Mileage Challenge Update

You are correct in noticing that I didn't label this post Mileage Monday, as it clearly is Wednesday, but you need an update all the same, so here it is.

Actually, before I get to it...any guesses?

Wow, you're good! How did you know that Chad was in the lead, followed pretty closely by Clint, with me keeping a close eye on last place? That's incredible, you have a gift. Either that, or you just assumed that since nothing has changed in the last five or so weeks, why should it change now. I guess it doesn't matter how you knew, just that you knew. Anyway, here are the numbers and pics and I'll do everything in my power to make this more interesting for you (and us) this month.

Here's Chad's pic, he continues his mileage reign of terror and lately he has made it more than clear why he's the real cyclist in the family who got Clint and I involved with this whole thing in the first place.

Clint is being the strong silent type with this whole mileage thing. Every week he does what he needs to do to stay in the game and log good mileage. One of these weeks I fear that he's going to drop a two or three hundred mile bomb on Chad and me.

And for me, I'll update this post with a picture when I get home, but I only got in the one 60 mile ride last week. I know, I know, I'm not going to survive Philly if I keep this up. Trust me, last Sunday's ride was a wake up call, and I'll be ready. My new coach and I are developing a training plan as we speak and don't you worry, I'll get to where I need to be. Oh, and by new coach, I mean Becky, what a great girl.

The Not So Dramatic May Mileage Challenge Results

Chad Wins Frost Mileage Challenge for May

Unfortunately, Clint and I were powerless to stop the mileage train that was Chad this month. He was a little burned I think last month having been edged out by his noncyclist younger brothers and was seeking vengeance all month. Truth be told, May belonged to Chad all along, he came out strong week one, and kept turning the screws every week. By the last week, although he'll tell you he was worried that Clint or I would go berserk and pull of like a 300 mile week, he had it pretty well locked up. Clint made a valiant effort, getting in over 100 miles the last week, but it was not meant to be, Chad came out the victor by a mile, errr, actually by lots of miles. I lived up to my NonCyclist name this month, and came in 3rd (it just sounds better than dead last).
Chad giving us a high five, meaning he got in more than 500 miles in the month of May, and yes, that definitely wins.

Clint, quietly marches to a strong second place finish again this month. Something to be said for consistency.

I round out the top 3, and yes, for those perceptive readers, this is the same picture from my 100 miles of nowhere finish. Sore legs, and lots of rain are my excuses for blanking in the final week of the month.

Frost Mileage Challenge: Final Results for May

1ts Place - Chad: 520 Total Miles!

2nd Place - Clint: 408.8 Total Miles

3rd Place - Clay: 236.43 Total Miles

Like I said, Chad killed it. More than double the miles that I got in this month...ouch. And what's worse is that I won last month with only 230.6 miles. So even though I beat the month I had in April (barely), it wasn't even close to winning. That means that I'm now obligated to win another one of these months to prove that my win in April wasn't a fluke caused by Chad and Clint not riding up to their full potential. UGGHHH, I thought one win would be enough.

Anyway, full congrats go out to both Chad and Clint for having great months. The mileage challenge worked again, as Chad said on many occasions that he might not have been out riding had it not been for this silly (although really serious) friendly competition. Having come in dead last this month, I already paid up to the winners. Which I was happy to do, as they clearly deserved it and it's going to a great cause. On a fundraising note, another congrats goes out to Chad who finally got off his butt and sent out his fundraising email and is now close to $700.00 raised for the LIVESTRONG foundation. This is all about the fight against Cancer, so if you have done something yet, now's the time. If you'd like to help with a donation, please click here, if you'd like to join our team yourself and raise money yourself, we'd love to have you, click here. Thanks for your support!

Mileage Monday, errr Mileage Tue, ummm Mileage We, oh wait, Mileage Thursday

OK, my bad... busy week and here we are Mileage Monday has been bumped back to Thursday. And this is the last week of the month no less. For the sake of brevity, here's the numbers and the quick story. The story actually stays the same, Chad is a beast this month. He's still in the lead and has been adding miles like it's going out of style. Clint continues to be consistent and holds onto a secure second place. And I, despite already logging more miles than last month in which I won the challenge, rest squarely on the bottom of the heap. With only four days to go for May, I'd like to say it's still anyone's game, but Chad is making that seem pretty impossible. Nothing motivates like a loss, and I guess last month lit the fire under his saddle. Drumroll please...the numbers and pictures.

Another thumbs up from Chad, 'cause yes, he's dominating.

Clint continues to stay in the hunt and is sure to pull off some last week magic.

Not much to say about me in last place. The 100 Miles of Nowhere didn't even help me catch these guys.

May Mileage Challenge Totals Thus Far

1st Place - Chad: 387.0 Miles

2nd Place - Clint: 291.8 Miles

3rd Place - Clay: 236.43 Miles

The Dramatic Conclusion of April's Mileage Challenge

What a week!

Unfortunately there can only be one winner of the mileage challenge but there was no shortage of effort by the brother's Frost to come out on top this week. If you forgot what was on the line besides bragging rights check out this post. You may recall that it was mine to lose this month. I've had a lead the whole month coming into these last four days of the month, although Chad cut that lead to only a half a mile last Monday. I knew that he and Clint would be bringing the heat this week and that I would have to get creative/crazy to stay ahead. Below this post is a detailed account of my training week that you can check out. Chad wound up getting in an impressive 95 miles in the last four days. Unfortunately for him, Clint got in 117 miles in that same time to overcome Chad by a few miles. Luckily for me, I was feeling good last night, and got in 35 miles instead of my planned 20, for a total of 125 miles since Monday which helped me hold on to win the month. It was that close. If I had stopped early, Clint could have beaten me by a couple miles. It was a hard fought week, and the suspense was fun. Each day, I was wondering what they were doing to rack up miles, love the friendly competition. Since the cat is out of the bag, I'll just post the numbers and pics.

Chad's mileage, sans hand gesture this week...bummer, I guess the Bike mag will have to do.

Clint's mileage, over 100 miles in the last fours days, nice job.

My mileage, it took everything I had to hold the lead. I'm psyched to have a win under my belt because getting shut out in this challenge was a real possibility.

Frost Mileage Challenge

Final Results for April

1st Place - Clay: 251.1 Total Miles

2nd Place - Clint: 230.2 Total Miles

3rd Place - Chad: 220.0 Total Miles

Lot's of fun and a great time had by all. Easy to say as the winner I guess, but I hope my brothers would agree. No time to gloat either as today marks the beginning of the Challenge for May. These final month pics will also serve as the starting pics for May, so game on once more. Also, my kind brothers were very quick to pay up. The donations have already been made, so besides getting a good push to train harder, the LAF is getting more donations as well. It's a win/win. Love it.

The post that shall remain postless...

Until a later date.

I'm going to start writing this post to document the rides that I'm getting in this week, but I can't post it until the mileage challenge is over. The good news is that while you'll have to wait until Friday, your patience will be rewarded with a long winded, overly thorough, completely unnecessary account of the week that was. Right now, it's Wednesday, so I've got to back track a bit, but you'll get it all, I promise. Just what you always wanted. Yea.

Monday.

Wait, actually, I think I should start on Sunday.

Sunday.

Yesterday, Clint and I were back country skiing on the back of Mount Washington. We hiked into Tuckerman's Ravine, about a 3 hour hike with 2200 feet of vertical gain. Skied for a couple hours, then we volunteered to help hike out an injured skier on a Ski Patrol sled. We then had to hike back up to the bowl for our gear, and then finally, had to hike out to the car, cause they closed the trail that you can use to ski out. Needless to say, my legs haven't been used like that in a long time. It was a great day, and the only sour note we got was a phone call from Chad telling us the crazy mileage that he put in while we were gone. Great. So now having done all that stuff yesterday, I had to get off my butt and get in a ride. Oh, did I mention it was April 26th, yet for some reason it was 90 degrees in CT. Ridiculous. Luckily, I married a girl who also enjoys a good workout, and she helped motivate me to get on the bike. She went for a run, I went for a ride and we met back at the house to collapse on the couch together.

Monday.

No rest for the weary. At this point I have updated the Monday Mileage post and know that my lead over Chad has gone from 50 miles to a mere half mile. I also know, that he already got in a ride at lunch today, and Clint too, has been on the bike since the Monday update. OK, get home from work and get in a ride. Easier said than done. Today I have to go to NYC to do some work on the movie after work. Oh, I forgot to mention that this morning, Becky got up early, leaving me lying awake waaaay before I needed to get out of bed. Knowing that my brothers are crazy like me and will do untold things to win this challenge, I thought I should also jump on the crazy train and capitalize on this early rise, so I got out and put on an easy, quick 5 or 6 miles. By the way, I'm still no cyclist, but that easy 5 or 6 miles in the morning, was definitely the same 5 or 6 miles that I could barely finish a month ago. Little pat on the back for myself. Who am I kidding, this blog is the biggest, most self centered, 24/7 pat on my own back ever, kinda embarrassing, but your the one reading it. Anyway, back to Monday. After work I did manage to get in my sixteen mile loop, then a quick dinner with the wife, then off to NY.

Tuesday.

This was my day to ride this week. I mentioned that Becky had some plans for us this Wed. and Thurs. which is great but severely limits my crunch time riding. To help combat that I had to make today a banner day. This is what I came up with. I threw the bike in my car and took it to work. Today, lunch wouldn't be spent surfing the Internet and chowing on cold cuts; today I would get in a ride. This stupid hot weather in April has continued and my ride turned into sweat fest 2009. I got in about 15 miles, but my coworkers probably weren't too happy when I got back. It took me till about 4 o'clock just to cool off. Mental note, changing into jeans after a hot ride sucks. I head home, grab a bite with the wife, and hit the road once more. Yes, this is over the top, but who knows what my brothers are doing to log mileage. I did not wait long enough after dinner to start riding, turning my dinner into a rock in my stomach which made the next 20 miles pretty terrible. At least it was dusk so it was a bit cooler. P.S. My butt is really not liking my bike saddle at this point.

Wednesday.

Crazy train officially boarded. Wednesday presented a problem. It was mission critical to get in some miles, but Becky has made surprise plans for our evening after work, so a ride then is out. On Monday, while talking to Chad I joked that to win this thing I'm gonna have to bike to and from work. Not that funny except I live about 35 miles from the office. After I got off the phone with him however, the idea started to make a lot of sense. For the last hundred or so miles I've been able to maintain about a 16.5 mph average. So for 35 miles it should only take just over 2 hours. I don't have to be to work until 9 am, so leaving at 6:30 actually is doable. It doesn't take much for my brain to convince itself that it has a good idea, and before you know it, the alarm clock was buzzing and I was on the bike riding to work. Here's a map of the ride. 35 miles is way longer than 20, which makes me a little freaked out, cause 100 miles, is way, way, waaay longer than 35 miles. Yikes, I guess it's good that we are pushing each other to ride this much. The ride actually went pretty well. I underestimated how much hauling my laptop and change of clothes in a back pack would wear on me, and the wind seemed to have it out for me, but I kept churning the cranks and I made it. Luckily it was nice and cool, almost too cold when I started, so I arrived at work on time and not too foul smelling. As you can tell from the elevation map on the route, there were 2 significant hills. My first 2 hills ever really. The first was only about 2 miles from my house, I was still fresh and put it behind me without too much trouble. The second however was about 27 miles into the ride and was a doosey. It is a notoriously steep hill, and having driven up it countless times, so the whole ride I had a clear picture in my mind of the unpleasantness that awaited me. I literally had to to the "I think I can" thing in my head the whole way up, but I made it, no stopping, and I was paid off big time. The down side of the hill was great and I set a new max speed on my bike, 39 mph, sweet. The best part of this whole plan. Becky's surprise plans for us tonight include picking me up at work. Jackpot. I got in 35 miles for the day, and I don't even have to ride home.

Wed. Continued.

Becky's surprise B-day present to me was a flying lesson. Ridiculously awesome! Here is a picture of me after my first flight. It was a ton of fun and I hope to get some more flying in soon. Thanks to Mike and all those at Premier Flight Center in Hartford.

Thursday...D-Day

Today is the last day that counts towards April's total, so it's do or die time. We have agreed to all get on the phone and do a group update around 8 or 9 tonight. It will get the suspense over with, plus this will allow for personal verbal jabs and abuse instead of swapping emails of questionable content all day long tomorrow. There have been some emails floating around today and from the looks of it, we are all pretty close in mileage. Clint has gotten in 4 good rides this week, Chad three, with plans for a fourth tonight, and you know what I've been up to. I will be riding tonight. I'm hoping to get in about 20 or so miles to finish the month and hopefully that will be enough. Depends on how long their rides have been obviously so I still think it's up for grabs. We'll see.

Thursday, continued.

Just what you wanted more information. I just got in from my ride tonight and it was my first magical bike ride. Magical might be a bit strong of a word, or a bit but I'm sure you real cyclists out there know what I'm talking about. Tonight was the first time that I could just keep going. It was weird, I've had a few runs in my day that just felt great, and I had the sense that I could just keep running forever. It doesn't happen often, at least not for me, but when it does, it's awesome. Until tonight, I didn't know what that was like on a bike. It was pretty great. My legs some how just kept going. Even after all the riding I've been doing this week, I couldn't burn them out tonight. I set out to get in 20 miles, and wound up getting in 35 cause I just wanting to keep pushing it, to see how far I could go. I'm not naive enough to think this is going to be a regular thing, but man was it fun. I stopped at home, ready to end the ride, but I was only a few miles away from 250 total miles for the month, so I said Hi to Becky, told her the situation and that I was thinking of heading back out for a few more quick miles. She said go for it, and I was off again. Weird that I could just keep going, I really hope I feel like this come race day, cause it would be a big help. Anyway, like I said, I got in about 35 tonight so my monthly total has doubled in the past four days and I'm up to 251.1 total miles for April. If the boys beat me, they earned it for sure. This was everything that I got, so we'll see if it's enough.

The End of the Month is Looming

The Mileage Challenge Get's Crazy

So I feel like I need to put up a post but at the same time, it's serious game time between Chad, Clint and myself, so I can't give away too much about mileage.

Here's what I can tell you. They may kill me, and I shouldn't speak for everyone, but the Frost boys are all very alike. It's probably fair to say that we all have a little procrastination in us however, we all also have an unbelievable sense of determination and drive when push comes to shove. For the past three weeks we've been loafing around, taking a couple rides here and there and slowly accumulating mileage for this mileage challenge not to mention our century training. Now, at the very end of the month, Chad turns it on and the spark has been lit for everyone. Clint has been an animal this week, having already put on 40+ miles by yesterday afternoon. Chad got in 25 on Monday and has been silent since. I squeaked in a ride Monday before I went to NYC but that's all I can give away.

So here we are, the month ends tomorrow at midnight, it's anyone's game, so we'll see what happens. No matter what, the best thing that has come out of this is the fact that we're all out riding. I know, like I mentioned the other day, we shouldn't need a mileage challenge and cash on the line to get us out of the house and into the saddle, but life happens, we all got stuff going on, so this is working for now. I can't wait to see the lengths that my brother's go to claim the number one spot, it should be an interesting post on Friday.

Gotta Get in Some Riding Today.

It's been an ugly week here in the northeast and rain has kept me out of the saddle all week. Today may be the only day I can ride, although I won't be home from work until probably 6:30. Tomorrow Clint and I are heading up to Mount Washington for the last snowboarding trip of the season, backcountry at Tuckerman's Ravine. It's going to be awesome and I will bless you with photos and hopefully helmet cam video on the blog come Sunday, but it means that cycling Friday and Saturday is out. Sunday I may have time to ride, but my legs will be fresh off about 8 hours of serious hiking and snowboarding on 50 degree pitch, so mashing the pedals may prove difficult. Bottom line, my mileage is going to be even weaker than normal if that's possible, and the door is wide open for Chad to dominate Clint and me this week.

I know we have to step it up if we're going to be ready in 121 days for the 100 mile race.

On a more positive note, fundraising has officially begun and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the donations and well wishes. Many people responded very quickly and I'm always impressed with the generosity of my family and friends, not to mention my new (many anonymous) blog friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

If you are contemplating a donation please seriously consider how cancer has affected you and your loved ones. If you're like me and have ever been hurt, angered, scared, or saddened by cancer, please help in this fight and make a donation. You can click here to make a secure donation online. Big or small, it all helps and together we really can make a difference. Cliche I know, but it's very true. Team Fatty has truly banded together and when you get a group of liked minded people together, focused on a common goal, good things happen. So far we have raised $159,315.00 and the total goes up everyday thanks to you guys. Keep up the good work, and thanks again!

Official Mileage Monday Update

I know it's Tuesday, but blame it on Clint.

Clint broke radio silence and weighed in late last night with his mileage and some pictures. To his credit he was on a couple business trips last week so things got a little dicey for him training wise. Since he was out of town, but in an effort to make sure he could still get in some documented mileage, Chad came up with what he likes to call the time/distance warp continuum to calculate the mileage that Clint got in on a stationary bike in his hotel gym. Even if you don't bike, you can guess that putting down 20 miles on a stationary bike in a gym is a lot different than 20 miles on the road. It got a bit complicated and kudos to Chad for his creativity but here is the lowdown. In his own words this is what Chad came up with...

"My take on the spin bike - It can somewhat count. I think it's way easier to rack up mileage and MPH on those, than outside. So I don't trust the mileage number they put out. That said I don't think you should be docked all the spinning time (although for the sake of me winning, I wish otherwise). Here's what I propose. A time / distance warp continuum. Take your average speed of your last several rides, and use that against the time you ride. However, to keep you honest, and make sure you don't just spin at 1mph for 10 hours, you have to show photographic evidence of time and distance ridden. We will accept the lesser of the two (time warp continuum calculation / distance on machine)

Sound good? of course it does - I just talked to you about it on the phone. Any issues Clay?"

I did not have any issues with it and luckily after all that, Clint put it into use and racked up 13.5 (adjusted) miles while in his hotel gym. Props to Clint for getting off his butt and into one of those small, dark, funky smelling hotel "gyms" while on a business trip. In his own words, here is his evidence and his calculations.

"Now for the calculations: According to the stationary bike, I rode 16.73 miles in 45 minutes. That works out to an average speed of 22.3 mph. Based on my last 4 or 5 rides I have been averaging right around 18 mph so it does seem that Chad was right and the computer may be a little generous with the mileage counting. So then we include the continuum calculation and say I averaged 18mph for the 45 mins I was on the bike and I get a total of 13.5 miles. Since we agreed to take the lesser of the 2, that means I should have 13.5 miles to add to my weekly total for next mileage Monday. Sound good to you guys?"

It did sound good, plus then he got in another ride on his real bike. With everything added up here are the official totals.

April Totals Thus Far

1st - Clay: 93.0 miles

2nd - Clint: 80.4 miles

3rd - Chad: 43.0 miles

Jinxed

I Blame Myself

Mileage Monday has come and gone, and yes, you know that I gloated, and was feeling good about my noncyclist self, and yet here we are, Thursday, and I have yet to add to my 32.5 mile total. You don't want to hear them, but here are my excuses, and I know they're just excuses.

Monday - Rain. If I was a real cyclist maybe I would have put up with it, but luckily for my, I'm the noncyclist.

Tuesday - Meeting with financial planner after work. (yes, in this economy, it was about as painful as you are imagining)

Wednesday - After work I had to bolt down to NYC to meet with a musician about doing an orginal track for our upcoming documentary. It went well, but that's a whole other post.

All this while, my brothers have righfully so, been sticking it to me. Both Chad and Clint have been logging miles consistiently this week, so while nothing is official, I'm sure I'm the low man on the totum pole as of now. And to think, just a few short days ago, I was so happy with myself. I now regret saying in my previous post that "busy lives hindered their good intentions and kept them out of the saddle". Clearly kharma is real, and I'm feeling it this week.

Not all is lost however. I will be on the bike tonight, and the clipless adventure can finally begin. I should be able to get in about 16 or so miles after work, so hopefully I can slow the bleeding.

I guess the only good news about this whole ordeal, is that the purpose behind the Mileage Challenge is working. I won't speak for my brothers but I know that I feel compelled to get out and ride a little bit more, knowing that fundraising, and pride is on the line. Speaking of fundraising, just thinking out loud, maybe one month we should have a Fundraising Challenge. Hmmm, something to stew over today, we'll see. Gotta love some healthy compitition.

16 Miles On My Own

Longest Solo Ride to Date

In preparation for this mileage challenge that is now going on with my brothers and myself, I spent about 4 hours the other night hooking up my new cycling computer on the new bike. Is that normal? How hard can it be, but the instructions were a bit lacking, and winding the cables around the tubes, blah, blah, blah...it took forever. Anyway, I know that I had said that I wanted to do the farewell ride on the Lotus last night, but I got home from work a bit late and was fighting daylight, and had just put the new computer on. Needless to say, I took out the new bike last night, got in 16 miles, and now I'm totally hooked on the bike computer thing.


So much info, I was having a hard time watching where I was going. I'm sure/hoping that the novelty will wear off soon, cause it can't be safe to ride around looking at your handlebars all the time. But for now, I was flooded with all this new information and was loving it. So far, I'd say I'm addicted to the speedometer and the odometer, and the cadence thing is running a close third.

So my average speed was 16 miles per hour. Slow yes, but I was pleased that I did 16 miles (16.085 to be exact) in exactly one hour (ok, 1 hour and 36 seconds to be exact). Gotta leave room for improvement. The odometer was cool, and kept me going a little while longer. I got to where I thought I would turn around, but I was only at 7.5 miles. I thought that a 16 mile ride would be waaaay more impressive and satisfying than a 15 mile ride, so I found a side street and kept riding until I hit the 8 mile mark, then I turned and headed for home. Loving it.

I have to say, slowly, but surely, I'm starting to feel less like a poser on the bike and that is definitely a good thing. My pedals, shoes and chamois shorts should be in next week, and that should be another step in the right direction as well. After 16 miles in my old lacrosse shorts, the chamois will be a very welcome addition to the team.

That's it for now, from what I've heard, I think I may have just taken a 16 mile lead in the mileage challenge, so bring it on boys, start turning those cranks.

Thanks for reading.

Mileage Challenge

It's On!

As you know my brothers and I are taking on this LIVESTRONG Challenge thing, but things just got a little more interesting. We have decided to do a monthly mileage challenge to make sure that we getting in the training that we need to, and also to raise some more money for this great cause. Here's how it's going to go down.

At the beginning of each month, we will all take pictures of the odometers on our bikes to record our starting point for the month. The goal then being, quite obviously, to ride the most amount of miles out of the three of us, in that month. Sounds good right, but a competition like this wouldn't be much fun without a carrot dangling so here it is. If you ride the least amount of miles in the month, you must donate $20.00 to the winner's LIVESTRONG page, and $5.00 to the second place guy's LIVESTRONG page. If you come in second, you must donate $15.00 to the winner's LIVESTRONG page. If you win, you just rake in the donations. Sweet. Here's an example, as I'm sure I didn't explain that as easily as I could have.

The Challenge started yesterday, April 1st. No, it's not a joke. So if Chad rides 300 miles in April, Clint rides 200, and I ride 100, here's how it would play out.

I would donate, $20.00 to Chad, the winner, and $5.00 to Clint, (second place). Clint would donate $15.00 to Chad. And all Chad does is brag about kicking our butts and watch his fundraising pot grow. Simple right?

We're going to check in with each other every Sunday night, and I'll post a mileage update on Mondays. Yup, "Mileage Mondays", my first recurring segment on the blog, love it.

We'll see how April goes, I'd love to figure out a way to get you, the reader, involved. Like picking your horse for the month and pledging a certain donation based on the outcome. Something like that, I don't know, could be cool and its for a good cause, but I have to put some more thought into it. Any suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em.

Thanks for reading and following along.