The Last Long Ride
I'm about to leave to go on my final long (45 miles or so) ride before the Tour on Saturday. I'll probably try to make a short ride on Thursday. I've been told that if you can go the 45 miles, it's nothing to get the 17 more miles you need for the metric century (62.13 miles). I may take some detours off of my usual path to try to get a little more mileage today than 45 miles.
I am also poised to break putting 1,000 miles on my bicycle when I ride the Tour this weekend, which is exciting.
In case I do not get a chance to post again before the Tour, thanks to everyone for your support. I've met my goal, and so has Team Luckiest Man, but some of our riders are still trying to meet their goals. If you'd like to make a donation, please find my teammate, Chris Johnson's, page through the Team Luckiest Man page, and help him reach his goal. Team Luckiest Man is also currently in fifth place overall, so we could use some more donations to keep my goal of finishing in the fundraising top five.
Hope to see you at the Tour!

by Jordan Dominy on Tue, Nov 03, 2009 @ 8:33 AM

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Success Continues
Team Luckiest Man has exceeded its initial goal of $1000! We are currently in third place overall in fundraising. It's my hope to finish in the top five, so if you haven't had a chance to make your tax deductible donation today, please do so! Thanks to everyone for your support!

by Jordan Dominy on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 @ 6:10 PM

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Weather
I would have liked to have gone for a ride this morning, but the weather is nasty, and I just cleaned my bike. It was foggy yesterday morning, and I learned that the fog condenses on your bike frame, which gets covered in water, then picks up every bit of debris and brake dust that you kick up as you ride. I did go 20 miles yesterday at a pace of 15.1 mph. I was quite pleased with my ability having played flag football last weekend and being terribly sore.
Three more weeks until the Tour! If you've not yet made a donation to this worthy clause, please make your donation!

by Jordan Dominy on Fri, Oct 16, 2009 @ 8:38 AM

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One Step Closer
Saw U2 in concert last night. An amazing show.
While U2 did not play "One Step Closer," Team Luckiest Man is one step closer to our goal!

by Jordan Dominy on Sat, Oct 10, 2009 @ 12:02 PM

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Thanks
With some terrific support from family and valued friends, I've surpassed my personal fundraising goal. A sincere thanks. Team Luckiest Man, however, still lacks just under $300 to meet its team goal, so I still hope to receive some help from supporters who haven't had a chance to donate yet. I am almost certain that we will be able to exceed our $1000 goal.
In other news, Team Luckiest Man is currently 3rd place in fundraising out of 21 Tour de Vie teams! Our goal is to finish in the top five, but we'll take a top three if we continue to garner support.
Went for a different ride the other day: out to Orange Heights on FL-26 from my friend's house, who lives downtown. Biking on the highway is a different kind of experience, for sure.

by Jordan Dominy on Wed, Oct 07, 2009 @ 1:55 PM

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Road Work Sucks
Had an adventure today trying to go on the Trail with a friend from his house downtown. I knew that they were working on Main Street in Gainesville from North 8th Ave to South Depot Ave. I did not know, though, that Depot was tore up, and that was the street we used to get to the connector to get on the trail! So we had to do some exploring to find a way to get to the trail, which we did, and we wound up having a great 40-mile ride. We're thinking about branching out and doing some quiet county roads as opposed to the Trail all the time. It could be nice.
Still gearing up for the Tour. It's gonna be a blast.

by Jordan Dominy on Thu, Oct 01, 2009 @ 2:50 PM

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Riding, Riding, Riding
Some unexpected work I find myself completing has eaten into my training regimen, and I went a week without a ride. Now I find myself "finding my saddle" again, as I read it is called as you get acclimated to spending lots of time on the bike. Not to bad, though. I hope to go out for a quick rides now on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and longer rides on Saturdays or Sundays.
Only a month left until the Tour!

by Jordan Dominy on Mon, Sep 28, 2009 @ 3:37 PM

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Moving On Up. . .
Congrats to Jess! She's exceded her original fundraising goal! Moreover, she's brought Team Luckiest Man's fundraising total to $525, which is 53% of our team goal. We are now in 4th place out of over sixteen teams. So I have a challenge for Team Luckiest Man: Let's finish in the top five fundraising teams.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has supported me, supported Jess, and through us supported Leon. I look forward seeing the heights Team Luckiest Man can do with your help!

by Jordan Dominy on Thu, Sep 24, 2009 @ 1:42 PM

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Expanded Roster
This time of the Major League Baseball season is the time for September call-ups: the remainder of 40-man extended roster gets to play in the bigs for the last month of the season.
Team Luckiest Man is seeing its roster expand in September, too. Welcome, Melanie, to the team; I'm stoked to have you aboard. Team Luckiest Man is now 5 members strong. I am confident that with our rider's determination and the good will of other, our team can exceed our goal in the fight agains ALS. Let's all make Leon proud!

by Jordan Dominy on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 @ 10:46 AM

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Three Things:
1) Rode today, a nice, light, easy ride. Went with my friend who just got his first road bike. He will be unable to ride in the Tour with me, though. But having a regular riding buddy is fun. Plus, since he's new to cycling, I totally dusted him going up a hill.
2) A hearty welcome to Tiffany and Chris, the newest members of Team Luckiest Man. I'm happy to have them aboard. They are good friends, and to have friends willing to support you in a cause as personal as this one means the world and more.
3) THANK YOU!! Due to your generous gifts, Team Luckiest Man is at 20% of its fundraising goal, and I met my original fundraising goal. Because of your support of my early success with that goal, I have decided to increase that original goal. Again, greatest thanks.

by Jordan Dominy on Tue, Sep 15, 2009 @ 8:47 PM

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Friends with Bikes
I have a friend who just got his first road bike. I'm going to try to talk him into riding the Tour. It may be a tough sell because it's the weekend of UF's home game with Vanderbilt. But seriously: is that going to be a game worth watching?

by Jordan Dominy on Mon, Sep 14, 2009 @ 9:40 PM

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Record Highs
A record high is expected in Gainesville today. I went for a ride this morning, anyway, because I needed to. I had not been on a longish ride in a week. So I covered roughly 23 miles. I also set a record high for myself: 16.3 mph was my average speed. It's easier for me to push myself a little harder when I'm not going my usual 42 miles. My target average speed when completing the tour will be significantly less at 15 mph. But if could work up to it, I may push myself for the Tour, too. As far as top speed: my last ride, I topped out at 35 mph on a straightaway with a slight downhill slope, one of those slopes not obviously downhill. On that stretch today, I only got up to 34.5 mph. I'll blame it on a headwind.
If there are any of you out there who are contemplating joining Team Luckiest Man and have not, the team needs you now more than ever. With just under 2 months to the ride, we need riders to help meet the team fundraising goal. Please consider registering to ride.

by Jordan Dominy on Tue, Sep 08, 2009 @ 1:31 PM

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Florida Heat
Despite the flipping of the calendar into September, the weather is still quite hot and muggy. This makes training a little unpleasant, but not too much. I've been able to keep up with my Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday rides and commuting via bicycle other days, so I feel right on target for being ready for the 100k. Sweating so much in the saddle will totally be worth it.

by Jordan Dominy on Mon, Sep 07, 2009 @ 4:04 PM

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Teams Heating Up
I've been away from my participant center for a week because of work and school obligations (classes began on Monday), so when I returned today, I was happy to see five more teams have joined up in the fight against ALS in the Tour de Vie. I'm looking forward to meeting all of them in November. In the meantime, if you've been thinking about joining Team Luckiest Man and have not, please do so! With only a little over two months to go, we will need all the time we can spare to raise donations to help strikeout ALS.

by Jordan Dominy on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 @ 12:32 PM

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I May Look Ridiculous
I invested in some nicer cycling shorts, the kind of shorts you picture of when you think "cycling shorts," and a cycling jersey, the kind of jersey you picture when you think "cycling jersey." I tried them on. I think I may look kind of ridiculous. Wearing this garb, I may have to shave my legs. But it would be worth it. . .

by Jordan Dominy on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 @ 5:18 PM

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Another 41.02 Miles
Went for a ride today: 41.02 miles the the distance I've been going, which is from my home to the Hawthorne end of the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail. I've been trying to do that twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and then a shorter ride on Saturday or Sunday. The distance I covered today is about 66km, so I'm 2/3 the way there for the metric Century. From what I've read about training for a 100k, the best thing to do is get plenty of rest, have comfortable clothing, and get on the bike. Everyday if you can, but I can't do that and get my dissertating and class prep done. But I've also read that once you cover 66km, the last 34 km are not going to be bad. I'm confident that with a good pair of bike shorts and getting the seat and handlebar position on my bike correct, I'll be able to ride the 100k. But I may try a longer ride in the meantime one of these days.

by Jordan Dominy on Tue, Aug 11, 2009 @ 11:30 AM

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A Welcome and Report on Visit
Welcome, Jessica, to Team Luckiest Man! She is Leon's daughter and the woman who made me the Luckiest Man. I'm glad she's joining yet another fundraising effort, and is challenging herself for the 25 mile ride. That means I have to work on her bike!
I was able to go visit Leon, Sandy, and Jeannie with Eric and Melanie over this weekend for ALS night at the Ft Myers Miracles baseball game. It was a good time. I always enjoy visiting with Leon. He and all of Jessica's family, has made me feel like one of the gang from day one. I'm a better person for knowing all of them.

by Jordan Dominy on Mon, Aug 10, 2009 @ 11:12 AM

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Training Begins
Or I suppose I should say that it has begun. Leon told me about the Tour de Vie at the end of June, and I've taken my time registering for the ride because I needed some time to gauge interest among family and friends re: captaining a team or riding individually. It looks like I will have a enough for a team, which I am very excited about.
At any rate, I've been working on going for a ride three days a week. My longest ride so far has been 42 miles, or roughly 68 km, so a little over two thirds of the metric century. I'm confident that I will be ready for the Tour de Vie by the time 7 November rolls around.
As my references to Lou Gehrig may reveal, I am a rabid baseball fan, as is Leon and most of our family and friends. So I'll take this moment to say GO RAYS!

by Jordan Dominy on Thu, Aug 06, 2009 @ 6:18 PM

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