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December 05, 2006 06:03PM
well, staff done did it.
staff has been looking for the words to describe the experience as "amazing" is but one. let's see how staff does...
joining the nyc team in newark for the team flight, staff was reminded of just how few of his teammates he had met. staff had opted to do a lot of the training by his lonesome as much of this endeavor was to be meditative for staff. that meant a lot of miles in the park near staff's apartment and only a few long group rides in good company.
staff is grateful for that experience and staff's self-imposed solitude, but what good company staff could have kept - staff couldn't believe.
staff is certain he alienated the rest of the plane before even taking off, but the group was warmed up by some good-natured ribbing of the team's youngest participant (a baby at 24). three years his senior, staff cracked wise about bike cages specifically designed for sippy cups and hot damn if the kid didn't shoot back a salad days joke or two. the team was in tears and staff thereafter was met with welcome arms.
here's a tip: when stuck in dallas-fort worth on a layover, take a pass on the airport bbq. texas toast ain't that grand in those halls and a plate of three foodstuffs, all brown, is something to be soon forgotten.
staff and the gang enjoyed what would be the theme of the group travels by hurrying up, waiting, piling into a bus, waiting, arriving, and then being given team instructions to hurry up and wait someplace else. this would be the only part of the weekend that would tire staff.
staff's roommate situation was sorted out (a teammate, a ny firefighter, has sleep issues and had requested a room by himself to accommodate the white noise machine, blackout curtains, and other accoutrement of the nocturnally troubled) and staff found himself rooming with jr. staff and andrew, like ya do, became fast friends.
hurry up, wait, wait some more - warm-up ride!
the team set out to rock a friday ride to feel what tucson weather in the afternoon had in store for them. the chosen route? up big A mountain.
yes, many jokes were made, but there really was a big A on the mountain commemorating arizona and the university there in tucson.
the team mostly rocked the nyc jerseys made for this season and pictures galore were snapped. jr. and another queens resident posed, flexing his and her muscles respectively, doing their best to represent. the fireman had what would be the first of many flats (curse at every turn) on that ride but the view from the top was spectacular.
team in training, the outfit each of the team had been recruited by and was riding for, hosted a pasta dinner for the 600 participants riding el tour de tucson. the ny chapter has a rep for being, oh, spirited and the team all donned the required "I Heart NY" tshirts. one of staff's teammates proved to be the top fundraiser for the tour having raised over $44,000 and there was the team to uphold the rep - 'spirited' is a word that could be used, yes.
post pasta dinner, the team hurried up and waited back to the hotel where the team meeting had been arranged. first, there was the presentation of gifts to the coaches and then a detailed "how not to die or be maimed tomorrow" lecture. then, each of the team told of how he or she came to join team in training.
want a recipe for tears? get 30+ great-hearted people in a room trying to put into words why they've set out to raise money by riding 116 (that's what it turned out to be) miles in the desert. being that the team was from ny, there was a new story out of each person. it wouldn't be appropriate to gloss over those stories here, but staff can say that minds and nerves were taken off of the morning's start and put to ties that bond.
jr. and staff headed upstairs and did some last minute packing. jr. was particularly entertained by the several ziploc baggies of sports drink powder staff was prepping as on any other evening it would be mighty suspicious. so, the question: how does staff get to sleep on a nervous night such as this?
well, the answer turned out to be that staff didn't. well, not for a while. 4 hours isn't a whole lot of sleep before an embarking on an endurance ride, but staff wasn't alone in that, either. most of the team reported much the same (sound machine or no).
up by 4:45am and feeling pumped. team jerseys are under the layers of warmer clothes necessary for the twilight temperatures there in the desert. the team was told that the support efforts could take the extra clothes 'round mile 20. sounded good.
the team headed out for the two mile ride over to the starting line. stopping as a team of 30 at traffic lights can be a challenge, and staff found himself at the head of the second pack at the bottom of a hill.
in the wrong gear.
no big thing - the light changes - staff muscles through a gear or two - the chain on staff's bike pops.
damn.
no big thing - staff dismounts without getting hit by a car and without falling over despite the lack of momentum - runs the chain into place - the chain on staff's bike pops.
damn.
repeat.
well, staff managed to get the chain into the bike's highest gear and then himself to the starting line. this was not the best way to start a long day of riding. in fact, staff was feeling a bit desperate.
staff and staff's coach figure out that staff had managed to muscle the largest gear wheel into quite the bent mess. pounding it with a small bike tool wasn't doing much good, so staff headed over to where some pro teams' vans were parked and begged help off of a friendly husband/wife/dog combo.
as the husband started to whack the hell out of staff's bike with a hammer, the wife suggested staff look away. staff insisted that this was the most hopeful staff had been for a solid half hour and watched with glee. chewie, the dog, didn't seem to care much at all.
staff took the bike for a test ride and found it working beautifully. staff kissed all three on the mouth and took off to find staff's team amongst the other 8,000+ riding the tour.
having found the team and having seen the sun break the horizon, the race started at 7am sharp. the team stuck together for the first few miles as there's really no good way to get ahead in a pack of 8,000 cyclists, but before anyone knew it the fast of the fast were breaking away and the slower than the fast were finding their own pace.
staff cruised along for the first 20 miles or so with one of his coaches. a producer for 48 hours with a dry sense of humor, staff likes this coach a lot. coach told the story of how a buddy of his, a machine gunner in nam, had found the actual helicopter he'd manned in the aviation graveyard the tour would pass. staff and the coach exchanged different tv news experiences (well, staff's one to the coach's googol). regardless, the conversation was good and staff happily crossed the 3/4 mile river bed with the rest of the herd. for your information, river beds in the desert are actually long, dirt paths that make for choking dusts and walking funny with your bike on your shoulder.
remember 20 miles was to be the stripping point? staff was feeling too good rounding the corner and just kept going.
when staff finally did stop at mile 30, staff handed off his bike to a volunteer boy scout and headed for the food. two oreos, an orange slice, and a banana later (with refilled water bottles), staff mounted back up with a found teammate.
shortly after the second and longer "river bed," staff found himself alone again. it was to be expected, as miles 35-50 felt incredible. rolling terrain and lots of passing on the left, staff was in great form. it must be a hell of a thing to be able to ride like that all of the time, but staff was happy with what he was doing and abandoned all thoughts of, "well, real riders..."
staff still hasn't shed his extra layers. lunch is scheduled to be available somewhere around mile 60.
the sun is up. staff is past the gorgeous mileage in the first half of the ride and stuck pushing through a new knee pain that has shown up just as the ugly highway riding presented itself. baking in his own ill-conceived joke, (wouldn't it be funny if staff wore all of these layers all the way until lunch?!?!!"), staff found himself at mile 64 wonder just where in the hell the support team could be found. knowing how selfless these folks, one in particular had been, staff figured it was the heat and that staff had better get smart and right quick. staff pulled over, stripped down, and spent a solid ten minutes in the shade of a less-than-scenic gas station. clothes off and eyes peeled for his team that never seemed to materialize, staff hit the road with more hurting parts than staff cared to pay mind.
mile 68! beautiful shelby with her beautiful ham sandwiches and orange slices!
staff and another nyc teammate hit the rode, better nourished and emboldened by company. they caught up with another pair of gothamists and pressed up a few long inclines.
this is where it got kind of interesting.
the unmentionable parts of staff that had been nagging for the past 40 miles or so finally went numb. the left knee that was throbbing was now the only visage remaining to staff's mortal coil, and staff announced, "passing on the left!" whilst shooting up a hill. mile 80 was the last staff saw of his nyc teammates.
now may be a good time to describe another benefit to participating in an endurance sport such as a cycle century or a marathon within the warm embrace that is team in training. there are chapters all over the US and the cause is one that has touched almost every breathing person in one way or another. this meant that as staff started to really move his way ahead, he was still shouting "go team!" as much as "on your left!" usually, the team greeting was returned with enthusiasm (thanks to nebraska, san diego, northern cali, northern ohio, southern ohio, long island, west chester, northern jersey, etc.) but on occasion the competitive nature of the event got the best of a rider or 7. no matter, it all pales in comparison to the folks on the side of the road.
listen: there were spectators, naturally, but there were families - some numbering only 2 - others 4 times that - there were families with homemade signs featuring photographs of loved ones who had triumphed or lost in their own battles with blood cancers. these folks, not coordinated by anyone, sat in the heat of the desert all day to thank staff and other team in training riders not caring that they didn't know them personally. spend a few hours baking and pedaling and you might find yourself choked up at the sight of these good people lending their support. staff did. each and every time.
mile 100 was special for staff. it was at mile 100 that staff announced to himself, "you did this. you did this. you did. you did this." staff was never alone in his ride - not for a moment. staff had hundreds of people in mind. those who had been generous with their money and their warm wishes. staff's friend to whom staff had dedicated his ride, inspired by her beautiful heart and her fight with hodgkin's. but mile 100 was special for staff truly, as if by design, found himself alone on the road.
staff caught up with an older gent who was doing the 60 mile ride and wished him the best. it was his first long ride and staff suggested that he looked like he was going to make great time. the old man chuckled and staff rode on.
one final pit stop and staff buckled down to finish the thing. the bike computer promised that staff was almost done but if felt like he was still far outside of the city. figuring that all staff knows is that staff knows nothing, staff got moving.
there's something else that nyc's tnt chapter is known for, or at least, the cycling team is known for doing. the team gathers in front of the finishing line as each member crosses and cheers the remaining tnt riders. nyc is the only team to do so and it's remarked upon by the other chapters as being a great thing to give. staff finished 11th of his 30+ team, and can say for certain that it's a tremendous feeling to have the finish personalized that way.
at the team dinner that night, the nyc teammate who had finished first of the team a full two hours and twenty minutes ahead of staff (and only twho hours behind the tour winner) who is currently battling leukemia made a gift of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society bracelets to everyone in the nyc chapter. staff made a silent promise to not take his bracelet off until he had ridden both the montauk and the lake tahoe centuries this coming year.
so there's a lot of words for you but staff still can't really find a way to say it.
thank you.
try it.
thank you.
more.
again.
thank you.
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August 21, 2006 03:36PM
hot damn - into week two of training. for those of you lucky enough to have been beyond the reach of word regarding Staff's shenanigans, Staff signed up for a 109 mile cycling race come november 18th for which Staff is currently in training.
-El Tour De Tucson-
yeah - it's true - the longest ride Staff has done to date is a half-century (50 miles) and yes - it's true - that ride was just over a decade ago, but isn't absurdity often it's own best reward?
take it back a step or two and Staff'll explain.
to get Staff there physically and mentally Staff has given Staffself the task of raising $5,000 for blood cancers research. just about every cancer treatment in use today has been developed originally for blood cancers, so it seems a sensible place to funnel more resources. further, there's an outstanding organization, Team in Training, that is out cultishly recruiting folks like Staff for this very task.
uncanny coincidence? Staff thought so too!
so, yeah - Staff is going to use Staff's long-neglected Bowie blog as an easy theater by which Staff can perform and you can sit audience should that partnership prove interesting.
Staff'll confess this: Staff's ass is less sore this week after Staff's 20 mile solo ride yesterday than it was after last week's 12 miler in central park. progress? Staff has got fingers crossed...
Staff should mention that Staff is doing this ride with a personal dedication to Staff's friend, maria. maria beat hodgkin's a few years ago and taught Staff a thing or two about what the word "generous" really means. long story short, despite what she was going through, she still saw fit to take care of Staff in very real ways over a great distance. meditating on that gave Staff an extra seven miles yesterday under Staff's wheels. Staff doesn't know - thoughts of quitting for the day kind of vanished when Staff gave her some thought.
Staff's page with Team in Training: www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/kschlach
of all the photos Staff has found of the tour, this is Staff's favorite: www.flickr.com/photos/visualadventure/65511523/
with any amount of luck, Staff won't break Staff's clavicle in a wreck. then again, Staff has never broken Staff's clavicle in a wreck so it could be an experience...
peace,
Staff
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August 18, 2006 03:22PM
Well, kind of...
Anyone interested in swinging by Staff's blog may be interested in the following link. Staff is up to some good.
http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/kschlach
Dig,
Staff
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