Today was the first day I went cycling with my Dad. For those that don’t know him, he’s a veteran of over 15 MS150 bike rides with the most recent one being just a couple of weeks ago. He started cycling well into his 40′s and hasn’t stopped since. He is an excellent example of what dedication and perseverance can help accomplish.  He may do the triathlon with me as well.

The problem with today’s ride was that once again I didn’t have my GPS working. No worries. I had a pace car today! I’ve come to find out that equipment does make a bit of a difference. In the same gears and with the same cycling cadence, my dad was making much better time than I was. Luckily, I got my sister-in-law’s nice Fuji road bike that she hadn’t used in years and took it to the bike shop to get tuned up. I should be getting the bike back by the end of the week, so hopefully there will be a jump in improvement of my time. I’ll have to get used to the clips on the bike though and get some cycling shoes.

The weather was good today except for the usual wind in front of the Barker Reservoir dam and a fun run in the park causing some traffic. I also had some equipment issues with my water pak coming undone off of one shoulder. The top strap started riding up into my neck but I didn’t want to stop because I had good cadence going. We took a short break at the end of the reservoir to fix equipment and headed back.

Our time was not very good with all the issues, but we did the 14.5 miles in about 70 minutes. The Kangen Water has been good. It’s highly absorbable and has an alkaline pH, which is great for during exercise to replenish fluids.

Please consider sponsoring my first triathlon.  I’m about $500 away from my goal, and sponsorship gets you recognition on my website, my clinic’s Facebook page, and my weekly newsletter.  All additional proceeds will go to the American Diabetes Association, the triathlon’s official charity.