Looking Forward to RAGBRAI 2025

The plan is to drive to Orange City on Saturday. The drive is about five hours. Dr. Romero will drive my car back to Iowa City. I need to load the bike routes to my Garmin. Wendy got a new air pump that is digital and it charges. Life gets easire every day, right?

I am also preparing my legs for a 400m race, National Senior Games in Des Moines. I believe the 400m race is on Wednesday, July 30th. I plan to run a few 100m intervals tomorrow and not ride the T2W.

Bicycle Rides

Today’s was Saturday’s ride to Oxford. The ride started at Centennial park in North Liberty. The ride was well attended. All riders are very experienced and ride rather fast. It was a hot day. In Oxford, we stopped at Deja Brew, an awesome coffee shop. I rode with a couple of fast riders for the first few miles back, but it was too hard to stay with them. The day was hot and my body felt it. We stopped again at Jon’s ice cream. The ride back to the park was not too bad. Excellent bicycle ride.

December 20th, 2024

The Delta flight from CID airport took off bright and early at 6:30 a.m., bound for MSP-Minneapolis. Flying with Delta Airlines was smooth, but what really caught my attention was the modern design of the Minneapolis airport. The Delta app made finding my gate effortless, guiding me like a pro to my connecting flight to MEX airport. The journey to Mexico City lasted over four hours, and we landed at Terminal 2. Immigration was surprisingly quick and easy—props to the efficient setup of this sleek terminal. With time to spare before my Aeromexico flight to HUX airport, I grabbed a tasty Subway sandwich and headed to the gate feeling recharged.

On the domestic leg of the trip, Aeromexico really raised the bar by offering complimentary alcoholic beverages. Talk about hospitality! From the plane, I managed to connect with Oscar and Danya, which was a nice touch. Danya picked me up in the trusty old car, and we drove to Ventanilla, where I met Mathias, her 11-year-old nephew. This kid amazed me with how articulate he was—it was like chatting with someone way beyond his years.

Later, we attended an event where people greeted Oscar warmly and introduced his talk, "Lugares Sagrados en las Costas Oaxaqueñas en los Códices Mixtecos." Afterward, we made our way to Mazunte, and I settled into the cozy Pajarera Cabin. The peaceful surroundings made it easy to drift into one of the best night’s sleeps I’ve had in ages.

Fin de semana en El Rinconcito Beach

I had a couple of meals at Los Traviesos. Food is reasonable and pretty good. Breakfast was delicious. Experienced Solstice at Ventanilla. It was a wonderful experience.

Nice run in the morning

The temperature looked cold but it was not low enough to keep me in bed. I know how much I need to go outside and exercise. We decided to go to Ashton and either walk or run. We decided to warm up for half a mile and then did four intervals of 0.5 mile run and 0.25 mile walks. We noticed they have cleared some trees and bushes and it appears they are making the course wider. It felt good when we finished the workout.

Windy Morning Ride and Reflections on AI

This morning, the temperature was in the 50s, but the strong winds—gusting up to 26 mph—made it feel much colder. Despite the weather, we set out from the Crossroads Hy-Vee and headed south toward Tiffin, looping back through North Liberty. The ride ended up being a little over 20 miles. I hope I can keep up my goal of exercising every day. There’s something much more invigorating about riding outdoors compared to being stuck inside on a stationary bike.

Later in the morning, I tried calling Sophia, but she didn’t pick up. Hopefully, it just means she was already at school on time, which is what really matters. I also came across an essay she wrote about artificial intelligence. Honestly, she might know more about AI than I do! It’s incredible how much this field has advanced and the possibilities it offers.

Oscar's birthday

 I sent my brother a Happy birthday message this morning. He responded he wanted to call me, so I called him. We talked about Assen and Sophia. He said he feels pretty healthy (although he is completely blind). He sounded like he is in a very good mood. He is now 63 years young. He has always amazed me of his intelligence. We had a nice chat. I told him I have plans to visit him in August. 

Bicycle Trip to Waterloo

 We decided to ride to Waterloo during the weekend of October 14-15, 2023. Probably not the best decision because that weekend was particularly cold, and days before were pretty wet. We gathered at Flanigan's at 7:30 AM, but we started riding the bicycles from home. 

We headed first to Waterworks and then headed north to the gazebo in front of Sugar Bottom Bicycle shop. We then headed our way on Mehaffey Bridge Rd. Decided to ride easy climbing the road to the corner of Mehaffey Bridge Rd and Sugar Bottom Rd.

Safely arrived to Solon's Timber dome. The next stop, was Ely's Casey's gas station. Time to fuel our body before lunch. 

We then headed our way to Cedar Rapids. We started riding on the Cedar Valley Trail which is very safe and flat. 

New FTP

 I started this plan on Zwift called FTP Builder. Today, I finished week #1. The plan's first week had two hard workouts, Strength and Tempo, and two easier workouts called Foundation. 

I was able to finish one minute at 320 Watts. The new FTP indicated was 241 Watts.

This test should be done maximum once per week. 

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/TV6uxMONgqw

Farrell's Upper Body Workout

 I loved today's workout at Farrell's. This workout was Density Sets. We did 10 reps for each exercise (six exercises in each set) using heavier bands. We did each set three times before going to the next set. 

I tried to use band colors that pushed me. For the push ups, I tried to do these on my toes. It was hard to do them slow. 

Farrell's Week #4 Second Round

 I started doing "Farrell's" since October 9th, last year. It has been a wonderful experience. I find it perfect to strengthen all the muscles that I ignored for many years. My short term goal is to decrease my body fat. This year, I want to be able to do more pullups, maybe up to ten. I will keep working until I accomplish my goals.

DATE	Weight	Body Fat Percent
10/09/2021	170.8	24.5
11/13/2021	166.4	22.3
12/18/2021	170.8	19.0
1/8/2022	168.4	18.7
1/29/2022	167.6	18.2

Why do I like Farrell's?

    Accountability. The instructor keeps us moving and working hard all the time.

    Consistency. Training six days a week is an excellent idea. Changes will happen.

    Coaches are excellent. 

FTP Test December

 Wanted to try the FTP test and see if my FTP has improved. Did about 5 minutes warm up and then the Ramp Test started increasing Power by 20 W. Every minute Power increased by 20 W. 

Got up to 300 W, then had to quit. I wondered how high I went last time I did this Ramp Test.

Farrell's Week #5

 Signed up for the ten-week plan at Farrell's Extreme Body Shaping (First class on October 11, 2021). I really like these workouts. Three times a week, we do kickboxing. I've been learning jabs, cross, upper cuts, and all kinds of things. The other three days, we alternate upper body and lower body strength. These workouts will make me a stronger athlete and will help me with my running. 

They have different instructors with slightly different styles. I love their philosophy. I have tried to modify my diet. I've cut the number of flour tortillas I eat in a day and also cut down the cereal with milk I used to eat. I cannot wait to see the results. 

Courage Ride 2021

Courage Ride is an event for cyclists to support cancer research. There are several routes you can choose. We decided to do the longest route. It started at Big Grove brewery. Started riding from home. Had breakfast at Big Grove. There was a nice buffet with plenty of food.

Headed south towards TrueBlood and headed to Hills. Passed Riverside and kept going. Several challenging hills.

Finished the day with 131 miles.

Fourth of July 8K Training

 My next race will be on the Fourth of July. It's a race I have done before. It's a good distance, 8K. Not sure how I am going to be doing. These are my chronos from previous years:

RAGBRAI Training

 Decided to do RAGBRAI for the first time this year (last week of July). Bought a bicycle in March, a Trek Emonda. Cycling miles has been improving these days especially after joining the Bicyclists of Iowa City. 

Last weekend was my longest mile weekend, sixty miles on Saturday and seventy miles on Sunday. Had to take a picture of one of my rest breaks after climbing the Sugar Bottom hill.

FTP February 1st, 2021

 Recently, I bought a Tracx Bicycle trainer (sometime in the middle of December). It was my perfect Christmas gift because of winter time. I like it very much together with a subscription to Zwift.

Thought about doing an FTP test every month to see if there is any improvement in my cycling.

The test started with some warm-up (I think it was like 7:30 min). Then it started at around 50 W for 1 min and made increments of ten Watts per minute. The final minute interval was at 250 Watts.  Then there was a ten minute cool down. I suffered. It was fun!

Got a new FTP of 190.

GARMIN CONNECT

New World Records 1 hour

2020 Diamond League in Brussels, Belgium held an event where two world records were broken. Mo Farah, a Somali-British runner went for the one-hour record held by Haile Gebrselassie. 

This record was broken on March 30, 1991 by Arturo Barrios in Le Fleche, France, running 21,101 m. The same day he broke the 20,000 m record too. It was not until 2007 that Haile Gebrselassie broke Arturo's record on June 27, running 21,285 m. 

Mo FARAH ran 2,330 m (13.25 miles) in one hour. He had three pacers and a light showing them the world record pace. 

Mo Farah's pace was 2:49 min/Km (4:32 min/mile). He had to run each lap in 67.75 sec. Very impressive run!

YouTube Video

YouTube Full Video Men's One Hour

YouTube Women's One Hour

Tuesday Night Track

July 7th, 2020. One mile warm-up. Speed workout.

Distance	Time	Pace
100 m	19.8	5:21
100 m	18.7	5:19
100 m	18.9	5:10
200 m	40.0	5:29
200 m	42.7	5:42
200 m	46.4	6:19

GARMIN-CONNECT

Our First Trip to Alabama

Forty two years ago, on a day like this, June 26 (1978). A group of students from Mexico traveled to the US to live with American families for a few weeks as part of the Experiment in International Living. These "experiments" are life-changing experiences. Not only for the students, but also for the family hosts. Young teenage students experience what is like to live in a different culture and speak a language different than their mother tongue.
I traveled with a small group of Mexican boys and girls. We flew from MEX airport to HOU airport. Then, traveled by Greyhound bus to New Orleans. We enjoyed the opportunity to hear some New Orleans jazz and see what Bourbon Street looks like. My American family was the Al and Pauline Pugh. My siblings were Rusty, Rachel, and Robby. They had a ranch-style house and a beautiful swimming pool in their large backyard. Grand Bay, Alabama was very hot that part of the year. Swimming everyday was great. We all enjoyed having swimming parties.
We visited places like Dolphin Island, Pensacola, FL, and one day we even visited Mayor Lambert C. Mims of Mobile, AL and we became honorary citizens! I made some very strong friendships with my neighbors and also with families of other Mexican kids.

My family and I kept in touch for several years. I went back to visit them and they also came to Mexico. It was a lot of fun and a great unforgettable learning experience. I practiced my writing letters everyday with several friends from Alabama. I never imagined this experience would shape my life the way it did.