Sorry for the Radio Silence

It's been an interesting last week or so, and blogging and bike riding have not been at the top of the to-do list. I've been busy looking for and interviewing for a new job. Also, the movie is almost finished but it's crunch time and I'm still trying to track down some additional financing for post production work. So while you may have thought that I've just been sitting on the couch watching the Price Is Right and Judge Judy all day, alas that's not the case.

I do have a Mileage Monday report for you today, so that's something. Plus, Todd and I are planning a ride this afternoon even in the face of 50/50 rain odds, so I'm getting back in the swing of things. The race is fast approaching so we gotta stay on track.

Mileage Monday

Chad, while not turning the screws on Clint and me as hard as he's been doing lately, is still leading June which surprisingly is almost over. I was barely aware that June began and here we are, already coming down to the last week. Clint again has maintained a good effort and will hold on to 2nd place. And as for myself...I really shouldn't have jinxed myself back in May, cause I've been struggling ever since. I've got to break out of this training funk and get back into a good routine. A nice ride today should help, and this weekend Beck and I are heading up to Ithaca NY to see her folks and the bike is coming with. There are some beautiful roads up there and a fresh ride in some new surroundings will do me some good. Also, I could take out the Lotus for a quick spin which might spark some new flames. Ahhh, the Lotus.

Anyway, here are the pics and numbers.Chad showing a little LIVESTRONG love in his pic this week.

Clint, over the thirteen hundred mile mark on his new bike.



And me, over the 500 mile mark...whoopee.

Mileage Challenge Total for June (so far)

1st Place - Chad: 342 Miles
2nd Place - Clint: 257.8 Miles
Last Place - Clay : 100.89 Miles

Wow. Honestly, I didn't know how pathetic I've been this month till I just did the math just now. Ouch, I've really been slackin...barely over 100 miles in 3 weeks is really not good. Must ride more.

Also, how weird is this, Chad's numbers, while over 300 apart are all the same digits just rearranged. He started at 2482 and is now at 2824...eerie.

Alright, gotta go ride now.

Good News, Bad News...

Good news is I now have a lot more time to train for the 100 Mile LIVESTRONG Challenge.

Bad news is I got laid off Monday so I'm now unemployed. D'oh!

I guess that makes me a full time blogger now, although this doesn't exactly pay the bills. While I've made about 10 bucks since starting this blog thanks to you who have clicked on the ads on this page, I don't see this as a viable career option. So like so many others these days, I'm off to the unemployment line, and the job hunt begins.

If anyone knows of some incredibly high paying job in CT that requires little work, is within 1.7 miles of Meriden, is a Tuesday through Thursday schedule, reports to a funny and relaxed boss, or better yet no boss, and has a huge signing bonus and guaranteed 10% raise every quarter, please let me know. I'll forward them my resume if I can squeeze it in my schedule.

I jest of course.

Sorry for no Mileage Monday update. As you now know, it was a bit of a downer day for me, plus Chad didn't get me his mileage till Tuesday, and Clint has yet to send me his. Unofficially, I'm pretty sure things stayed about the same last week, Chad first, followed by Clint and then me, but I feel like all that is about to change. Without that pesky thing of having a job, I'll be able to put down some serious rides and maybe come from behind and win the month of June. We'll see.

Mileage Monday Update

Chad's Pulling Ahead.

So May is turning out to be quite a bit different than April. I'm at about the same, if not a little ahead of the mileage mark that I set this time last month, yet instead of being in the lead, I'm wallowing in last place. So that can only mean one thing; while I've stayed about the same, Chad and Clint have come out, guns blazing in May. As a result, they are whopping my butt this month. Chad is continuing the avenging of his last place finish last month by pounding out 138 miles last week; biggest week ever in this contest I'm pretty sure. Clint continues to kill it as well, finishing last week close on Chad's heels, or wheels I guess, logging in 126 miles last week. Little old NonCyclist brings up the rear with a measly 68 miles. Ouch. Props to my brothers, but I have to kick it into high gear if I'm even going to fight for second place this month. The only positive thing I have up my sleeve is the 100 Miles of Nowhere, so at least I can plan on 100 miles to add to my total soon, although my brothers are fully aware of that, and are planning accordingly I'm sure. Here are the pictures from first to worst, wish me luck in closing the gap this week.

Chad's picture. No gestures, no magazine background, just miles and miles...

Clint's odometer showing off his hard work this week.

Me... keeping last place company.

Frost May Mileage Challenge

1st Place - Chad: 244 miles
2nd Place - Clint: 191.3 miles
3rd Place - Clay: 129 miles

Mileage Monday and more...

Lot's of News on the NonCyclist Front

First things first, I've been tight lipped about a new fundraising idea that's been in the works and I'm happy to report that it's launching today. As all of you know, I got into cycling this year in order to raise money in the fight against cancer and participate in the 100 Mile LIVESTRONG Challenge in Philly. This all came about because my brother Chad is a avid cyclist, and also an avid reader of fatcyclist.com. Elden "Fatty" Nelson is the blogger on that site and has parlayed his site's popularity and influence to help fight cancer. To fight cancer, he has come up with many creative ideas, raffles, and events, most recently his 100 miles of Nowhere event. It's a hilarious idea, but a seriously great way to raise some money. Over 400 people signed up, including myself, and with this event alone we have raised over $20,000 for the LAF!

Now, here I am, racking my brain to get more creative about my own fundraising, when my mind wandered back to a comment that had struck me when reading Fatty's blog. KitC made a comment about how she was going to print up her own bib for this most ridiculous "race" and I thought that was hysterical. But then I got to thinking; what if we had bibs made up, and for an little extra donation you would receive a professionally printed race bib, complete with logos and color numbers. Well, I floated this idea by Elden via email, and instantly he was on board. It took some doing, and some cash, but here we are, bibs printed and ready to be shipped. Fatty blogged about it today, and already, within minutes, 6 people have donated for their "Official 100 Miles of Nowhere Race Bib", brought to you by NonCyclist.com. Sweet.

To order your official bib, CLICK HERE, and make a secure online donation of $5.00.

Once you make the donation, I'll have you're address from the donation page and your bib will be put in the mail, with plenty of time to arrive on "race day", May 23rd. Thanks Elden, and all his followers for your support! Win!

P.S. KitC, email me so I can get you your bib on the house. Thanks for the inspiration!

Onto Mileage Monday...

Chad's been busting my stones to get this post up, and rightfully so. With the fundraising thing coming together and my Father-In-Law Larry in town last night for a surprise, quick dinner visit, I didn't get to make the time to post Mileage Monday. Now, for all you intuitive readers out there, you may have already guessed that Chad pulled into the lead this week, for the May Mileage Challenge, 'cause he sure wasn't bothering me to post the mileage updates last month...zing. Anyway, it's true, Chad, determined not to wait to the last minute this month, has charged ahead and Clint and I are in his rear view mirror. Well, figuratively speaking anyway, don't worry, he doesn't have on of those Velcro-to-the-handlebars-rear-view mirrors... not that there's anything wrong with 'em.

Here's the proof and the numbers.

Chad started at 1,962 miles this month, so this shows he road 106 miles so far in May, nice.

Clint's off to a better start than me as well, he got in 65.3 miles so far.

And I will update when I have my photo, but I got in a measly 61 miles so far this month. You got it, having won the whole thing last month, now I've quickly fallen to the rear this month. Don't you worry thought, a little motivation, and a week that doesn't rain everyday but one is all I need to jump back in this thing. If you're new to the blog check this post out to be brought up to speed on what we're talking about with this whole Mileage Challenge thing.

Frost May Mileage Challenge

1st Place - Chad: 106 miles

2nd Place - Clint: 65.3 miles

3rd (a.k.a last) Place - Clay:61 miles

Well, I guess I need to get out for a ride today. Oh but wait, I have a softball game today, which not only means time will be tight, but you guessed it, our softball schedule remains perfect in predicting rain. Tonight's forecast, sunny and mid 60s until about 5 o'clock when the thunderstorms with a chance of hail roll through. Great, maybe I'll get that ride in tomorrow.

Mileage Monday Gets Interesting

A note about the blog - Comment moderation was turned on for some reason, which resulted in a few of you not seeing your comments posted immediately. Sorry about that, I have switched the settings, and now you should be able to post comments without delay. Enjoy. - NC

Chad Kills it This Week

Ouch. One word pretty much sums it up. Going into this week, Chad had been bringing up the rear in a big way. He's been crazy busy at work, and he's got two young kids that are into a lot of stuff. Clint and I have been doing moderately well in taking advantage of this but apparently not well enough. Chad rocketed onto the scene by putting on 82 miles this week. Yup, you read right, 82 miles last week alone. That's twice as much as he had done in total leading up to last week.

Calculated Timing.

This is what I think happened, although I may be giving Chad more credit than I should. He has known for some time now that Clint and I were going up to ski/ride Tuckerman's Ravine last weekend. Chad, rightfully so, was a little bummed about not being able to go this year, but I think he was plotting all along to wait until this, the last weekend of the month, to pounce. He rode enough this month to stay within striking distance but not too much that it would make Clint and I worry about adding a couple miles here or there to lengthen our leads. Then, while Clint and I were enjoying the avalanches and perfect weather on Mount Washington this past weekend, Chad turned it on and is now effectively tied for the lead. Whether or not this was premeditated or not, I guess it doesn't much matter. I have to say, the mileage challenge is working for sure. There is no way that I would have gone out for a ride last night if I hadn't been thinking about the competition. The day before, we hiked for about 6 hours with untold vertical feet thrown in there. My legs were not happy with me when I tried to get off the couch, let alone trying to pedal my butt down the road. I know, I know, I should just be getting out to ride for the love of riding, and purists will scoff at this, but I'm a noncyclist remember. We all need a little push once in a while, right. Anyway, it's all about the numbers so here they are.

April Totals Thus Far

1st - Clay: 125.5 miles

2nd - Chad: 125.0 miles

3rd - Clint: 110.4 miles

And here is the photographic evidence for me and Chad, Clint seems to be resistant to getting his photo in on time, but we believe him.

Chad's mileage, finally a hand gesture that's both positive and family friendly.

Here's mine, finally over the 100 mile mark on my bike.

OK, so that was the last Mileage Monday of April but the month isn't over yet. Here is how the rest of the month is going to go down. The final mileage picture for the month must be submitted by 11:59 pm Thursday night, the last day of April. Any mileage not properly documented by then will not count. The winner of the Mileage Challenge for April will be announced on Friday and the donations made by the losers (I mean non-winners) soon after. My guess is that the boys are going to be playing it pretty close to the vest this week. I know I'm gonna be pressed to get in some riding but I'll do my best. I have to head into the city tonight, and Wed. and Thurs. Becky has some surprise B-Day plans for me. Sounds awesome, but that leaves me with only Tuesday to really do some damage. Wish me luck.

Mileage Monday

I think I'm holding my lead, but Clint is playing coy.

The long awaited update is here. I'll keep it short and sweet since you already had to put up with that video slide show today. Clint has been under radio silence since last Wednesday. He was at like 13 miles then I think, but I have no idea what else he may have gotten in since then. I'm actually up to 93 miles and here is my picture. My math wasn't wrong this morning, but my memory sure was. The 72.5 on the GT plus the 20.5 that was well documented on the Lotus brings me to the 93 mile mark for April thus far.
Chad got in a good ride this week, but you read right...singular not plural. He's a bit bummed but here's his picture. You can see his hand gesture this week is a bit of a downer, but definitely more family friendly.
He started at 1742, so he's up to 43 miles so far in the April Challenge.

Unofficial April Totals Thus Far
Pending Clint's Update

1st - Clay: 93 miles
2nd - Clint: 65 miles
3rd - Chad: 43 miles

There you have it, not really century training kinda miles, but we'll get there. 124 days until race day; it'll come quick but we'll be ready. Either that or we'll be really, really, really miserable the whole race, not to mention the weeks afterward.

Mileage Monday Update Coming Soon

Here we are, another week has gone by and another Mileage Monday is upon us. I have yet to get the report in from my brothers so the official post will be coming a little later today, but here's a little tease of the post to come.

I got in a total of 36 miles last week. I got in twenty on the Lotus and only got out for one measly little 16 mile ride on my bike. I should've gotten in some miles yesterday, but Todd twisted my arm into some golf instead, (he didn't have to twist hard, or at all really) so my total stands at 36 miles. If my math is correct, and thanks to the calculator on my computer it is, my grand total since starting this mileage counting thing is 92 miles. A mere 8 miles from the LIVESTRONG Challenge finish line, and it only took me three weeks...nice.

Mileage Monday

Non Cyclist takes the lead!

I know it's not cool to gloat, but...I'm ahead in the mileage challenge by over 30 miles! You faithful readers out there are doing the math in you're head right now, and about..............now, you're realizing that I've only ridden 32.5 miles in the last week. Yup, you got it. My bros were kind enough to park their bikes for the week and let me get a head start. Ok, Ok, they didn't really want to give me a head start, but busy lives hindered their good intentions and kept them out of the saddle this week. Bad for them, good for me. So here are the actual totals.

Chad
Starting Mileage - 1742.0 Ending Mileage - 1742.0 Total Gain - 0

Clint
Starting Mileage - 424.2 Ending Mileage - 424.2 Total Gain - 0

Clay
Starting Mileage - 0 Ending Mileage - 32.5 Total Gain - 32.5

Here is the picture of my computer, the boys haven't sent in their pictures so we're going honor system style.

So now I'm the one with the target on his back, and I'm sure these guys are going to come strong this week. We're hoping to all get a ride in together over the Easter weekend, so I gotta log some serious miles during the week if I'm going to hold on to the figurative yellow jersey. Also the pedals are going on tonight so, weather permitting, the clipless adventure begins tomorrow. Thanks to all who voted and who sent me emails about the pedal debate. While the SPD pedals won the vote by a slim margin, the Look pedals got the most enthusiastic email response, so the Looks are getting put on as soon as I post this blog. Stay tuned.