The NAS project I started awhile ago was settled when we picked the Netgear ReadyNAS line. Or so I thought. The issue was recently reopened when our HQ turned on mandatory SMB Signing and "broke" our NAS units out in the field. I was tasked to come up with a fix and that is where it got complicated.

When we noticed the new security standard had been added to our Group Policies, we contacted HQ and asked for it to be turned off. This prompted them to ask questions about our field setup. Unfortunately, our HQ really doesn't understand our requirements and think we all live in a perfect world with a datacenter in the same building and WAN connectivity.

Read more: NAS Project Update

My teammates and I rode over 100 miles last Saturday in the Moab Century Ride. It was tough, but our training really did prepare us for success. Nothing can match the emotion of watching our team cross the finish line with our Team Hero and other cancer survivors leading us in. It is a moment I will cherish the rest of my life.

I want to thank everyone that has made a contribution.  So far, I have raised just over $2,000 and we have until October for me to reach my goal of $2,500. I am also pleased to announce that the Rocky Mountain team raised over $55,000 and that all of the participants at the Moab event raised over $483,000 for cancer survivorship programs.

I started this season with 0 miles on a road bike, and hadn’t even ridden any type of bicycle in years. With the help of our coach and my teammates, I slowly built up the strength to do 100 miles. But I learned that the biggest part of this challenge was mental. There were many doubts in my mind in the early parts of the season, but I always just looked to others for inspiration.

Sometimes it was my teammates that inspired me with stories about loved ones fighting cancer. Several of my teammates are survivors and that was truly inspiring to see. But I was always most inspired by my own Dad. He showed me what courage and perseverance can do. 

On the trip to Moab, I carried one of my Dad’s business cards. It had the title of Product Design Engineer. It may not seem hugely glamorous, but it made me proud to carry that. My Dad was an orphan and did not have the opportunity to even finish high school. But he studied on his own and learned the skills to be an engineer. That challenge and the others I saw my Dad face are what truly inspired me.

My Dad did not get to see me finish 100 miles in his honor because of Leukemia. But I had him in my thoughts the whole day. I imagined myself telling him about it after crossing the finish line. I could hear him say, “I knew you would do it.” And that sums it up. My Dad always encouraged me to set my goals high, and when I achieved them, he didn’t act surprised.

Read more: We did it!

This week we were scheduled to take a “taper” ride. After weeks of long miles and lots of climbing, the idea was to taper off the effort so we would be ready for Moab on September 17th. As we assembled in the Target parking lot in Glendale, our coach made a joke about doing Lookout. I responded that we should do it, and we did.

Coach says he wasn’t planning on doing Lookout again until I said I wanted to, but I don’t believe him. As a fellow teammate says, “Steve is a mean, mean man.” Of course, we are really just teasing about this. Steve like to push us, but it is just to get us ready for the 105 miles in Moab.

Yep, I did say 105 miles. This year, the 100 mile course does not include the challenge of the Big Nasty. Because our Team Hero (Mark Williams) was adamant about doing the Big Nasty, Steve and Mark contacted the event organizers to find a way. Now, the whole team has the option of combining the 65 mile Big Nasty course with the 40 mile River Cruise for a 105 miler. Most of our team is going for the 105 mile Big Nasty option and we feel prepared after the climbing we have been doing for the past couple of months.

Read more: Team Ride #17 - Taper Ride - 48 miles

It is now crunch time as I prepare for my 100 mile bike ride to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It has only been 4 short months since I signed up to become a cyclist and help fundraise for LLS, and our grand finale is only 11 days away. On September 17th, I hope to say I have successfully completed the 100 mile bike ride in Moab, Utah, and raised over $2500 to help beat cancer.

We have completed 16 team training rides and I have already raised $2,000 for LLS. I know I can now complete the 100 mile ride, but it is up to you if I can raise the final $500.

When I first signed up, I thought both goals were rather lofty. I hadn’t ever ridden a road bicycle and I had never attempted to raise that much money for a charity. But my health and this cause are important enough to me that I just went for it.

Read more: Crunch Time

Well, the so-called Loop of Hell is done. Yes, it was tough, but it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. Of course, the fact that it was only 44 miles might have helped.

This ride goes by several names. Many people call it the Squaw Pass Loop, while our coach likes to call it the “‘Scuze me while I kiss the sky” ride. TNT alumni just call it the Loop of Hell. The reason for this is that the ride starts at 7,500 feet and climbs to about 11,250 feet. Not only is that a good bit of climbing, but altitude starts to become a factor. At 11,000 feet, you literally have only about 2/3rds of the oxygen you would have at sea level. Of course, being from Denver, the change isn’t quite as bad as coming from sea level, but it is still quite a bit of difference.

Another factor that made this ride a little different was the temperature. I think it was about 49 degrees when we started out. We all were wearing some extra gear in an effort to stay warm, and once we hit our first climb between Idaho Springs and Evergreen, we got warmn very quickly. The rest of the day our body temps cycled between warm and chilly as we went up and down hills and in and out of the shade.

After last weeks ride with varying terrain, roads and scenery, this one was pretty much all the same. We had a little bit of a downhill and one nice hill to get to the outskirts of Evergreen. We turned right on to Squaw Pass Road, and then it was climbing through mountainous forest for 15 miles. The incline wasn’t too steep, but it was just long.

Read more: Team Ride #16 - Loop of Hell - 44 miles

On our first ride back in May, we started out with the TNT Tahoe cycling team as they embarked on their own Tour of Denver. Many of us remember thinking, I can’t believe these people are about to ride 85 miles around Denver when I don’t feel ready for 10. Well, on Saturday, it was our turn to do the Tour of Denver.

The Tour of Denver is a TNT Rocky Mountain chapter tradition. It is the longest training ride before the teams head out to their event. We start in Glendale, head out to Golden, go over Lookout, circle around on the 470 loop to Jordan Road, and then back to Glendale. It is a good preview of what a Century ride will feel like.

Read more: Team Ride #15 - Tour of Denver - 85 miles

After several weeks with lots of climbing, this week our team took a break with a pretty flat ride. The only climb was real short one up to Carter Lake. Surprisingly, there was also a nice decent and I reached my new personal best top speed of 48mph!

Because the ride was relatively flat, I don’t have any tidbits of painful climbs, but there were some notable parts of this ride. The first part was a slight decline and we were able to establish some nice pacelines. At one point, our route overlapped the course for the Tour de Cure (American Diabetes Association). It was neat seeing other riders that were out on 13, 31, 62, or 100 mile rides. I have to admit, it also felt great that I was a lot faster than some of them.

Read more: Team Ride #14 - Carter Lake - 68 Miles

On Saturday, our Denver group traveled to Colorado Springs to ride with the other half of our team. I had been looking forward to this ride because I knew it would be scenic. We were scheduled to hit Cheyenne Canyon, Garden of the Gods and the Air Force Academy.

As usually, we were scheduled to roll out at 8am. And as usual, we were a few minutes late getting started. Most of the time it doesn’t matter, but this time it caused us to change our route. A “fun run” had started and headed out on our preselected course. To avoid the joggers, we changed our route and headed out on the streets.

After cruising through Colorado Springs, we quickly made our way to Cheyenne Canyon. This climb is relative short at 3.5 miles, but has a couple of pretty steep jaunts. For the first time, I tried sucking down an energy gel right at the beginning of the climb. I’m not sure if it made much difference, the climb was still pretty tough. I didn’t watch my speed up the mountain, but my goal was just not to stop. As I approached Helen Hunt Falls, I knew I was nearly done, and I heard cheering from a few teammates that were already at the top. That gave me the motivation to work through the last 2 switchbacks and top the mountain. It was a great feeling and I felt the climb was actually easier then I had feared.

After another quick decent, we made our way over to Ridge Road and into the Garden of the Gods. This is a beautiful area, but the rolling terrain made it a bit difficult to ride. As I sat waiting at one intersection trying to read our map, most of the team caught up with me and pointed me in the right direction. This is when I also learned Jennifer was having a tough ride. She was having knee and back pain which made every hill even more painful.

Read more: Team Ride #13 - Colorado Springs - 60 miles

This week we cranked up the mileage and the climbing. We started at the familiar Park-N-Ride near Santa Fe and C470. The temps were suppose to be in the upper 90s so we rolled out early.

We quickly rode over to the Chatfield Damn and then out on Deer Creek Canyon Road. This time, instead of heading up toward High Grade, we took a right and rode past Lockheed before looping around to the 470 loop again. There were a couple of short climbs on this first segment, but nothing too bad.

After our first SAG (Support And Gear) stop, the climbing began. The first one came as a shock to me. We left the SAG, rode a short way and then made a right turn. That’s when a short but steep climb appeared. I noticed the chattering between teammates quickly ended as everyone began breathing hard on that first short climb.

Read more: Team Ride #12 - Aspen Grove to Lookout - 65 miles

Another week and another ride I was dreading. My wife and friends had told me how difficult the long climb up High Grade feels. Climbing is always tough and this ride included a long 11.5 mile climb.

This week, we were also in a time crunch. We were volunteering at a fundraiser in the afternoon and needed to be done quickly. We got to our team meeting point and did our best to get ready quickly. Jennifer and I headed out a few minutes before the rest of the team to try and ensure we could finish in time for the fundraiser.

Read more: Team Ride #11 - High Grade