After School Ride

I emailed Ray Olais and Lu Ann Zook yesterday about riding after school. They were up for it but Lu could not make it after all. So Ray and I headed out. North wind was refreshing on an absolutely PERFECT day for riding. The wind was light enough for me but Ray is very sensitive to wind. Not sure why I like riding into the wind but I seem to make better time than my riding buddies when riding into the wind. I am about 75 lbs heavier than Ray so that is probably why. We rode north on K15 out of Newton on the normal route for us with a north breeze. We ride north to Old Dutch Ave and hang a left to Hesston. It was sunny and bright but still very cool. The warmed us but the breeze cooled us down. Normally the traffic on K15 is heavier than I prefer but most folks are very considerate and move way over. The shoulder on k15 is a good size. It is about 3 to 4 feet across and the surface is very smooth. Seems like all the quality surfaces are paired with heavier traffic.
The ride was overall a great time. Ray had tvo stop at a garage sale in Hesston but nothing cool. Bikes and robots are his passions. He is an artist and art teacher at Newton HS and is always looking for something to inspire his students. We turned south on Ridge Rd. and flew for about 7 or 8 miles to 12th street Newton. Only two negatives occurred on the ride, I ate about 10 bugs because I talk too much and a car almost ran into us on 12th. This tan old person car driven by an young person. You know the car type, four door, tan, mercury marquis type sedan. This woman was ON HER CELL PHONE and didn't give us the required 3 feet. She passed us so close, I really thought Ray was going to get hit. She had the entire left lane to pass. No other cars were coming but she chose to buzz us and stayed in the right lane barely. I try to be a good cyclist. You know, I try to follow the road rules/laws, be polite, make sure motorist are aware of me and be an ambassador for the sport. I have not flipped anyone the bird in a long time. I did however wave at her and say some select words. 22 miles at 15 MPH average was a great workout and I survived another wild ride in south central.....Kansas.

Kansas Solitude

I love cycling in Kansas. Sure we don't have giant mountains or large flowing rivers or an ocean view but we have something that is a cycling challenge, WIND. I am acually growing to like the wind. I know that sounds stupid as I am usually cussing under my breath for the first 15-20 minutes at it. The tougher the climb the cooler the ride down.
Friday, My son and I went to Wichita to look at a bike a cycling/facebook/twitter/blog friend of mine had. Robert Garcia of RiverCityCycling had an amazing Koga Miyata 610 from 1980. Almost showroom quality. Not sure what that is since I was looking at it in a garage. I took my 52/54 cm(not sure) Raleigh Capri. I got it from a friend who did not need it and so I worked it into shape. I was looking to trade bikes and Robert obliged me. AMAZING how much the right size bike matters for speed and endurance. The Miyata is a lighter and much better bike. I consider Robert's "trade" as more of a gift. Thank You Robert again. Someday when I get a new bike, I will make sure someone who needs a cycling boost gets this Japanese wonder bike. I spent 2 hours in the garage getting it ready for me to ride it. Lights, cages, and bags. I took it for a short spin and ended up riding 20 miles. I could not stop. I felt like a kid on Christmas who got the new bike and would ride circles under the street light for hours after dark. The difference was not freezing to death. I averaged 14 mph on my 20 mile ride. I thought, surely my speedometer must be off. I checked it and no it is correct. I went up over 2 mph on average. WOW. I feel like the ankle weights have been lifted.
Saturday I did 32 miles. I have never done more than 24-25 miles in a single ride. I rode to Sedgwick from Newton on Ridge rd and then to 81 on county line road. 81 highway was a racetrack on the way home. I averged 14.2 mph for the trip but hit 30 mph many times and never dropped below 20mph. I did another 20 on Sunday and averaged 14.4 mph. I did another 12 this morning at about 14.3 mph avg.

Hard to believe that it has only been a little over a year since my neck surgery. I am loving life and HIGH on cycling and this new to me bike.

National Winter Bike to Work(school) Day

Newton HS bike club is meeting tomorrow during seminar and hopefully we will have a good day for the ride to school. I am trying to think of some alternative club activities other than a ride if it is raining during club time. I am not sure how many people read this but those who do not understand NHS's club system. We are not a normal bike club that mainly rides and does some other fundraising or events. I teach HS and will have 50 minutes or so with the kids inside. If we ride then great and we can get back late as it is at the end of the day. We just continue our ride after school is out.

I need to plan an indoor bike activity. Here are some possible options.

How to adjust your brakes
How to adjust your rear derailer:
How to change a flat tire
How to patch a tube
How to repack hub bearings
The how to change a flat is probably the best bet but they might already know to do that.
What to pack in your seat bag and why you should have a seat bag.

The seat bag discussion is pretty important especially if on a longer ride. Extra tube is a really important part along with a pump and tire levers. A patch kit is also important. Sometimes we get more than one flat. Patching a tire successfully might be the difference between a long ride and long walk.

Riding Goals

I have had a great month! October has brought me closer to my yearly goal of 1000 miles. I hit 200 miles for the month and now I am over 600 miles for the year. Rode 23 miles yesterday in cold spitting rain. The 20 mph north wind was a killer for the first 11 miles. The NW wind kept us from going very fast and also kept us in low gears. We avg less than 10 mph for the first half of the trip. We went north out Newton toward Old Dutch Ave. 6 miles north of town and then took turned west toward Hesston, KS. We were still into the wind but not just in our faces. Temperature dropped 9 degrees or so in the first hour of riding. We turned south at Ridge road and WOW the flight took off from there. We avg over 20 mph the next 6 miles south. Only problem was the cold for as it was easier to ride, it took less effort we got cold. Turned back to the east on 12th street rolling back into town. Today we were both really sore and needing a day of rest. Now, I want to go ride just thinking back over the ride yesterday. I rode with Ray Olais. I was on my 84 Raliegh capri and Ray rode his cannondale r400. This was the first time to ride this route on rode bikes for us. More later.

Tourney and weigh in

I was sick today and stayed home from school. I went to the doctor about an unrelated problem. I have a spot about the size of the top a large drink at Mcdonalds (the big one:). This spot is numb on the skin. From the point of the shoulder to where my bicep/triceps begin. It is numb and the doc thinks I have pinched nerve/stinger in my shoulder. Probably from my neck or other location not determined. So I am on Muscle relaxers/anti inflamatories to see if it will correct itself. Hopefully I will not have to do anything more drastic. I had weigh in today and I dropped another 2.2 lbs. I am officially 223.2. I am 1.8 lbs away from reaching my 100 lbs lost with WW. I have not ridden since Thursday and the cold weather rolled back in. Now the weather is really nasty and I am mellow from fireplace and pills.

This past weekend we finished the debate season finally. Newton took third in 4 speaker division of 5A. Hutch was 1st Miege 2nd and we were right behind for third. We had to come back before the last round we were in 4th behind Topeka Shawnee Hghts.(last years champion) and we beat them on their Aff and they lost to Hutch's Aff wich took us from one win down to one win up. It was the coolest. I have been in Newton since 2000 and this the first four speaker trophy for Newton in last 30 years. Phillip and Katie broke in 2 speaker but lost in quarters to take fourth and just miss a trophy. We have broke to quarters or better in 2 speaker six of the nine years I have been in Newton. Overall a great week. I stayed on my diet all week and only went over tonight for my son's birthday at Applebees. I only went over about 5-9 points for the day. I am so stoked to reach my goal of 200 lbs by summer. I have to bust my ass to get this done. I NEED WARM WEATHER so I can get on the bike.

I got 2 flats the other day. One about 25 minutes into my ride on Thursday. I patched 2 places in my tube and then aired it up. I then rode about 20 minutes more just get another flat. Not sure if it was bad patch or another hole or if something was still int tire. My wife bought me some new tubes. She got  the nicest tubes that walmart had. The Bell self sealing tubes. I have not put them in yet but will do it tomorrow. More later.

Debate Tournament

Newton is hosting the 10th annual Newton HS Alma "Momma" Moore invitational debate tournament. This tournament is Kansas Debate Coaches Invitational qualifier in the Varsity division. One bid at quarters and 2 bids for finals. We are looking for judges. Experience is not required but preferred. We are short Friday night rounds.
dwilliam@newton.k12.ks.us
Email me if you are in the Wichita/Newton ,KS area and want some free eats and to watch some good policy debate.
On the bike front. I rode 30 miles (2 hours 35 minutes) this past weekend. Weather was sunny and cool Saturday with a little wind, but Sunday was terrific with very little wind and even warmer. Ray and I did 30 miles total about 15 each day. I woke up Monday morning to rain and cold, so I did not bike to work. I also woke up to an incredible pain in my hip/lower back. If I overdid the ride, I never noticed being tired or an injury of any kind. It sucked yesterday as I hobbled around in pain all day. I got some heat on it and some aleeve and feel much better now but still rainy. I also had weigh in on Monday and lost another pound.
I am now at 227. Down from 365 (spring of 2003) and down 94 lbs since last October. I am trying to get down to 220 before Thanksgiving, but with the hip issue, it may be impossible.

Election Day Eve

I am really excited about the election tomorrow. For the longest time, I thought that McCain would have been an awesome president when he first started running. Of all the Republicans running, I knew he was the only one I could vote for. As a democrat in the world of Red state central of Kansas, I feel like my vote may be wasted no matter what I do. Let me finish. McCain changed so much since he started running for president. I liked how stood out in the sea of republican hopefuls.
Unfortunately, what made me like him, made many republicans dislike him. In comes the great republican election machine to mold him into someone the great conservative base could live with.
Now I cannot vote for him. I am not sure who he is. I like Obama. I always have. I like his message and his stance on Education. As a teacher, I just hope he can do something about this No Child Left Behind fiasco given to us by the Bush administration. So tomorrow morning I will cast vote for Obama and be a part of History. It is time for this change. I hope whoever wins, can turn around this crazy economy and put us all back to work. I will be commuting on my bike to go vote as well as to work tomorrow. Now for the really important stuff....I can't forget that it is trash day.