Now Presenting le Tour de Donut 2012!

After 5 weeks of anticipation, today was the day for le Tour de Donut! For those who are not familiar, the Tour de Donut is a just-for-fun bike race held up in Greenville at Klackle Orchards. It is 32-33 miles long with 2 doughnut stops during the race. For each doughnut you eat, you get 3 minutes subtracted from your total time. Your placing depends on total time – doughnut time.

The best part about this race is that it is really just for fun. Sure, there are some people taking it seriously (there will always be a few) but most people are just out there to ride and eat doughnuts. There are no prizes, no money, no nothing at stake, besides bragging rights of course.

This race has been on my schedule for 3 years now. It is even a part of my yearly bike goals. About 5 weeks ago, completely out of the blue, Hannah told me she wanted to do a bike race with me. What!?!?  I had no idea she was even thinking about it. This has convinced me that Hannah takes after myself, in that she has to ruminate on ideas for a while but when she makes up her mind, her mind is made up.

I tried to convey to Hannah what a 30ish mile bike ride would be like. She was confident.  I tried to give her an idea of how long she would need to be on the tag-a-long (better than 2 hours).  She was determined.

Ok.  Nothing to do but get training.  We did 4 "long" rides over 4 weekends (10 miles, 14 miles, 18 miles, and 22 miles).  There were also a few shorter jaunts around the neighborhood mixed in.  She did wonderfully with them all.

As a side note, she also became determined to learn to ride her own bike.  She started on a tiny, little 12 inch bike borrowed from the neighbors.  Once she was proficient on that, she took on her big girl bike.  Next thing you know, she is doing great on that bike.  Once again, like me, when she becomes determined to do something, she will do it.  It's done.  Period.  End of sentence.

As the day of the race approached, I was no longer concerned about her ability to tolerate time on the bike or to be able to pedal well.  I was, however, concerned about the weather.  First, it was cold.  When the race started, it was probably in the upper 40s.  Second, rain was a definite possibility.

Cold is one thing.  If you wear enough of the right clothes, you will be fine.  Wet is a whole other thing.  I have ridden when wet and cold.  Imagine taking all the fun, crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash.  Oh, and guess where all the spray from my rear wheel would go?  Yep, straight into Hannah's face.

If there had been rain, Hannah and I would have ended up going out for a nice Daddy/Daughter breakfast after I picked up my t-shirt.  Thank heavens there was no rain!

We got there with a few minutes to spare.  Hannah was covered in multiple layers on her upper and lower body and had her feet in plastic bags (to break the wind).  We got ourselves ready, picked up my race packet and headed to the start line.  Once there, I got to listen to "When are we going to start?" approximately 5,000 times.  I am riding with a 6 year old, after all.

Many very nice people commented on our set-up.  Several joked with Hannah about eating 400 donuts.  She is pretty cute.

Then the race started!

We were off with Hannah pedaling hard and with me trying to pick a clean line through the other racers.  I had come to learn that the tag-a-long significantly affects the handling of my bike.  I have to take turns wider and the tiniest little twitch of the tag-a-long makes my bike swerve.

My first warning that things might not go as well as I hoped came when Hannah started to ask when the first donut stop was when were only 3 miles in.  This question got repeated many times over the next 10 miles.

Even though I had done this race before, I wasn't sure exactly how many miles it was to each donut stop.  Turns out the first one is 13.6 miles in.  That is a long way to go for a little girl jones-ing for a donut.

Before getting to the first donut stop, another rider commented that he was humbled by how fast we were moving.  GO TEAM TERRELL!!!  WOO-HOO!!!

When we got to the first donut stop, we each grabbed a donut and I headed to the port-a-john (yep, lots of coffee).  I ended up eating 2 and Hannah ended up eat 1.5 (no, hers didn't count).

Then it was off to the next stop.  This section goes right through Greenville, including a section on a bike path.  There is also a section that goes around a lake that lies within the city limits.  There is really nothing noteworthy about this section except for the really, really, really steep hill you need to climb to get away from the lake.  I had warned Hannah that we might just have to walk up part of the hill.  She pedaled as hard as she could, I got into the lowest gear I had and got up out of the saddle and pedaled hard!

And then we walked.

About 3/4 of the way up, I couldn't keep the bike on a straight path and was barely keeping it upright so I stopped and we walked the rest of the way up.  Oh well.  Had to happen.

As we got going, I could tell we were getting close to the second donut stop but were probably 1-2 miles away.  And then Hannah decided she was done.

She got a little tearful and said she wanted to go home.  I was afraid this would happen all along.  I let her know we were close to the second donut stop and that Michelle would be able to pick her up.  The next mile was tough.  It was gradual climb on a tar-and-chip road.  Hannah didn't seem to be pedaling as hard but I definitely was.

At the second donut stop, I called Michelle and let her know Hannah was finished.  Thankfully, the second stop is very close to the finish.  We pedaled over and I unhooked the tag-a-long.  She seemed to be OK, so I decided to finish the race.  There was a race official who seemed a little confused.  I can't really blame him.

The last stage of the race felt like I was on turbo.  First, I was no longer pulling an extra 60 lbs.  Second, I wanted to get back quickly so that the kids wouldn't have to wait too long.  I passed a good number of people.  A few tried to hang with me but couldn't.  All those hill intervals have done me some good.

As I finished, Hannah and my Mom were there.  Michelle was in the Klackle store getting donuts and cider for the kids.  David has a cold and was getting bent out of shape (Poor Buddy!).  We took some pictures and headed for the cars.  The kids wanted to ride with Michelle in the Mom-mobile so I drove home in my car.

Once home, David needed a couple books and then he was off to bed.  Hannah has been reading or watching TV all afternoon.

I am really proud of Hannah.  She did wonderfully.  I think she did about 22-23 miles on a cold day.  That ain't easy.  It is my hope that she will learn the value of pushing yourself to do that which you aren't sure you can do.  Physical limits need to explored.

The whole experience was a lot of fun.  Spending that much time with my daughter was great.  I can't wait to do it again.

Why haven't I posted in a while?

Good question.  I'm not completly sure, but it probably has to do with a lack of time, lack of computer access, and trying to find time to write on my other blog, Can a Fat Man Run?  Here are a few things that have transpired since my last post about 5 months ago.

1. Michelle & I are pregnant with our third child, due around Thanksgiving.  Yes, yes, thank you, thank you.  Everything seems to be going well.
2. There have been several more bike days this past spring and beginning this fall.  There is one more left for the year and my plan is to do a century ride.  The fall bike days are all in preparation for doing a 200K ride at the Colorburst.
3. My daughter has started first grade.  Woo-Hoo!!!  I couldn't be more proud of her.
4. I took up running again (WHAT?!?!?!?).  After being inspired by the book Born to Run, I decided to give the barefoot/natural/minimalist running style a try.  You can read about it at Can a Fat Man Run, but it is actually going quite well.
5. I'm on track to acheive all of my bike goals for the year but I may not reach the 2,600 mile mark.  The extra time spent running has had some influence on this.  Oh well.
6. After doing coverage for about 1.5 years, I have taken a position at Mary Free Bed's Pain Center.  This is a multidisciplinary program involving physical & occupational therapy, medical care, and psychology, all housed under one roof.  It is truly the best treatment out there for people with chronic pain.
7. Our computer's motherboard took a complete dive and we were without a home computer for 4-5 weeks (this did influence the amount of posting I did).

There are certainly other little details of life I have missed.  So many details.  This coming Saturday, my daughter & I will ride in the 4th annual le Tour de Donut up at Klackle Orchards in Greenville.  This is a 30+ mile ride with 2 donut stops.  I think we are both ready for it.  Fingers crossed.

Bike Day!

I'm truly excited about tomorrow.  It is the first of several Bike Days that I have planned for the year.  Long story short, I have a good bit of time off saved up and I need to use it.  On Wednesdays, my wife works all day and my kids go to daycare.  We will pay for the daycare whether we use it or not, so why not take a day off and get in a long bike ride?  Everyone is happy, right?

It also happens that tomorrow is my birthday which, of course, makes this extra special.

All of my Bike Days are in the spring or fall because I am encouraged not to take too much time off during June, July and August.  So what do I plan on doing?  Good question.

Tomorrow, I will ride the 100K/64 mile route used for the annual 100 Grand Bike Tour put on by the Rapidwheelmen.  I hope to do this route twice on the day of the 100 Grand so I can capture my first 200k ride.  That's my plan, at least.

On May 23rd, I might participate in the 100 Miles to Nowhere charity ride put on by fatcyclist.com.  The gist of this ride is that you pick some short, mundane route near you and ride it enough times to go 100 miles.  The proceeds from the event will go to a camp meant for kids of parents with cancer (a pretty worthy cause, I think!).

The cool part is that it will likely be a worldwide event.  Each participant gets to pick their own route and then ride it.  They don't even have to be on the same day.  Fatty encourages riders to do it on June 2nd, but it's not a requirement.

My plan is to ride "The Loop".  This is a 5 mile route practically outside my house.  It has 2 good hills and one decent hill.  I will have to complete it 20 times.  This will likely be my biggest cycling challenge to date because it will involve a lot of climbing and it will be, honestly, quite boring.

One other obstacle to this ride might be the cost.  I have no idea what the cost is to register.  Will I have to raise a certain amount of money?  Is there a steep entry fee?  Ya got me.  Registration is supposed to open tomorrow, so I guess I will see.

Other than those two days, I plan on riding other local routes that I typically do not have time for or have never ridden before.  For instance, I plan on following Honey Creek Road from Cannonsburg into Ada, mostly because the last stretch into Ada is about as hilly as they come for the Grand Rapids area.

When Interests Intersect

As a quick review, I am a physical therapist who happens to be a bike nut/geek/dweeb/nerd.  As a PT, my specialty is treating orthopaedic conditions, i.e. back pain, knee pain, neck pain, shoulder pain and so forth.  Not to toot my own horn too much, but I'm pretty good.
Very recently my low back has been bothering me.  Not terribly, but noticeably.  It might be directly related to some time on the bike in the last few weeks.  I don't know that I can make a direct connection, but the two might just be correlated.

For the sake of understanding, my back has a generalized soreness/stiffness at the lowest part of the lumbar spine, just as the spine meets the sacrum/pelvis.  It is equal on the right and left.  This is quite different to what I have experienced in the past.

About 11 years ago, I herniated the L5-S1 disc and had what is referred to as radicular pain into the right leg with myotomal weakness in the calf and hamstring along with sensory changes in the little toe of the my right foot (a little bit of numbness and weakness still persists, even now).

The symptoms I am currently experiencing are quite different.  What I am feeling is more of a muscle and/or joint strain.  Nothing too drastic or alarming.  The symptoms are certainly what a PT would call "mechanical" in nature.  By mechanical, we mean that forces from within or outside of the body are placing extra strain on neuromusculoskeletal structures and leading to the perception of pain.  Those same mechanical forces can be used to alleviate the pain, as well.

By nature, I tend to be quite objective.  I seem to have that ability to separate emotions from facts, even when the subject of my thoughts is myself.  I immediately start analyzing the situation and looking for solutions.  There were times when the herniated disc was causing considerable pain and I could still step back and look at my situation in an inquisitive matter ("Hmmm...well that is interesting, isn't it?).

With that said, I cannot help but to immediately start to analyze what is going on, what might be the cause and how can the problem be solved.  Have I overdone things with stretching recently?  Have I been spending too much time sitting?  I raised the handlebars recently.  Is that to blame?  What is my symptom generator?  Muscle?  Ligaments?  Facet joint?  How should I deal with this?  Stretching?  If so, what stretch?  How long should I stretch for?  The list of questions goes on and on.  This is all processing very quickly, I should add.

My point, which I realize is a long time in coming, is that I always think like a PT.  I see just about everything through "PT glasses".  Not a day goes by that I don't think, multiple times BTW, how my current situation relates to physical therapy (Wow, I'm such a dork).

Is this a good thing?  I think so.  It is safe to say I enjoy what I do.  It is also safe to say I was meant to be a PT.  If I couldn't be a PT anymore, I have know idea what I would do.  No one seems to want to pay me to ride my bike and that is just about the only other thing I am really passionate about.

Yes, yes, I am passionate about my family and passionate about Christ but it is hard to make a steady living at those things.  Me a preacher?  Not really.  Stay at home dad?  I could do it, but I wouldn't be pretty.  The kids might never fully recover.

I would like to think that I was designed to be a PT.  I was given the right kind of mind and temperament to be a PT.  What else would I do?

Lest you think of me as a work-a-holic, I never mind leaving early.  Forty hours is fine with me.  In fact, if I could work 30 hours and get paid for 40, that would be great.  I love what I do but I don't want to do it too much.  The rest of life is just too much fun.

Weight

There is a website called fatcyclist.com.  The author, Fatty, is humorous, good-natured, and often on the money about biking issues.  Apparently, he started his blog because he had fought the good fight with his weight and basically wanted to use public shaming as a last chance method to lose weight.  As best I can tell, it worked pretty well because he certainly seems like a svelte, in-shape kind of guy.  For him, riding a century is no big deal...on a mountain bike...uphill.

To be honest, Fatty gave me the inspiration for my blog (By the way, his name is actually Elden Nelson but he does encourage people to call him Fatty).

To get back on subject, I was attracted to his blog because I am, by all reasonable definitions, a fat cyclist.  Never during my life have I been described as petite.  Never.  Do you remember Husky pants?  I was that kid.  No lie.

Over the years, I have tried to lose weight and have been successful on several occasions.  Typically, the success has been short lived.  Looking back, it seems my diets or exercise plans were too extreme; too hard to maintain in the long term.  When I think of this, I think of P90X.

Several years ago, Michelle and I decided together that we needed to lose weight.  We needed to change our lifestyle and our eating habits.  The best part about this is that we were doing it together.  This certainly was one of the main factors in our success.

The biggest factor in our weight loss became obvious after a little while.  When people would ask me what I did to lose weight, I would answer that I did this really extreme diet call the Eat Less Food Diet.  This would usually be followed by several seconds of a curious expression, closely followed by the realization that I was talking about eating less food.  Simple as that.  Nothing fancy.  No weird supplements.  No specific food restrictions.  Just eat less food.

This method of weight loss has been the most successful method.  I went from about 230 lbs to a low of 205 lbs.  I must admit, I was pretty happy and feeling quite well.  I even managed to get off a low dose cholestorol med.  I looked better, felt better, and was more confident.

This all started back in the fall of 2008.  The weight stayed off until about the last year or so, when it started creeping back.  I knew I was gaining.  I could feel I was gaining.  I made some very half-hearted (maybe one-quarter-hearted) attempts to curb my diet.  Finally, I weighed myself after the holidays and saw a number I had never wanted to see again...220 lbs!  This was a breaking point where I decided I needed get back on the wagon.

It has been two weeks.  I have lost about 5 lbs in that time.  How?  EAT LESS FOOD!  The evening snack has essentially been eliminated.  Little treats that are lying around are left lying around.  Otherwise, nothing else has changed.  I am trying to exercise as much as I can but it is difficult with a full-time job, a wife and two little kids.

It does take a lot of will power.  I really love an evening snack, especially ice cream...ummm, ice cream (wiping drool off my lips).  It has to be done.  I am becoming a healthier person.  Cycling will be easier.  I will be around longer for my kids.  My quality of life will be better as I get older.  Believe me, these are all worthwhile goals and actually better than ice cream (I love you ice cream...don't be angry!).

My goal is to get back to 205 and to hold it there (secretly, I would love to see 199 on the scale, at least once).  How long will it take?  I don't care.  One other thing I learned during The Great Weight Loss of 2008 was that there would be fluctuations.  Some weeks the weight wouldn't come off and might even go up.  What do you do in this situation?  Stick to the plan.  This is a long term thing folks.

Normal

At this stage of life, a guy like me is supposed to "be in charge of things".  I should be a VP, a partner in the firm, the owner, the part owner, the manager, the supervisor, the senior clinician or whatever other title you can think of.

I'm 36 years old, married and have 2 little kids.  For some reason, there is a societal pressure for guys in my stage of life to move forward/move upward/advance themselves.  Why?

I know why.  That is what we're supposed to do.  It is normal.  Why is it normal?  Because everybody else does.  Your Dad did.  Your Grandpa did.  Your Great-Grandpa did.  Your friends are doing it.  It's just the way it's done.  Ambition and advancement is normal.

Do I want to be normal?  The "normal" American is thousands of dollars in debt.  The "normal" American is overweight.  The "normal" American is a nominal Christian, at best.  The "normal" American has little to no retirement savings.  The "normal" American isn't all that happy with their job.

Sometimes normal sucks.

On the flip side, do I want to stay exactly as I am, exactly where I am, doing exactly what I am doing?  Well, not really.  Change is fun...and interesting...and exciting.  Change can also be difficult and painful (everything worth having or doing is going to be difficult and painful at some level).

What I don't want is to follow a pre-estabilshed path because it is "what I am supposed to do".  As the old saying goes, "Would you jump off the Empire State Building if all your friends did it?".

I have a coffee mug by the Life Is Good people.  It says, "Do what you like.  Like what you do".  That has always seemed like pretty good advice.  I don't want to end up with a life where I wake up each morning and say to myself, "Why do I do this every day?  Get up and go to my crappy job.  Ughh."

Where am I going with this?  I am trying to avoid making a decision because it is what I am supposed to do.  Whichever path I choose, I will decide based on what I want to do.

2012 Bike Goals

In years past, I have not actually put my cycling goals into writing.  I have had goals, but it was always a mental list.  This year I decided to put it into writing so I could reflect back more easily.

One thing about goals...I don't care whether I acheive them but I do care whether I acheive them.  That is my way of saying I will be ecstatic if I meet all my goals but I won't be flustered if I don't.

Certain goals will be easier than others.  I should be able to meet number two.  That is mostly about letting Michelle know ahead of time that I want to participate in these events.  She's pretty cool about this. 

Number four is also pretty likely.  With Michelle's parents and sister in Midland, there will be many opportunities to ride to there.  It is a journey I have yet to do by bike, so I can certainly look forward to it.  That ride will likely help me to reach number five.  I have already traversed 75 miles on Sam so 100-107 shouldn't be too hard.  Prioritizing a new saddle for Sam will have to become a priority.  I would like to shoot for a used Brooks B-17.  I'm thinkin' Ebay.

Which goal is the hardest?  Probably number three, 2600 miles for the year.  Time, time, time.  This is the major determining factor.  I gotta be a good dad and husband first.

A 200 km ride will likely take place during either the 100 Grand or the Colorburst.  Both events have 100 km courses.  My current plan is to ride the course in one direction and then reverse it for the second 100.  That way, I can take advantage of the rest stops.  Also, I know the roads quite well so there won't be any surprises.

2012 Bike Goals
1) Do a 200 km ride
2) Ride in the 100 Grand, Colorburst, and le Tour de Donut.
3) Log 2600 miles
4) Ride to McBain and/or Midland
5) Do a singlespeed century
6) Do 3 total century rides (or longer)

I guess we'll see how it goes.