Puerto Rico On My Bike - Next, The World

The DVD arrived this morning so I popped it in for today's trainer session.  I like it.  I was only into the DVD for 25 minutes, so I was able to review just a portion of it.  I enjoyed what I saw.  The run time on this is 116 minutes so it's a bit longer than the Pacific Coast California DVD.  The scenery is interesting, the music is ok, it was appropriate for the venue and had a salsa flair so the tempo was quicker and I noticed that my cadence was stepped up so that's a good thing.  I don't have a cadence meter on either of my bikes,. nor a heart rate monitor, but I can see where I'm going with all of this, one thing sorta leads to another.  Still considering an iPod too.  I've never had one or the desire to have one before but I can see where music plays a role in exercise.  Years ago I used to work out to Donna Summers and Carly Simon and the "I Am Woman"  and "Last Dance" songs were powerful motivators to step up the intensity of my workout.  These videos are filmed with a dash mounted camera in a car and the driving was a tad bit faster than the other video.

Still, it is realistic enough to get caught up in and lose yourself in the experience.  With temperatures hovering in the single digits for the last few days, wandering through the streets and narrow cobblestone paths through Old San Juan, forests and along the beach in a tropical climate is a good thing.  I've never really visited Puerto Rico before, I've flown in and made a stop at the airport terminal, loaded onto a bus and was whisked to the seaside terminal to board a cruise ship and followed that routine in reverse to get home.  Spending a brief hour ferrying back and forth for travel is hardly a vacation to  some place and with this video it makes me want to spend a few days there exploring.

I think we all suffer from the same "build-on" syndrome where we get interested in one new thing and it spurs us onto delving deeper into what we find is a whole new sub-culture.  One video leads to another for variety sake, of course, then that leads to more research on the subject and a whole new world opens up.  Spinnervels, hard core workouts, EpicRides Virtual Cycling, journeys across the globe, and working yourself into a quivering mass of jello, it's endless.  Or so it seems.  So I've succumbed and order two more videos, one more from Bike O Vision, for a sampler of Europe and that should satisfy the explorer in me whilst spinning in my living room vicariously.  Maybe.  They have a whole library of videos of all the popular tourist destinations in the USA, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, California Wine Country, Sequoia National Park and I could go on an on, I believe their full complement is more than two dozen videos.

The other is an introduction to indoor spinning in a group setting with a coach from the Spinnervals series.    That one satisfies the devil in me that wants to be surrounded by other sufferers while I sweat away on my bike on a trainer spinning to nowhere in the comfort of my living room.  Again here is a whole new set of dozens of videos they offer.  Oh yes, then there is the EpicRides series which is similar to the training theme of the Spinnvervals in intensity, but it takes place outdoors (in equally epic and highly desirable tourist locals) and there are also on screen displays of cadence (which you should be striving to match), power output, an insert display of the course map you are following and more.  The thing I like about the Spinnervals and the EpicRides is that you are with other cyclists.  That's one thing I miss with the Bike-O-Vision tourist type of videos.  In those you see other cars and an occasional person but I've yet to come cross another bicyclist.  

A plan is beginning coalesce and I'm approaching this with a strategy somewhat similar to my outdoor riding.  Some rides are for exploring new places, some rides are for enjoying the sport with other people and some rides are for all-out-flat-out work-outs.  I first approached this to use my winter season on the trainer to keep up my fitness level, keep up on my legs and keep my butt accustomed to the saddle.  That was my primary purpose of using one, but now I want more.  I want to be able to work on endurance and climbing during the winter season and hopefully make an impact on my riding next year.

Hitting my stride

Now that there have been enough consistent weeks of riding that are unintruppted by rain, cold or snow and summer is underway I feel strength wise that I am hitting a stride.  For week #11 I've complted 44.76 miles with two days of rest from riding and feel very strong and not the least pooped out.  My two days off were mid week I finished up a 9.26 mile ride tonight and am up for a 10-15 miler tomorrow.  Monday is the day of the Ride and Chat with the author of Dirt Road Washtenaw and that will be a fun ride. 

If I'd have addressed this earlier in the week I would not have predicted this outcome.  On Monday I was in a full flare up from RA with a shoulder that was out of commission, I ended up taking another Humira injection (2nd one in just over a year).  It calmed the flare right down, a bit of rest and I was good as new.  During the flare I had imagined that I might be off the bike for a long time.  The body is an amazing thing.

I saw my rheumatologist Thursday to help me confirm a plan of action and he decided that my instincts on dropping off Humira were ok, instead, before he recommended going back on for good he threw out the idea of doubling up on the Plaqunil that I take for RA.  It has lesser impacts on the body and so far in this last year my single dose (which was 1/2 of where I orginally had been at) was working fine with the exception with 2 flares in a year's time.  I liked the idea of doubling the Plaqunil better than getting back on the Humira on a regular and constant plan.  So for now that's the plan, if I feel fine that will confirm it's working ok to address the RA.  I always have the option to go back onto Humira if this is not working and flares become too common.  With meds, I prefer the least amount that will get the job done but do not believe in suffering if there are remedies available. 

One remedy that has made a big impact is one I can manage myself and that is a fitness program.  I believe beyond any doubt that cycling regularly has improved my overall health immensely.  Enough exercise that challenges me without overdoing it has been good for me.  It stretches my muscles, strengthens them, lubricates my joints, increases my flexibility, increases the elasticity of my tendons and has given me an enormous cardiovascular advantage.  The sunshine and fresh air is good for my body and the thrill, enjoyment and pleasure I get from cycling does wonders for my mood and mental health.  Stress leveles are way down.

It continues to confound me that something so simple as a bike ride can accomplish all of that!  Incredible and amazing in it's simplicity.

I love riding.

Bike to Work Day...discovering all the gears

I ended up with a double commute today, had to make a trip home mid day. After work I had a very enjoyable ride. I've decided that the only way I am going to manage hills is to keep riding them. At some point I will get strong enough that they don't wear me out. So it was back to Island Lake State Park today. We had wonderful warm spring weather after a couple of days of rain it was nice to be out in the parks as everything is getting so lush looking and it seems like every tree, bush and shrub that flowers is out in full bloom. Spring is strutting her stuff!

Island Lake is pretty hilly and has some steep climbs (for these parts), I had the opportunity to discover my low gears today. So far with my new bike I've explored speed and the higher gears and found the joy of my large chain ring in front. Today was for exploring the low gears and the small front ring. I learned a lot about using it with various combinations of the rear cassette gears. I never got into what is called the "granny gear" which is the small front ring and the largest rear ring. Guess I didn't meet up with a hill that big yet. But I did notice that my average speed for my ride was greater than normal and that my time for the distance was shorter by a pretty fair amount. Not that I'm out to set records or concerned about speed. I prefer to enjoy my rides and surroundings. I do ride for exercise and fitness too and at times am more focused on the productivity of the ride, but don't sacrifice smelling the roses, I just don't stop an take pictures of them when I am out for a workout ride.

Today was certainly a workout ride and meant to be one, it was my mission. It just so happened to be absolutly gorgeous out too which just added to the whole aura of the ride. I might have had to stop and take a break while going up some hills today, but I rode up every one and didn't get off an walk once. That's improvement.

For me it's more an issue of getting winded instead of fatigue and legs giving out. While I had a normal early season conditioning issue to deal with (riding outside with wind and varying terrain and hills) is way different from a trainer in the winter on flat ground with no wind to deal with. So that passed quickly enough and I was gaining endurance and stamina. Then about two or so weeks ago I found that instead of getting stronger I was getting winded much more often. Just before that I had a flare up of my RA and took a Humira shot to tame it down. It was my first one since June of last year. Last year I had several bouts of shortness of breath and getting winded very easily. Three times it turned out to be pneumonia, however it happend more than that and pneumonia was not the cause as it could not be detected.

Last year I had a pulmonary and cardiac workup, several trips to various specalist doctors and loads of testing later that revealed no problems with lung functions and no significant heart items to cause what was happening. I have a heart murmur and some day the valve will need replacing but not at this time and it is not contributing to the shortness of breath. I have a 90% blockage in a very smalll artery going into my heart but again, the Dr. was not concered because of where it is located and the existance of 3 other arteries in that cluster that are ok with no blockage and agian, it was determined that this is not contributing to shortness of breath. I passed a stress test on a treadmill last year just fine.

So my family doctor (I believe they call them primary care physican these days) felt all along that it was more a matter of conditioning or rather being out of condition. One would think that continued biking would address that. Since I am experiencing this again several weeks into the season it leaves me to believe something I suspected last year and that is that RA is contributing to this. RA can attack organs as well as joints. A trip to the rheumatologist is in order. The most odd thing about this whole issue of shortness of breath is the following; during the first 20-30 minutes of a ride I get short of breath constantly and feel like I can't go on. Somehow I push through this and before I know it I am breathing fine and feel like I could go on for a very long time. That just dosen't make sense to me.

So, combined with commute of just over 4 miles and 9.3 at the park I had a total mileage today of 13 .8 and a total for Week #7 of 36.55 miles. I like it and I'm happy. And I brought home another big bouquet of lilacs and the home is perfumed by it.

Day Four 7-26-10

Rode to work today, what a nice way to start of your morning. I sure noticed so many things that I had not even noticed before, like a creek that I cross over on my route that I never paid any attention to or that the RR tracks were easier bumps than I had anticipated and how important it is for people to keep their shrubs trimmed that stick out onto sidewalks and the number one item is the pitiful lack of contiguous sidewalks in our community! Fortunately, I'm in a position to do something about that. A short 2.2 mile spin leaves room for another short sprint after dinner.

2nd lap for the day was 2.4 so I have 4.6 for the day. Got a tip from Dawn the physical therapist for icing my knee after riding and I did tonight, will report findings tomorrow. The knee pain is much better while riding after the first block or so it's gone and even more importantly so is the stiffness, by the end of my ride I am very flexible. Strangley though, pain and stiffness have increased while walking since I began riding but maybe the icing will help that. I can tell that I am already building up a bit of endurance and balance. One thing that I noticed after the first day was that I had much greater flexibility in my toes. I was loosing the ability to flex my toes and just touching my toe against something was painful. The confidence level is rising but I'm still a long way from my youthful days of hopping on a bike and not giving safety or crashing a second thought. I am anticipating that I will become surer footed and maintain better balance even while walking, once I become more accomplished again. It's true you never forget how to ride a bike, but that doesn't mean that after years of not riding you regain your skill overnight. Ordered a beautiful wicker basket today. http://www.basketlady.com/Utility/Bicycle-Baskets-c282/