Cycling and it's related expenses

A while ago and in multiple posts, I wrote about how I erroneously believed that running would be relatively easy and inexpensive.  That is to say, I thought a pair of shorts and some shoes would be all that I needed to go out and run, whether it was a training run or a race.  It became clear very quickly that it was not at all simple or inexpensive.  Multiple pairs of shoes ~ $150 each, fancy wicking socks ~$15 each, specialized, anti-chafing running shorts ~ $85 each, calf sleeves are super expensive, running sunglasses, blue-tooth earbuds, Garmin running/triathlon watch -- multiple hundred sof dollars, running visors, lubricant, nipple protectors, running shirts (I purchase them when I run the race included in the race fee).... I recently purchased a hydration running vest - a vest that is designed to hold water bottles....  I have easily spent $40,000 on running gear, races and travel associated with those races.  THAT IS RIDICULOUS.  Not inexpensive at all.

So, to make matters worse, Valerie bought me a bicycle for Christmas.  We have had some discussions about triathlons and so she decided that it would be nice to get me a triathlon bike.  She is aware that I would not likely have ever spent that kind of money on one of these bicycles for myself.  It is an insane amount of money for a vehicle that you must pedal yourself.  So, she purchased this bicycle for me.  I did not take possession of this bicycle until like February.  It is really a nice bike.Way more expensive than I think a bike oughta be, but what the heck do I know.  Anyway, I got the bike in the beginning of Feb and rode it a couple of times, but it wasn't fitted to me, so I had to get it custom fitted.  I rode it to the bike store and got a custom fitting.  Prior to that, I purchased some cycling shoes.  -- THEY were $400.  OH.... MY..... GOODNESS!!!  so, I rode it to the bike shop and got fitted, then rode a few times.  On one 20 mile ride I punctured my tube on the front wheel.  Fortunately a friend gave me an emergency kit that contained a spare tube, a CO2 cartridge, some tire tools and a $10 bill.  So, I punctured my tube, pulled over and changed my tire.  It took me about 30 min.  Then I used the CO2 cartridge to pump up the new tube and heard a pop.  I guess I did not do it right... so, now I really am stranded about 20 miles away from home.  Fortunately I had my phone with me and called my wife and she came to rescue me.  So, I bought some new tire tubes.  They cost about $8-9 each.  While I was waiting for the tubes to arrive, I took the bike in to the bike shop to have them install a new tube for me to make sure it was done correctly this time.  So, I went for a ride.  This time I was about a mile away from my house when I caught a pice of glass and punctured my front tire again.  I still had not received my tubes that I ordered, so I went back to the bike shop and bought some tubes from them.  A week went by and I was riding my other bike to work when the pedal fell off.  So, I took it to the bike shop and they basically informed me that it would cost me more than the bike was worth to fix it, so I had to look at purchasing another bike.  I was not too happy with that, so I did nothing.  I starting riding my tri bike to work... until I was out riding and got another flat tire.  So, I changed my tube and rode home.  I decided that this was not any fun, so I was looking for a way to fix it.  So, I went back to the bike shop to discuss it with them.  They had a used mountain bike that was in good condition and "refurbished" in their shop, so I bought that.  It cost me a couple hundred bucks, but by this time, I was spending that much money on tire tubes anyway.  While I was there, I discussed with them the option of getting some "bullet proof" tires for my tri bike and using those to train and then changing to the racing tires if and when I decided to race.  So, I bought some sturdier tires and some tube protectors as well.  They add some weight and slow me down a bit, but they are fine for training... maybe even better, as it would make me work harder when I train.  So, I took my new tires and tube protectors out for a spin.  I had travelled about 25 miles when I heard a clang, clang, clang.  I thought I broke a spoke.  Upon inspection, I found a nail in my rear tire that was stuck in my tire and clanging against my frame.  New tubes on order, to arrive the next day and all the other tubes punctured, I was once again stranded.  The nail went through my sturdy tires and through the tube protectors and into my tube.  The one day I have no spare, I am once again stranded 20 miles from home.  My wife, once again, came to my rescue.  Humiliating.  So, I  take the bike back to the bike shop to have them check out my frame and my rim to make sure the damage was only to the tube and not the bike.  Lucky for me, they were able to simply replace the tube and get me back on my way.  The next day, I rode my mountain bike to work, worked a full day, then went to ride home and noticed I had a flat tire on that bike.  I took it back to the bike shop, because I could see nothing that looked like a puncture, just a flat out of nowhere.  They took it apart and showed me a hole in the tube and replaced it for me, but refused to charge me... saying something about kicking me while I was down.  So, I came up with another idea.  I decided to get an indoor trainer.  You remove the wheels off your bike and connect them in the same way to a machine that gives resistance and even raises and lowers the front of the bike to simulate an incline or a decline.  I figured it would be impossible to get a puncture in the house when the wheels were not even on the bike.  So, I signed up for Zwift, which is like a virtual reality game that simulates a real-time ride while on the trainer.


You may notice in the above photos that the bike connected to the indoor trainer is not my tri bike.  It is a totally separate bike.  It is not the bike I broke or the one I bought to ride to work either.  It is bike #4.  I had to purchase bike number #4 because I was riding my tri bike on the trainer one day.  I was going uphill so, there was a lot of resistance and the front of the bike raised up really high.  I was standing up off the seat (saddle) and pumping in an attempt to pass some Asian gentleman (he was seriously from Asia somewhere) that I was riding next to on Zwift.  I suddenly lost my balance and fell over.  I yelled an explicative, but it was a rated PG explicative and then fell over whilst still clipped in to the pedals.  After I unravelled myself and assessed the damage, I noticed that I damaged the bike a bit, so I took it back to the bike shop AGAIN!!!.  Of course they tell me, after a week that they have discussed the damage with Trek and they have determined that I need a new frame and that it is NOT covered under warrantee.  A friend of mine told me I need to learn how to lie... but alas, it was my fault.  Trek did offer to cut me a break on the purchase of a new frame, but it was still going to cost me $3500 and then the labor and materials to put it all back together.  I was NOT going to spend that kind of money... no way!!.  So, I found a company that will repair it for me for $450.   I will get it back in mid May.  So, in the mean time, I decided to buy a bike to connect to the trainer.  It is a sturdier, aluminum frame.  It is heavier, but weight does not matter on the trainer.  So, when it is all said and done I will have a very expensive racing bike, a cheap (craigslist) trainer bike, (that I still have to buy new pedals for- they arrive tomorrow), a cheap mountain bike to ride to work and an old, broken mountain bike that I use for parts.  Then.... I was riding home from work on my new-to-me mountain bike and my chain broke.  I had no idea how difficult it is to repair a bicycle chain without all of the right tools, so after riding my daughter's Wal-mart bike to work and back for two weeks, I FINALLY got my chain replaced, and have my work commute bike back.  Now all I need is my racing bike back.

This is crazy.  Who knew that you must be a certified bike mechanic just to ride a bicycle.  And the amount of money that is required to purchase and maintain one of these vehicles, much less 4 of them... it is simply ludicrous.  I am going to have to begin to play the lottery if I want to continue to ride a bike. I do not even want to discuss the cost of cycling shorts, cycling shirts, helmets, gloves, etc....

I have a limited amount of experience in swimming, but so far it is much less expensive than cycling.  Maybe I should just be a swimmer.  Wish me luck, or better yet, send me money.

Wicked Half Marathon

Wamego, Kansas

State #36

Wicked, like Wizard of Oz Wicked... Wicked Half Marathon.  Wamego is in Kansas...  about 100 miles Southwest of Topeka or 120 miles Southwest of Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, MO.  Wamego built an Oz Museum and several of the businesses followed the Emerald City theme such as Toto's Tacoz and Oz Winery.  There is even a Dorothy's House Replica.  As I understand it, there is no reference to Wamego in the movie or book.  Dorothy, nor Auntie Em lived there, but there is definitely an Oz theme going on in Wamego.  Lincoln street is the street that I would typically equate with Main street in a small town.  It is, well, the main street, and all of the aforementioned businesses are on Lincoln Street in "downtown" Wamego.  They even play Wizard of Oz music along the street... at least they did on the morning of the race.

Valerie and all three kids came along with me.  They only came because they have never been to Kansas and thought it would be great to visit Kansas.  I am not so certain that any of them are interested in going back now that they have been there, but at least they can say that they have been.  We flew in to Kansas City, MO and rented a car.  KCI or MCI (it is the same place) airport is fairly small and fairly disorganized and a bit confusing, but we made it there on Friday afternoon and rented a car to drive to Wamego.  It took us 1:40 minutes to drive there and one minute to drive through it.  We were looking for a restaurant where they were hosting a spaghetti pre-race dinner, and we drove right past it.  As it turns out, it was not a restaurant at all, but a business called Iron Clad that was hosting a catered spaghetti meal and the race packet pick-up.  Once we made a U-turn, we located the place.  We recognized it because the parking in front was "crowded".  There were four cars out front and it was noticeably "crowded" in comparison to all of the other businesses.  I went in to get my race packet and looked around to see what they had to offer.  I did see some chaffing dishes full of spaghetti in the back room.  After discussing this prospect with Valerie, we decided to head to our place and find a grocery store.

There was no internet or cell coverage.  We were staying in a neighboring town called Alma and it was about 40-45 minutes away and there was absolutely nothing in between... wheat fields... prairies.  There was one gas station and it was basically THE store, so we stocked up on pancake mix, rice, beans, and some lunch meat, chips, water, etc... then off to the cabin.  

The cabin was just across the street from Lake Wabaunsee.  It was a nice lake that looked like it would be packed full of people out picnicking, fishing, swimming and skiing in the summer months.  There was none of that happening this weekend as the weather was definitely not conducive for these sorts of activities.  It was windy and cloudy and cold, roughly 40ºF.  The cabin itself was very cute.  It was two stories.  On the first floor was two bedrooms, a mud room, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen... and a front and back porch.  

                                

Upstairs was a loft room and a master suit.  Off the loft room was an enclosed porch with an air hockey table.  Off the master suit was an enclosed porch with some chairs and a nice view of the prairie.  There was indoor plumbing and electricity and heat and A/C.  We definitely used the heat.  We threw on the gas fire place, pulled up a movie, cooked up some dinner, pumped up the heat pulled on our PJs and snuggled in for the evening.

Race day came early.  The race was scheduled to start at 7:30AM and you may recall there is a 40-45 minute drive to the Lincoln ave. starting line.  So, I got up at 4:00am and made certain I was ready.  I was mostly prepared, as I remembered some gloves and long-sleeved running shirts and a couple choices of jackets.  I realized, though that I forgot my pants.  I only brought shorts.  I do have a pair of "yoga pants" that do keep me cozy warm, but alas one cannot always remember everything.  Oh, well, I thought, It won't be that bad.  I woke Valerie at 6:00am.  As we made our way out to the car, in the dark, we quickly realized that it was snowing.  The temp was 34ºF and it was snowing.  Some snow was sticking on the ground, the car and the roof of the cabin, but it was mostly a wet snow.  Big, wet snowflakes.  I wish I had my lululemon pants.

We drove to the start and parked right in sight of the start line, so we simply waited in the car until the race start.  I did not warm up at all.  I stretched my calves for a minute, but then got back in the car because it was cold.  I changed my jacket to the water resistant jacket, because it was still wet.  The race was delayed 6 minutes, but they made announcements so we would roll down the window when they began to talk.  One of the announcements said, "OK. we are all clear to start.  We will begin in 30 seconds.  Runners make your way to the start."  So, I kissed my wife goodbye and jogged across the street to the start.  I suppose that was my warm-up.  It was basically a ready, go start and off we went.  The first 5k was around the town and back across the start, then the remainder of the race was an out and back.  The turn around was at mile 8.

The course was a half of one lane of a two lane road.  Then after mile 5 or so it became one full lane of the two lane road.  The course description was a rolling hill course... and it was a rolling hills course.  There really were not any flat sections.  We were either running uphill or downhill the entire race, and of course it seemed as if it was uphill the entire time, but I am aware that was just my perception.   My 5k split was 22:58 ~ 7:24 avg pace, and I stayed pretty close to that the entire race.  I basically ran by myself the entire race.  At the 5k split I calculated that I was in 7th place overall and I maintained sight of the two guys in front of me, but I could not close the gap on them and no one passed me.  The hills were long and incessant.  I kept thinking that it was a net uphill on the way out, so the way back would be a net downhill, but it did not feel downhill on the way back.  In fact, I began to slow down without recognizing that I was slowing down.  The only reason I became aware of it was my mile split times.  Mile 10 was 7:44 and mile 12 was 8:10.  Then I would begin to speed up and hit another hill.  It was snowing at the start, then became a rain.  I got warm enough to remove my gloves and unzip my jacket, then it got cold again, so I put my gloves back on and zipped my jacket back up.  It started snowing again.   The course was uneven as it was mostly the side of the road.  I got a blister on my right foot.  And it was wet.  I kept hearing puddles sloshing and I kept thinking someone was catching me and about to pass me, but it was just me.

Right at mile 13 there was a turn one street early from the start/finish and the girl directing traffic was busy talking to someone in their car that was on the course, so I had no idea which way to go... but she yelled and pointed, so I redirected and made the turn.  Somewhere around mile 9.5 I passed a water station that was manned by three people.  The one girl that was actively handing out water had her back to the course.  I asked for water and she did not move.  I asked again with a please and she said, "oh, sorry." then bent down to get a granola bar of some sort.  So, I was stopped at the hydration station and then asked again for water.  So, she finally handed me the water she had in her hand the entire time.  It was wet and cold.  This certainly cost me several seconds of my life and I am certain it has affected my rankings and my chances for an olympic medal. (that was completely tongue-in cheek for those of you who don't get me).

I crossed the finish line and the announcer pronounced my name correctly and stated that I was another finisher of the 5k.  Whatever.  Beyond the finish was one person handing me a medal (or as Valerie more correctly called it a plastic) and there was also a bin of Gatorade.  Help yourself.  The family was all there.  They calculated how long it would take me to finish and they showed up 5 minutes before I did.  Hugs and kisses all around, then back in the car and back to the cabin.  I got 2nd in my age group and 7th overall, but I did not bother sticking around for another plastic... or whatever the age group award was.  I was tired and cold and wet and I knew Valerie was gonna make me some chocolate chip pancakes that I could devour after a nice, long, warm shower.  Which is exactly what played out.

There was a costume contest and I did see some people dressed up.  One tin man and a wicked witch or two -- they were melting lol.  But it was raining and cold and snowing, so I am imagining that turnout would have been better if the weather were better... I am imagining. 

Later that day we went for a walk around the lake and then took a drive to Topeka and went to the zoo... just for some adventure.  Then back to the cabin for a nice rest and back to KC, MO to catch the flight home.  We are all tired.  But overall it was a good trip.  

Next race Connecticut and then Hawaii.

More Greece photos

I could not seem to load any more photos in the last post.  There may be a limit?  So, here are more for the three of you who are still awake.

So many photos!  Enjoy!