Juli had knee replacement surgery a few days after coming home from our trip to Iowa and is now recovering at home. The weeks since the operation have been spent in therapy and on a torcher chamber device that constantly flexes and straightens the knee keeping the range of motion in the joint. This sounds like real fun. This goes on even when trying to sleep.

Here she is working out on a stationary bicycle. Juli, be well and recover as quickly as your body allows and we will see you on the bike trail.

Its only 4 weeks until the planes leave for Iowa or rather Omaha Nebraska where we fly in. Omaha is the staging area for another great Ride Across Iowa. This year as we did last, we will be hosted by the Pork Belly Venture group. This is a large sag wagon support group that includes tents and fun stuff for the entire week. Real fun stuff like the Shower Thingy. Check it out.

As many of you know the recent rains have flooded out central sections of Iowa and part of the intended ride route. I do not think that any of these terrible floods will effect the ride even though it has effected thousands of residents of Iowa. The damaged homes will not have had time to receive full repair when the ride begins and many Iowans will be still struggling with the aftermath of the heavy rains and flooding that these 500 years water levels have brought. We will spend a much money as we can when going through these areas so maybe that could help cheer up some spirits. We are looking into some possible donation sites right now so that more help could be channeled into the right direction.

This year the Cycling Pigs group has grown. Last year there were four, this year we total eight. The Cycling Pigs has doubled in one year. Thats a pretty good average. So we will see how things go. More to follow soon.

Did you check out the Shower Thingy?

Oh for the good old days when men were men and women were just women and not the CEO’s climbing the cooperate ladder. Of course I jest. Today is a different day.

On a more personal note.  Today was the fourth day in a row that I was able to go out in the sun and ride my bicycle.  In the past four days I have put in about 150 miles or so and started work on a nice summer tan.  The weather here in Arcadia and the San Gabriel Valley has been gorgeous this past week with Spring galloping in bringing sunny days and really warm weather.  Gone are the days of wearing arm warmers and leggings.  This morning I rode out the drive way with a sleeveless jersey and no undergarments.  By the time we got back to Monrovia after our tour down through the Rose Bowl the temps were 77 degrees (25 degree Centigrade) and sunny.  These past few days have been really gorgeous out after our relatively wet and cool winter season.

The new bike coming from Dean Cycles should be ready this month.  I ordered the El Diente titanium frame about five months ago.  This custom frame has the S&S couplers and will break down to fit into a suit case.  This will be the bike that I take with me to the Iowa RAGBRAI ride across Iowa and again in the fall when we travel to China.  That will be another story.

Today we took off from Stan’s Monrovia Bike shop for the usual ride down to South Pasadena and the Heirloom Bakery shop. Yummmmy those Heirloom cakes are really something special. We had to ride extra just to work off the calories from the cakes we ate this morning but that is our usual routine anyway.

I picked up the Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra last year when the frame came out as a reissue of the team frame. In the bottom of the cellar at the Eddy Merckx shop in Brussels there were a few stacks of old tubes left from the days of the Corsa Extra. These frames were origanalluy made from Columbus Tubing and this tube set is no longer being manufactured by Columbus. Some one had the great idea of using up the remained of the tube sets and to put out a limited edition of the Team Frame that sported this tube set – Team 7-11. There were only one hundred of these frames made last year and I picked one up as soon as they became available. The only difference between the reissued frame sets and the ones made in the 80′s is the threadless folk. The reissue still sports the all steel fork but mine is a threadless variety that was not thought of in the mid 1980′s.

Andy will be one of the riders in this years annual Cycling Pigs great Iowa adventure at RAGBRAI. I am looking forward to this ride in July very much. I don’t think Andy will be taking his Corsa Extra to Iowa but its an idea anyway. I will be getting a new travel bike to take made by Dean Cycles in Boulder Colorado. I just talked to John there at the shop and he told me the frame is brazed up and is just going through quality assurance now. Maybe in a couple of weeks I will put up some pictures of the new titanium travel bike with S&S couplers. More on this later for sure but for now it back into the woodwork. This March starts a training cycle that will take me through the summer. My plans for Iowa is to kick some major butt!

His last day here was spent riding along the Rio Hondo bicycle trail to the constant crooning from Stan, “I Love Riding My Bike” to the tune ‘Oh Give Me A Home……Buffalo’s Roam’ or something like that. The weather was fabulous starting out a little cool and ending up in the mid 70′s. You can still see the snow on the San Gabriel Mountains and the run-off from the hills is still brisk. The water ways are full giving the water foul plenty of room to play among the reeds.

I used this as a little warm up ride after a hard Sunday jaunt to South Pasadena and back through Sierra Madre. I did check out the Chantry Flats road and its open now all the way to the top. Cool, that means I can beat myself up on this hill any time I want.

The Dean custom El Diente titanium frame I ordered a couple of months ago with S&S couplers should be done by the end of the month. This will be my travel bike which I will take to RAGBRAI this year. The cool thing about the travel bike is that it fits into checkable luggage. No added expenses for shipping the bike. How SWEET is that. The cost of the frame will be covered after several trips just in the recovery of shipping costs. Well maybe more than a couple trips but thats OK. Its the prinicple of the thing. Last year I spent almost $300 dollars in shipping costs for bikes traveling around. Now I will have a bike to take to China the next time we go. Now that is something I am really looking forward to.

BTW, I have a new camera. Maybe this is the inspiration to get me to start posting more often. Its the Nikon CoolPiX P5100, a 12 mega pixel wonder. All of the new photos from this little baby can be seen at flickr.

This year we may have eight. Exactly double the number of riders that went last year. Will Eight be enough? We will see in Michael comes on board for the ride of the summer. Now we have other worries like who is going into what tent! If this is all that we have to worry about then we are Golden! So follow along with us and check out last years pictures. I will try to get Russ’s photo collection up to flickr soon so there will be more to drool over.

The last few days have really been warm and the riding great. Juli and Michael did the Palm Springs Century and had a blast while I was tied up with home chores. I did get out for a great ride Sunday and today rode with Stan around the Santa Fe Dam so the training has started! Stay tuned.

This year the Cycling Pigs are at it again. So far there are seven riders who will be enjoying themselves for the week long ride across Iowa. The route is out and from what I hear will be a little hillier than last year with a total of 22.,000 plus feet of climbing over the seven day period. Again, the total millage will be just under 500 miles which will make for very pleasant days on the road.

Yesturday I finally uploaded the pictures from last years RAGBRAI adventure to flickr. You can see all of the pictures here.

This year I promise to keep a regular log going over the week and post pictures as they happen. I have bee taking a break as you can see from all of the blogging but will never the less keep up with this event.

For a full report on all that is related to the Cycling Pigs, check out their website from the link above or just do a Google search.  Ciao!

My new waiver in posted in the mail this morning so the transfer of my new shinny wrist band should be official next week some time. Now off for more training!

I just received this update from the great people at Pork Belly Ventures. These are the people that we are traveling with for our ride through Iowa latter this summer . For very resonable rates they are picking us up from Omaha and setting up our camp spot each night of our RAGBRAI ride. All of the group from Cycling Pigs that is going this year is encouraged to call Pete immediately for a spot with their tour if they have not done so already. The Cycling Pigs will be traveling with these folks so if you plan on coming with us it is not enough just to register for the RAGBRAI ride. Please call me directly if there is any question about this. From what I understand the Pork Belly Venture tour will be full by the end of March so rushing to call them would not be too fast if you want a spot in our camp. Otherwise you are on your own folks. Whatever happens it will be fun so stress out not so we can relax later is what my Papy always used to say.

March 4, 2007
Greetings, Porkers!

Yesterday, there was a big parade in San Francisco celebrating the Year of the Pig. In fact, there is speculation on whether this is an ordinary Year of the Pig or an extraordinary “Golden Year of the Pig.” Given today’s news about the RAGBRAI route, we vote “golden.”

The Route Detail:
Richard Doak and Brian Duffy, Des Moines Register Staff Writers, say that no stretches of gravel are planned this year (good news for skinny-tire folks) and the steepest climb you’ll encounter on Day 3 is the approach to a bridge over I-35. Despite other factors which will almost certainly have a bearing–wind, precipitation, and temperature–it looks pretty wonderful. Daily mileage, shorter as the week goes on, is as follows:

Sunday, 75.7 miles 5 pass-through towns
Monday, 77.4 miles 9 pass-through towns and the Karras Loop
Tuesday, 71.1 6 pass-through towns
Wednesday, 68.2 5 pass-through towns
Thursday, 62.9 4 pass-through towns
Friday, 64.7 5 pass-through towns
Saturday, 56.6 5 pass-through towns

That last day includes some climbing (about 3200 ft.) but according to that fellow who keeps track of the feet-of-climb for every RAGBRAI day in recorded history (now he’s an enthusiast!), this will be the third easiest and the third flattest RAGBRAI in the ride’s 35 years. The little ‘tweener towns are what makes this ride so special: “Some of the flavor of this year’s towns are offered by their slogans: Laurens, ‘the busiest little town in Iowa’; Denver, ‘the cleanest little town in Iowa’; Aplington, ‘northeast Iowa’s best-kept secret’; and Bradgate, ‘the town that wouldn’t die’ after a 2005 tornado.” To read this article for yourself and check out the clickable map.

Pork Classifieds:
Hey, it’s earlier than usual, but we already have a Pork Classified Ad for you. Sending out Pork Classified Ads has become a way for our members to get in touch before the ride. We’ve had people use these ads for arranging ride-shares to and from Iowa, buying and selling gear and garments, finding Porkers in their towns or cities for training rides, splitting hotel costs near the end-town, and so on. This one is from Dave:

“I need to leave the ride early so I’m looking for a ride/share a ride from Independence to Quad Cities Airport area on Thursday evening (7/26). Contact Dave at parend@gmail.com.”

If you have a Pork Classified Ad, send it to tammypav@aol.com . We’ll collect them and send a batch out every so often.

Pork Limits:
And finally, we’re fuller and fuller. If things keep going at the present rate, we might top off on our weeklong support within two or three weeks. Those of you who are coordinating groups have been in touch, and your friends are in our count. But please know that this year’s response is unprecedented, and we will definitely have to turn people away this year.

In some parts of the world, parents actually arrange, uh, conception so that their children will be born during the year of the pig. (Chinese officials are worried that medical facilities won’t be able to handle the number of children born this year.) Pigs, you see, are fat, happy, and prosperous. They love to relax, but can rise to a challenge. A pig won’t let you down. Would that everyone were born under this lucky sign, but we are fortunate that we can at least LIVE like pigs for one golden week of the year. And until then, we remain,

Your friends,
Tammy and Pete

p.s. Tent renters, we’re closing in on our tent choice, and thanks for your patience. We’ll get back to you soon.

Personal Preparation Tips from RAGBRAI Host Brian Duffy

Personal Preparation Tips from Register Host Brian Duffy
For those of you who have not heard, RAGBRAI Co-founder John Karras penned his last postcard from the ride in 2000 and retired as a co-host. John assures us that he will still be riding RAGBRAI but he has joined the ranks of cyclo-tourist whose only worry will be what type of pie to have. I am the front-page cartoonist for The Des Moines Register, and was named as a co-host of RAGBRAI in 2000. I have ridden and drawn cartoons on the ride since 1988, so I am not brand new to RAGBRAI.

I have dabbled in every type of cycling from criterium racing to a few ultra-marathon events. It was through the ultra-marathon experience that I discovered riding 400 kilometers in a day can make the hands go numb and that is not a good thing for someone in my business.

In addition to the host gig, I have inherited Karras’ traditional training tips column. For those of you who live in Iowa or other northern climes, our winters are not conducive to outdoor riding. Many of you are forced to sit on a trainer, rollers or take spinning classes to get your cycling fix. I’m sure one thing that you have found is how exceedingly difficult it is to force yourself to sit on a trainer for an hour, even with a whole library of old Tour de France tapes to keep you pedaling. The key to indoor cycling workouts is to vary the types and intensity. One day a week, work on hill climbs doing a group of steady efforts lasting five to seven minutes a piece. Another day, work in an easy gear and concentrate on your pedal stroke. Another day, practice short hard intervals that get you close to your maximum heart rate. If you feel nauseous or light-headed while doing a workout, stop immediately.

Many health clubs offer spinning classes that incorporate many of the techniques already mentioned. Don’t forget that cycling uses other parts of your body, not just your legs, heart and lungs. Do crunches for the abdominal muscles because strong abs help decrease the chance of back problems. Push ups and bicep curls with weights are great exercises for your arms. If you find you are experiencing shoulder or neck pain when riding, try this exercise. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms relaxed at your sides. Shrug your shoulders for three sets of 10 reps.

Some people wait until it gets warm outside before attempting that first ride of the year. Don’t wait! If the roads are clear of snow and ice, bundle up and head out on your bike. One major mistake that many people make is to charge out on their first ride and mash big gears until their knees explode. Start out with short rides and spin, spin, spin. The French have a term for a supple, smooth pedal stroke. They call it souplesse. That’s your goal!

Slowly add miles to your rides and try to make sure you begin your ride by heading into the spring winds to push you home when you are tiring. Take advantage of the wide selection of two-day weekend rides in the late spring and early summer. These are the kinds of rides you need to get accustomed to longer rides on consecutive days. A base of at least 600 miles with a healthy dose of hills thrown in should go a long way to prepare you for the rigors of RAGBRAI.

One of the questions neophyte RAGBRAI riders invariably ask is what kind of bike to get for the ride. In years past, a majority of bikes on the ride were the typical drop-handled road variety. Over the last few years, tandems, hybrids, mountain bikes, and recumbents have been showing up in increasing numbers. It really depends on what type of bike you are comfortable riding. People with shoulder and back problems might ride a mountain or hybrid bike because it allows them to sit in a more upright position.

Gearing is another area where personal preference comes into play. Many RAGBRAI riders like a third chain ring known as a “granny gear.” This small chain ring allows a rider to spin comfortably up even the biggest hill. One of the greatest cycling inventions in my opinion has been the clipless pedal. The system incorporates technology first used on ski bindings. A cleat attached to the sole of a cycling shoe clicks into the pedal. The pedal can be adjusted for lateral movement which eliminates a lot of knee problems associated with the older toe clip system that locked your shoe into one position.

What to wear on RAGBRAI? You see everything from jeans to bikinis. I personally wouldn’t recommend either. A helmet is a number one necessity. Bike shorts are advisable. And don’t be embarrassed about wearing those lycra numbers. Everybody else is wearing them too. If you really don’t want to wear something that looks like it was painted on you, many bike shops have alternative shorts that have a padded seat. Cycling gloves are another must. Many of the gloves have gel padding which helps reduce road vibration.

To steal a phrase from an old TV show, “Let’s be careful out there.” RAGBRAI has close to 10,000 riders of all different levels of experience on the road at one time. Accidents are bound to happen, but RIDING RIGHT can reduce many of them. Essentially practice the same common sense that you use every day in the car. Don’t turn right from the left lane in your car and don’t do it on a bike. Signal when merging with traffic in a car, and signal when merging on your bike. Ride your bike like you would drive your car.

Practice road etiquette. Slower riders generally stay over to the right, sometimes, especially on hills and at corners, they move further to the left. If you are smoking up from behind, be patient, slow down and don’t scream at them, “ON YOUR LEFT!” Announce signals in a calm and clear manner. We don’t allow road rage on RAGBRAI.

You have already read it several times, but it bears repeating that this is not a race. This is a discovery tour of Iowa. Scenery and communities along the way are meant to be savored. I can tell you that every community along the route is excited to have you visit them. They have spent thousands of dollars and untold volunteer hours just to welcome you to their little piece of the world. So when you come to RAGBRAI, leave your cell phones, palm pilots and all other tools of the ever-quickening world at home…slow down and enjoy!