Messages

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General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 16, 2021, 10:25:05 am »

I'm going to ride 30 miles today.  It will be pretty relaxed, unloaded and with only 745 ft of climbing, but I should be fine.  I have been doing 10-15 every day.  of course I will have to have a surgery, recover and get back to shape before I can go anywhere.  doctors appt is tomorrow, so hopefully will have some answers.

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General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 10, 2021, 08:44:30 am »

Thanks, this was exactly the kind of advice insight I was looking for.  I honestly dont think 30 miles a day as you described is out of reach for me pretty quickly and had fully expected to have to start slow.  plus while on a tour it is nice to be able to take frequent breaks and take your time.

That eastern express route seems perfect for riding into shape from there. .   lots more services, without brutal climbs, and it looks like there is a lot to see.  I was worried about starting in eastern Colorado and Kansas because it can be boring with not much there.   the riding might be easy but I would be tempted and forced to do too much, and be exhausted when I hit Missouri.

 
(1) I'm guessing I would probably have to  start at like 20-30 miles a day.......
(2) I'm wondering if I anyone has ridden themselves into shape from that far out.
(3) I live in Colorado, and would possibly just do half of it

Yo Dave,
(1) I train to 30 level miles per day and launch my tours and let 'conditions' (i.e, what is 'out there' + mine : ) spell how far I, then, go per day.  Related to this/btw ... what originally was the final straw and 'launched' me into touring years ago ... was when I read an author's statement educating me that one of the great attributes of touring was that "...one can stop anytime..." - for my simple mind that was the trip wire .... the freedom of it all ... I finally concluded and found it to be almost 100% true: Hence, if I get exhausted while touring it is ONLY because I want to.
(2) Yes.  It takes me several days (post age 60) to toughen up, acclimate to camping and moteling, living on Subway Sandwiches as I can fine 'em, et.al.
(3) I have toured end to end, as well as, in sections ..... both have their pluses and otherwises.  What I have always loved about doing what I will call sectional touring is that I come back home before completing the final destination objective and (a.) am able to rethink all that I learned - I have never not learned something new on EVERY tour - so that I can apply it on my next sectional tour, & (b.) enjoy being able to dream about being out there again all the while till the next time that I am.

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General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 09, 2021, 07:11:00 pm »

another great story of overcoming health issues.  wow.  I refuse to be put on beta blockers for exactly the reason you stated.  It get hard to get my heart rate up.   

A friend of mine just moved to San louis Obispo.   I was looking at the Paso Robles area and realized how awesome it is there.  Hadn't been since I was a kid.

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General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 08, 2021, 08:09:34 am »

Dave,

I can somewhat relate.  I am a liver transplant recipient and was exhausted the first couple of years due to some post transplantation complications. 

That said, if your body is actually able to do it, i.e. no dialysis, then it is possible.  You just have to plan.  My first major post-transplant trip was 2 yeas afterwards from Tulsa (my home town) to Winnipeg.  Mostly tailwinds, relatively flat, and the bus transportation back to Tulsa was fairly well spaced out.  I had to carry a ton of meds due (29 pills a day, plus a really good water filter).  Took up about 1/3 a front pannier.  I buried the pills inside the sleeping bag so they would not melt in August.

To prepare for the trip, I rode for about a month before the start doing 30 mile days.  About 15 of those days I had loaded "gear" (water jugs) that equaled the weight of the gear I planned on taking.  I just put extra jugs in the panniers as the weight increased to my 25# estimate.  I started out easy and built up.  When I started on tour, I again started out easy (30 mile first day) and increased by 5-10 miles per day until I was doing about 55 in a week.  The tailwinds really helped as I now HATE headwinds since no longer have the torque I used to have.  One thing I noticed immediately post transplant and is still somewhat in place today is that I have very little "reserve", i.e., once my energy is gone, it takes at least overnight to recover so I careful not to go into the "red zone" too much when before it was just a long lunch break.  I used to climb hills with the best of them but now a centipede is faster than me. I takes lots of breaks, especially above 6k feet altitude. Above 10k, it is comical how slow I am.

I don't know much about kidney transplants and their idiosyncrasies but will start to learn as the drugs I take now are very hard on the kidneys.  If the electrolyte issue is non-medicine related, I would suggest you eat potato chips or something salty at every break.  Really helped me out as I was washing the electrolytes out due to drinking a lot of water which I needed for the all the drugs I was taking to ease the stress on the kidneys.

As suggested, if you do start in Colorado and head east, consider the Katy Trail and maybe continue into Illinois and Indiana instead of Kentucky.  Then the tough hills won't start until Kentucky/Virginia except for a few possible detours on the Katy due to washed out sections.  For a flat route, consider reversing the Eastern TransAm Express, a non-ACA route that is mostly well done.  It uses a lot of rail trails like the Katy, the GAP, C&O, etc. to Washington.  From there use the Potomoc Tidelands route to get to the coast or just take a train back to Colorado.  Download the maps this year as the website is stopping at the end of 2021.

Get started early in the day and/or season so the heat doesn't sap your strength.

Regardless, your body will adjust, if the ride doesn't kill you  .

Tailwinds, John

Wow,  thanks for the inspiration.  Nice to know there are other folks that have had to deal with similar issues and overcome them. I like your idea of diverging from the traditional transam route.  I think I could handle eastern Colorado and Kansas - though what a boring start LOL.

I've had a few bouts where I was doing ok and even managed to do most of the whole enchilada mountain bike ride in Moab last summer.  I skipped the first big climb and 6 miles,   I was physically destroyed after, but I do think despite my problems there is a background cycling fitness there that I hope I can revive.

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General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 08, 2021, 07:53:42 am »

A lot of us can identify with your frustration and sense of urgency, but the advice above on not starting out unless you can handle a 40 mile day seems sound..., though you might be able to pull off somewhat lower mileage for the first week or so running west from Norfolk. To answer your question, yes, one can ride themselves into good shape in the course of riding the Trans Am, but the first 3-6 weeks would require a lot of planning and include a lot of recovery days with no travel. One of your comments suggested you did not want to take too much time away from home. If you plan on riding into shape, you will not want to feel hurried; 120 days would not be an inreasonable time frame.

I,ll second the suggestion for a shakedown on the KATY-Rock Island rail-trail from St.Charles to south of KC. Your first day could be a simple out and back from the hotel in St. Charles to the official but remote starting point of Clinton. There are a couple of pretty boring stretches, but you could use those to test your mental fitness.

I'm assuming you're getting some of your renal consultations in Aurura. U.C has had a long tradition of top notch physician-scientists in nephrology.  The condition you describe is quite rare, so I encourage patience. Low potassium will make you feel weak as a kitten, and effects of stress and adrenaline of exercise on the kidneys can further lower potassium. If you ask around, I suspect you'll find a couple of the nephrologists are avid cyclists. Although for legal reasons, their enthusiasm for an immediate adventure might be somewhat blunted, they might still be a source of encouragement and good advice.

Those of us who have more than a couple of decades on you will do the dad thing - which might seem frustrating - but be patient, plan ahead, and work your way up to this. Your instincts are good; a long tour on a bicycle is a great way to recover one's health and fitness. You might enjoy it more if the first few weeks are not spent lying around hotel rooms by yourself, wondering how long it's going to take for your recovery times to improve, so you can ride daily.

The comments about the 75 y-old body hit home; most of what we call aging is just decreased fitness....

Safe travels.

It sounds like you might be in healthcare. 

I used to be clinical faculty on the CU campus and had my second transplant there. I have moved on.  There are good people there, but the culture of the organization is very far removed from patient centered goals and outcomes.  This is a top down problem.  I also have many negative things to say about the culture of the nephrology community as a whole (and positive things to say about some amazing exceptions).  The expectations or willingness to prioritize quality of life is very hard to find in a disease category more commonly associated with quality of life causes, but in the end I am grateful I was born in this era where I am still alive. 

the legal and administrative burdens of our healthcare system has contributed adverse incentives where care is mostly driven by measurable statistics like years lived, transplant survival years and laboratory values.   Quality of life measures are fuzzy and hard to define, so repeatedly get marginalized in our metrics and protocol driven healthcare system.  Having a chronic illness as an atypical patient means that we are unlikely to get care appropriate to our circumstances with this imbalance of priorities . Overly broad application of studies with severe selection bias is a problem plaguing medical care everywhere.

Anyway,  I want to do this while I still can. even if it is really hard.   I have concerns about winning this battle (it really has been a battle) for quality of life the next time around.

I can probably take as much time as I want (weather dependent), just trying to be conscientious of the effect on my family, and I might just do half of the route now.

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General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 08, 2021, 07:32:46 am »

Wow,  thanks for all the advice folks.  I am really intrigued by the eastern express option that could really work for me. I'm going to guess that by the average persons definition of fitness I am not as out of shape as most might think.  My health has just made for ongoing significant setbacks but with the problems hopefully identified I am optimistic about my abilities to start making progress again. I wouldn't show up without any training.  After my first transplant I was doing 50 mile rides in the Colorado front range within a year, and even last summer I had a stretch were I was doing ok and I managed to do some pretty long rides,  so I think I could get back there.

On a philosophical note I am very grateful for the perspective my illness has given me.  Permissions to step of the American hedonic treadmill is a wonderful thing, and aside from the challenges covid has handed a severely immunocompromised person I continue to embrace the idea of living for today.

There is also the chance I could convince the wife to drive our cargo trailer conversion camper as a sag wagon with my daughter, but at least out west here finding a place to camp without a plan months in advance is getting really hard since covid hit - even in dispersed camping areas for half the week. I'd always wanted to do it self supported, but I could accept that change.

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General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 07, 2021, 11:50:48 am »

I agree with Jama. Start small. While the idea that some sort of grand gesture might give you the giant kick to get it done, I suspect that this approach  doesn’t work for most people. I’m reminded of Fat Guy Across America. It didn’t work for him.

You can probably find a few examples of people that it did work for. Maybe that’s you, but I think the odds are against it.

When you do work your way up to the TransAm, it’s going to be glorious. Set your goal now. A specific date to work towards. How about May 7, 2024?

Honestly I'm afraid I will be back on dialysis by 2024.  It's a real risk with my autoimmune condition.

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General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 07, 2021, 11:49:09 am »

Re: Healthcare.
When I was on dialysis and getting exhausted walking my daughter the 6 blocks to school  due to severe anemia I had three different doctors tell me that anemia doesnt effect quality of life in dialysis patients according to the studies. Of course the studies are made up of avg 68 y.o. individuals with >50% rates of diabetes, and >75% rates of obesity and chronic cardiac conditions.  Basically sedentary people.  they didnt want to treat my quality of life because a certain percentage of people have cardiac complications with the treatment for anemia but note these are people already with cardiac problems.

It took me a year and a half to convince the doctors to even investigate my dangerously low potassium levels because they just kept saying they had "fixed It" with medications - a lot of them but whos counting. I Finally got an answer and am still fighting (but think I am finally going to win) getting them to treat the problem rather than medicate the crap out of me. 

Anyway.  I am ready to prove them all wrong. but I'm in such a hole and exercise has been so miserable for the last few years I am worried about actually crawling out.  wondering if I start slow enough I can ride myself into shape.

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General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 07, 2021, 11:48:55 am »

Thanks for the advice. And congrats on your remission and success.

I've been riding for close to 20 years.  I used to own a Koga Miyata purpose built tourer that I did some short tours on when I lived in Germany with the Airforce.  I'd had the intention of doing the Transam then but met my wife in 2008 and life took a different direction.  I still have my ortlieb panniers, though I might invest in a bikepacking setup if I go forward. My problem currently is muscle cramps and weakness secondary to some pretty serious electrolyte problems and nausea after moderately hard exertion. 

I am an experienced rider who used to do a lot more, but it has been a few years since I have been regularly on the bike doing any significant distance.  I mean I can ride comfortably for an hour and a half currently if it is not too intense.  Also I am SUPER slow.

honestly if I am going to do it I would probably just need to ride the whole distance I choose to do before I go back to work and it gets harder to accomplish logistically.

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General Discussion / Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 07, 2021, 10:11:56 am »

At 41 years old I've had two kidney tranplants. My last one was just over two years ago.

The last two years have been characterized by poor health and exercise intolerance.  I've grown exhausted by my doctors comparisons to 75 y.o. patients to make me feel better about "how you're actually doing quite well".  It took a year of pushing to finally get some tests done to confirm that my native kidneys are causing problems with my eleotrolytes (no they are not routinely removed when you have kidney failure).  I've gotten so out of shape and headed toward another surgery to remove them, but have been contemplating doing the Transamerica ride I've always wanted to do, if for nothing else than to prove to the doctors that younger active patients deserve a different expectation of quality of life. 

I'm guessing I would probably have to  start at like 20-30 miles a day.............. But since I am already unemployed and my wife was surprisingly supportive I am considering it.  I'm wondering if I anyone has ridden themselves into shape from that far out.

I live in Colorado, and would possibly just do half of it so as to not abandon the family for too long, but have heard the Missouri mountains are the worst of the whole trip and only a couple weeks in (intensity of effort seems to effect me more than duration), and heading west from here would involve immediate significant climbing so route advice would be appreciated as well.

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Classifieds / Re: FS: KOGA MIYATA GLOBETRAVELLER: self supported touring bike. 54cm $1250 OBO

« on: May 27, 2015, 12:05:25 am »

I sol it 3 days ago, sorry.  it had 700s though

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Classifieds / [SOLD] FS: KOGA MIYATA GLOBETRAVELLER: self supported touring bike. 54cm $1250

« on: May 06, 2015, 11:42:55 am »

This Koga Miyata is a world renown fully supported touring bike.   It's stable aluminum frame and design make for hours of comfortable riding - even fully loaded.  I have had this bike loaded to a total weight of 85 lbs and it rode like nothing was there.  It was stable as a rock and smooooth.   This is the bike for long haul touring, but performs great for riding around town and shorter trips.

I rebuilt it with new components two-three years ago to give it better gearing, and then never really rode it due to an illness.  Frame has about 600 miles on it, and the components about 75. 

KEY FEATURES:

-triple 22-32-44 in the front and a 11-32 rear cassette for excellent climbing ability even when carrying a full load of gear. 
-Adjustable stem with riser carbon fiber bar and Ergon grips and bar ends make for very comfortable riding positions.
-tubus rear rack is the best in the business
-rear fender.  Attachments for front rack and fender.
- Maxis overdrive tires with tons of tread for stable riding in all kinds of conditions on Koga Miyata touring wheels. -
-Pedals and pump shown are not included.  those are just on there for test rides

Please email me for more photos.

-Item will be professionally packaged in a bike box.  Buyer pays actual shipping costs via their method of choice.

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Classifieds / Re: Koga Miyata Globe traveler - lower gear ratio. like new

« on: February 11, 2012, 05:53:18 pm »

I have tried to upload a photo, but it wont seem to let me.  email me for photos.  -dave

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Classifieds / FS: Koga Miyata Globe traveler - lower gear ratio. like new

« on: February 11, 2012, 05:51:59 pm »

I am selling my 4 year old Koga Miyata Globe traveler- size 54 cm.   I am 5'10 and it fits me pretty well.    It only has a couple hundred miles on it.  I bought it with a transamerica tour in mind, but alas I fell in love got married, and just had a child so I only got to do a few of my warm up trips around Europe and I think supported only tours are in my future    I have loaded it down with supplies and gone for 3-4 days several times and it rides fully loaded like nothing else.
 
I modified it from the stock model it came with by changing to XT front derailer and Deore LX Dual control shifters/brake levers  A shimano 105 rear derailer.  I dont remember the exact cassette I put on it, but basically when I changed everything out I switched the gearing to a good low Mountain biking gear ratio.  I added a Carbon fiber riser bar (it may be too wide for many people) and Ergon GC3 touring grips.  The front rack is not shown in the picture, but I do have it.    The only thing missing that some might wish was there is the front fender.  I took it off, and it got bent in my move by the movers.

These sell retail for around $3000k prior to the modficiations made that make it better for the tough climbs in the mountains.  I will part with it for $2000 obo

I also have a set of yellow ortlieb pannier bags that are in perfect condition, along with the backpack adapter.  I will sell these as well for $290