Blood on the Tracks » Cycling Adventure

Tuesday, June 14

Brian — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:31:51 +0000

I completed 42 miles of handcycling today. My shoulders feel good after having received a diagnosis last November of serious arthritis. Have been on an anti-inflammatory diet [no gluten (wheat), no casein (dairy), no phytates (soy, except Miso and Tempeh), no refined sugar], and along with acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and massage, my shoulders are now able to arm-power my handcycle 40-50 miles a day without pain. We’ll see how it feels once the 800 mile handcycling tour begins on Saturday, June 25, at 8 am from behind Lincoln Hall on Portland State University campus, for the 30-mile trip to the first stop at 2 pm in Newberg, OR. But this is a routine I must keep up for at least three weeks until I arrive in San Francisco. On Friday evening at 7 pm, June 24, the night before, I will have unveiled for the public my new book at a signing in the upstairs community room, People’s Food Co-op, SE 21st and Tibbetts in Portland.

Sunday, June 5

Brian — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 06:37:05 +0000

I handcycled 38 miles today, a few miles less than yesterday, as part of my continued training for the cycling book tour that begins June 25. I carb up the night before at dinner, then in the morning I start with about 18 ounces of water. Soon after beginning cycling I have half a sandwich on gluten free bread of almond butter and honey. In a couple of hours I have a second half sandwich of the same. Meanwhile I regularly drink water with a little electrolyte solution from my camelback strapped to my back through a tube always resting near my mouth for easy access. Yesterday I saw two other handcyclists on the trail. Today, none. But hundreds of regular cyclists going in both directions on the trail that varies in width from 8 to 12 feet. I anticipate averaging 40 miles a day once the tour starts, thus the need to build my endurance.

Training

Brian — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 18:30:40 +0000

Today, June 4, I handcycled 45 miles as I strive to build up my endurance that will certainly be tested once I start the daily cycling tour on June 25. I started too late in the day — 9am. I need to get in the habit of beginning at 6am so that I get all the day’s cycling in before noon when the sun is more vertical, more fatiguing, and before the winds pick up in velocity. I first cycled east on the Springwater Corridor into a headwind to near Boring, then reversed directions and cycled west to downtown with the tail wind (big relief). Took a short break along the Willamette River before going east up the long, but fairly gradual hill, but again into a headwind. It is all practice as I will need to confront various weather factors day after day — temperature, wind, humidity — and change of elevation up or down, etc. Stay tuned!

Handcycling Preparation

Brian — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:24:21 +0000

To prepare for handcycling the 800 miles from Portland to San Francisco Bay Area, promoting my book AND cycling as transportation POLICY, I am building up my endurance by increasing my weekly miles to over 200, while doing monitored weight training, acupuncture, massage, and a very conscious diet that precludes gluten (wheat), casein (dairy, tho butter is okay), phytates (uncultured soy), refined sugar, and nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers). So, I eat most fruits and vegetables, cultured soy such as miso and tempeh, rice, deepwater fish, organic beef and poultry, eggs, oatmeal, teff, natural sweeteners such as honey/agave/rice syrup, beans and lentils, gluten-free bread, and a sundry of other foods. This is a diet that eliminates those foods that tend to be inflammatory while possessing cancer preventing anti-oxidants.