That time of the year again....

If you want to really know what AIDS/Lifecycle is like, read The Ride:  How to ride your bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles without even dying  by Russ Mendivil- past ALC rider/participant ( now a staff member of ALC).

I met Russ on his first ride training for ALC 4.  From that time on he kept a journal of his adventures training for the Ride.  It is an excellent way to find out what training for the ride has in store for you.

All proceeds from the sale of Russ' book goes toward ALC.  You can find out more by going to The Ride Story  and I'll bet if you send Russ an email at meanolddaddy@aol.com he'll even sell you an autographed one.

It is truly an entertaining (not to mention hilarious) account of The Ride, and what you are about to embark upon.

.....no, really!

The Ride

Every year I start this blog all over again, talking about The Ride (AIDS/LifeCycle for those of you just tuning in) and giving pointers on how to approach it all. Things I wished that people had written about when I first started training to do my first Ride (ALC 2 in 2003). I have ridden the ride 6 times so far, so I think I have some good ideas about what to expect!

So let me think.... First off- if you can afford to, buy 7 pairs of cycling shorts between now and May 31st. You don't have to buy all seven pairs right now, but maybe a pair a month or a pair every six weeks or so.

There will be laundry buckets on the ride, where you can hand wash your laundry but keep in mind that a pair of cycling shorts with a nice padding will take longer than overnight to dry. In fact it will likely take about 3 days to fully dry out.

Have a birthday between now and May 31st? Ask for money, OR ask for cycling shorts. You can skimp on other things (like jerseys or socks or jackets), but shorts are the most important item (in my humble opinion).

Training Rides.  Start riding NOW.

In 2003, I began my training at the beginning of February.  I gotta say that was cutting it pretty close!  From the first weekend in February through the last weekend in May, I rode my bike both Saturday and Sundays.  Since I was about 25 lbs overweight, the pace was slooow  and I was out almost all day on both Saturday and Sundays.  I met some of my best friends on those training rides.  To this day we either all still participate in the ride in some form or another. There were 5 women and one very brave guy (Patrick Wilson, who is now massage team captain) and we called ourselves "Five Chicks and a Dude".

We all taught each other how to fix  a flat, and never let anyone get left behind (thus our "no one gets left behind" motto).  We have all seen each other at our WORST (think Day 4 aka "cranky bitch day") and at our BEST, and I remember that first year of training like it was yesterday.

Come out, ride a ride, make a friend and then the following weekend do it all again.  And if you're feeling lonely and want some company (and you're local!).  Give me a call, I'll come out and ride with you! :-)

A little of this and that...

Ok, I admit I have been remiss in keeping up with this blog, but I will try and do better now that things are a little less hectic! (HA!)
Today I rode with the Saturday CAT 2 gang (see pictures to the left). I happened to take a look at my odometer before we left and noticed that I had only about 8 miles to go until my bike odometer rolled over 27,000 miles!

It's not every day you get to celebrate the fact that your legs have taken you over 27,000 miles on a bike. That's like what? A time and a half around the world?