458 in 3: The First Adventure for a Prostate Cancer Cure - July 01,02,03, 2009

Final thoughts....

2009-07-21T23:57:00.004-06:00

Hey!

Alright, it's been over 2 weeks since this crazy idea ended. This will probably be the last post here, unless there are some more last floater donations finding my way into my hands!

Well, what can I say. It's been an experience of a lifetime. I don't think I have ever sensed Grandma Geiger so happy and full of excitement. She is not a very extroverted person, but I could sure tell she had a lot of excitement built up in her. It felt good. It made the whole trip worthwhile getting to hug her at the end. I still can't believe she slept in until 10am on Saturday morning! I am so glad I chose to do this trip on my own and not with a big group or in an event like the Ride to Conquer Cancer. It made this journey so much more personal for me and my family, and I had more than enough time to think about Grandpa and the cause during the ride.

The support from everyone, family, friends, and random people around the gym or ones I don't even know, was absolutely amazing. It's fantastic to see that doing something as elementary as riding a bicycle can pull people this close together. I'm not even talking about the monetary donations but the energy and questions that have been surrounding me and this for the last few months is outstanding.

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to EVERYONE for everything. There are WAY too many people to list so this will have to do. I could never have done this without everything you guys helped me out with. Special thanks to Leslie for driving so slow behind me and taking holiday time to do this with me (even though I told you not too!), Greg for all the advice and prep work, Auntie Bernie in Prelate for taking care of everything on that end, my cousin Becky and her husband Dave and the kids Nolan and Logan for everything they did in Medicine Hat, Aaron for the wonderful room in Brooks, Pam and Laura who took care of the newspaper ends,and to the few of you that donated HUGE to help me, Leslie and Rexy out with food and gas! Unbelievable!

So the final thoughts.... what a trip. I hope that even though this may be small step in the process to building a healthier and happier quality of life for people living or going to be living with prostate cancer, it will lead to bigger and better things. My dad was telling me that Safeway just donated $1.2 to the prostate cancer cause (makes my $3,800 seem kind of insignificant, huh?)! Even though the money was raised, I hope that this ride INSPIRES people to take a proactive approach to testing and early detection of prostate cancer. More importantly, I hope this INSPIRES people to make smarter and healthier decisions within their own life. You don't have to ride a bike for 3 days to get healthier, but start making smarter choices and choosing an active lifestyle. Bike, run, swim, canoe, rock climb, hike, walk, play Frisbee, and so much more. That is how this starts. That's how I started, that's how you can start!

So, how about next year? I have had a lot of interest about planning another ride. No Grandma, not to Prelate! I was thinking somewhere with a reward for everyone at the end .... maybe Radium Hot Springs! Nothing is even close to for sure yet, even the cause, but more than a few people have expressed interest in joining me on such a mission! Fantastic!

I hope you all have enjoyed the updates and the adventure, and I look forward to your support and encouragement (even your participation!), if something like this gets planned again! Thank you again!

Thank you Grandpa Geiger, I miss you, I know you would be proud.

Chad

The Numbers...

2009-07-14T02:18:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone,

Here are some final numbers from the trip. Though everyone might be interested!

Distance day 1: 184 km
Distance day 2: 117 km
Distance day 3: 179 km

Total Distance: 480 km
Average Distance per day: 160 km

Time day 1: 6h 23m 53s
Time day 2: 4h 41m 35s
Time day 3: 7h 12m 37 s

Total Time: 18h 18m 5s
Average Time per day: 6h 6m 2s

Average Speed Day 1: 28.6 km/h
Average Speed Day 2: 24.9 km/h
Average Speed Day 3: 24.8 km/h

Average Speed: 26.1 km/h

Total Donations Raised (to date): $3,816.97
Total Expenses: $379.70
Total Amount Donated to Prostate Cancer Institue: $3,437.27

Number of blown tires: 0
Number of broken water bottle cages: 2
Number of 500ml water bottles drank: 60 (30 L)
Number of times I thought 'Am I crazy???' : about 50
Number of times I thought 'Am I there yet???' : about 100
Number of near death experiences: 1 (in Medicine Hat), it was only a 'kind of near death'
Number of times I have rode since finishing: 0
Number of times I would do this again: Ask me in another month!

Pictures!

2009-07-07T22:29:00.005-06:00

Wednesday July 1, 9:38 am - Time to go!

First stop, Strathmore

In between Bassano and Brooks, somewhere???

My sidekicks!

Day 2, Suffield, 40 km outside Medicine Hat

Suffield again.

These are all day three, about 130 km into the ride, just after turning east into Saskatchewan, 10 km past Burstall

The entrance to the cemetary in Prelate, Saskatchewan. Done.

These are of the our adventure to the Great Sandhills on Saturday after we got to Prelate. Leslie's first trip to the hills. Rexy's first trip too, I guess.

Finished!

2009-07-05T13:46:00.002-06:00

I know it took a while to get the update online, but there is virtually no Internet in Prelate and Leslie's phone died with the charger at home.

After a great sleep through a thunderstorm on Thursday in Medicine Hat, we weren't in much of a mood to get out of bed. I slept through three alarms, my cousin Becky woke up and fell back asleep and Leslie was like a log all night. Needless to say there wasn't much movement until mid morning, a good hour late.

The ride started with a little jog through the Hat until we got back onto the highway. Leslie headed over to Safeway to get a few things as I started the day with a trip to Dunmore and the last leg of the journey on the Trans Canada Highway.

Uneventful is pretty much the way to explain the 100km trip North to the Burstall turn off on Highway 41. The Shuler Hills were a welcomed change from the flat between Calgary and Medicine Hat and were actually not too bad at all. Thank you Greg for telling me to at least be up to 6 minute hills on the trainer! After Shuler (about 45km from Medicine Hat) the highway flattened out a little bit and that is where the North wind of Hilda got me. I travelled slowly into the wind for another 50 km until I got the right turn heading west with a tailwind into the town of Burstall and the Saskatchewan sign.

From Burstall to Lebintal it was a quick rolley 25 km that went pretty quickly especially since Leslie was following me because there was no shoulder. From Lebintal to Leader was another 25 km into the wind but when I got there I was sooooooo close to being done. Only 11 km left in this whole trip, with a tailwind!

I downed a Red Bull and an Eatmore bar, and started. I seemed to have found this new energy as I could see the village of Prelate and eventually the cemetery with all the cars waiting for me. I actually kind of got nervous because Leslie hadn't caught up to me by the 8th km and I thought I was going to beat her there!

When I got there, all the Sisters from the Convent were there to greet me along with Grandma Geiger who got the biggest, sweatiest, smelliest hug she had ever had! We left some flowers on Grandpa's gravestone, said a short prayer, then Grandma did something I didn't even suspect!

I told my Grandma that for supper when I got there I wanted to have Leader sausage, couga (sp?), and toast with peanut butter and chokecherry jam. Well, guess what Grandma did? Out of her pocket, in the middle of the cemetery, she pulled out a piece of homemade sausage and some couga all wrapped up in saran wrap. She told me it was just enough to get me the last 0.5 mile to the house for more! How awesome is she!

After meeting everyone (including my Dad's grade 3 teacher!), my cousin Tommy and I biked into my town and my Grandma's house. I stepped off the bike, laied it against her fence, gave Grandma another giant hug, and I was DONE! Finally! I was exhausted. Day 3's ride was a total of 178.57 km in a time of 7 hours 12 minutes and 37 seconds.

The rest of the night was pretty quiet. Everyone seemed to be exhausted from the whole day and the excitement. Man did I sleep good. What a great feeling knowing that I didn't have to wake up and ride again the next day!

The morning came quick. I was tired, but more than that, STARVING. Even today, 2 days later, I'm still starving! I'm pretty dehydrated too still. My legs aren't too bad. Quads are sore when I walk, glutes and hamstrings are sore while I sit. My traps, pecs, lats, and abs are all sore as well, but not bad enough to complain about it.

Yesterday at Grandmas, it was right to work. We cut and pruned trees all morning, then in the afternoon headed out to the Great Sand Hills and did some Krazy Karpeting down the dunes. We built jumps and dips and had fun for about 2 hours out there. We had homemade Chicken Noodle Soup for supper (my choice, it's my favorite!) then we packed up and headed out to Medicine Hat again in the evening to spend some more time with my cousins. That brings me to now. I am putting off getting into the shower and we are relaxing, enjoying the hot humid sunshine and not thinking about exercise or prostate cancer at all!

I will update again soon with some pictures and some final numbers and thoughts, but until then, I'm going to go and get some more rest in!

Thank you to everyone, who has supported, helped, or encouraged me along the way! You are all awesome! I won't lie though, I'm glad it's over!

Chad

The gas city and safe (and sore!)

2009-07-02T22:53:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone,

So it's the end of day 2. 117km in 4 hours and 4??? minutes I think.

The morning started off pretty well. Breakfast at Timmy Ho's, truck loaded and a cool overcast sky. The well morning didn't keep going great after that though. Not even out of Brooks it started to rain. I called Leslie for my rain jacket that was in the truck but she didn't answer as I waited under the overpass. Oh well, keep going right.

The day was scheduled as a 100km easier recovery ride, but it turned out anything but that. I battled a headwind AGAIN the entire day. 4 hours of wind. Usually in a ride you get to turn around at some point and you get a tailwind but not me. Seriously though, how can I have a east wind two days in a row, driving away from the mountains?????

Anyway, at about 65km I started to die, still feeling the effects from yesterdays little 90km time trial thing. Yes Greg, your right, it was still a bad idea. The rest of the day kind just dragged on, and on and on. By the time I got to Medicine Hat averaging about 24 km/hour, I was wiped. An easy ride to cool down to my cousin Becky's house and that was that. Aaaahhhhhhhh.

Grandma was here when I got her, but for some reason she didn't seem to happy for a big sweaty hug????? I think I heard her hold her breath as she did it to. Not long after the ENTIRE family was here having a great dinner together! It was awesome! Couldn't have been better!

Tomorrow is the tough day. About 175km but lots of hills. I'm actually kind of excited for some climbing. I was in the saddle all day, sitting down. I couldn't do much in aero because of saddle sores, so the whole ride was pretty much sitting up since there were zero hills. Also didn't really help the bike time for today.

I am not actually too sore right now either. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel good, but not terrible. My hamstrings are tight at the insertions again and I'm pretty tired but ready to get it done tomorrow.

Apparently Grandma is the most popular person in Prelate right now too. The excitement I hear from her and Auntie Bernie, gives me the motivation to get this thing done tomorrow! The reporter from the Leader Weekly will be there too to get some pictures and have a little chat after too!

Thank you all so much again for your support, and I should be finished soon!

Oh yeah, and Grandma doesn't have a computer or any Internet connections, so don't be surprised if I don't get a chance to update before Saturday evening or Sunday! For updates, call Leslie!

Chad

End of Day 1

2009-07-01T19:29:00.002-06:00

Alright, I'm back, and full I might add.

We made it to the gym for 9am this morning. My fantastic clients and friends, Peter, Luanne and Brian were there to see me off. I got changed, unloaded the bike, said bye and we were gone.

Getting out of the city was actually easier than I though it would be. There wasn't too much traffic at all on 16th ave since it was early on a holiday. We did manage to hold up traffic as we went through the last little bit of construction before the city limits.

Right after the city limits, not even 2 minutes after Leslie pulled ahead, the first interesting thing happened. All of a sudden I heard 'thud, thud, thud' and looked back and my water bottle was rolling away behind me. Weird, my bottles never fall out, even when I go over bumps. When I got back to pick it up, it turns out that the whole cage ripped clean right off with it. The screws were still attached to my bike, but the cage wasn't. I threw the bottle in my jersey, the cage in my handlebars and I was off again.

The first place I met Leslie was at the Esso in Strathmore. 45km I believe. Oh, Greg, if your reading, I did the first 40 km in 1 hour 15 minutes comfortably. I had a quick chat with Leslie then left. She headed to Walmart to get me a new water bottle cage. We met up again at the Petro Canada just east of Glechien, then the Esso outside of Bassano.

I really had a good pace going for the first 90 km. I wanted to see how I would ride it since I have to do it in my tri next month. I wanted under 3 hours and got there in 2 hours 53 minutes. I was happy. As it turns out though, my legs were NOT happy for the next 90 km because of it. It's actually kind of funny because Greg sent me an email before I left and the first thing he wrote was to pace myself. Oops. The second thing was to have fun. I'll tell you what, my legs were not having too much fun after that first 90km though.

Anyway, the rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Me standing, then sitting up, then down in aero and repeat. As for the weather it was pretty ideal for a day like this. I think the temperature hovered around 23 and there was only a wind later in the day, which happened to be a south east headwind too. Only I would have the luck to get a east wind riding away from Calgary, ahhhhhhhh! I don't think I burned either! Bonus!

So yeah, to finish the story, I'm tired. My hamstrings are pretty sore, but not like I remember from Penticton. All in all, day number one was good. Good weather, good numbers, good cause. Oh, and the shoulder was about the size of an entire lane all the way here, and traffic was not bad at all, except when that tractor with 16 wheels passed me carrying a whole arsenal of equipment with it. Weird.

Tomorrow I am going to leave a bit later and have an easier recovery ride. I think it is 100km (ish) to the Hat not including the navigating through the streets to get to my cousins house. We should be there by about 4 pm.

Talk to you soon!

Chad

Sunny and smelly..... Brooks!

2009-07-01T17:31:00.002-06:00

I'm here. I'm alive. 184.01 km. 6 hours 23 minutes 53 seconds. My legs hurt.

We are going to go eat, I'll post a more detailed update when we get back! Check back later!

Chad in Brooks!

Here we go.....

2009-06-30T11:09:00.003-06:00

Alright, I've decided on a time to start!

I am going to be at the gym (WOW! Workout World) at 9am tomorrow. I am going to leave WOW! at 9:30am. If you could make it there to bid me farewell, it would be fantastic, if not, send me wishes for a safe and fun journey!

Next update, in Brooks, Alberta. Sometime on Wednesday night!

Until Brooks.....

Chad

Nutrition Plan

2009-06-29T01:52:00.004-06:00

Total Donations Raised: $3,475

Total Expenses: $74.80

Hey everyone!

Now that it is getting closer and closer until the departure day, I will be updating a little bit more frequently. It's only about 55 hour until I leave! I still haven't decided exactly what time I will be leaving but I'm leaning towards about 9 or 9:30 am from the parking lot at WOW! Workout World where I work. I will post for sure when it gets a little bit closer.

So the most common thing I have heard in the last couple days is 'wow, your crazy'. I like to think so. We spent a lot of time with family this weekend and everyone seems to be as excited as I am for this thing to start. Thank you all so much, your enthusiasm inspires me. Also, the Ride to Conquer Cancer was this weekend and a friend rode in it. Hearing his stories tonight has motivated me even more to do it. I am definitely more excited than nervous to get going!

I have also been getting a lot of questions about nutrition and how I will eat when I ride, so I figured this post I'll shed a little light. The big thing I have learned from talking to coach Greg is that nutrition for an endurance event is all trial and error. I have made more than a few errors on some longer bike rides already, but during the few days in Penticton at training camp I think I figured out a plan that will works for me! Here it is.

Every hour I have split up into 20 minute intervals:

20 minute mark: 4 honey stingers (electrolyte gummies) for 64 kcals

40 minute mark: 1 serving Hammer Gel for 90 kcals

60 minute mark: 1/4 of a Cliff Bar for 63 kcals

Throughout the hour: 1/2 water bottle of HEED (High Energy Electrolyte Drink) for 75 kcals

After Ride: 2 scoops of Recoverite recovery formula

If you are adding that up, it equals 292 kcals per hour while riding, and multiplied by a 8 hour ride is equal to about 2336 kcals per day! Adding in a breakfast (bagel with peanut butter and orange juice) and supper (high carb meal with protein) is about equal to 4000 kcals in total.

Including the extras in case something happens (like my Cliff bars melt in the sunshine, which has happened), here is what I need for the trip:

10 packages of Honey Stingers

25 servings of Hammer Gel

7 Cliff Bars

1 full tub of HEED

6 scoops of Recoverite

Here is what it looks like:

Most of the planning is done. I have bought all the nutrition (except water), a new pair of cycling shorts and some clear sunglasses in case it rains. I am planning one last short hour long ride with Leslie on Monday night around the Glenmore Reservoir to loosen up and keep the blood flowing in my legs. I need to clean and lube my bike, pack, and then I'm ready to go!

Keep checking, I'll update again soon!

Chad

6 Days and $45 away!

2009-06-25T22:50:00.002-06:00

Total Donations Raised: $2,955

Hi everyone!

WOW! It's been a busy past couple of weeks! As in planning any event, things always seem to get fired up just before! This past week I have seen a tremendous amount of support from all my family, friends and even strangers! Donations in the last month have jumped to just under $3,000 making my goal very realistic! So far my expenses are at only $45, which was some nutrition for on the bike ride!

The plans for the ride are going great. It seems as though I have people taking control of all the different cities I am riding through. Aaron, my client, has taken care of my accommodation in Brooks and supper the night we are there. Becky, my cousin, has brought the family together for a barbecue celebration when I get to Medicine Hat on Friday night. Finally, my Auntie Bernie has created quite a stir in Prelate with news reports and overall excitement!

One of my other clients, Laura, has also put together a great article for me about the ride. We are sending it to some local newspapers and hopefully we will get to see it published, which is looking pretty good right now!

Training has been, well, consistent to say the least. We headed down to Boise, Idaho, a couple of weeks ago and I had great plans to get some serious hours in. It turned out to rain and shower pretty much the whole trip. It was cold, cloudy, and wet. Not my kind of fun. I did manage to get a couple rides in over the 7 days. One was actually a trip out the Mountain Home Air Force Base! I got a few menacing stares from the military security and didn't manage to see any planes, but a different kind of ride none the less.

I will for sure update with some details about when I leave exactly, and how you can get a hold of either me or Leslie to find out how I am doing!

Until then....

TRAIN HARD

Chad

1 Month Out!

2009-06-02T00:24:00.002-06:00

Total Donations Raised: $1,375

It's now officially one month out until I ride! I'm getting pretty excited and fit at the same time! My legs seem to be getting pretty lean and I am sporting a pretty cool helmet, watch, sock, sleeve, and short tan all at the same time! The jokers around the gym are pushing to make my odd tan lines my trademark!

Training is going really well. Over the May long weekend a group of us triathletes headed out to sunny Penticton, B.C. to get some quality training done. I used the weekend as a test for me to see how I was doing. Although I could not keep up to some of these spectacular Ironman athletes I managed to get in 15 hours and 54 minutes of biking in 3 days totalling 423 km and LOTS of hills! It was tough, so tough in fact that I ended up getting a really bad lung problem that I am still coughing up now, 3 weeks later!

The good news is that I am feeling a lot better. I have been back on the bike, slowly bringing my weekly average up again. We are headed to Boise, Idaho for a triathlon next week and I am going to take my bike and hopefully get some longer rides done in the morning or evening in beautiful Yellowstone National Park and southern Idaho! It should be fun!

Donations are still slowly funneling in. I am starting to collect and put a little heat on those people who said they would donate but haven't yet. I still hope to reach $3,000 but I will still need a few more big donations to get there!

I want to send a special thank you out to Gerry, who has provided me with spare tubes and CO2 cartridges for the ride, knocking one more expense off the list. I am still working on a hotel in Brooks and am glad and excited to be staying at my cousin Becky's house in Medicine Hat on night number two! I think she is planning a BBQ with the family for me when I get there!

Thank you everyone who has supported me, and thank you to all you that will!

The ride is near!

Chad

An Unloading Week

2009-05-07T00:10:00.002-06:00

Total Donations Raised: $1,155

It's time for my first real easy week. I have been cranking up the volume of training over the past couple of weeks, starting to not just work on frequency of riding but also the time I spend riding too. This week however, I am taking it down a notch to prepare for the Splash, Pedal, and Gasp Triathlon in Lethbridge. I hope to get in close to 3 hours this week.

Next week we head out to Penticton for the Legend Coaching triathlon training camp. Coach Greg is bringing about 20 athletes out to get some serious riding done mostly. I will definitely get some big volume over those 4 days which will really benefit me on the saddle for long rides. It should be tough, but fun!

As you noticed, sponsorship for the ride this week has taken a big jump! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far, I'm almost half way to my goal of $3,000 with just under 2 months to go until I leave!

Training is great, donations are going amazing, and the weather seems to be finally helping out a bit too!

Until next week...

Chad

New Wheels... kind of.

2009-04-27T01:36:00.004-06:00

Total Donations Raised... $170

Hi followers,

I just wanted to let everyone know how things are going.

The plans for the ride in July are coming along quickly. I have started to sort out some of the details; hotels, nutrition, and what gear I will need to bring. Donations are slowly start to come in but I am still a long way away from reaching my $3,000 goal. I need your help!

As you will notice on the side bar of the blog, I have started to add some corporate sponsors with links to their websites for you. Please check them out. Legend Coaching by Iron Greg is going to help me with all of my nutritional and training programs for the trip. Vitafit Online Supplements is my official supplement provider, thanks for all so far Mike! Scary Larry and everyone at Top Gun Coatings have powder coated my bike for me and personalized it for the ride, which looks AWESOME! Tuscan Stucco has committed to a large donation to help fund the trip! If you would like your company logo along side these please get a hold of me!

I have also added a weekly biking log on the side as well. I thought it would be a good idea to track how much riding I am doing to build up for the ride. Depending on race weeks or not, my goal right now is just to get as much time on the saddle as possible. It doesn't have to be long rides, but just high frequency. I am averaging about 4 rides a week for 40 minutes now, plus a long one on the weekend. I hope to bring up the weekly totals to about 7 hours by mid May.

That's about all for now. Things are well, and I'm still working out the details. I'll let you know when I know more!!!

Chad

So it begins....

2009-04-02T01:42:00.002-06:00

Welcome!

Here is where it starts. 458 km over 3 days. July 1, 2, 3, 2009. From the front doors of WOW! Workout World in Calgary, Alberta, to my Grandma's front door in Prelate, Saskatchewan. One goal, to raise $3,000 for prostate cancer research in Calgary and around the world.

The Tour of France in 2009 will average 169 km per day. The biggest cycling race in the United States, the Tour of California averaged 133 km per day in 2009. I will be riding my bike, averaging 153 km per day through hot Saskatchewan weather or thunderstorm rain. Over rolling hills or along gusting, windy flats. With traffic flying by along the Trans Canada Highway or alone in the desolate Saskatchewan interior, I will still ride.

This blog is how and where all of you will be able to stay up to date with this exciting event. I will update with information about how much we have raised, how training is going, media interviews, and my thoughts and feelings as I approach the start of my journey. I will probably update it weekly, so do check back ever so often. More will be added as we get closer!

If you have questions, please ask. If you have comments, please post them. If you have a buck, please donate. I am very excited already, and feel great biking knowing that I am doing this for such a great cause. For my Grandpa, for my family, for my friends, for you, and especially for me. I am pleased to be able to share my experiences with you!

Until next time......

Chad