Riding for a Cure for Juvenile Diabetes

Just a quick reminder that the purpose of this page and my training is to help raise money to fund a cure for juvenile diabetes. Click on the "Ride for the Cure" link to the right, select "donate", and run a search for my name, "Kincade." Any amount you can give would be fantastic. Just think, you'll be helping to cure juvenile diabetes! For a research update and to see how close they are to a cure, click on the "JDRF" link. And thanks for being a part of the cure!

Fifty-One Miles!

I rode 51 miles today with the JDRF group. No knee pain, (probably due to raising my seat) not too much butt pain, and some neck pain but Eric Gabrielson taught me how to deal with that. Also along were two others from a couple weeks ago, David, (the coach) and Chris. David also brought his younger son Jacob and there was also a guy named Kjell (pronounced "chell")..

Chris and Kjell peeled off early in Kent and the rest of us headed down to Auburn then back up some different trail that David knew (David always seems to know where we are and what the best route is -- I guess this comes from years of biking). I don't know if it's because I'm in better shape or if it is because this route was mostly flat, but, I felt pretty good the whole time and feel great now.

The weather was perfect, there were no flats, and it was all-in-all an uneventful but totally fun ride in the South King County area. I polished off all my gatorade and bought a new one at one of our stops and polished that off too. I finished my water and then some. Next ride over 50 miles I will need to make sure and carry at least two cliff bars, and make sure we get lots of water stops. Two bottles doesn't go far when riding 50 miles.

Man vs. Machine

I got in fifteen more miles last night, riding from home to Bellevue over the I-90 bridge and back. There was a traffic jam on I-90 and cars were going about the same speed as me. I made a game of trying to pass a few, which was fun. I think there is an undeclared war between bikes and cars, and any time you can pass a car on the interstate while riding a bicycle is a small victory.

I got all the way up to 34 mph on the trail back home. Probably shouldn't go faster than that on that stretch, with all the kids, dogs, and walkers.

This brings my weekly total up to 55, which is still short of the 80 that I should be doing, however, I'm getting there.

No knee pain, a little neck pain, a little butt pain, but overall pretty good. It was mid-sixties and overcast so I wore my long sleeve workout shirt, which worked great.

Not Broken Down, Just Slow

Today I took the route that would be my ride to work and back, if I ever do it, adding on a few miles of the Green River trail just to make it an even forty. Took me a little over an hour to get to work, and that was with a dropped Nalgene bottle and a water stop. (The Nalgene bottle, true to their advertising, was hardly scratched.)

I stopped in at work on the way back, grabbed some of the birthday cake in the kitchen, ate a Clif bar, and was on my way. I felt great at that point, a little over twenty miles. But for some reason, around mile 26 or so, my left knee really started giving me trouble. I raised my seat to make my stroke a little longer and it only helped a little. Coming back was a little shorter, probably due to my route.

Several times, throughout my ride, I ran into this group: www.unionbaycycling.com. Although, all I could read at the time was the "Wines of Washington" logo on their upper ass. These guys meant business. About 15 or so, and when they passed me, it was like a freight train. I think I only kept up with them due to their longer route and they take longer water breaks. Any time you have 15 people together, certain things can't be fast. One of their guys stopped to take a whiz at the Wendy's in Renton and they just left him. I guess with these guys, you can't do weak things like urinate while riding. At any rate, this guy caught up with me just a couple miles down the road.

My main problems today were again my left knee and neck, straining to look forward while leaning down. I'm sure both will go away with training.

I did pass a couple of people -- A kid on one of those souped-up funky bikes riding on the sidewalk, and one old lady. Hey, I need something to make me feel good.

Don't forget to donate to JDRF under my name. Just click on the "Ride for the Cure" link over on the right and follow instructions. Thanks from me and everyone at JDRF for caring enough to be a part of the cure.

Beautiful ride

Our ride today was closer to 34 miles, which was OK by me as I was granny gearing uphill the last couple miles, being passed by men twice my age.

The ride was amazing. At one point, David said "Kentucky or Washington" and you really couldn't tell which state we were in. We were in the rolling hills outside Renton, with lots of large estates, small lakes, and horse farms. It was really quite astounding to see this so near Seattle.

On the ride were David Nestvold, Eric Gabrielson, Andy, Chris, and David's sister Karen. Andy and Chris were just along for the ride, but the rest of us were training for the JDRF ride through Death Valley. I have to mention though, that David and Eric could do that ride in their sleep.

Small problems: sore left knee, (left side), foot cramp, butt sore, neck sore. Not really too bad though and now I feel great. At the time, I wanted the ride to end right around 30 miles or so but now I feel like I could've gone further.

David said we should be riding 80 miles per week now, which I am not even near. Perhaps if I plan well enough, I'll ride to and from work!

Don't forget to donate under my name at www.jdrf.org. Just click on the "Ride for the Cure" link, enter my name, and give large$$!

Second big training ride - 40 miles

Here is the ride I'm doing this morning. I'm typing now in anticipation of being beat this afternoon, but I'll report on how I did:

Join us for the next JDRF team ride, Saturday 8/12/06  gather 8:45,
leave at 9 am   Moderate pace ride (14-15 mph), approx 40 miles

Start from Newcastle Beach Park (Bellevue)
ride South along the Lake Washington waterfront to Renton, then,
Maple Valley bike path to Cedar Grove Road, East to Issaquah-Hobart
Road, return along May Valley Road to Newport Hills in Bellevue, then
back to Newcastle Beach park

My speedometer is broken so I'll have to trust them on the "moderate pace". The high today is in the seventies but it is in the sixties most of the time for my ride, so I think I'll wear long sleeves. We'll see if that's a bad decision.

Still a little achy

I did a 30 mile or so ride this Saturday, August 5th, and am still feeling it today. My ride was diverted by the Blue Angels show over Lake Washington. How can they close down Lake Washington Boulevard on a beautiful Saturday morning? I decided to head across the I-90 bridge to Bellevue and then down to Renton, around Boeing, and back up Rainier to Seward Park, then up 31st on back home. The last part posed a hill that was quite nasty. Granny gear for about 5 full minutes. I think an old lady passed me walking uphill.

Overall though I was proud because I was done by 9:30 a.m. and was able to enjoy the rest of the weekend with my new son. (see www.kevbonson.blogspot.com)