Fightin' Texas Aggie Band

Life in Relentless Pursuit: SHSU Halftime: (I couldn't get my video to load so here is the one from Ben's outfit.) Just click on the link above.

To find Ben, count nine rows up from the bottom and then six back from the front. He is in front of a snare drum who is in front of a tuba.

Location:Kyle Field

More of August

We celebrated Olivia's birthday on the river!




We sent Ben off to Aggieland.








Grandad got to see him march in the band!




I visited the Thompsons in Colorado!








And Jenny & I donated our hair to charity!








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August In Pictures

Hard to believe its almost over!




Dad, Mero & Ben at Western Night, Horn Creek Colorado




A few of my favorite people!




Some of my plants don't mind the heat!




Ben got his pilot's license!




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MS 150. The grand finale!

The next morning came early! And boy was it cold! It took a great deal of convincing myself before I could muster up the courage to pry myself out of my sleeping bag and put on my cycling shorts & jersey. We packed up our overnight bags and loaded them into the team truck before we got back on the bikes and got ready to pedal on to Austin.

 The morning of Day 2

We had two routes to choose from and we opted for the flattest one, so we headed straight to highway 71 and started north.  The ride was mostly uneventful once we got moving and I think all of us were like horses headed to the barn. We had plenty of rest stops along the way and thankfully the wind was at our backs again. By the time we got close to Austin it was beginning to warm up quite a bit. The sun was high, the surroundings were mostly concrete and asphalt, and the hills were… well, the entrance to the Texas Hill Country. About 6 miles from the finish I looked at Ben and said, “Hey, I think we might actually finish this thing!” Eventually we crossed under I-35 and we knew we were getting really close. After a few more hills and turns, we came flying down the last really big hill, turned the last corner, and there we saw it… 

the FINISH LINE!!!

It was such a pretty sight. Right behind it stood the capitol building. Hundreds of people were lining the streets cheering us on. With 65 miles and nearly 5 hours of cycling behind us, we were done. What an amazing feeling it was. It still is an amazing feeling. What an accomplishment for someone like me to ride a bicycle all the way from Houston to Austin. It was an awesome experience and one I hope to do again. Maybe even again and again. We’ll see!

Me & Ben at the finish. The best riding partner I could ask for! Thanks BEN!

MS 150 rolls on

What Part am I on... 4?  Yeah, it was a long ride.

When it came time for the big day (or two, in this case), I packed my bags, my bike, my helmet, shoes, snacks, water bottles, and other accumulated gear and headed south to Austin. I decided to take the shuttle to Houston so that I could just drive straight to Waco after I finished the ride on Sunday.  I loaded my bike onto a truck, and got on a bus. We waited a whole hour for the bus to fill up before we could head on south. As we drove that long road to Houston, it really hit me that I’d be riding my BICYCLE all the way back to Austin with my own two legs. What an incredible feeling! When we arrived, my dad picked me up and then we collected my bike before meeting Ben for a Carb Load at Russo’s.

That night we got everything situated and ready to go for the next morning. Our team had planned to meet at the Brookshire Brothers in Katy and start from there. I don’t remember exactly what time it was but it was still dark out, and really really COLD! Dad dropped us off, and once the sun came up we all hit the road! At 7:58 a.m. we arrived at the first rest stop. I checked the weather and it was 39 degrees!

No wonder my hands and arms and feet were numb! The rest of the day we spent pedaling from break point to break point, snacking on all the wonderful snacks along the way. We had lunch at like 10 a.m. so we were pretty hungry by the last stop in Fayetteville!

 

Most of the ride was really smooth, with the wind at our backs and a perfect 70 degrees (once it warmed up!) – except for the last 10 miles heading into La Grange. Those last 10 just happened to be into the wind, and boy did we feel it! I thought we’d never make it. But 85 miles and nearly 6 ½ hours later (not including stops), we rolled into Camp St. Mark!  

After dinner, a shower, a massage, and a second dinner (yep) we settled into our sleeping bags around 8 p.m. and got a pretty good night's sleep in our Team Simmons tent! (Thanks to some ear plugs, an air mattress and being really, really tired.)

My first marathon

The following Saturday, Ben and I rode the Raven’s Revenge in Huntsville. I signed us up for what I thought was a 50-mile ride, but when we arrived we learned it was only 45. We had a good ride with great weather, a few rolling hills, and some excellent rest stops. 26.2 Miles in, we stopped at the top of a hill for a snack. We were 2 hours in and I commented to Ben that some people can run 26.2 miles in that time. Yikes! We pressed on and crossed the finish line, only to learn we had completed 41 miles rather than 45. I was slightly disappointed because I wanted the mileage, and tried to convince Ben we needed to keep going. However, he was smart and led me straight back to the car! We followed that ride with a celebration lunch at Chilis.

That Sunday began daylight savings, which meant I could start riding after work and not have to worry about it getting dark. And ride I did! I rode 2-3 times a week after the time change and learned that the more I kept it up the less I noticed a sore butt or muscles. The wind did not let up, however, and I continued to fight it the whole month of March.  I learned that hills are nothing compared to going against the wind. 

The first Saturday in April, Ben and I did another training ride together. This one was north of Austin, a.k.a. HILL COUNTRY. I had failed to realize the implications of that when I signed us up! We rode 45 miles over those hills, in that spring Texas wind. A couple of those hills made me really appreciate the training rides I had done in Cameron Park.  Ben and I felt mighty accomplished when we finished that ride, until I realized, “You know in two weeks we’ll still have 30 miles left to go at this point, and then have to do it all over again tomorrow.” What an overwhelming prospect!

I continued my training, counting down the days (and counting up the miles) until the day of the big ride. I set a goal to ride 300 miles before the big day and I reached 349.44 miles by my last training ride on April 17th. I think I'll just round that up to an even 350!

MS 150 Adventures Continued

After I got past my initial fear of the bike, I found it to actually be quite enjoyable... Especially in the beautiful spring-like February weather. Not to mention, a much better way to pass the time than hanging out on the stationary bike in the gym for hours on end.

The weekend after my bike maintenance class I took a 25-mile road ride out to MCC and then back through China Spring to the airport and back to my house. This is when I learned that I’d have to really map something out ahead of time to even reach a decent mileage. All this stuff seems a lot further apart than it actually is, apparently.  That same weekend I did a 10.5-mile ride on Sunday around the airport and over the dam.  I had originally intended to do 36 miles that weekend and I wanted to finish what I’d started.  I also didn’t have much more time than that to commit to cycling on Sunday afternoon. It was a very windy day and I worked really hard for those 10 miles! I also managed to throw my chain off the cassette somehow and had to figure out how to put it back on correctly so it was a learning experience for sure.

The following weekend I was determined to reach 36 miles in a single ride so I mapped it out before hand on mapmyride.com.  I kept adding more and more road until I finally hit 36 miles. This time I began at MCC and went out to Rock Creek and then around China Spring, then back through the airport to MCC. The wind was brutal that day as well and it took me a full 3 hours to complete the ride, but I did it. I am undecided whether the most remarkable part of that ride was the 6 dead skunks I passed or the 1.5 miles of gravel that I got stuck on unexpectedly. I was so convinced that I would get a flat on that gravel road and was so very thankful that I did not! (But at least I would know how to change it if I did.)

The road to Austin began way before Houston. (Part 1)

Last year my sister and brother participated in the Lone Star BP MS 150. I was able to join them at Camp St. Mark on Saturday evening and follow them along the route the next day, catching up with the team at lunch and at the finish line in Austin. After being on the outskirts that weekend, I realized that I too wanted to be a part of this awesome experience.

When the time came to sign up, I registered on the first day! I realized that meant I needed to begin training as soon as possible. About that time I turned 29 ½.  I decided it was officially time to join a gym. If I had any hope of being physically fit when I turned 30, I needed to start working out right away. At this point I didn’t even own a road bike, so I figured it was a good excuse to start out in the gym and wait for warmer weather before getting out on the roads.

I joined Gold’s, got a trainer, did some classes, and really devoted myself to working out 2 to 3 times a week while building my strength and endurance.  I kept that up until February, waiting for warmer weather and a bike to ride.  My sister was generous enough to share her bike with me for the season, and my mom was able to haul it back to Waco from Colorado on one of her many road trips back and forth.

My first time on the bike was downright scary. Figuring out how to get on, clip in, get going and then stop, clip out and get off was a mental workout in itself.  I realized pretty quickly that if I ran into anything at all I would go directly over the handlebars without a doubt. Along my route on that very first ride, a reflector came loose on the back tire causing a “pop! pop! pop! pop! pop! pop! CRUNCH!” - which scared me to death because I had no idea what it was or how to stop the bike and get off so I could check it out. After that I turned and headed back to the house, wondering how I’d ever get myself ready for the MS 150.

The following week I attended a bicycle maintenance class so I could learn a little more about my bike and how to change a flat if I ever should need to know. I stocked up on supplies and decided I was ready to hit the road again. I took another practice ride so I could learn how to use the gears and get comfortable riding a little faster pace.  That second outing was about 10 miles or so down by the river. I followed a hike-and-bike loop path just to get used to the feel of the bike. I practiced clipping out and stopping and realized that I could really handle this. By this time the race was only 8 weeks away. It was time to get serious!