2010 CCC100 Motorcycle Ride

February 15th, 2011

Only took me almost a year to get this posted, but here is Jim’s very detailed ride report of our CCC100 last April.  ( Coast to Coast to Coast in under 100 hours).

Jim and Dave Coast to Coast to Coast Adventure

Along with his excellent write-up, I added some of my own comments along the way when I had something to add.

It was a great time and hard to believe it was almost a full year ago.

22:04 5k and a guitar finished

December 20th, 2010

Ran a 22:04 5k last week, kind of surprising with my lack of training lately, but cool, dry weather was a help.    Time to start cranking up the mileage though.

Finished a guitar this weekend, a conglomeration of parts, the body was originally a white Made in Mexico Fender Stratocaster that belongs to Tamara, she took it with her on a John Mayer Cruise in hopes of getting an autograph on it.    The neck is from a 24 inch scale Jagmaster that belongs to William, and the bridge a Made in USA Fender Tremolo bridge.  Metallic Copper paint on body and matching headstock.    The two humbuckers sound great, and it plays real nice.    I love the 24 inch scale neck.

Testimonial

October 21st, 2010

One of the Personal Trainers from the Tupperfit Weight Loss Challenge  asked me for a ‘testimonial’.  So I gave her a card like this…

Before I met Olga…


Evening 5k

September 23rd, 2010

23:10 for the Tupperware Evening 5k. Not bad considering it was 90 degrees, sunny, very windy and 2nd 5k race of the day. Sure would like to get those close to or under 20:00.

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Morning 5k

September 22nd, 2010

Slowly getting myself back to fitness. This mornings 22:34 Tupperware 5K is a step in the right direction.  That was good enough for 1st place on this particular morning! We have another 5k this evening, will be interesting to see how my legs feel.

I’m preparing for the Space Coast Marathon in November, then the Umstead 100 in April 2011. Will probably do Mountain Mist 50k in January, and maybe Cheaha 50k in Feb as I prepare for Umstead. Nice to be running again!

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I’m goin’ back to BADWATER!

July 9th, 2010

WOO HOO!   Leaving tomorrow morning for Las Vegas, then straight to Death Valley, CA.  Furnace Creek to be exact, to prepare for the start of the 2010 Badwater Ultramarathon!   135 miles on foot.  Weather Channel says Monday’s race day start will have a high of only 120 degrees.  That’s downright chilly in Death Valley!

Oh, I’m NOT actually RUNNING it this year,  I’m CREWING.  It’s my great honor to assist one of the guys that crewed ME for three years in a row to get to the finish line.  He’s run with me, walked with me, carried water and food for me,  listened to me bitch about stuff like being given the wrong flavor Gatorade, massaged cramps out of my legs and generally done whatever he(and the rest of the team)  had to do to keep me heading toward the finish line.    And he did it 3 years in a row.

Now it’s my turn.  I can’t wait.    William Ansick from Auburn, Alabama will be starting his first Badwater at 6:00 am, July 12, at the young age of 23.   Tamara and I have known him since he was a baby, he and his family have come to see me compete in various running and triathlon races most of his life. Later as he got older, and I started running Ultra runs, they would come watch and crew some of those.

His  High School athletics consisted of Soccer and Wrestling, but once in College, he started getting interested in running, triathlons, and cycling.   A good athlete and a quick study, he’s steadily improved every year that he’s been at this.   First short triathlons, then longer ones up to 1/2 Ironman.  Then Marathon’s and almost immediately Ultra Runs.     That was natural, he was 18 years old when he and his dad, Vince were crewing for me in my first Badwater Ultra.    At the time, he was just getting into the endurance sports, but was asking questions and trying to improve, it just seemed natural to me to try to get him and Vince out there with me if possible.

Even though we’d moved from Huntsville to Orlando by that time and didn’t see a lot of each other, we still consider the Ansick’s among our closest friends and I knew I could count on them to watch out for my best interests in Death Valley.

That was 5 years ago, and I don’t know how many Ultra’s and various races William has run since then, but he’s clicked off some really good races and sub-24hrs for 100 mile trail race.   He’s tough, not a quitter when things aren’t going his way, and really seems to be able to take advantage of those races where things ARE going his way.

It’s going to be a blast watching him finish his first Badwater.

The proudest moment a parent has is when their kids do something great, I’ve had that feeling many times as my own Ashley, William and Emily have participated in their various events.      He’s not mine, but I know I’m going to have a lot of those same feelings as I watch him make that last climb up to the Whitney Portals.   Gonna be very cool indeed.

Follow the webcast, which officially starts Sunday, but they seem to already be posting things out there.

http://www.badwater.com/2010web/index.php

CCC100 – Coast to Coast to Coast in 100 hours (96 actually)

July 9th, 2010

April 8th, 4:00am.   I am waking up, and just stepping outside of my buddy Jim’s  back garage/apartment where I’ve spent the night.  He’s just coming over from his house, opening the garage to check on me.    By 4:30, we are on the road, him on his BMW 1200RT, me on my Yamaha FJR1300.  WHERE TO?   First to Ormond Beach, to walk down to the Atlantic Ocean, get a sample of sand and water from the beach.

Start of first morning

For the next 1500 miles, it is nothing but riding.   Our first REAL stop is Fort Stockton, Texas, 1500 miles from our stop point.  We did that in just under 24 hours from our first gas stop near Jim’s house.   A short 4 hour rest, and we head out for the next leg of our trip…

About to leave Fort Stockton, TX

Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, BIG Winds, but finally, we make it to San Diego, CA.   Coast to Coast in about 46 hours from leaving Jim’s house.   We headed down to the beach, gather another sand and water sample from the PACIFIC Ocean this time.  And headed to a hotel for a few short hours of rest.

Stopped to chat with from friends in San Diego

After another 4 hours or so rest, we gear up, and begin the 2600 mile trip back to Ormond Beach, FL.

But it wasn’t ALL just riding…

Climbing a cool rock in Arizona (or somewhere out West?!)

Heck, we even had time to stop and visit the ALAMO!
No real stops the whole way back though.   We rode straight through, only stopping at rest areas to sleep when we needed to.   West Texas got a little crazy with some very high winds, then rain.   We stopped there, Jim slept wearing his helmet, both to stay warm (it was VERY cold that night) AND to quieten the noise from the 18 wheelers that were running.

An hour or so nap at a rest area in Louisiana ( or Mississippi?)

That was it all the way back to Ormond Beach.   We were VERY sleepy toward the end.   BUT, 96 hours after we started, we had ridden our motorcycles from Coast to Coast to Coast 4 days.  COOL!

Jim has written a full comprehensive report of our trip, which I will post when I have time to go through it all.

2nd place Team Tupperware’s Tupperfit Challenge

June 22nd, 2010

For the 12 weeks of March/April/May, I was in a company sponsored weight loss challenge  (think biggest loser).  The Tupperware Tupperfit Challenge consisted of six 3 person teams, seeing who could lose the most % of weight in the 12 week period.I’m proud to say, my team, Team Weight Crashers, took second place.   Each team worked out twice a week with an assigned trainer, plus one other on-site activity on our own.   Olga was our trainer, and yes, she LOVES to make people suffer.  Tough workouts, twice a week with her, then we did at least one other workout together or in a class.  Of course, I did quite a bit of other stuff on my own.As a team, we lost 8.7% of our body weight in 12 weeks.  Personally, I lost just over 25 lbs.     That was the most of anyone on my team, and the 3rd highest pounds lost of all 18 people.   Kind of funny, as when we were doing all the initial meetings and weigh-ins, there were several references to how whatever team I end up on needed a handicap, since I didn’t have any weight too lose, can’t count how many people asked me why I was doing this, I didn’t need to lose anything.I’d say 25 lbs is something, and about 5 more will have me right where I need to be.  Needless to say, there were a few surprised folks when they started naming biggest losers and winning teams!

Good thing about that is that with the heavier weight lifting and cardio work we’ve been doing, my overall fitness is really coming back.  I feel great and  I’m MUCH stronger than I was at the beginning of the year.

Team Weight Crashers