility for the "authentic" behavior of the individual. The desire to be an authentic individual can, therefore, cause behavior that destroys authentic community.

This is not to say that personal authenticity is not desirable, but it must be partnered with integrity and servanthood in order to fit the design that God intends. "Integrity is when the heart of God is joined with the heart of man." McManus writes. It has also been said that integrity is doing in secret what you would do in public. It is consistency in things large and small that spells out a person's integrity and reveals their true heart.

Ultimately, I believe that authenticity is intended to serve something other than ourselves. We are called to live fully integrated lives where what we say and do are consistent with our thoughts and emotions. When authenticity is partnered with integrity, it is not arrogant or self-serving and offers no excuse for the individual's behavior, because none is required.

Big week

Last week was a week I'd been targeting for a few months now. The main reason was that our Spring bike ad started last Sunday which meant a big build up and lots of activity. We sold a ton of bikes this week and I sold enough over the last five days to get me over half way to my sales goal for May. I may have to increase my goal to give me a target worth shooting for. The larger my goal, the bigger my bonus if I hit it, so it's worth going for it.

To add more to my plate, I helped with a bike build that was going on for the company's bike university that was meeting in town this week. Lee, Dave and Brad (the full time shop guys at the store) and myself served as instructors for about 25-30 people who had never built a bike before and who were expected to build bikes that retail for over $2000 each. The challenge is that better bikes take more time to set up because they are more fine-tuned, precision machines. We were there for about five hours and I had already worked over nine hours at the store that day, so I was pretty much worthless by the time I dragged myself home.

The reason we were building that many good bikes was that we received our bikes for the competition that starts on the 15th. That means that I now have a Trek Madone 5.0 sitting in my basement. I would have been able to build mine on Monday night if I wouldn't have been helping out, but instead had to wait. I had hoped to build it while I was at work, but things were too hectic, so I brought it home and built it in the basement on my day off. It was a fairly quick build, but the weather has been horrible so I haven't had a chance to take it outside yet. I did ride it on the trainer on Friday to fine tune some adjustments to the bike, the saddle position and the cleats on my new shoes (also a part of what was given to me for the bike competition).

I'll be interested to see how it rides outdoors, but already see a few modifications that I would want to make if I were keeping the bike. The wheelset, stem and handlebars are all better on my LeMond. The thing I miss most is the ergonomic drop on my LeMond bar. It is a flat spot on the part of the bar right beneath the brake levers where I spend a good amount of time while riding. The bar on the Madone has a standard, rounded section there which means that I will likely be looking for other hand positions and wishing that I had my other bar on this bike. It's only six weeks, so I'm sure I'll survive, but if we get to keep the bikes, I'll have to see whether I keep it, sell it or sell both and buy something else. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy getting to test ride other bikes.