GearBuzz - The Groupon for Triathletes, Runners and Cyclists

It's about time, but it looks like we finally have a 'Groupon' all to ourselves.  GearBuzz, brought to you by Competitor Group- the same folks of Rock N' Roll Marathon Series, Triathlete Magazine and Muddy Buddy fame- will offer deals on products and services for the endurance community starting November 21.

I'm excited about it.  I've always been a fan of Bonktown.com, but adding the groupon mentality to it makes it a bit more fun- and we'll probably have 24 hours or more to decide rather than Bonktown's 30 minutes.  Happy shopping!

What You Need To Get Me For My Birthday

I know how you're feeling right now.  Terrible.  You forgot to get me a present for my birthday and its killing you.  You have this urge to make up for being such an awful friend.  But how?

You have two choices of what to get me.

 Specialized S-Works Venge DA
The Tour de France bike of phenom Mark Cavendish and Team HTC-Highroad. 11r carbon frame plus Pro Tour-proven Shimano Dura-Ace components. Ultralight Roval Rapide SL 45 wheelset with carbon/alloy hybrid rims for low aerodynamic drag with the reliability of an alloy brake track, Specialized S-Works FACT carbon crankset with OSBB, removable carbon spider, and ceramic bearings, plus legendary Shimano Dura-Ace 10-speed shifters ultralight, smooth performance.

Just $9,200 (plus tax, but who's counting?)

OR

Donate $10* to help me BRING BACK THE CHICKEN

My good friend Rob co-founded this awesome non-profit in Santiago, Dominican Republic. In a nutshell, this past year, Servants Heart Ministry's donations were down, so they had a tough decision- do they A) still serve chicken, rice, and beans for their meals, but stop feeding as many kids or B) feed as many kids, but cut out the chicken. Rob told me the story of the time he had to be the person at the end of the food line, and had the difficult job of telling a grandmother that they didn't have enough food for her grandchild- basically, that they had to turn her away and the child would have to go hungry.  So the decision was made- the kids would lose the chicken, but at least the same number of kids would have something until donations came back up.

So, I've set a goal of raising $2,675 (the cost of chicken for one month for the kids in the program), so all the kids can have chicken (and the much needed protein it provides) for December- sort of a Christmas present.  So, you get this for me as a birthday present, and it doubles as a Christmas present for the kids.  How awesome is that?!?!

*You can also donate either A) how old you think I look, or B) how old you think I act.
http://www.firstgiving.com/brianlord

What A View!

Photo: Daniel C. White

What a great picture by Daniel White!  Yes, this is a real picture, taken by Daniel while our group stopped for a break on top of a massive hill/small mountain at 6:30AM on a ride through the Tennessee countryside.  Gotta love being a cyclist sometimes!

Riding With Lance Armstrong Tomorrow

Non-Tour de France winner on left

OK, OK, so I'm not going out on a one on one bike ride with Lance tomorrow, stopping off at Sonic for a sweet tea mid-ride, chatting about our various athletic exploits.  But, sort of last minute, I am taking off with 1,499 other cyclists, led out by Lance Armstrong and some of his fellow Team Radio Shack riders, out on a 100 kilometer (62 mile) ride through the Tennessee countryside in the Harpeth River Ride.  I'll even be tweeting about it during ride breaks @premierebrian.

How did this come about?  Late one night last week, Krista saw on twitter that it had been announced that Lance Armstrong, who shares a Harpeth River Ride sponsor in Nissan, had committed to leading out the ride.  I'd done the shortened version of the HRR last year, but hadn't planned on doing it this year.  But suddenly, Krista was not only informing me of the Ride, but trying to talk me into doing it.  What's this?  Krista trying to get me to sign up for an endurance event, even though it would mean she'd have the kids all by herself for several hours on Saturday?  What's going on here?  Then it dawned on me- her husband riding in the same event would make excellent blog fodder for her 1,000 weekly readers (and my 13-15 weekly readers :).  Apparently a good blog trumps daddy-daughter time on Saturday mornings.  Before I knew it, she'd signed me up for a 62 mile bike tour, which is more than double the longest distance I've ridden this year (25 miles).

Speaking of Lance Armstrong, this actually won't be my first encounter.  I've booked him to speak before, and even went to one of the events (hence the picture above).  Very nice guy in person.  In the lobby, I'd said hello to his manager, who'd I talked to a few times.  Then up walked the Tour de France champ and said, "Hi, I'm Lance."  He did a great job with the presentation, inspired the audience, and got a surprise (even to the event staff) donation of a generous amount, from the rather unpredictable CEO, to the LiveStrong Foundation. Lance said, "I know you might not think this, but if you run a non-profit, and you get a surprise donation of $XXX,XXX to fight cancer, its a really good day." Great event.

Back to the Harpeth River Ride- I'm a combination of excited and nervous- especially about one thing.  I've never done a metric century before (a 'century ride' is the term for a 100-mile ride.  a 'metric century' ride is 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, for pansies like me who don't have the courage to sign up for the true 'century' ride.), but I think I can handle the distance, especially if I'm able to draft off other riders. You get rest stops in there, where they've got drinks, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a variety of goodies. The temperature won't be too bad. It'll be 71 degrees at the 7AM start, and then 'only' up to 89 by noon, when I hope to finish.

What scares me a little happens on mile 33, the dreaded/famed Pulltight Hill.  Its one of the highest places in Middle Tennessee, a hill that basically goes 400 feet up in a very short amount of time, the hill that I've heard other cyclists talk about with fear and respect for the 2 years I've been into cycling.  I'll have to tackle this big hill for the first time after riding farther than I've ridden all year, and then ride 29 miles back.

There are 2 or 3 rest stops, and I'll make sure to twitter (reception allowing) from each one with an update.

Nervously awaiting my own (time) trials

Following the guidelines of 'Racing Weight', I have my first time trials today and tomorrow.  The goal of the book isn't so much to lose weight, it is to lose weight to affect performance.  When you start, you take down your body fat and weight, and do a specific distance in your particular area of racing (i.e. a time trial).  A month later, you take the same measurements, and complete the same time trials to see if being at a lower weight and body fat is positively affecting your performance.  I've weighed in this morning, and will be doing my 400 meter swim time trial at lunch today, and my 10 mike bike time trial tomorrow morning.

Week of April 26: Weight: 194.6. Body fat: 20.4%.
Swim time trial: 400 meters- 10:09
Bike time trial: 10 miles- 33:57

Week of May 24: Weight: 186.8. Body fat: 19.4%
Swim time trial: (today at lunch)- ???
Bike time trial: (tomorrow AM)- ???
----------------
5/25- My swim time trial result: 9:52, an improvement of 17 seconds, or 2.87%.  The bike time trial result: 32:57, an improvement of 60 seconds, or 3.03%.  It looks like in my case, dropping 1% body fat made me about 3% faster.  If I can lose my goal of 5% body fat, will that make me 15% faster?  Time will tell.

A Babe on a Bike

Babe Ruth - 1930 - Sports Figures On Bicycles - Photos - SI.com

In honor of National Bike To Work Week, here is a slide show of athletes on bikes. If the weather is good, I plan to bike to work on Friday.

2 Wheeled Bike Quiz

In honor of National Bike Month, Mental Floss has a fun bike quiz.

A Two-Wheeled Quiz Score: 100% (11 out of 11)