Bike Maintenance

Humm, what does 200 miles + rain equal?

A soggy bike


Josh stopped by last night and mentioned that he took out his seat post and turned the bike upside down only to have water gush out of the frame. YIKES. (All you steel frame geeks take note)

Best to do the following maintenance,

1. Remove seat, turn bike upside down and let water run out of bike.
2. Remove Bottom bracket and dry. (water likes to pool under the bottom bracket)
3. Service your head set. by cleaning and re greasing.
4. Clean up the rest of the bike, and reinstall all parts when clean and dry.

5. KEEP RIDING.

T

YSC tour de pink blog link

tour de pink offical blog.

Though of the Day

"An Amateur is someone who practices until he gets it right.
A Professional is someone who practices until he can't get it wrong."

Day 4 Tour De Pink

Yeap final day!!

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	3:05:14	6:03 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	2:29:55	4:53 pace
Distance (mi )	30.60
Moving Speed (mph)	12.2 avg.	53.4 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+2,282 / -2,238
Avg. Heart Rate	123 bpm	Zone 2.5
Temperature (°F)	65°F avg.	69.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	W 5.0 avg.	W 5.8 max.

One thing to note is that i broke my personal max speed record!! booohYeah
>
Okay click here for the rest of the ride details

So there was an air of melancholy in the air as this was the final day of the event. Even with sore quads and bottoms, people were in fantastic moods.

Many Hershey employees came to Lancaster to ride the final day with us, and was cool to spend some pavement time with them.

Day 4 was more of a recovery ride, and everybody was just chatting and strolling along. We started in two groups from the hotels, those that wanted to "ride casual" and those that wanted to ride hard. The majority of the riders went out for the casual ride, and we all hooked up mid way to process in together.

We rode to Hershey and assembled and the Founders Hall for a police escort to Chocolate World. As we got closer more and more people lined the streets cheering us on. It was then when i realize what a personal accomplishment this was, and what this event truly meant.

We came into Chocolate World where our families awaited. It was a great ride, good people and a wonderful event.

(My Daughter cheering us on at the finish)

The icing on the cake was that Hershey donated 250k to the YSC, and the riders are on target to raise 200k.




Here we are crossing the finish line!!!

(Fives Family Photo)

Here is Will, Myself, and Josh at the end. Great riding guys!!!!

Just a word out to my boys. Thanks for the support and motivation!!










Till next year .... Keep Riding




T

Day 3 Tour de Pink

Wow, So after lots and lots of climbing on day 2, my legs actually still felt very strong, What the hell was wrong with me. (Lots of people must have been praying for me as I defiantly had an angel of mercy looking over me)










A couple of notes before i get into day 3 specifics.

The support for this ride has been nothing short of spectacular. These moto guys just kicked butt, and really put themselves in harms way, blocking intersections and guiding us through tight spots through out the trip. You guys and girls RULE, Thank you!!

They all rode BMW motorcycles, and there is no better sound to hear when doing a ride like this, then one of those bikes coming up on you. You just feel secure, and know that those boys got u back.


I also want to thank the rest of the support groups, the food at the stops were great, the Mavic team came to the support of many rides, and loaned out many of their carbon bikes, and was real boost for morale to have an assembled a team like this to support us.


So on to the details

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	5:06:33	5:16 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	4:09:02	4:17 pace
Distance (mi )	58.07
Moving Speed (mph)	14.0 avg.	44.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+4,141 / -4,070
Avg. Heart Rate	134 bpm	Zone 3.1

Click here for the details


So Day three treated us to very very nice weather. Unlike the previous two days, we awoke to the sun coming down, a brisk fall chill in the air, and nary a cloud to be seen. This was going to be a great day.

For most of the ride to this point, we spent mingling with great people. People like Connie, who was riding, not only to support the YSC but also training for the Lake Placid Iron man. And Adam a gent that works for the Air Force who lives in CO. These people were just great, and really helped to motivate me to ride hard.

We started the day out heading to Lancaster our route 23. It was pretty much a straight shot into Lancaster, so there was little chance of me taking a wrong turn. We started out climbing the hills in Valley Forge. This was really a cruel joke, but everyone sucked it up and got-r-don

For the first portion of the ride, we were back in the pack mingling and supporting each other on the hills.

Once we were moving the group started to split up and Will and Josh were out in front. As i knew we had many hills left to climb i wasn't to keen on catching them, but again, i found myself out pulling the group, but wasn't strong enough to catch up to the Will and Josh train.

I had just settled into a rhythm, when Adam appeared out of know where, and we rode till lunch together.

Adam is one of those cool people your glad to ride with, He lost his wife to cancer, and was really inspiring to see him out here riding and supporting the event.

He also had a very cool Colorado University jersey (hope they let you keep that)

Check out his blog here



So note in all the pictures blue sky. After lunch I spent the day in a pace line working to get into Lancaster. It was a great ride, and a nice smooth pace. We all had a great time and were enjoying the great weather.


As we closed in on Lancaster i hit a really rough spot on the should and had to revert to my mountain biking days to keep the shiny side up. The second casualty was my Garmin bike computer. It with it's mount was thrown from the bike. Fortunately it didn't get run over and it still works!

The day ended with us riding in to Lancaster in a cool pace line, and with the Moto's. So all was good.

When we got to the hotel, our rooms weren't ready but that was quickly overshadowed by the fact that there was free beer!!!! So all was good.

My wife and daughter showed up, and we ate dinner with Will and his family at Chillies, and then proceeded to watch my Eagles whoop up on Dallas.

One more day to go!

T

Day 2 tour de pink

So the second day was dubbed the hardest. And it was:

Here is the summary of the ride details, Note the 5,536 of climbing.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	6:41:15	5:31 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	5:18:23	4:22 pace
Distance (mi )	72.64
Moving Speed (mph)	13.7 avg.	42.6 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+5,536 / -5,384
Avg. Heart Rate	125 bpm	Zone 2.7
Temperature (°F)	57.6°F avg.	60.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	NE 14.2 avg.	NE 17.2 max.

Click here for details of the ride

So Day 2 took us from Trenton NJ to King of Prussia. The day stated out with 20+ miles on a rail trail that took us to the PA boarder. I wasn't too keen on riding on hard pack with my road bike, would have perfered to have my cycle-cross but alas, really wasn't worth complaining about.

For the first 10 miles we were in a large pack of rides just enjoying the cold damp morning, and not really pushing to hard. It wasn't untill Will, Josh, and I helped to change a gents tire, and then we decided to hammer to reel in the leaders. We dropped the hammer are rode at over 18+ mph but to no avail. All together we decided to save our energy to a resonalbe pace.



Tim on the rail trail (Courtesy of Will)


After stopping and using the facilities we crossed the bridge into PA. This is where the hills started.

I felt prety good on the rail trail, but that was flat, and easy, now we were going to see if i rode to hard on day 1 and truely see if i had it in me to ride to sizeable rides two days in a row.



We started out as a group, and headed into the hills of the PA. I was promptly dropped which was to be expected. However i was able to hold the lead group through the hills but couldn't real them back in. Once we got away from the river it became more rolling, and my motivation to catch the lead group increased.

I actually rode pretty darn hard to catch them prior to lunch, but with out the aide of some other riders it was a futile attempt. But boy was it fun.

I soled into lunch and ate the hell out of the subway sub. We quickly remounted to stay warm and headed to King of Prussia.

After mingling for a while, We headed into the hills of Valley Forge, where i again found myself not strong enough to stay with Will and Josh, but strong enough to hold off the pack behind me. I focused on climbing and technique to get through the hills, as they were starting to wear on me.

Then there was the wrong turn, the markings took us into a park, and then there was no signage signaling which way to go, So intuitively i headed left at the t in the road. I promptly ran into some girls that indicated they saw the lead group go right. So i turned around and headed off. Further other non tour riders said the same thing, so i took off after them.

Well after a mile of going straight down, i realized i was in trouble as there were no more markings, No Moto's no anything. So instead of turning around, i knew i was getting close to KOP so i decided to keep riding. I headed out and for a couple of miles kept riding looking for an alternative route to KOP and the mall. Unfortunately that was a futile attempt. So i turned around and headed back to where i was dropped out of the park. I made a couple of useless phone calls, and then headed into the Valley Forge industrial park, which took me back on track. I also solicited the help of a Good Samaritan, who was responsible for getting me back on track.

I got back on track and meet one of the support cars with Doc Laurie riding shot gun, and tried to hide how angry i was. Not at anyone in particular just that i was frustrated. So as i started off again, Lisa Frank and some riders were pulling in behind me.

I know Lisa made the comments that we could all ride in the last 7 or so miles into the mall. Unfortunately i realized that i was about out of fluids, so i just kept my pace up and in the process dropped them in the hills. One of the moto guys indicated that they were calling me not so nice names ;) Sorry Lisa!

After getting through most of the hills I rode for a while with Virginia (who is the YSC webmaster) Where she dropped me on the last of the hills. I idled in with my legs burning and darn tired, after 70+ miles.

The evening of Day 2 took us to the Crowne Plaza, and Will, Josh, Melissa and I headed over to the mall for a fine dinner.

T

Tour de Pink day 1

So as i write this from the fresh memories of the weekend, i can't help but be a little saddened by the fact that the ride is already over. But alas lets get on to the details of day 1.

Will and I woke up and turned on the weather channel and we must have watched it for what seemed like an hour. We were glued to the first Nor'easter of the season and to just what track it would be taking. However after much deliberation it was apparent from TWC that we were going to be fine. WRONG!!!

We ate a hearty breakfast at the hotel, lugged our bags to the awaiting support vehicles and boarded the bus to the ferry. We were to start our ride from Highland NJ, our circuitous route for day 1 took us to Trenton NJ.

So since I had dismissed my training regiment, as i planned to store all that energy i would expend on training and just save it for the ride itself, this day i wondered if that was the wisest choice. I mean after all, i hadn't put in nearly enough rides, and i was sure my ass was just going to be killing me.

I was also concerned to see if i could even hang with this group, I mean they all looked like lean riding machines. So i was thinking i was in real big trouble.

We finally got on the Ferry headed for NJ, and that is when the situation hit the group, as people were starting to feel very ill being on the ship, as it was being tossed like a cork, the weather was horrible, 40 degrees 2omph winds and a driving rain. I'm thinking fantastic, bad weather is always a great equalizer. I thrive in shity weather, god knows how many of my back packing trips started and ending in similar weather. (those stories for another time)

We dismounted the ship, and quickly traded our sea legs for our bike legs, and headed to wear our bikes were staged.

As we checked them over, pumped our tires, and reset our computers, my thoughts were no longer on my fitness, or my own insecurity, but traded in for a can do attitude, I thought, i'm gonna ride the hell out this course.

So we mounted our steeds and heeded for Trenton. The course was mostly rolling, and made for some great riding (rain or not)

As the ride unfolded Josh, Will and I mingled, but finally settled into our own little group, We each pulled our share (okay maybe i didn't pull as much) and settled into a brisk pace. At one point Josh made the comment, looks like timmy has been training. Humm i had him fooled :)

The first rest stop had our subway subs, and we ate the hell out of them. Ahh tastey.

We continued on the rolling terian and stopped at the subsequent rest stops, We didn't spend any time at these stops as it we didn't want cool down in the cool rainy fall day.

At one point mid way, i stopped to use the potty along side the road, which i never do. But once i got back on the bike, i noticed that my left pedal was broke, holy crap i thought, i can't barely clip in, and i still have 20+ miles to go.

Well needless to say the Mavic support team didn't have any pedals, and i limped in with it, and immedatly sought out a local shop for new pedals.

So know i have a nice set of LOOK's on the bike, and they work pretty good.

The last 7 or so miles, we were escorted into the hotel in Downtown Trenton. Well we got a little split up in town, as the lights weren't working with us. but we pulled the second group in, and arrived at the hotel in one piece!!

Clickl Here to see the details for Day 1

Details on Day 1

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	4:15:31	4:27 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	3:11:46	3:42 pace
Distance (mi )	51.81
Moving Speed (mph)	16.2 avg.	30.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+2,560 / -2,482
Avg. Heart Rate	141 bpm	Zone 3.5
Temperature (°F)	53.2°F avg.	55.4°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	ENE 16.4 avg.	ENE 20.7 max.

Evening Prior Tour de Pink start

Diner at the RED EYE GRILL

So after a quick train ride from work I met up with Will, Josh and Melisa. Mellisa is Josh's wife and will be working as part of the support crew.

We hooked up with Brit and Michelle, and headed out to the RED EYE grill on the corner of 56 and 7th. I think we were all a little nervous and jittery but excited to be there, and looking forward to putting the tires on the pavement.

After dinner we milled around for a bit and then headed of to the safety meeting, where they went through some emotional talks regarding the cancer survivors. I guess one thing i never put together was the fact that breast cancer had effected so many young ladies under 40. That discussion really put things in perspective, and reinforced just how much the fund raising means to the YSC.

Then the discussion turned to safety, and such. Pretty basic really but a good refresher none the less.

Judgement Day

So it has arrived the Tour de Pink. Much to my surprise the day has come much faster than i had anticipated. I had contimplated not doing the ride, due to a lack of riding this summer. But after some thought I decided to ride the hell out of the course. The reality is i don't back down, out of shape or not i was going to finish. So the last couple of weeks i took the computer off my bike and started to ride the hills around York Pa when ever i could. Which was a challenge given the new baby and the job.

But here it is day three of the ride with one more to follow and i'm only nursing a sore quad. I'll take that!!!

The following posts will chronical the ride. enjoy

T