Its the little things that make it all better

I suffer from tinnitus or more commonly known as ringing of the ears. It’s not an occasional thing; I have a constant high pitch noise in both ears. It’s kind of like that sound you have immediately after leaving a concert but it never goes away.
I am not sure when it started. I think that the first time I remember it not going away would be in basic training. We were doing a live fire exercise with simulated explosives. The objective was to move under fire and over various objects. We were to stop whenever a flare was shot in the air.


I don’t remember was I was doing but some point throughout the day I lost my ear plugs. It’s not that I wouldn’t have been able to get another pair but I would have been forced to do some push-ups and would have been made fun of for a while. So I just proceeded without them. Just my luck a flare went up, I stopped next to a simulated explosive barrel that went off and I couldn’t hear for about 2 hours.


After that there were several times that I didn’t have hearing protection working on a rifle range, or driving long distances in a truck. Eventually the ringing got louder and it just never went away.


It’s very annoying and it makes it hard to sleep when it is very quiet. I have to have something to drown out the noise at night, normally a fan, or the TV on. I really hate when there is a silence because I just hear that tone endlessly.
I am sure that you are wondering why I would put this on a blog about cycling. Well if you were thinking that then I am getting there.


I noticed 2 weeks ago on a group ride that more than half of the people had ear covers on. It was slightly chilly that morning so I guess that it made sense. Then I started thinking; my ears never bother me when I am riding. I actually enjoy the sound of the wind swooshing past. It is one of very few sounds that drown out the ringing.


It does a better job than anything else that I have tried even headphones. When I ride with headphones there is normally a 3 second transition between songs where the ringing comes back. If it’s a bad song or it pauses accidentally then I have to listen to the ringing because the headphones block the wind.


I guess it’s good to know the little things that you enjoy about a sport. So even when I am dangling off the back of a group of guys way faster than myself I can enjoy the absences of the ringing.

First post of the Year

It’s a new year and I am ready for the race season. It’s almost that time and I am ready for it to get here already. January has been a busy month. We started the New Year in Las Vegas, then I started school back up, and we had Ethan’s birthday party last weekend. I was sick this past weekend and I have already had one Saturday class this semester with the follow up to that this coming Saturday.


None the less I have managed to get in some descent mileage to date. So far I have ridden 138 miles, compared to just 5.5 miles last January. I joined the race team in Murrieta and I have been training with them at least once per week and I really feel like I am improving all around.’


I have continued to lose weight and I am now down to 189 pounds. That means that I am only 9 pounds away from my goal. I want to add some more muscle and strengthen my core more. I am positive that I will be able to reach my goal this year.


Now the good stuff, the Christmas gifts. I wasn’t sure what to expect for Christmas but I primarily asking for things for my bike. I would have been happy with anything but I asked for the things I have really wanted but just didn’t want to pay for.


I got a Fizik Antares saddle. It’s a great saddle for people like me who move all over the seat while riding. I ride in a lot of different positions depending on the terrain and what I am trying to do. Sometimes I am forward drafting or getting aero other times I am sitting way back sprinting or climbing. The seat is perfect for that kind of movement.




I also got the speedplay zero pedals. I already had the x-5 model but I wanted the zero. You can adjust how much movement AKA float there is on each pedal and you can clip into either side. I really like them a lot, they are a little harder (requires more pressure) to clip in and out of than the lower models. I think that it’s because they are designed for racing where you aren’t clipping in and out all the time.



My first race is February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day. I am a little nervous about the race because I am not getting in the amount of training that I would like to. I have class this Saturday and then the following weekend I am going to be in Dallas for the Super Bowl. The weekend after that is the race. I am sure that I will do fine but I would feel a little more comfortable with some more time in the saddle or TITS as I learned on my ride two weeks ago.