Saturday, February 7, I spent a few hours attending a Benefit ride our friend Carrie organized. Our team and several friends of the team committed to being a part of the annual “ALS Spin-A-Thon” and indoor cycling event that raises money and awareness for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The event is in honor of John Blais a former Ironman athlete who competed in the 2005 World Championships in Kona whom was diagnosed with ALS; also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. This disease has taken the lives of 
over 20 million. There are zero survivors from ALS including John Blaze who died in April 2007. However, he is not forgotten. Here is a clip of his race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vrjp2P0GlE. The benefit ride started at 6 a.m. and ended at 10:30 p.m. Each “team” was be allowed to create a relay team of as many people as they see fit, the reason the event lasted 16.5 hours was to represent John's Blaze's Kona Ironman race time. Each rider could consign to 1/2 hours or more & spend time spinning his/her way to complete their scheduled time. I picked the 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. slot, thinking no problem, I’ll spin inside for an hour, let it warm up outside and go ride another hour and thirty minutes outside, getting my 2:30 in for the day, then go home and hit the gym for some weights. It was a good plan and actually all worked, sans the sweat I leaked out, since I think it must have been 89 degrees in the Athletic Club. 
The funny part is my teammate/director of our team, was they are spinning when I got there. I made fun of him for about 20 minutes when I arrived, since he was sweating like a pig. It didn’t really seem too hot in there at the time. The best part was, he came back in the middle of MY workout, after running some errands and getting a shower, to call me a “Hubbard” and ask me why I was sweating so much and what was all that mess under me on the trainer mat? Classic! I guess it was deserved. I got my hour and some change of riding in on the borrowed trainer, which happened to belong to Alicia. It was nice to use another trainer after burning mine up for so many hours and weeks. She said her trainer was a fluid unit, but felt steadier and less ‘up and down’ as mine appears to be sometimes as it heats up. I got finished with my 
workout and helped some folks get their bikes going on the trainer after, then hung out and socialized, cooled off and just tried to dry off a bit. I grabbed some free power bars, grabbed my bag, and headed out the door to my car to change into some not so sweaty clothes and finish my workout for the day. I had an hour 30 left to do and the wind was picking up. I saddled up and got going. I am not sure what I was thinking, but I went directly north when the wind was blowing north. Dumb and Dumber. I made the left turn onto Home Road and then my left 
onto Jerome and hit the wind head on….I think I averaged 13 mph for about 10 miles. I was just dying, trying not to work too hard to get back and in one piece, without getting too far into the hurt locker.
Saturday, February 7, I spent a few hours attending a Benefit ride our friend Carrie organized. Our team and several friends of the team committed to being a part of the annual “ALS Spin-A-Thon” and indoor cycling event that raises money and awareness for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The event is in honor of John Blais a former Ironman athlete who competed in the 2005 World Championships in Kona whom was diagnosed with ALS; also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. This disease has taken the lives of 
over 20 million. There are zero survivors from ALS including John Blaze who died in April 2007. However, he is not forgotten. Here is a clip of his race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vrjp2P0GlE. The benefit ride started at 6 a.m. and ended at 10:30 p.m. Each “team” was be allowed to create a relay team of as many people as they see fit, the reason the event lasted 16.5 hours was to represent John's Blaze's Kona Ironman race time. Each rider could consign to 1/2 hours or more & spend time spinning his/her way to complete their scheduled time. I picked the 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. slot, thinking no problem, I’ll spin inside for an hour, let it warm up outside and go ride another hour and thirty minutes outside, getting my 2:30 in for the day, then go home and hit the gym for some weights. It was a good plan and actually all worked, sans the sweat I leaked out, since I think it must have been 89 degrees in the Athletic Club. 
The funny part is my teammate/director of our team, was they are spinning when I got there. I made fun of him for about 20 minutes when I arrived, since he was sweating like a pig. It didn’t really seem too hot in there at the time. The best part was, he came back in the middle of MY workout, after running some errands and getting a shower, to call me a “Hubbard” and ask me why I was sweating so much and what was all that mess under me on the trainer mat? Classic! I guess it was deserved. I got my hour and some change of riding in on the borrowed trainer, which happened to belong to Alicia. It was nice to use another trainer after burning mine up for so many hours and weeks. She said her trainer was a fluid unit, but felt steadier and less ‘up and down’ as mine appears to be sometimes as it heats up. I got finished with my 
workout and helped some folks get their bikes going on the trainer after, then hung out and socialized, cooled off and just tried to dry off a bit. I grabbed some free power bars, grabbed my bag, and headed out the door to my car to change into some not so sweaty clothes and finish my workout for the day. I had an hour 30 left to do and the wind was picking up. I saddled up and got going. I am not sure what I was thinking, but I went directly north when the wind was blowing north. Dumb and Dumber. I made the left turn onto Home Road and then my left 
onto Jerome and hit the wind head on….I think I averaged 13 mph for about 10 miles. I was just dying, trying not to work too hard to get back and in one piece, without getting too far into the hurt locker.
