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My husband and I are quite active in the south Florida road biking community. One of the clubs we belong to is the Boca Raton Bicycle Club. The club has rides scheduled for almost every day of the week. Visit the club’s website for the current ride schedule.
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Boca Raton Bicycle Club
P.O. Box 810744
Boca Raton, FL 33481-0744
Annual dues are due January 1st of each year.
Individual Membership: $20.00
Family Membership: $35.00
From the Boca Raton Bicycle Club website:
“The mission of the Boca Raton bicycle club is to promote cycling safety and greater awareness of the sport, through club events and community activism. The club promotes safe bicycling and personal development by encouraging club members to cooperate with public authorities in the observance of all traffic regulations and by providing educational information on safe and proper methods of bicycling.”
My husband and I rode in the MS150 this weekend. Two days, 75 miles each day. Got up at 4:30 AM Saturday morning to drive 60 miles south to Coral Gables where the ride started. We were part of the 90 member Office Depot Foundation Team.
WINDY RIDE
Boy am I freaking tired after riding 150 miles on my bike this weekend. Wasn’t supposed to have a headwind but we had a headwind both days - DANG. Pretty bad when you can only get up to 26 MPH going down Card Sound Bridge. Pretty steep bridge, should have been doing close to 40 MPH, but dang if that wind wasn’t trying to push us back up the bridge!!!
ABOVE: Card Sound Bridge - 65 feet high, no shoulders.
ABOUT THE RIDE
Approximately 2,700 bikers participated in the MS150. They started the ride in waves, letting around ?50-100 bikers start at a time. Took us an hour after the “official” ride start before we actually crossed the starting line. Day 2 we got closer to the start line - only took us 1/2 hour to get across the starting line.
RIDER DOWN
On the first day, only 1.25 miles into the ride we came across the first of many ambulances we would see during the 2 days of riding. There were a bunch of round-a-bouts at the beginning of the ride. Someone rode right into the r-a-b, hit the curb with their front tire and crashed their bike. The biker was still lying on the side of the ground when we rode by - not the kind of thing you want to see at the beginning of a 150 mile ride.
RIDE THE RACE TRACK
On day two, at the halfway point we had a rest stop at the Homestead Miami Speedway. Got to do a lap on the extremely steep, banked race track - could you hear me screaming!?! Thought I was going to slide down the freaking side of the track, so I pointed the front of the bike back down and flew down to the flat part. Then I noticed everyone else was doing the same thing - AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!
The rest stop portion, with all the food and drinks, was setup in pit row, you know, where the race cars stop to get refueled/new tires. It was pretty cool. I just visited the Speedway’s official website, I was curious as to how steep the track actually is: banking in turns - 18-20 degree variable banking. Yikes!!! Try riding that on a BICYCLE and see if that doesn’t get your heart thumping!!!
I think I was more scared getting into and back out of the track. Had to go down this steep, unlit tunnel which had metal speed bumps. Coming back out we were in a huge group of bikers, whoever was at the front started screaming so we all started screaming going through the tunnel, which echoed, it was hilarious.
WELL ORGANIZED EVENT
Well organized ride, lots of great food at the beginning of the ride, at all the rest stops and at the end of the ride at John Pennekamp State Park. Left our bikes at the park, picked up our luggage and took the shuttle 3 miles to our hotel. Stayed at the Holiday Inn Key Largo, poolside room. Very nice, 2 pools, jacuzzi, Tiki Bar, right next to Coconuts Seafood Restaurant. We took a nap before eating dinner. I had a HUGE bowl of angel hair pasta with scallops - nice not having to count calories. I burned around 8,300 calories during the 2 days - food is my friend. Think we were back in our room by 7:30 and fell asleep by around 9 PM. Got up at 5:30 AM to do it all in reverse on Sunday morning.
RIDING WITH OUR TEAM
On Saturday we rode with some of our Office Depot team members for most of the day. Saw a lot of our other biking friends that were also doing the ride. Headwinds were a bit stronger on Sunday, or maybe I was just in a lot of pain and really TIRED. But the groups were spread out a lot more on Sunday, kind of hard to get the full benefits of drafting when you’re only riding with 2 other bikers for the last 30 miles or so. My average speed for both days was pretty close, but Saturday we rode at a pretty consistent speed. On Sunday it was a lot of too fast riding along with a lot of too slow riding.
MY STATISTICS
Here’s my statistics from my 2 days of riding from my Garmin Edge 305 cycling computer. My husband says his computer showed we did 150.5 miles, not sure why mine says only 147.07. I think my heart rate monitor was also messed up a bit. It kept going on and off during the day, so I’m not sure how accurate the overall readings are.
MS150 Statistics
| Miles |
Time |
Avergae Speed |
Max Speed |
Calories Burned |
Avg Heart Rate |
Max Heart Rate |
Total Ascent |
Total Descent |
Day |
| 147.07 |
8:24:38 |
17.5 |
36.2 |
8293 |
153 |
182 |
2144 |
2142 |
2 Day Total |
| 75:04 |
4:14:03 |
17.7 |
26.5 |
4205 |
158 |
182 |
1484 |
1484 |
Saturday |
| 72:03 |
4:10:03 |
17.2 |
36.2 |
4088 |
148 |
182 |
660 |
659 |
Sunday |
I rode 150 miles this weekend and all I got was a stupid t-shirt and a dorky medal!!! There were a couple of official photography points along the ride. If I can find any photos of Rob and I online I’ll add them to this blog post - unless we look like total dorks, which is a pretty good possibility.
UPDATE: I just found 4 pictures of Rob and I on one of the official MS photographers websites. Here they are - the good, the bad, the “I’m too tired to pedal anymore.” The photos show Rob and I coming down off the Card Sound Bridge, on the first day of the ride, and going around the Homestead Speedway on the second day of the ride. I look REALLY tired going around that race track!
Take care,
Lynn
AKA the Bike Diva
West Palm Beach Race Series Medal
West Palm Beach Race Series Trophy
My husband and I decided to start racing our road bikes this year. I thought criterium races, with their mass starts, would be a bit intimidating for a new racer. So I looked into finding time trial events in our area. Our kids are 12 and 17, so we needed to find events that weren’t too far from home. I asked my biking friends if they knew of any events in the Palm Beach or Broward County areas. A couple people told me about the West Palm Beach Race Series.
Here is information from the WPB Race Series website:
The West Palm Beach Race Series - 2008 Time Trial Series
To benefit the Palm Beach Sheriff Explorers Program
The WPB Time Trial Series is a series of Individual Time Trials normally held once a month. The 15K TT and the 40K TT uses the same time trial course used for the State TT Championships, west of WPB off SR880. Walk-up registration only for Series. Time Trials start at 7:30 am. Registration opens at 6:45 am Registration closes at 7:25 am
Entry fee is $15
You must show proof of a valid USCF Race License at registration. One-Day licenses available at registration ($10).
Race schedule for the 15k TT: Feb 10, Mar 9, Apr 13, Jul 27, Sept 7, Oct 12, Nov 2
Race schedule for the 40k TT: May 4, Aug 17
Prizes are awarded for each race. Medals 5 deep with $25 cash for the winner in each category, $15 for second place $10 for third place. Medals only for Juniors10-18.
OVERALL FOR EACH TIME TRIAL - FASTEST MAN & WOMAN CATAGORIES
1st PLACE - HAND CRAFTED SCULPTURE TROPHY
Categories are separated by men and women in the following age-groups:
Juniors 10-18, 19-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70+
Additional prizes are awarded for completing the series requirement of minimum of five 16K and one 40K. Riders completing more than the required minimum races will have the five fastest 16K times and the fastest 40K time used to calculate their placing. State TT and Team TT can be used for the series requirements.
Series prizes are $125 for fastest in each category,
$75 for second fastest.
USCF RULES APPLY – USCF PERMIT PENDING
Directions: Take I-95 to Exit #68 Southern Blvd. Go west on Southern Blvd for 19 miles About 3 miles after the sign for Lion Country Safari, watch for the flashing yellow light at CR-880. Turn left on CR880, cross the bridge and make the first left to park along canal road. Starting line is at that intersection of 880 and 98.Time trial series which takes place in western West Palm Beach.
Our Races
We did our first time trial event on March 9th. I won 3rd place in my age group! Our second race took place on Sunday, April 13th. My husband greatly improved his time and I won 5th place in my age group. I’ll post our exact times once the results become available. I covet the West Palm Beach Race Series trophy - I can always dream, can’t I?
Additional Information
For additional information on the West Palm Beach Race Series, either visit their website at http://www.wpbraceseries.com/index.html, or send an email to race organizer Mike Purdy: mikepurdy@bellsouth.net.
Trek Bicycle Corporation
801 West Madison Street
Waterloo, Wisconsin, 53594
www.trekbikes.com
For Immediate Release: April 8, 2008
MEDIA RELEASE - TREK TO IMMEDIATELY SEVER RELATIONSHIP WITH GREG LEMOND
Move Comes in Response to LeMond Threats, Ongoing “pattern of inconsistent business dealings”
Waterloo, WI — At an employee meeting held today, John Burke, President of Trek Bicycle Corporation, announced that Trek has filed suit in Federal Court in Madison, WI, to sever the company’s ongoing relationship with three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond.
“Beginning in 1995 we had high hopes for the LeMond partnership,” said John Burke, president of Trek Bicycle Corporation. “And I am sorry it has come to this after so much hard work on the LeMond brand. But this troubling pattern of inconsistent business dealings forced us to do this, for the sake of the Trek family—our retailers, employees and customers.”
Since 1995, Trek has licensed the LeMond brand name and has produced road bicycles under the LeMond Racing Cycles name.
The move by Trek has come on the heels of LeMond serving Trek with a 41-page suit on March 20, 2008, to be filed in Minneapolis, Minnesota. LeMond’s suit was characterized by Burke as containing false and irresponsible allegations which “forced us to immediately end our relationship with Greg.”
The action filed by Trek Bicycle Corporation against Greg LeMond asks the court for declaratory judgment against LeMond and asks that the relationship be terminated due to multiple breaches of the contract. The breach of contract claims are based on LeMond’s
ongoing pattern of public statements and actions which Trek believes have continued to be detrimental to the Trek-licensed LeMond Racing Cycles name and trademark, to the Trek brand as a whole, and to the Trek reputation in the global bicycle market.
At the employee meeting, Burke presented a timeline of the Trek business relationship LeMond and the development of the LeMond brand.
Trek Bicycle Corporation began its business relationship with LeMond in 1995 and, since then, has produced the LeMond Racing Cycles brand of road bikes. In 1999, the LeMond line was one of the fastest growing road bike brands and one of the top five largest road bike brands in the United States.
The presentation highlighted the ongoing issues with the relationship, its impact on the LeMond and Trek brands and the reasons for the decision to sever the relationship. Despite a series of innovative designs and continued support from Trek, due to LeMond’s actions and the public response, the LeMond brand has consistently failed to live up to its potential in the marketplace.
“For years, Trek has tried our best to make this relationship work. And for years, Greg LeMond has done and said things that have damaged the LeMond brand and the Trek brand as a whole,” said Burke. “His actions are inconsistent with our values—values we believe in and live everyday. And after years of trying to make it work, we are done. It’s time to sever this relationship and allow Trek to do what it does best—build the world’s greatest bicycles and provide our customers with a great product and exceptional customer service.”
Background materials for the media can be found on the Trek Bikes website at: www.trekbikes.com/us/en/company/media.com.
# # #
About Trek Bicycles:
Headquartered in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Trek Bicycle Corporation is a global leader in bicycle design and manufacturing. From the original hand-built steel touring frames introduced in 1976 to the revolutionary OCLV carbon fiber first introduced in 1992, Trek’s passion for innovation, quality, and performance leads the industry with next-generation technology and thinking.
With an unprecedented eight Tour de France titles in the last nine years, six straight 24-hour World Solo Mountain Bike Championships, and countless other professional wins, Trek enjoys a rich tradition of victory in the world’s premier cycling events. Today, with a broad range of bicycles and cycling products under the Trek, Gary Fisher, Bontrager, and Klein brand names, Trek
continues to pursue new ways to bring the joy of cycling to all people.
Meetup Group: Road Cyclist’s of South Florida
The Road Cyclist’s of South Florida Meetup Group is back in action. Karina Kfuri just stepped up to become the organizer for the group. Karina emailed me earlier yesterday and asked if I wanted to be one of the Assistant Organizers so I said “sure thing!” Check out the new group. We’ll be planning road bike rides in the south Florida area - Palm Beach, Broward and Dade counties. For newbies to hammerheads and every roadie in between.
Here’s the welcome message from the website:
Road cyclists welcome! Got a road bike and can’t find a group to ride with? Welcome again. We are not in Colorado, we’re in flat country…so let’s ride and train in Florida! But, we have hills, believe it or not. Check out our rides and see for yourself.
The purpose of this group is to road cycle. We’ll tackle anywhere anyone wants to ride. Want to do bridges? We got em. Want to do the Everglades…yep. We can even head north and do major meetups.
You tell me where you want to ride and we will try to do it.
Beginner, Intermediate and the opportunity to ride with advanced riders!
Rob and I had a chance to visit the Palm Beach office of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society today. We met with TNT Campaign Coordinator Jill Kieta to go over Rob’s responsibilities as a coach and my duties as a mentor.
We are looking forward to starting to train the Palm Beach County cycle team while getting ready for the Intracoastal Waterway Century Ride. This 100 mile road bike ride takes place on Saturday, October 26th in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Here is a link to our fundraising page. Please consider making a donation to support our participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society’s mission.
I hope you’ll visit our web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see our progress. I will be updating the Bike Diva site with details of our training program and fundraising efforts.
Thank you for your support!
Rob Smythe - Palm Beach TNT Cycle Coach
Lynn Smythe - Palm Beach TNT Cycle Mentor
Image: JPKWitter on morgueFile
I don’t recommend biking without following proper nutrition. I went for a 39 mile road bike ride today, like I do most Saturday mornings, but I didn’t have anything for breakfast before the ride. I normally try to eat a granola bar just to get a few calories and carbs into my system. But my stomach was a bit upset so I couldn’t even look at food this morning. I have been dealing with IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, for years and some days are better than others.
I made sure I had a package of electrolyte blocks with me so I could eat those during the rest stop. But stupid me forgot to put them in my bike jersey when I got to the ride start. I felt pretty good the first half of the ride and was taking my turn pulling in the pace line.
When we stopped at the half way point I realized I had forgotten my package of Sharkies - they are shark-shaped, gummy electrolyte blocks. Sort of like a Clif Shot Block but smaller, and shark shaped. See my article, Instant Bike Nutrition, for details on various sports blocks, bars and beans you can eat during your rides. I thought, no worries, I have plenty of gas in the tank. Well, starting the second half of the ride we had a bit of a headwind. Then a friend of mine caught up to our group at a red light - I tried to keep up on the sprint, but my lack of breakfast and sharkies was already starting to have an effect. The rest of the riders in my group caught up to me and passed me like I wasn’t even moving.
So that meant I got to do the rest of the ride by myself, with a headwind, with no one to draft behind. I normally wouldn’t have a problem riding by myself, I occasionally go on short rides during the week by myself. But I started to bonk with 14 miles left to go. I sure wish I had eaten something for breakfast before heading out. I had to stop 3 times on my way back. My heart rate was sky high (180’s), I couldn’t freakin breath and I started getting sort of light-headed and dizzy. The last 4 miles of the ride were pure hell, I kept putting my head down and I was weaving all over the place.
I should have stopped riding and called someone to come pick me up. But I also have a problem with being a bit stubborn. I’ve ridden with other riders that have had this same problem. I made them stop riding and take the SAG wagon back to their car. Once you get to this stage, you are a danger to yourself (you could drift into the road and end up as road kill) and to other riders (not cool to zig zag all over the place while in the pace line). But I didn’t have the luxury of SAG support so I slugged along on my own.
When I got back to the parking lot where my van was parked I was like the drunken sailor. I could barely stand up straight while I was taking off my bike shoes. I threw my bike into the van and headed straight for the cafe that was there. Two of the other riders were sitting outside waiting for their breakfast to be served. I went inside and got a raspberry iced tea and a fresh fruit salad. I took this outside to sit with the other bikers. They were looking at me funny, asking if I was okay. They could see that I was shaking - guess my blood sugar/carbohydrate reserves were totally depleted.
After eating a bit of the fruit and feeling less shaky I drove myself back home. I ate a whole bagel with cream cheese and started feeling a bit better. After my shower I decided to be a semi-couch potato - that’s where I am now, writing this post.
Here’s the word on bonking according to the Lance Armstrong Performance Program: “Symptoms of bonking can include a heavy feeling in the legs, difficulty maintaining pedal cadence, dizziness, severe headache, disorientation, and sometimes hallucination. The remedy is to eat immediately.” Where was Lance when I needed him this morning? He could have pulled me back to my van. And another Lance gospel: “A common mistake is skipping breakfast. This puts your body in a caloric deficit and hampers your ability to train properly.” WORD
Okay, and finally I can blame my husband. He decided to play with his mountain bike today instead of road riding. So I didn’t have him there to drag my a*s back home the last few miles. And he can also be a bit like a drill sergent in the morning “you gotta eat something on the way to the ride.” Yeah, yeah, yeah - you and your cast iron stomach can bite me! He actually would make a good coach - oh yeah, this fall he will be coaching the Palm Beach County TNT (Team in Training) cycle team as they train for the Intracoastal Century Ride in Cocoa Beach - cool!
That’s my husband on the left, in front of the Astronaut Hall of Fame during the 2006 Intracoastal Century Ride.
(Palo Alto, CA) – Speaking at a press conference on the eve of this year’s Tour of California Prologue, defending Tour of California champion and 2007 Tour de France podium finisher Levi Leipheimer unveiled LetLeviRide.com, a grassroots campaign to appeal the Amaury Sport Organization’s (ASO) recent decision to ban Leipheimer’s team, Astana, from participating in this summer’s Tour de France. Visitors to LetLeviRide.com have an opportunity to pledge their support for Levi and add their name to a petition directed at the ASO.
“With LetLeviRide.com I’m not disputing the ASO’s right to decide which teams it invites to the Tour and which teams it doesn’t,” notes Leipheimer. “I’m drawing attention to the fact that this decision by the ASO is completely arbitrary and unjust. I had nothing to do with Astana prior to joining the team this year. There are many other teams with tainted pasts that haven’t changed management or structure like the new Astana has, yet Astana is singled out and excluded. Where’s the consistency? By taking action now it looks political. It looks like the ASO has a grudge against a team that can win its races. My hope is that this campaign will encourage the ASO to reconsider its decision.”
On February 13th, the ASO barred Team Astana from competing in any race or event organized by the ASO in 2008. The ASO owns premiere cycling events like Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Tours, and the famed Tour de France. To justify its decision, the ASO cited the doping scandals of last year’s Tour de France.
For anyone who has followed cycling’s ongoing battle against doping, the ASO’s rationale is suspect. Astana’s entire organizational structure has been rebuilt under the direction of the team’s new General Manager, Johan Bruyneel, who has thoroughly cleaned house. What’s more, Astana has adopted the rigorous doping controls developed by the highly respected, anti-doping expert Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard, and Astana now spends more money on anti-doping controls than any other team in the pro peloton. There’s no comparison between the Astana team of 2007 and the new Astana.
“That the happenings of last year…prompted the Tour organizers to leave Astana out of the season’s most important race sounds understandable,” notes Bruyneel. “However, Astana Cycling Team 2008 has nothing to do with the team of last year. We have done everything to change the dynamics of the team. New management, new riders, new philosophy. Only the name of the sponsor remained.”
The ASO has nonetheless largely ignored the new Astana’s restructuring efforts, and as a consequence of barring the entire team from competing in ASO events, has stripped athletes like Levi Leipheimer of the opportunity to realize their life’s ambition of competing in the Tour.
“I’ve trained my whole life to race the Tour,” notes Leipheimer. “It’s my dream to win the Tour de France; it’s my life long goal.”
My husband and I are training for the MS150 bike ride which takes place on May 3/4. We are part of the Office Depot Foundation Team (ODFT) which is up to 72 members so far - cool!! 
The ODFT captain Alan, AKA Capt’n Sprocket, decided a few years ago to ride 1 mile for every year of his life on his birthday. His actual birthday was Super Bowl Sunday so his birthday ride was rescheduled for today. 50 for 50 - we went from Spanish River Blvd to Tesa’s on Royal Poinciana in West Palm Beach (Florida) and back. Not quite 50 miles, the ride turned out to be 48.74 miles.
We had a killer head wind going north. But coming back south was pretty easy until the last few miles. My husband and I got our butts kicked trying to keep up. We hung with the fast group the whole way (well, there might have been a bit of a gap between us the last mile or two, but we could see their butts the whole time. 
)
Even with the killer wind we managed to average 19 MPH with a top speed of 27.9 MPH, it took us 2 hours and 34 mintues to complete the ride - AWESOME!!! - that’s almost half a century ride. 
My Garmin GPS said I burned 2979 calories during the ride so I had a breakfast sammie and half a muffin from Dunkin’ Donuts after the ride.
It was so cool not to be in the slowest group. 
When Alan was trying to figure out how fast everyone wanted to ride he said the team should break out into 3 groups. I raised my hand and said I wanted to be in the 18-20 MPH range group figuring that would be the middle of the pack group. But they decided the slowest group would be in the 14-16 MPH range, the middle group would be in the 16-18 MPH range and the last/fast group would ride in the 18-20+ MPH range.
I know all you roadies out there proably ride WAY faster than this but for me to do almost 50 miles at that speed - that was a major BIG freakin’ deal for my fat a*s! Man, I wonder how fast we could have done the ride if there wasn’t any wind!?! Yesterday we did 30 miles and there wasn’t any wind at all - kind of a miracle for this time of year in south Florida.
When’s my new bike going to be here?
For Christmas of 2006 I bought new cycle computers for both my husband and I. I purchased a top of the line GPS enabled Garmin Edge 305. At the time they listed for $399 each, I found ours online for $250 each which I thought was a fantastic bargin. I just did a quick search on Google and right now they are selling from a low of $224 to a high of $399.
Prior to this time we were using simple cycle computer’s we purchased at Walmart for under $40. Why buy such a fancy piece of equipment? We are bike addicts and especially enjoy riding our road bikes. We don’t drive fancy cars, take expensive vacations or wear designer clothing. So I thought we could treat ourselves to a nice computer for our road bikes.
The Garmin attaches to the front of the handlebars of your bike. It comes with a wireless sensor which gets attached to the rear chain stay, a spoke magnet which gets attached to one of the spokes of the back wheel and a crank magnet which gets attached to the crank arm of your bike. It also comes with a heart rate monitor which you wear around your chest, underneath your bike jersey.
I’ve got my Garmin setup to display my speed, time in the saddle, distance, time of day, calories burned and heart rate. After I get back from riding I hook my Garmin up to my laptop computer. This is so I can recharge the battery in the Garmin and at the same time download all the information from the ride to my laptop computer. Additional data from my ride is displayed using the included software program that comes with the Garmin. The additional information includes maximum speed, average speed, cadence, elevation gain and elevation loss.
You need to turn your Garmin on a few mintues before you plan to start your ride. This is so the Garmin has time to acquire a satellite signal. Why do you need GPS on a bike computer? When you download data to your home computer or laptop, you can see a map of your exact bike route. The free program Motion Based is designed to work with the Garmin data. You can download your bike ride data to Motion Based and then see a Google Earth map of your actual ride - COOL!!!!
Other features of the Garmin Edge 305, according to the Garmin webiste, include:
- Easy to install; no calibration required. Just snap it into the bike mount and go.
- High-sensitivity GPS receiver tracks your position even in tree cover and canyons, making it extremely reliable for distance and speed information.
- Virtual Partner® lets you race a virtual competitor over a specified distance and speed.
- Courses let you race against a previously recorded workout, so you can compare your current and past performances over the same ride.
- Auto Pause® pauses the timer when you slow down or stop and resumes when you speed up again, so you can focus on your ride.
- Auto Lap® automatically starts a new lap each time you pass a specified location or travel a preset distance.
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