"yeah, I blog"

2011-12-31T12:27:00.000-08:00

When I first started this blog, it was right after I had been blogging for AIDS/LifeCycle 4 in 2005 and I was a little addicted to writing. In time this addiction fell off, although my thoughts never did. Every morning in the shower I have thoughts that I think I really should write down, but never get around to doing it. It's now almost seven years later and I'm gonna try to start this up again.

I don't blog for you to see, I blog for me to get it off my mind. Sometimes what I think won't be so nice and really I don't care. I'm not here because I want you to comment on anything, I'm here to write what I am currently thinking. Sometimes it won't make sense, sometimes it will. Sometimes I'll have correct grammar and spelling, sometimes I won't. If your read it or not really doesn't matter.

My sister died of lung cancer a year ago October. It was a hit that I was not ready for, nor was anyone else in my family. It made me think of life, what moves people- what drives people and what makes people die, or want to die. It also made me strongly realize what I don't want around me in my life and that's negative stuff that puts out negative energy.

Easy to say of course, but much harder to keep out. I try to stay away from people who constantly swear and use the f-bomb, for instance, because for me that hits me as negative energy. Although the other person could care less and doesn't see it that way, I do care that the energy comes to me that way and so I will try my best to politely avoid it when I can. I try to stay away from worry, especially of things I cannot do anything about or cannot directly affect. I smile and laugh even when I may not be so happy, because I know that action for me, will make me happy.

This is probably why I was so drawn to AIDS/LifeCycle that first year and wanted to make it a part of my life. For the past almost 10 years I have surrounded myself with folks who for the most part are always upbeat, happy and striving for a successful goal most of the year. When folks become negative, unhappy or depressed I simply stay away. I've found that when I try to help, it rather brings me down and pulls out my negativeness which is not where I want to be.

That's me. Take it or leave it.

I anticipate that this Ride, ALC 11 will be my tenth and my last to ride. There are other things I want to do in the world, other goals to attain, other jobs to do. Don't hold me to this though, I have been known to change my mind a few times. There are other groups of people out there who I want to engage with, and contrary to popular belief cycling is not necessarily my first love, my family is my first love and hanging with them is actually my favorite thing to do these days. In time I'm sure I'll find even more people to engage with that I will also enjoy.

My mother is now 90 years old and she and I know that our time together is precious and limited, so we laugh and make fun of each other as much as we can. She annoys the hell out of me, but she is not negative--- ok her opinion filters are gone which means she says what she thinks out loud--- but she, like I try to laugh and every stupid thing in life. I try not to let her dwell on sad things, and keep her matter of fact whenever I can. I'm sure I annoy her just as much.

The season for ALC training is upon us. I lead a training ride on Fridays from the Golden Gate Bridge to points north. I still remember growing up in San Jose, and not even knowing that there was anything on the other side of that bridge, and now I live there.

Another Year... Another Ride... Another Job.

2010-07-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize that I had abandoned this blog...over a year ago! Okay well I promise to pick it up again so that you can all know what I'm up to.

More on the days to come...

2009-05-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

Day 3- QUADBUSTER and of course the BBQ lunch in the town of Bradley... Quadbuster... a long hill. Not steep but a steady climb. Its actually one of the more fun climbs because all along the way there are people cheering you on up the hill. Enjoy it. The first time I rode, I burst into tears when I got to the top as everything I had trained for brought me to that point. (little did I know I'd have more tearful goals reached that week).

Day 3 is also the day we ride on Highway 101. YES, THE FREEWAY. Keep this in mind: you may NOT pass another rider unless you are both well within the white line. And the road on the shoulder totally sucks with deep cracks and buckles in the asphalt. So PAY ATTENTION and listen for someone saying "on your left" because you'll need to move over to the right for them. NO ONE MAY PASS OUTSIDE THE WHITE LINE. And if you are going to pass then SHOUT : "ON YOUR LEFT" BEFORE YOU GET TO THEM so they have time to mover over.

It's funny, once you climb Quadbuster you think your all done for the day.LOL! Day 3 is usually a very warm day, right now it's forecast for 85 to 90 degrees so wear layers and plan accordingly.

Day 4- Paso Robles to Santa Maria: This is the day we reach the halfway point in our ride. The pull off for taking a picture with the "halfway to L.A." sign is on the left side of the highway so be extremely careful when you pull off. Unofficially, many people stop in Cayucos for coffee (or if you get there 'round 11:30 you can have burgers and fries as it comes just before the lunch stop). Also on Day 4 is an unofficial stop in Pismo Beach for World Famous Cinnamon Rolls. I used to stop and eat a cinnamon roll and iced coffee so that I would BLAZE through the rest of the route. Just remember that, THAT kind of sugar rush drops with a thud.. so make sure you still stop at each rest stop to grab a small snack.

Thoughts per day...

2009-05-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

Day Zero aka Orientation Day: don't get there at the break of dawn, or even at 10am when we start. It's waaay too crowded and will annoy the heck out of you. Come around noon or 1 (in fact be sure to eat first!). The lines are the worst first thing in the morning. Do, however, be sure to give yourself at least 2-3 hours to get it all done (depending on what your E-ticket says we still need from you). Bring along some water too, not a bad idea to start pre-hydrating before Day 1!! If you have additional donations to bring, then print up your donor forms (they're in your participant center!), make sure you have one or each donor and have them all filled out ahead of time. This will save you from having to fill each one out while you're there. And no, the pledge office will not do it for you.

Day 1: DO get there BEFORE the crack of dawn. Give you bag to your gear truck roadie but make sure you have EVERYTHING you'll need for that days ride like: your cycling shoes, gloves, sunglasses, water bottles, etc.

Stretch!

Eat something... you will likely get up at oh, say 4am or earlier? You'll eat breakfast then and by the time we ride out (7 or so) you will be hungry again. Bring a little snack (I bring PB& J sandwich) to eat just before ride out.

BE PATIENT!

Day 1 is the only day that all 2300+ of you will be riding out at the same time. This means you need to pace yourself and do not get all hot and bothered about going too slow!! I have seen many an accident happen in the first 12 miles of the ride because people get all freaked out about riding too slow. ... better to ride too slow than to not ride at all because of a broken collarbone!! I'm SERIOUS!!

Stop to take pictures often!! For some of you this will likely be the first and last time you'll ride your bike from SF to LA, you might as well have some proof to show the grandkids!

PACE YOURSELF! it's only Day 1 and you have to have some energy for Day 2, which is one of the longer mileage days of the week! The route does not close until 7pm (hint- the later you are, the shorter the lines are for the shower!).

Think about this: pack a little compact totebag (the kind that fold up into themselves- most sporting goods stores sell them) or a fishnet bag-- some small bag that will fit into your seatbag, or fit into your jersey pocket. At the end of the day you can use that bag to carry your water bottles, helmet, gloves, sunglasses, etc with you without having to juggle it all when you go over to the truck to get your gear. ALSO A GOOD HINT- PUMP YOUR TIRES NOW, instead of in the morning. You WILL lose a little air over night, but not much. In the morning, the line for the pumps will be hella long. Some folks wait until rest stop 1 to pump their tires, but its been my experience that even there the pump line is long (and they have less pumps to go around).

Walk over to your gear truck, grab your bag and your tent (unless your tentmate already has) and find your spot on the grid. Set up your tent. It's easy and fast and if you ask anyone around you they will be glad to help, I promise!

Grab something to snack on from Camp Services (they will have all of the leftover snacks from the rest stops). Eat something while you wait in line for the shower, or better yet- go eat first (dinner starts serving at 4 and goes til 9) and then go take a shower. Again, the shower lines are shorter later. But be sure to eat because otherwise you could bonk while standing in the shower!

Get to the dining tent for evening announcements every night at 7:30. There will be information you'll need to know for the next days ride, as well as some pretty special announcements.

Day 2- Especially TODAY, plan to get up EARLY and get on the road when the route opens at 6:30!! It is Monday morning, and we are trying to get out of Santa Cruz along with all of the Monday morning commuters!! Again, be PATIENT!!

Today there is an unofficial stop in Castroville for artichokes! It is a tradition that folks stop there to have either deep fried or steamed artichokes. My advice? Go with the steamed artichokes. They are ready to go, there are no lines for them, they are better for you and hell, they won't come back to visit you at mile fifty like the deep fried ones will....

Also day 2- an Otter Pop & water stop at the Mission Soledad. Be sure to go in and check out the Mission, it is quite a beautiful place.

Also to note-- the winds will likely be crazy: headwinds, tailwinds, crosswinds and the rider in front of you breakin' wind... from those deep fried artichokes I tell ya!

more to follow.... I'm gettin' sleepy!

What? How? Where?

2009-05-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

Keep in mind, this is my personal blog... my annoyingly picky comments are my own....

First off let me just say... most of the answers to your ALC 8 questions are in your Participant Center, or on the main page of aidslifecycle.org . But here are some FAQ's I seem to be getting regularly these days:

1) What happens if I don't raise the minimum by Orientation Day? Well, you have some choices: a) don't ride b) put up a Donation Guarantee on your own (again- see your participant center for the details on the donation guarantee program) c) fund the rest entirely yourself (without doing the donation guarantee). You must have $3k in your account on Orientation Day or you may not ride on ALC 8.

2) Do my donors get a refund if I don't ride? No. This is a fundraising ride, they are not "paying you" to ride, they are donating money to the SF AIDS Foundation and you needed to fundraise a certain amount of money to do this ride. This is a tax deductible donation too, by the way.

3) If I have already made my minimum and I have more than $3k in my account, can I transfer funds to another rider? Once the money is posted to your account, it is your fundraising dollars and funds not transferable. C'mon people, its about raising lots of money for a very important cause!! Everyone should be working hard to raise their own money...

However, if someone hands you a check made out to ALC... you could consider giving that physical check to someone else... but just remember that anyone who donates money to YOU thinks that they are donating to YOU. They will get a donation thank you letter from the Foundation thanking them for making a donation to XYZ Rider, if that money is not posting to your YOUR account then they will get a letter thanking them for their donation to that person you gave the check to... does that make sense?

4) How do I get a tent assignment? Well, you can do it online if you raise your minimum $3k by May 15th. Once you hit the minimum, a notice will show up in your Participant Center (there's that word again!) If you have a tentmate in mind, then if they are at $3k too, you can do online tenting. If not, then you will need to go to Tent Assignment on Orientation Day (aka Day Zero)

5) How big are the tents? 8' x 8'

6) How do I get home? You are responsible for getting yourself home from the Ride. If you are in SF and want to ship your bike back to SF, you can do so via McCollister's. Information on bike shipping can be found in the Travel Planner (again, that's in your Participant Center). If you are in L.A and need to ship you bike up to SF for the start, again my suggestion is to use McCollister's.

7) What is Red Dress Day? Red Dress day is a special day where all riders wear something red on Day 5. With all of us riding the hills between Santa Maria and Lompoc, we look like one big red AIDS ribbon. It's quite a sight! Wearing red is not mandatory, but I will tell you the first year I wore pink because I didn't own anything red and I still felt pretty out of place!

8) Packing? Your sleeping bag, pad (or air mattress) and all of your gear needs to fit into one bag that cannot exceed 50lbs (okay really its more than that, but do your gear truck roadies a favor and try not to exceed 50lbs). It's easier if your bag is on wheels, but again not mandatory if you are ok lugging it from one spot in camp to another. Each camp is set up differently so you never know how far your gear truck will be from your tent grid.

9) Weird things I pack? A cheapie shower cap to put over my seat at night while its in bike parking. Parking is outdoors so you will get quite a bit of dew on your bike. Also I carry a little collapsible tote bag (it folds down to about 2"x3" and has a keyhook on it - sportsbasement carries them) that fits in my seatbag. At the end of the day, I open up the tote and put my helmet, gloves, and water bottles into it so its easier for me to carry around... from there I go over to the truck to get my gear bag so I don't want to be trying to carry all of my crap in my helmet hoping that it won't fall out and be lost!

10) What if I can't ride every mile? Then get off your bike and take a sweep to the next rest stop and from the rest stop wait for the SAG bus to pick you up and take you to camp! Don't hurt yourself trying to be the martyr and ride every mile. You have already raised three thousand dollars!! you are already a hero!!

that's it for now... or at least all that I can think of for now.

Sample Fundraising Letter...

2009-04-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a copy of a fundraising email I sent out last year, just after Tax Day... feel free to plagiarize whatever you need to finish up on your fundraising.

Hi Everyone! Happy New Tax Year! (I'm sure you're now looking for a good deduction?)

Once again I will be riding 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles in AIDS/Lifecycle 7. This is my annual "annoy you to ask for a donation" email, the first of a few to ask for a (tax deductible!) donation to my goal of $5,000.

The past year has been a difficult one for my very good friend, Michael F.- who is a cycling buddy and also a Positive Pedaler. After years of taking the same meds and maintaining a decent number of T-cells, and having the ability to ride his bike from SF to LA TWICE- he has recently had to be hospitalized and his t-cell count has gotten dangerously low. He is now on a new cocktail of pills and they are hoping to get him on the mend ("and back on his bike too, damnit!" he says) soon.

That is only one of the reminders of why I choose to ride each year. Not only for those whom I remember, but for those who are the face of AIDS and HIV in my life.

Now remember someone you have lost, or think of that great person you know who struggles with HIV. Chances are you know someone, or know someone who knows someone. That is how widespread AIDS still is. Young people in the U.S are at persistent risk for HIV infection, especially youth of minority races and ethnicities.

Your donation to my AIDS/Lifecycle Ride will go directly to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in support of the services it provides both locally and globally.

Thanks in advance for even considering it for a moment!

Please donate here:

What to pack it all in....

2009-04-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

This is the bag I have used the past 6 ALC rides. Well, ok the first 4 years it was this bag in purple, and then the last 2 years it was this actual bag... with my monogram (Brown) on it!

Your bag must weigh no more than 70 lbs (but hey, please don't stuff it just because you're allowed 70lbs!) and hold your clothing for 7 days, your sleeping bag and your pad (thermarest or air mattress). You COULD tie your sleeping bag to the outside of your bag, but with a bag this big you won't need to.

This particular bag is the Rolling Adventure Duffle from LL Bean. In Extra Large, it is $99.50 so be sure that you are planning to use it a few more times to make it worth your while.

Packing: Start looking for 2 gallon ziploc bags. I use 1 bag for each day of cycling clothing- my shorts, jersey, sport bra, socks and bandana. At the end of each day, my stinky clothes go into the ziploc bag, and my clothes for the next day go into my sleeping bag so that my body heat can keep the clothes warm for the next morning, when I have to put them on before daybreak. At the end of the week, the ziploc bags all get emptied directly into my washing machine (eeeeuuuuww!)

Wondering about more? Stay tuned, or drop me an email to ask me!

To find out all there is to know...

2009-03-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

We've scheduled many ALC Meet & Greets this month! The first one this month is at the new Trek Store in Santa Rosa- Wednesday night 6:30pm.

Then, the next night Thursday March 5th we'll be at Mike's Bikes in Sacramento... with another in Marin at the Mike's Bikes in San Rafael.

And there are more, but its easier if you just take a look at the ALC Event Calendar to check out the dates and time!

We'll be reviewing everything you need to know about the Ride- logistics, packing,showers, shipping your bike to or from and much more so come on out and be sure to attend! There will be only one meet and greet in each of the regions (North Bay, Sac, Marin, Peninsula, East Bay, South Bay, and Santa Cruz)

Get all those questions answered quickly!!

2009-02-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

If you are an ALC Participant with so many questions it would take a very long email to me.... try getting onto the ALC Discussion Forum!

There is a huge list of topics that have been covered throughout the years... and lately folks on there just trying to ask "What's the Ride like?". Take a look, feel free to post a question because chances are you'll get several replies!

Before I was ALC staff, I was on there daily answering questions, posting my own comments and opinions. Since I'm on staff I can't post, but my old comments and opinions are still there! This Forum is for you, so don't hesitate in using it!

You can CLICK HERE to join!

That time of the year again....

2009-01-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-01-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

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?

Aerobically Sobering...

2008-12-29T21:17:00.000-08:00

That's what Marybeth called our ride yesterday and man I would have to agree. I have been entirely sedentary during the week, which means that on the weekend when I jumpstart my heart it goes into overdrive, even on a relatively easy ride. Not good,not good at all...

MB, Annette, Michael, Matt and I set out on a ride from home to China Camp, intending to then come thru Fairfax and head over to Lagunitas for lunch. It was not to be. Once in Fairfax (about mile 19) MB, Annette and I decided that was it. My legs were tired, but really my heart rate was jumping sky high even on the flats. I've got to ease back into this again.... Michael and Matt rode on to Lagunitas (after our stop at Fat Angel, of course)

Annette, Michael and Matt are good at hitting the gym a few times during the week. MB and I, well we can easily talk ourselves out of getting to a gym which is what has been happening for the past month or two (for me, at least). My aerobic base is all but gone, and I will have to start working on it at the gym again.... .... its what I do every year. You'd think I'd learn!

So for those of you getting ready to start training for ALC for the first time (or again after a 6 month hiatus) I'm with ya all the way... huffing and puffing too!

Aerobically Sobering... when you realize your fitness is on Christmas Vacation too.

We're All In this Together...

2008-12-18T13:50:00.001-08:00

2008-12-12T23:49:00.000-08:00

"I didn't just jump back on the bike and win. There were a lot of ups and downs, good results and bad results, but this time I didn't get the lows get to me" -Lance Armstrong

Fundraising... how much goes where?

2008-12-03T21:27:00.000-08:00

Many times people will ask me how much of the money raised for AIDS/LifeCycle goes to paying for the event itself. If you check out this page on the ALC website, it will give you the breakdown for AIDS LifeCycles 1 thru 6 (ALC 7 has not been fully audited yet).

Basically, if you take a look at ALC 6, the Cost of Fundraising was 33.5%, meaning that about 66.5% of the money raised went to the Beneficiaries (either the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, or the SF AIDS Foundation).

What's great about this money, is that unlike a lot of the money received from the government, the Beneficiaries can use those funds the way they deem appropriate. Many times the money received from the government has to be used a specific way.

Money raised by all of us is money without any strings attached!

Fall Crawl #4

2008-11-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I FINALLY had the chance to get on my bike and ride. I had not been on my bike since the Seismic Challenge in October. These days my body can really tell when I have not been active... it feels like I'm draggin' along a pile of mush. For some reason in November and December I'm not motivated to get out and move, at the gym, outdoors, nowhere! So I always depend on ALC training rides to get me moving through those months. Luckily Logan had asked for co-leaders for his Fall Crawl series, a Category 1 paced ride (about 8-10mph) and I volunteered for it a few weeks ago. This forced me to get out.

Logan stretching

I'm glad I did too! I got to meet a whole bunch of new people, some of them my own riders (I am their Cycle Buddy). In addition, I ran into a whole lot of familiar faces out on the road (not riding ALC rides, but riding on their own). It was a beautiful day for riding, not too cold not too hot. I swept the first leg of the ride from SB to Mikes. I really didn't have anybody to "sweep" since everyone was riding at a pretty good clip. So at Mikes, I asked Damon if he was ready to roll and he was so we took off for the Tiburon loop together. It was nice riding with other people, and Damon and I had the chance to catch up on things. (Damon was one of my running partners when I trained for the SF Marathon in 2007).

The time passed quickly and soon we were at Shark's Deli where the group stopped for a quick lunch. I had a bagel dog, chatted with folks for bit then got back on my bike and led a small group back to Mike's, our final re-grouping point. James complained of his shifter not working correctly (new bike too) and so we took him into Mike's for a quick adjustment to his dereailleur. They adjusted it quickly (I Love Mike's Bikes for that!) and we were back on the road on our final leg back to SB.

Everyone arrived between 12:30 and 1:15 and no one got left behind. It was a great ride, a first ride for Kimberly who was out on her first official training ride and did fantastic!

After that, Annette and I stopped at Comfort's in San Anselmo for some good lunch!

Note to self (and you): Get out and ride whenever you can in a group... it make it much more enjoyable!

A New President!

2008-11-04T21:46:00.001-08:00

President-Elect Barack Obama. Waay cool.

I have to tell you, not only am I excited that we'll have a President of color- (for those of you who don't know, I am Filipino) I'm REALLY more excited that he is so close to my age!

For so long, well ok actually since I was a kid, I always figured that Presidents were supposed to be at least 30-40 years older than me. And then when I eventually got old, that they would be 20-30 years younger.

Well I'll be!! Barack Obama is only about 1 year older than I am. I mean, I knew people in college who went to Punahou School in Honolulu at the same time he was there... ok that for me is really really weird. I mean he knows all about the late 70's and 80's-- disco, Qiana shirts and Angel Flight suits. He lived through that time at the same time as me and he is now President. Someone from MY actual generation is President!

I guess I'll just never think of myself as old enough to be President, so how could someone my age be?

Bouncing Bouncing...

2008-10-30T22:30:00.001-07:00

If you've tried to email me at work and it has bounced back, please feel free to email me at my personal email address... this is an intermittent problem that's been happening on our ALC email server and I would hate to miss your important emails! View my full profile (over there on the left side of the page) to get the address.

Kick Off to AIDS/LifeCycle 8!

2008-10-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was the official Kick Off to the ALC 8 Training Season! We met at 8am for a 38 mile ride to the Tiburon Loop and back. Then at 9;30 the 22 mile Mill Valley ride met and rode out at 10:15. Finally 25 or so folks hung around for the Beginner's Clinic, which was the very basics on what you need to know to start training for ALC8.

About 50 people came out to ride to Tiburon, and over 100 rode to Mill Valley and back. Everyone was back by 1:30pm for announcements (SF has over 1000 registrations for ALC 8 already) and of course a raffle for a bike, donated by the Sports Basement.

It was a busy day for me.... I was hoping to get to meet more of my riders, but my whole day was basically taken up with sending off rides and teaching new things. Not a problem, that's my favorite part! I didn't get to eat lunch til about 3pm though!

Our TRLs are busy posting rides to the ride calendar. You should be able to access the calendar by clicking here. Be sure to click on the month you want... and you can even filter the rides based on proximity to your zip code. Come out and ride, its really a blast and no one ever gets left behind!

Most weekends in November I'll be spending training the last group of TRLs (Training Ride Leaders) but Nov 22 I'll be out co-leading a ride with Logan, and in December I'll be out riding with you... providing its not still raining!

The Seismic Challenge

2008-10-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a ride!

We all met up on Friday morning in the parking lot of the Sports Basement. FInally around 10:15 2 busses arrived to take us up north to Ft. Bragg. The bus ride was fun, I sat with Charles, Jay and Barbara. We talked about the training, what we'd been doing lately, how nervous we were about the weekend. Soon it was close to noon and my stomach was growling....

Eventually we pulled into the town of Willits, where (surprise!) we boarded the Skunk Train for a ride through the redwoods on our way to Fort Bragg. That was an excellent trip! I was not really looking forward to hanging on a bus for hours on end, so being able to eat lunch and hang out on the train while chatting with others was just my speed.

Once we got to Ft. Bragg, we headed over to our motel for the evening. It was called the Beachcomber Inn. It was a nice little motel that sat right on the beach. In fact our deck looked right out at the soon to be setting sun.

I've got to add-- not everyone got to stay here at the cute Beachcomber Inn, just the top ten fundraisers! I must say it was quite nice to have a room to myself each night. I'm really not much fun after riding 100 miles in one day, so it was a good thing for all that I didn't have to share!

That evening, 17 of us shared a table at a little Italian restaurant and feasted on pasta and pizza. It was nice, and fun to get to know the other riders a little more.

Soon we were off to our hotels and into bed for a meet time Saturday morning of 6:15am! (yes it was still dark!) My cell phone alarm clock woke me up at 5:15 and I dragged myself up out of bed and got myself into cycling gear and made a little pot of coffee in the little coffee maker in my room. The brew was not Peets, but strong enough to get my pulse moving a bit quicker. I made my way downstairs at 6am and Jason was there with a shuttle van to take us to the start.

We stretched, ate some great baked goods and heard the safety speech. Soon, the sky started to lighten 'around 7:15am and we were off on the first leg of this epic ride!

I don't remember a whole lot of specifics about the route itself, except that it was very hilly. And even that is an understatement! The route started on Highway One in Fort Bragg, and continued all the way down Hwy 1 until we reached Jenner. There were two major climbs I remember, one at about mile 30 which was short but a bit of a wall. The other was at mile 90, my legs were so tired already from all the steep rolling hills, and I couldn't imagine climbing any more after rest stop 4. But climbing is what I did. The hills were steep in some places, but that also meant the downhills were AWESOME! If you like descending like I do, it was truly one of the best routes.

All in all I'd say that was one of the toughest routes I've done in my 6 years of riding. Do-able, but tough!

After making a left turn after Jenner, onto hwy 116 it was a ten mile ride into Guerneville where we spent the night. That was the longest 10 mile stretch, a cool down ride mind you, but when you've already ridden 98 miles it can be the most tiring, and dangerous if you're not careful.

We spent the night in Guerneville, exhausted but definitely ready for the next days riding.

Because of Niz' (my mom in laws) 70th birthday party scheduled for 1pm the next day, I cut my riding short on Sunday. I rode only 37 miles, from Guerneville into the town of Tomales where Mike picked me up. I got home, showered and headed over to the party.

Halfway thru the party, I asked Mike for the car keys so that I could sneak away and head on over to the Finish Line to see my co-riders come in to the end. It was about 5:30 by the time Cris C swept in the final rider. It was so fun to cheer everyone in.

It was truly a ride of Seismic proportions... and now I am Seismically tired, and have a Seismic appetite!

Oh, and I raised $7,001 and was the number TWO fundraiser for the weekend! woohoo!

A big ride and a little ride...

2008-10-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

Since I was a little freaked out about having this big 200 mile ride to do next weekend, and having not been on my bike for two weeks, I talked Barbara, Dave and Mike into riding a long ride this past Saturday...

We started from my house in San Anselmo, headed into West Marin and thru Nicasio, past the Cheese Factory, over Wilson Hill and into Petaluma for an early lunch at the Apple Box. After a brief re-fueling of food and then coffee at Peets, we headed west on Bodega Ave, hooked onto Tomales/Petaluma Road and headed over to Tomales bakery. Then, we headed south on highway 1 to Marshall, with a gnarly climb (at 57 miles into the ride, mind you) up the back side of the Marshall Wall- a route which I had never taken.

Now I know what to say when people ask me which direction I prefer. NEITHER.

The back side is steep climbs with some flats and downhills in between but not any easier than going in the other direction.

After Marshall we went back to the Cheese Factory (stopped for a snack) and then headed back down Nicasio retracing our path back home... with a stop at Scoop in Fairfax as a nice reward.

Total mileage: 87 miles. and man is my butt feeling every mile. The next day (Sunday), we did an easy 20 mile ride around Tiburon. Nice and short, but my legs are still sore.

I can't even imagine what its gonna feel like after next weekend...

The Shades of AIDS Lifecycle People...

2008-10-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

I love this picture....

It's basically the shade we all are by Labor Day, after a season of cycling... (ok, Marybeth doesn't change much!)

AIDS LifeCycle 7 Thank You BBQ

2008-09-29T21:44:00.001-07:00

Saturday was the annual "Thank You BBQ" for AIDS LifeCycle.... pictures are showing to your left

<--------------------------------

It was fun to see everyone, but a bummer that now that I am staff, I was not able to ride either of the rides, since there was work to be done. And yes-- I must work the week of the ride as a Staff Person as well, so no riding ALC8 for me. But Heck I still plan to have tons of fun!

Meanwhile... a month later...

2008-09-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

OMG, I can't believe its been over a month since I last wrote something out here!! Sorry about that (like you've been waiting with bated breath). Let's see what's happened since August?

I got a new job at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. I work in their AIDS LifeCycle Event department as a Cyclist Representative and Training Ride Program Coordinator. I started that job officially on September 2nd. September 1st we had a potluck & BBQ at my house to celebrate labor day (here's what that looked like:)

No, this is not me this is Barbara and her dog Selby...

then the following weekend we rode in Tour de Tahoe, a 72 mile bike ride around the lake! Here's what that looked like:

After that I've spent most of my weekends working (New TRL training) and riding in preparation for the Seismic Challenge which happens on October 18th & 19th. I think I have about 3 days free between now and that weekend. Three days left to train... wish me luck!

Acurantes Family Reunion

2008-08-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

I just returned from Nabas, Aklan Philippines (on the island of Panay) where I attended a family reunion for my mother's side of the family.

My mother comes from a family of 10. She and her older sister (my aunt Crasing- short for "Democracia") who is 91, are the only two siblings still around. My mother (Justicia- yes my aunt and my mother are named Justice and Democracy!), is 87 but still gets around pretty well.

We are an interesting group, us Acurantes. I am the youngest of my first cousins, the 2nd generation. My oldest cousin is 74. Yes is was sort of a weird, surreal trip but a lot of fun. Of course I found out that my "partying, social side" is part of the Acurantes gene. We all laugh a lot too and we pretty much all have the same sounding laugh. Now THAT part was weird! The third generation actually starts at around my age- confusing because those guys are my nephews and nieces although some of us are the same age!! THEN, some of my first cousins have grandchildren, which totally threw it all off.

So here is my mother and my aunt:

And here are my first cousins (along with spouses):

(that's me the coconut looking one in front lacking the official t-shirt)

and here are their kids and grandkids.

Is that nuts or what? I spent a whole week trying to figure out who was who and how we were related. Add to that the fact that I speak very very little Tagalog or Visayan (the local dialect) and you can imagine what the week was like! Actually, it was a whole lot of fun because all of my nieces and nephews were good party people.

I mean everyone speaks the same language over a bottle of San Miguel beer, right?

Interviews and Ear Infections...

2008-08-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

I'm going in to interview for this great job I found on Craigslist.

I'm sure it won't pay millions, but I think I'll enjoy it. The only problem is that I have acquired what I think is a nasty ear infection... I mostly feel it in my right gland and my neck, but its still not very comfortable. Normally not a problem for interviewing... but I'm flying to the Philippines on Monday night and it might be a problem then.

Yes I'm going to see my doctor this afternoon. :-0

The Seismic Challenge

2008-07-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

I'm doing it! I've registered to ride my 2nd SFAF fundraising ride, the Seismic Challenge! It is a 2 day, 200 mile ride down some of the most beautiful coastline in California- Fort Bragg- and then thru the Wine Country back to San Francisco. The best part? We stay in motels not tents! Hey I can ride 100 miles a day comfortably if I sleep in a real bed, no problem!

I'd really love your support in donating if that's possible. I can't comfortably go back to my ALC donors and ask for more money again... so I'm asking my Cycling Friends to do so.

You can read all about it HERE

Tour de Tahoe is September 7th!

2008-07-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

I've registered to do Tour de Tahoe

From what I've heard there is a small contingent of ALC riders registered to ride it as well so that should be a whole bunch of fun!

I've got access to a 4 bedroom house rental that sleeps 10 so if you wanna go and wanna bunk with me and a few other ALC'ers drop me a note! The more we can get to share, the cheaper the price per person for the weekend. The ride is Sunday Sept 7th and we are going up the 5th (Friday) and leaving on the 8th (Monday).

Think about it! It could be loads of fun!!

The Recap... Day Seven

2008-07-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Spent the last night at the Marriott in Ventura. Michael was deathly ill, fighting that cold that eventually everyone (including me) caught. I convinced him to stay in bed and miss the candlelight vigil so that he would feel good enough to ride Day 7. Good thing too because he was running a fever and coughing a whole lot.

Up at 5:00am and down to the Starbuck's kiosk in the lobby. I downed a muffin and an americano and headed back to camp. Yoichi and I were on a mission: get on the road and off of the PCH by 10am so as not to get dinged by the surfboards and beach-goers this year. We were on the road by 6:04 (route opened at 6am) and to the lunch stop by 9:30. Damn right we were on San Vincente by 11am and soon stopped at Le Pain Quotidien for a real lunch and to watch our riders go by.

Me and my lunch/breakfast- so happy to be off the PCH.

Yoichi and his lunch/breakfast

After hanging out at brunch with Sandy and Donald, we went ahead and continued down San Vincente to Peet's coffee where we met up with folks and I rang the cowbell for awhile.

Me, Eric, and Cris
(Eric was one of my first TR leaders when I started training for ALC2 in 2003!)
David, Me and Donald at Peet's

more cowbell
(weird how that light fixture ended up on my head!)

Soon we were back on our bikes and headed for the final ride into the VA Center in Brentwood.
The end of another successful AIDS LifeCycle!

The Recap.... Day Six

2008-06-30T10:42:00.001-07:00

BORING! Heck I don't even have pictures for that day.

I got the chance to ride with the Safety Team in the tan jeep with the "Safety Team" sign on it. Kathy Ketchum was driver and Jason Burdge was co-sheriff. By Day 6 everyone knew the drill. Everyone knew the expectation, and/or consequences of riding unsafely on the highway so really there were no real safety issues (ok a handful of stupid, arrogant riders but there are always a handful).

The only major backup was the exit into RS2 in the morning. Apparently Cal Trans was late in closing the lane for us to pass and our riders were held up for an extra 45 minutes. Eventually everyone got through and on down the road, but not before a rider decided to complain loudly (think temper tantrum).

So like what? We purposely did that to annoy just you. And we really enjoy that, really because you know its all about you... (virtual slap!)

I couldn't wait to get back on my bike the following day for the ride into the V.A. Center in Brentwood.... all that riding in the car stuff was just not very exciting.

The Recap.... Day Five

2008-06-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

Several of us bought the same dress so that we'd all be Flappers on Red Dress Day. The trouble was that we just couldn't all get together at the same time, so here are pictures of all the flappers on Red Dress Day:

David

John

Donald

Mark, Julie, Michael

Annette & Antonio
Cami
Barbara

I skipped the lunch stop and rode on into camp, getting there oh 'round 1pm. It was nice to shower without waiting in a line!

That evening TRLs took a group picture, but also the few of us who were "Wonder Riders" and "Super Riders" decided we needed to get a few shots as well!

Bill & Renny

Rich & Edna

Bill & Tabitha

Me, Chris E., Bill, Antonio & Annette.

The Recap... Day Four

2008-06-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

Day Four- Once again we were up by 4:45 and headed over to breakfast where a line was already forming. Today was "Evil Twins" day, two big climbs with the "Halfway to LA" point and a nice long descent to the coast.

Several of us wore HRC's official cycling jerseys- get it? matching? twins? yah, not everyone got it either.

What do I remember about the first few miles? there were lots of people! In fact, the lines in RS 1 for the porta potties were so long and I remember getting into the slowest moving line, bad decision on my part but I should have paid more attention. I talk too much and pay attention too little....

Soon we were riding up and down and up and down and up again and then hey! The Halfway to L.A. point!

I didn't pull off (my photos from all the past rides were starting to look the same) so instead I decided to continue on that lovely 10 mile downhill to the coast. I hit RS2 briefly where the theme was "cavemen".

So many "traditions" today-- coffee and lunch in Cayucos, cinnamon rolls and the like. I enjoyed that long downhill even though there was a bit of a headwind, then a cross wind. Hwy 46 (I think thats what it was) has a nice smooth wide shoulder and at that time of the morning there was not a whole lot of traffic.

Soon I was on Hwy 1 headed for lunch in Cayucos, where I met up with Yoichi, Gary and Michael. This is what it looked like:

you do know we ride to eat, don't you?

Soon we were back on the road and on past the lunch stop (having already eaten burgers in Cayucos), and on to the world famous Pismo beach cinnamon roll stop.

We rode with Talia to the cinnamon roll place, she says the only thing she really remembers about her first ride (ALC 5?) was that I made her stop at the Cinnamon Roll place and eat. She forever remembers me by that, so we had to take a commemorative photo:
Last year my friend Annette didn't stop for cinnamon rolls, although I beckoned her from my seat outside to stop! stop! stop!

This year she took my advice and stopped. This is Annette in anticipation of her cinnamon roll:
And this is what the cinnamon roll looked like, halfway through eating it...

And this is Talia looking happy with her cinnamon roll:

After sugaring and caffeining up, we headed on toward the few climbs that would put us on the way to windy Guadalupe, and across the Northern California/Southern California state line. :-)
The crosswinds into Guadalupe were there as they usually are- crazy strong. I made an effort to warn people about them before we got there.... its a good thing too because the winds were every bit as strong as they have been the past 5 years! We rolled into RS 4 which was themed as "Top Gun".

Soon we made our way thru Guadalupe and then east, which gave us a fierce tailwind into camp. This was Santa Maria and Michael and I were princessing tonight! It was on to the Holiday Inn Santa Maria for us!

Recap... Day 3

2008-06-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

Day 3- Donald, John and I met at 5:30 for a quick walk over to Denny's for breakfast. We planned ahead, ordered breakfast and asked the waitress to go ahead and bring us our check as soon as food was delivered. Oh well, the best laid plans don't always go so well.... still we got back to camp with plenty of time to spare, repack the big bag and head out on the road pretty early.

This year we were re-routed on our way to Quadbuster. Because of continued construction on the route previously taken out of town, we were able to take the bike path directly out of camp (I'd known this was here for years, since doing the Big Sur Ride previously- but didn't want to go off route before and possibly get in trouble!) and onto Jolon Road, which eventually becomes Quadbuster.

Rest Stop 1 is right before the climb, allowing people to psych themselves up before attacking the hill. It really isn't necessary though- Quadbuster is not any harder than any of the training hills in Northern California. In fact, awhile back I asked my blog readers to remember "le alpe du fromage", or the climb to the Cheese Factory when climbing Quadbuster and then make a comparison. Any thoughts?

Normally I climb the 'buster and wait for others at the top and cheer them on. Last year I stayed at the top until the last rider came up. This year I was feeling really strong (and wanted to beat any heat that might be chasing us through the day) so I went ahead and rode down the hill and on the 7 miles to RS 2.

goofin' off at RS2

Much of the day after RS 2 is a blur... you ride and ride and ride and all of a sudden there's a sign for the town of Lockewood and a small market on the left. We always stop for the traditional ice cream before heading on down the road to RS 3 and eventually on to Bradley for lunch. This time Yoichi decided he really needed at hot dog too, to survive the road to RS 3 and finally to Bradley...

This year I must have hit Bradley a wee bit too late, because the line for their fundraising BBQ was at least a 1/2 mile long. Michael, Yoichi, Sue and I stood in a line that didn't move for about 20 minutes before deciding that we would just go ahead and get the regular ALC lunch.

Julie and Sue

We sat under a tent with about 20 other people, and I was struck by how nice everyone was. I mean REALLY NICE. Folks would offer up their little piece of cardboard or half of their seat so that someone else could sit in the shade to eat lunch. And this didn't happen just once or twice, but each time someone came around to look. When does THAT ever happen??

me stuffing my face full of lunch!

We sat and ate and chatted and soon talked ourselves into getting back on our bikes and riding on toward Paso Robles. I would be remiss if I didn't mention RS 4 and their rendition of Grease. Pictures say it best:
Oh those boys are so cute. Did you know they have their own website? It's: http://reststop4.com/

After RS4 we rode the rural roads toward the fairgrounds, roads where 2 years prior Michael had crashed into a pothole while attempting to put lip balm on his lips (he'll never do that again!). The holes were all filled, yet Michael still remembered the exact spot it happened.

.... for those of you who were there, you'll remember this lovely hematoma Michael got 2 years ago:

ok so now you know why we memorialize that event each year... eeeeuww!

As tradition has it (ok well tradition whenever Donald is on the ride), we order out for Pizza when we are in camp at Paso Robles. Donald, nice guy that he is, orders about 5 or six pizzas and we all scarf down- inviting others around to join us. Anything we have left over we take over to Patrick and his Massage Team.

After that, we all go pass out on full tummies.

The Recap.... Day Two

2008-06-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

Day Two- Michael and I were awake by 4:45 and by 5am standing in line for breakfast. I made a beeline to the hot water to start our french press coffee and snag two seats. While at breakfast reading the "Daily Spin" camp newsletter I noted a little information on this evenings dinner presentations...."Acknowledgment of Training Ride Leaders: Julie Brown and JR Billings...." huh? I was suppose to present something?? OH well I guess they'll find me if they need me... actually I ran into Michael Baron on my way out of camp and asked if I was supposed to do something at announcements? "oh yes! come see me when you get in to camp tonight"....

The ride out of Santa Cruz was TEDIOUS. But hey, with 2500 bikes and a town trying to get out to work on a Monday morning, along with shortly timed stoplights- what would you expect?? I saw many cyclists practicing good citizenship and allowing cars to enter and exit driveways along the way. I too practiced that as much as I could. At one place there were a line of cars trying to get out of what was obviously an apartment complex. Two dozen or so cars full of people just trying to get to work! I blocked our line of Cyclists and directed drivers out onto the road and on their way.

I've often said this year to riders on my rides or at some of our events-- think of yourself as a driver on a Monday morning in Santa Cruz, trying to get to work which is usually 10 minutes away. I'm blocked by a horde of AIDS Riders and it takes me 45 minutes instead. A moment like this is exactly what I was talking about all that time.

Day Two is a long day- 105 miles from Santa Cruz to King City. Once we were out of Santa Cruz proper, it was long stretches of rides on farm roads, alongside strawberry fields, artichoke fields and much more. This year I stopped at the fruit stand just before the traditional artichoke stop, for a small nectarine snack. I ran into Anuj and we decided to ride the rest of the way together. When we finally came by the Artichoke stand, it was too late for us to stop or we would have ended up getting swept. Anuj was ok skipping it, so we rode on to RS 2 and then to Lunch. After lunch was a long ride thru the Salinas Valley with a quick stop at RS 3 and then the Otter Pop Stop at the Mission de Soledad

Moto crew member Joe Steiner

Our Otter Pop Stop Bears.

then across the Skinny Dipping bridge

and a quick visit with the Cookie Lady before a nice downhill/windy/ride toward King City.Y, the cookie lady, Gary and Michael

Every year I "Princess Plan" it on nights two, four and six (King City, Santa Maria & Ventura) so after this 108 mile ride, I checked into the King City Inn. In fact, the hotel is right on the way into our camp so I stopped and checked in before I got to bike parking. That way all I had to do was grab my mini bag and walk over to the motel.

As I was parking my bike, I got a call from JR in staff, asking if I was in camp yet and that Michael was looking for me. I let him know I had just gotten in and would run by their station.

I popped into their office and was given a quick run down by JR on what we would be saying/doing. I had to be back in the dining tent by 7pm and it was now 6 and I still had to go t my room and shower... talk about a fast walk and shower!

After my presentation at dinner, Donald and I met back up at the hotel (he and john were princessing there too) we soon decided we wanted to hit Denny's for another dinner (and breakfast in the morning too, we decided) so we headed over and I had a great salad with grilled chicken. Ruffage! Fiber!! I was a happy camper, er-- princess!

The Recap...Day Zero, Day One

2008-06-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a little over a week since the ride ended in Brentwood June 7th. I caught a nasty headcold which soon turned into a nice sinus infection once I returned home, so I haven't really gotten a good chance to recap all that happened on The Ride those seven days. I'll try now, although I'm sure my memory will not be able to recall all the fun things.

Jott.com worked great! It did only give me 30 seconds to record, and when you talk as fast as I do sometimes it makes it difficult to decipher what I say. Thus some of the weird words that came through on my blog. Oh well, I knew I would get a chance to tell you more, so here goes.

Day Zero- Orientation Day. I was lucky enough to be part of the Safety Video team this year, which meant introducing the video and providing additional information to participants 7 times that day. Yes, from 9am to 4:30 I said the same things over and over; "One Rider, One Town, One Permit". I think they all got it. It was loads of fun for me, talking up what to expect, ad libbing when necessary and basically getting folks thru one of the most tedious and yet most important parts of the process of the week, what we expect of our participants and what they should expect of each other. Luckily I had spent the days prior going through my packing checklist and making sure everything was ready to go, so that the next morning (Day 1) I was able to only worry about packing my toothbrush into my toiletries bag and putting the bag in the duffle. All done with no problems. I took my usual pre-ride dose of 1 tylenol p.m. tablet and hit the sack around 9pm knowing I'd have to be up at 3:30.

Day One- Can we say "the best laid plans...."? I had planned to swing over to Greenbrae to pick up Sarah at 4:15 with no problem that morning. Mike who was obviously not quite awake drove down Sir Francis Drake Blvd and all of a sudden had a brain fart. He could not follow my directions and kept debating the directions I was giving him.... finally I called Sarah and re-stated the directions to Mike (which were the same as I had been saying!) and we finally got to her place and we were on our way. I was told to be at the Cow Palace by 5am for a rehearsal of Opening Ceremonies, which I was to take part in.

My friend Sarah

No problem, we pick up Sarah at 4:15 (now 4:30) and head over the bridge down 19th to Alemany, just as I had in the last 2 days when I had to be at the Cow Palace for meetings and Day Zero. Just one problem, Mike decided in his infinite wisdom to instead take a different route-- again not being all the way awake he made a couple of wrong/missed turns and once again we were lost , was this a sign of the week to come??? aargh. By now it was 5am and I was not going to be there in time.

Long story short, we made it to the Cow Palace in once piece. I quickly handed off my bag to gear truck D and hightailed it into the Cow Palace. After a quick go round of our duties escorting the Riderless Bike with Kurt, I for once felt a little bit calm. I made a quick visit to my bike to make sure all was good, got my stuff attached (mostly helmet, gloves, etc for a quick dash) and headed back to our meeting place. Soon the stretching started, and that was our signal to get organized for opening ceremonies.

My sister Cyndy volunteered to serve breakfast (at 4:30am!) that morning, so I did a mad dash to say hi and give her a hug before I made my way over. Luckily she was also able to watch Opening Ceremonies, so it was nice to have a family member share in that moment!

In all of my 5, now 6 years of doing the Ride, this will forever go down as the most memorable and most honored events for me. A week prior I had been asked by ALC Staff if I would be willing to escort the Riderless bike along with Kurt Schade in Opening Ceremonies, of course I agreed.

The Riderless Bike procession is a tradition each year. The bike is brought in to Opening Ceremonies as a reminder of those who can no longer ride with us, and a chance for us to remember those for whom we ride. It is quite an emotional time, and being part of the procession which included many of my Positive Pedaler friends, was truly an honor for me that I will never forget and I know that Kurt felt the same.

After that procession, the rest of the morning was a blur. I was lucky enough to ride out with the Positive Pedalers, which means I was one of the first people out of the gate and onto the road for Day 1 of ALC 7. I had worked very hard all season for that one privilege of riding out early, and that was all that I asked for.

Michael, Donald and I rode together for most of the route. Somewhere along the way (I think it was at lunch!) we hooked up with David.
The day was so clear, no fog, no major opposing wind. I enjoyed my position in the Ride. Most folks knew I was riding and that I was TR coordinator so when I had to "correct people very nicely" I had no qualms about doing so. Luckily there were no major problems I saw (of course I'm sure people riding around me were on their best behavior so I can't really say I had a true pulse of what was going on), and generally people were pretty courteous.

I think for a lot of people, that first day of riding underscored why our rules are so tedious and specific. (In reading folks blogs in the last week, that was the common theme: "I NOW know why ALC has such strict rules..." )

It was 11:30 when we hit the lunch stop. My sis Cyndy met us at San Gregorio beach with sandwiches from Subway, fresh cherries and bags of chips! woohoo! We would forego the chewy chicken sandwiches for one day.

Me & Cyn at San Gregorio Lunch stop

Soon we were back on Hwy 1 south, with a fierce tailwind! We were so happy to stop in Davenport for iced coffees and sweets.

Me, Michael, Donald and David at our coffee stop in Davenport.

Soon it was back on the bike and a quick ride in to Camp 1- Santa Cruz. Michael and I soon got our ALC camping together rhythm going and got the tent up and got ourselves cleaned up (wearing matching t-shirts, no less) and over to dinner. It was fun to pass by so many familiar faces and get to say hi to my newbie riders, some who had made it in to camp waaay earlier than me! After dinner Yoichi, Michael and I headed over to the massage tent where there were nice foam rollers to go roll on. OW! I hate foam rollers. But I also know that they are the only thing that get me thru a week on the ride.

"NOOOOOOoooooo!"

Soon we headed back to our tents and promptly passed out. And I didn't even wake up in the middle of the night to use the porta pottie ( of course I did get up at 4am, about 45 minutes before I needed to, to beat the porta pottie line!)

Today was day six. Today,...

2008-06-06T16:17:00.001-07:00

Today was day six. Today, I was able to ride with the safety team in the safety team vehicle which traveled the route to make sure that riders are observing traffic laws as well as riding single file and basically I'm having a good safety standards because of the fact that they were riding on a free way and highway for part of the time. The route went from Lampoke(?) to Ventura State Beach under blue skies and a little bit of a crosswind but for the most part, a beautiful day. I got to travel with Cathy and Jason in the safety vehicle. We reversed the route and made sure everyone was being safe. Got in the Ventura about 3:00 and again with being in a hotel. So, here I am. It was a gorgeous day. I will be riding in on my bike from Ventura to Los Angeles tomorrow. listen

Powered by Jott

Day two: was Santa...

2008-06-05T20:37:00.001-07:00

Day two: was Santa Cruz to Kind City, 105 miles. We left in an overcast, slightly cold day, and headed on through Santa Cruz, through Salinas, stopped for lunch, and also, headed through some great green valleys, and onto the windy city of King City. Luckily that day was my princess night, so after riding 105 miles, I got to check into the Best Western King City Inn, have a great shower, and went to bed. It was a great 105 miles, which I did in about 6 hours, so got a great meal in, helped do some announcements, and then headed on off to bed. listen

Powered by Jott

Day 4: we left Paso Robles..

2008-06-05T20:30:00.001-07:00

Day 4: we left Paso Robles and rode under gray skies, headed on up over the evil twins also under the gray skies, and eventually headed out onto Highway 1 south. We passed through Morro Bay and also through the town of Cayucos- which we always as tradition has it, stopped for coffee and cheese burgers and fries. From there, we headed all the way into the town of Santa Maria where it was incredibly windy thru the town, driving through fields it smelled like strawberries. It was a great time. We got the wind at our backs all the way into camp in Santa Maria. listen

Powered by Jott

Day 3 with King City...

2008-06-05T20:27:00.001-07:00

Day 3 was King City to Paso Robles. I sort of don't even remember the day. We started out on a quick, very short, little bike path on to Quad Buster which is the most famous ride during the week, although, not necessarily the hardest. So, we headed on up and over quad buster down and into a small teeny, little town called Lockwood, where we stopped and had ice cream then headed on out into another small town of Bradley, which is at mile 85. Bradley School fund raiser every year is terrific! They sell us barbecued burgers and hot dogs and all kinds of treats. So, we definitely had a great lunch. Headed on in on the freeway, yes the shoulder of the freeway, into Pasa Robles where we ended and had pizza delivered! listen

Powered by Jott

Day 5 was red dress...

2008-06-05T20:25:00.001-07:00

Day 5 was red dress day. We spent the night in Santa Maria at the Holiday Inn on Broadway. Having dinner the night before, we got to bed about 10 and we're able to wake up later than normal which was 6:00 AM. We easily got dressed into our red dresses, over our cycling clothes, and we're able to walk back to camp get on our bikes and ride. Day 5 is red dress day where everyone were all dressed as in red and we travel through the hills of Santa Maria and passed Air Force Base on in to the little town of Lompoc, where we'd camp, again windy but also the wind in our backs and heavy tail winds. listen

Powered by Jott

Day one. Day one, I...

2008-06-04T19:21:00.001-07:00

Day one. Day one, I got to be part of opening ceremonies, and had the privilege of walking the riderless(?) bike with Kurt Shadik(?) in the opening ceremonies. I also was lucky enough to see one of the first dozen riders, actually the first female out the gate at about 6:30 and on toward Santa Cruz. Gorgeous day, not a lot of fog, pretty clear, little bit cold. We didn't have to climb Skyline this year. Just went up and down Highway 92, out to Highway 1. Had lunch at San Gregorio where my sister Cynthia met us, and then we rolled(?) on with great tailwind, 35 an hour tailwind into Santa Cruz, and a great time and a great night. It's been really a lot of fun to see a lot of the faces I had spent time riding with during training. We'll talk about tomorrow. listen

Powered by Jott

Hi, this is a test message...

2008-05-28T13:38:00.001-07:00

Hi, this is a test message from Jott.com to my blog, so let's see if it works. listen

Powered by Jott

Last training ride of the year...

2008-05-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today's Potluck ride was the last training ride of the season in Northern California. 25 riders came out to Ride, then Eat. Another dozen or so showed up around noon to help eat.

We had to make everyone eat seconds and thirds because there was waaaay too much food, not to mention desserts! AND we also had birthday cake and song for Bob Katz who celebrated his 29th birthday with us today. :-)

I've posted the photos on picasaweb (you should be able to see the photos at left)

Great Day and Great Season everyone!! We'll see you on DAY ZERO!

Wahoo!!! 25,000 miles and counting....

2008-05-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

Today I did a little Renegade Ride from Mike's Bikes around Tiburon. A short one with Matt, Gary, Yoichi, David, Jamison & Marie... right about mile 4 my Bike Odometer hit the 25,000 mile mark!
What's more amazing than hitting 25,000 miles in 5 years (I'm sure lots of people have much more mileage---- I'm just the only one who celebrates every 1,000 miles...) is that my computer battery has not died in the last 5 years, enabling me to closely watch my annual mileage! Weird I know, but really it has not died yet. And now that I've said that I'm sure it will die on next weeks ride.

So Matt took this picture of me... notice that we are conveniently in front of the Maserati & Ferrari dealerships in Corte Madera.

25,000 miles with 545 miles to go!

Final Friday Ride- ALC 7

2008-05-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

This past Friday was our final Friday training ride for ALC 7. The ride was from the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge to Pt. Reyes Station for lunch and then a loop back. Here are the 28 of us getting ready to ride:
Amazingly enough, after a night of howling winds the morning dawned pretty calm. A wee bit chilly but nothing that we couldn't handle.

Our friend and former ALC rider and TRL - Golden Gate Bridge Sgt. Daniel Gomez came by to say hello and wish us a good ride. (You wondered why we had an "in" with the Bridge, huh?) Last year Daniel was our regular TRL on our Friday rides. Here's Daniel with two of our riders- Em & Michael:

We made our way down the Ft. Baker bike path and into Sausalito with a quick stop at the public restrooms. From there it was over Camino Alto and on to Fairfax for a stop at the Coffee Roasters... We were a pretty quick bunch, I had warned folks not to linger too long at the stops- with the exception of lunch- because we didn't want to get caught in the nasty pre-holiday weekend traffic, especially since we were going to be crossing White's Hill in the afternoon on the way back. Quick stop in Nicasio and then on to Olema Hill. The weather was great, a little breezy but nice. We all made quick work of the Olema Hill and met in Pt. Reyes for lunch, sitting in front of the Bovine Bakery.

After lunch it was back thru Nicasio. I rode with Emily, Michael, Maynor & Tyler. Once we got to Nicasio, I remembered to check Tyler's back tire... while we were climbing Olema I noticed it was getting a little flat looking. Sure enough is back tire was quite low, probably had a small leak. We decided to pump it up using my bike frame pump- The Road Morph- which is a great bike frame pump that actually has a gauge that works!

We got Tyler all set and headed back to Fairfax-- no issues for anyone over White's Hill, yay!

Once back in Fairfax, we caffeined up with some iced coffees. I waited for the sweep to arrive, which happened pretty quickly and I soon took over as sweep back to Sausalito and then to the Bridge! 72 miles... mild weather, good company and good food. Nice way to end a season!

My final TRL email....

2008-05-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hey TRLs!

So this is it for me! After Monday's Potluck ride, I'm a rider just like everyone else!! WAHOOO!!! now I can go back to my old crazy, loud, cranky self! :-)

Many of you are hosting celebration rides this weekend, and or after work get togethers next week to calm pre-jitters (Chicago!)

Thanks for doing that! Its a nice way to end the season, socialize a bit more with riders and get to calm their fears one last time.

Many of you will hear this throughout the week of the ride, and at the Safety Video as well, so this is the last thing I'd like you to message out to your groups this week:

"The Code of Conduct and the Safety Speech information you've gotten in the past weeks are in place, as you all know, to keep us all safe (and alive) during the week of the ride. That's the priority for us. Second to that, the reason is so that we can preserve the future of the AIDS Lifecycle ride and continue to produce this event. Consider it "keeping the future of the ride safe" as well.

Think of it this way:

Just One Rider, can upset One Town, and that town can decline One Permit next year, jeopardizing the future of the Ride.

Please think of this daily on the Ride in June, when you consider running a stop sign, riding 2 or more abreast or even pacelining with your team some afternoon when you are all tired (thus blocking traffic). One Rider, One Town, One Permit.

Let's correct each other too when needed, in a nice way of course. Remind each other "One Rider, One Town, One Permit" and we'll preserve our Safety and the future of AIDS Lifecycle."

This has been quite the Training Ride Season. We set out to do some different things in some different areas and I think we had some great successes. I hope you think so too.

It was a little weird going from Volunteer to part time Staff (did you notice I had to tone it down a lot? :-) but in the long run I think we accomplished some goals. If I remember correctly just about everyone said they wanted to TRL so that they could "give back", and "help new riders get through the hard times easier than I did" I hope that you feel you accomplished that goal this season as well.

I'm not sure what my future is as Training Ride Coordinator, but I do want to let you know that this season has been a BLAST for me! I also invite you to email Susan with any (and I mean ANY) comments you have on the Training Ride Program -yes including comments on me- this year, as well as suggestions for next year. I'm hoping to get a survey out to you all in the next week or two, but you know there's this ride coming up that I'm doing in a week or so ....

In addition to the VERY BIG THANKS to ALL of you, I'd like to offer a Huge Thank You to the following Bay Area TRLs who went a bit beyond the average Call of Duty...

Mary Vencill- East Bay CAT 1 Series Ride Facilitator. Mary started her Ride Series back on December 8th and ran consecutively for 23 weeks! She took the very very East Bay newbie riders under her wing and set them up for success! Thanks to Mary and her weekly crew for keeping it together for the entire 23 weeks.

Ben Armstrong- SF CAT 2 Series Ride Facilitator. Once again had the highest attendance of any training rides. Ben also maintains a great CAT 2 Series website for his folks (www.catseries.com) with great ongoing commentary!!

Mark Smith- East Bay CAT 2 Series Ride Facilitator. Known as the TRL who will make you ride every hill twice! Thanks to Mark and his weekly crew for pulling it together every Sunday and making sure that EVERYONE got back safely.... even if it WAS at dusk...and that last person was sooo rude to the sweep...

Randy Files- South Bay CAT 2 Series Ride Facilitator. Randy headed up a crew for a ride every Sunday morning... sometimes after working a very busy graveyard shift the previous Saturday night!! Randy took his riders over every hill in the South Bay, and then some... even taking them to San Gregorio so that they'd know what its like to ride to the beach and back.

Chris Thomas- Peninsula CAT 3 Distance Training Series. Chris proved that you don't have to ride at 15mph+ to be a CAT 3 rider and still succeed. One of the best compliments we received from riders was that Chris' mileage on his route sheets were ALWAYS right on target. (how do you do that??). Chris also lead the only "Double Metric Plus" ride this season, and it was a rousing success.... yes there are some riders out there who LIKE to ride over 125 miles..... crazy as we, I mean they, are!

Geoff Schneider- SF CAT 3 Series Rides. Following Ben's routes, Geoff was able to offer faster riders a chance to ride out later and at a faster pace. Many riders have thanked us for offering up more CAT 3 rides this season (I got one thank you from a Rider today, in fact).

Kurt Schade- SF CAT 1 Series Rides. As usual, Saint Kurt offered up the most entertainment for his newbie CAT 1 riders and he now has a cult following. Have you noticed that? They all followed him to the "Bride of CAT 2" Series when the CAT 1 rides were over.... whether he was leading or not! Kurt definitely gets the prize for the "most patient and most entertaining" TRL.

Justin Cox & Emmy Starr- These two "Freshman" TRLs- took the lead in Facilitating the "Bride of CAT 2 Series" (with a bit of help from Kurt too!). Both Justin & Emmy are brand new TRLs and graciously said "yes" when we asked if they would take over the Bride Series. You guys get the "FANTASTIC NEWBIE TRL" award for stepping up to the plate and hitting a home run!

Deyon Jonson-- For thinking "OUTSIDE THE BOX" and offering up something NEW for riders to try-- climbing hills without having to worry about a lot of traffic! Deyon's Hill Climbing Clinics had to be one of the most sought after classes once word got out about her course. Thank you for sticking with it-- even with rain cancellations!

and finally-our "out of the immediate area" Ride Leaders:

Eric Drake- Training Ride Leader in SANTA CRUZ. Eric took it upon himself to start leading regular rides all over Santa Cruz for our huge group of riders in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. With help from some of you, Eric ( who is also a new daddy) spent hours in the saddle riding with our newbie Santa Cruz riders and also has a great following. Thank you Eric for stepping up to the plate- even though you are the only official TRL in Santa Cruz- and getting rides on the calendar!

Ronnie Campanelli, Jeanne Reed, Matt Millspaugh and Jimmy Castro-- All alone out in North San Juan/Sacramento areas. For getting some rides out on the calendar in your areas with as much regularity as possible. Next year we hope to offer even more rides out that way, now that we know how many ALC riders are actually out there!

The "girls" in Sonoma- Robin Abramson, Karen Cooper, Loree Angel, Mary Ford--- Matthew Duran and John Hershey. Thanks for trying new stuff and getting folks out to ride in Sonoma and Napa Counties!! (next year John- Bodega Bay with no fog, I'm sure we can do manage it some day!!!) Yes, we really DO have riders in a town called Sebastopol...

Our Out of State TRLs- from Las Vegas, Portland and Seattle to Delaware & New York, Chicago to Phoenix & Denver-- thank you all for getting rides out whenever you could. This was an unusually long wet season for many of you but you still braved the weather (or taught a weekly spin class) to get your groups together for a ride. Thank you for your dedication in getting at least one ride on the calendar this season. Its not always easy when you are the only one out in your area to lead.... thanks for all you have done!!

OH, Don't forget we will be wearing TRL jerseys/Vests or BUHC's (your choice!) on Day 2.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!

Now, let's Ride!! -jb

130 miles in one day...

2008-05-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

No really, 130 miles. Somehow I how got from Mountain View out to Livermore (Altamont Pass) and back in 8.5 hours of riding time.... but I think like 12 hours actually out on the road.

I met with Chris' CAT 3 riders at 6am on Saturday morning. 6am and I am wearing a tank top and feeling perfect, not too cool not too warm. Goes to show you how hot it was really going to be!

We headed out 'round 6:45 or so, 35 riders and only about half of them planning to do the full 130 miles. The rest took the 88 mile route and got back in as early as 2pm. We had 6 rest stops (all Starbucks Coffee shops) and a vehicle SAG so I felt like hey maybe I could actually do this. Really I only wanted to get 100 miles in the saddle so in the back of my mind I figured at mile 100 I'd hop in the car with Bill. Turns out I was feeling pretty good after all.

So lets see, we headed over the Dumbarton then thru Union City to Niles and then up Niles Canyon to Sunol. It was there I figured out who was doing the 88 miles (Dylan, you whimp!) and who was really hardcore (John and Wly of course!) So we headed on out Foothill and on toward Livermore where the temps at 9am were already in the 90's. Luckily there was a steady breeze that cooled the sweat that was pouring off my face-- so it wasn't oppressively hot. We stopped at the Quiznos on Las Positas for lunch (a cobb salad for me) before heading up toward Altamont Pass. It wasn't so bad, just windy. Chris had us only go up to the Summit Garage then head back down the hill... which was blowing headwinds directly toward me. I plugged in and pedaled hard.. so hard that I missed a turn and headed about 1/2 mile in the wrong direction before I looked down at my mileage and figured I had missed a turn.... right about then I turned around and heard Mary (a TRL) calling my name ... chasing me down to tell me I missed the turn. (thanks Mary! that was a little embarrassing... LOL!)

After that I caught up to the others and stopped at another Starbucks on Foothill (Pleasanton, I think) and had this lovely green tea, lemonade slushy thing. It was close to 100 degrees at this point and we still had Norris Canyon to climb. I headed out shortly after Mary, Richard, Jose, Julia, Dave and Larry- it took me a little bit of time to catch up but by the time I got to 580 I had Mary, Richard and Julia in sight. From there we rode together to Bollinger Canyon and then Norris Canyon. Norris Canyon road is sunny on the way to the top, so it was hot, dry and a slow ascent for me. Near the top I came upon Dave who literally almost stopped in his tracks at the top until I yelled-- "pull up, pull! pull!" talking about pedaling. We forget when we climb that not only should we be pushing down on our pedals, but we are connected to them and have some hamstring strength left that we could be using. I'm sure I annoyed Dave, who was pretty much out of breath. We hit a false summit (damn that!) but soon got to the top where Larry was waiting for us with of course, his camera. :-)

Dave and I "high five-ing" at the top of Norris (I think he was tired of me by then, lol!)

After that it was a nice long descent back across 580 and into yet another Starbucks in Hayward. It was there that I decided on a Mocha Frappuccino and some petite vanilla scones.. figuring I could use the caffeine and sugar for the long ride thru Hayward and into Fremont. I was right.

Dave,Mary,Richard, Bill, Julia, Me, Jose, Dave & Larry at RS 5.

After riding out with Julia, Mary, Jose and Richard we hopped on Mission Blvd in Hayward for the 9 mile stint into Fremont. About 4 miles into it, Julia got a flat. Her first ever (pretty good considering how many miles she'd done in training thus far). So we all stopped and I got to give her my best lesson in changing a flat. Since it was later and hotter in the day, I simply did my instructions but did the actual changing myself, explaining it all as we went along. Soon John and David caught up to us and David had fun taking pictures of our tire changing seminar.

After that we were back on the road to Fremont. Mission to (eventually) Warm Springs and our last stop at the final Starbucks. It was there that we caught up to Dave and Larry, downed my last iced americano and got on our way. Larry, Dave, me, Jose, Richard, and Mary headed out on the last stretch back to Mtn View. The route took us thru Milpitas and then the McCarthy Ranch area (past Cisco-ville) and over toward Great America, over 101 onto Central Expwy and another 6 miles back to our starting point. It was there we found Julia, who had sagged back from the last Starbucks, too hot for her at that point and she already had over 100 miles on her.

130 miles!! I can't remember the last time I road that many miles... ok the double metric of the wine country century one year with Charlie, but I think that was the last time. I felt pretty good- 8.5 riding hours and an average of 15.1 mph. Not bad, but I don't think I'll be riding that many miles in the heat any time soon. Major bike hangover today, and I forgot to put sunscreen on my back so got a gnarly sunburn-ouch!

Tib Loop on Thursday, 74 mile Pt Reyes ride on Friday and then a leisurely Potluck on Monday, Memorial Day. Then this show is on the road!

Things to definitely remember to pack....

2008-05-15T17:50:00.001-07:00

Most of them are on the packing list (see Packing Guidelines) but I'll reiterate here just so you don't think you can do without.....

1)Therma rest type pad... the thickest one you can buy. I used to swear by air mattresses, they are very very comfy EXCEPT when you get a small hole in them from folding them up over and over each day. ALC 4 I awoke 2 days in a row to find my air mattress as flat as a pancake (my back was not happy). Luckily one of my friends partner was traveling down the route with us in a car so he was able to stop by a Target and buy me a new one. Ever since then its been the REI brand version of the 3" thick (or is it 4"?) thermarest pad. It's perfect, self inflates and will inflate even a bit more if you blow more air into it before you go to sleep. Plus they're not as heavy as the plastic air mattress (which your gear truck Roadie will appreciate).

2)A ground tarp-- for UNDER your tent. If you have gnarly hay fever like Michael and I, you'll want a layer between your tent and the grass we will be sleeping on. Otherwise, you'll wake up with nice puffy allergy eyes... well ok they might be puffy anyway, but at least they won't itch!

3) 2 More pairs of cycling gloves besides the ones you already have! One pair will last you all week, but just think about how many times you'll be rubbing the snot out from under your nose in those 7 days.... get the picture?
AND speaking of gloves!- when you pull into a rest stop, take your gloves OFF, stick them in your back pocket and THEN go get some food. Don't put your food in contact with your gloves...for the same gross snotty nose reasons. DON'T wear your gloves into the porta pottie, and then go grab a banana or orange from one of the rest stop roadies and start eating. TAKE THE GLOVES OFF! We always have a nasty case of intestinal "problems"each year, due to people not taking those nasty gloves off when they use the restroom, and then going to eat food with the gloves on. GROSS, I know, so don't get sick!!

4) A Headlamp (not a hand held flashlight). Much easier to see what you're in for as you enter the porta pottie in the middle of the night, also easier to USE the porta pottie when both hands are free and your not balancing a flashlight on your lap! And oh yes please DO NOT LET THE PORTA POTTIE DOORS SLAM SHUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. Close them quietly behind you. :-)

5) A couple of large (like the 33 gal size) garbage bags. You can put your bag into it at night so that the dew won't make the outside of the bag all wet. They fold flat if you do it right so they won't take alot of space in your bag.

6) A small "loofah" type sponge to really get the road grime off of your legs in the shower.

7) A small backpack or tote bag to carry your stuff to/from the showers... don't forget a camping towel too! (the quick drying ones... the regular cotton ones won't dry out in time before you pack it!)

8) Shoes or Sandals for walking around in camp (I wear Keen clogs, but Crocs work well too!)

9) A fleece jacket/pullover, warm socks, and a hat (beanie/knit type). It does get cold when the sun goes away.... and when you're up before the sun is. Ugh!

10) 3 or 4 Large Binder Clips (y'know the black ones they have a work?)- great to use as clothes pins and they're much sturdier. There will be some stuff you will want to hang on your tent (like that camp towel)

11) (if you wear them) SPARE CONTACT LENSES!! and of course your eyeglasses.

12) Sunscreen! Don't rely on the rest stops to provide it, they'll have some but are usually out by the middle of the week. Kinesis makes a great alcohol free spray on sunscreen that I used today (98 degrees in Sausalito!) and the Sports Basement carries it.

13) Medical stuff (prescriptions, allergy medicines, inhalers.... ) I'm sure you're saying "DUH" but believe me people (both HIV+ and HIV neg) have forgotten some IMPORTANT drugs in the past and have had to pay for the mistake. I also bring Tylenol PM (one tablet only to fall asleep and yet not be groggy in the morning), it helps with any muscle soreness the next day as well.

Ok... I think that's it for now, I'm sure I'll think of more in the next 2 weeks but here's a start.

Now go relax. :-)

12,000 feet in 2 days

2008-05-14T22:07:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah I forgot-- last Friday we rode to the top of Mt. Tam. The TOP, the East Peak!

About 25 of us headed out from Mike's Bike's for a ride first to Alpine Dam, then up to Ridgecrest, then on the 7 sisters and finally the East Peak.

And then.... after a restful Saturday, I rode to the Top of Mt. Diablo! Donald said with the two days of climbing, we did over 12,000 feet of climbing (according to his Garmin).

No wonder I've been tired all week.

$2k in 24 hours!

2008-05-14T17:17:00.001-07:00

Ok I did see "the Secret", and every once in awhile I do "picture it already here".... but sometimes I just forget to focus. I'm also a pretty skeptical person, so I don't focus very often.

I had been just under my goal of $5,000 for the last two weeks... so I figured what the heck I'd do "the secret" thing... just picture an extra $1,000 in my ALC account. What the heck, I'm just "picturing it", nothing more... putting out in the Universe can't hurt, right?

OMG it worked! I got a donation for $1k online, and then another check for $1k in the mail today!

Thank you A.C. and ADMI, Inc. for your generous donations... and the annual support of AIDS Lifecycle.

"The Secret"..... I know it sounds hokey, but it can't hurt to try!

"Hug a TRL! "

2008-05-13T21:27:00.001-07:00

A TRL or "Training Ride Leader" is a person who has gone thru the trauma and the drama of what you are about to embark upon, remembers it well and wants to help you get through it all.

Really. That's about it.

We remember the fear of the unknown, the fear of falling, the fear of knowing no one and the fear of the fear.

Julie, Donald, Ronnie, Annette

We are collectively, over 200 strong-- both in Southern California, Northern California and across the United States.

Erin, L.A.

We're here to calm your nerves, to tell you stories, to teach you a little bit of determination (and patience), and to make sure you understand why we have such picky Safety Rules.

Kurt, Bob Katz & Annette

Mostly we're here to keep you safe.... many times that means keeping you safe from yourself... and ALSO, and just as important-- to help protect the future of the AIDS Lifecycle Ride.

So the next time you see your TRLs... give them a hug and say "Thank You".

They are all volunteers who have spent hundreds of hours in the saddle since October of 2007. Keeping you safe, managing their patience, and protecting the future of the Ride.

They have managed to avoid showing you when they are cranky (ok well most of them have), and they have managed to prove to you that you can ride a bike... even over a mountain. They have managed to believe in you, even when they didn't know you and even when you didn't believe in yourself.

They are a force to be reckoned with....

Code of Conduct (aka Safety)

2008-05-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Think about this for a minute.

One little town somewhere in the middle of nowhere, can get pissed at any one of us--- blowing a stop sign, riding two or more abreast or blocking their way to work by pace-lining... with just one angry town, permits can be declined and the Ride for AIDS effectively TERMINATED. There just aren't that many ways to get to L.A without taking the freeway, and we are using most of them.

So please think about this when you decide to ride side by side with someone, blow a stop sign or block traffic with your team one morning while riding out of camp during the week of June 1.

Its not just about YOU and YOUR safety... but the safety of the future of AIDS Lifecycle.

This Ride means a lot to all of us, and to our many friends and family members who fight this disease every day. You may not know anyone HIV+ but by the end of the week you will meet many, as well as many who have been affected by this horrible disease.

So- Don't Blow it for the Rest of Us who may need the money and awareness that the ride brings.

And speaking of Red Dress Day...

2008-05-13T18:25:00.001-07:00

Quite a few of us are planning to wear this for red dress day:
If you'd like to join in on the fun, you can get one at Spirit of Halloween they also come in "Plus" Sizes, for you "bigger girls"(aka BOYS) ....

Themes...

2008-05-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Unofficially, these are the things we usually do/see/wear...

Day One--- Usually "team jersey" day. If you are on a team, think about all wearing your jerseys on ride out!

Day Two- TRL jersey day (ALL the TRLs try to wear their jerseys, vests or BUHC's to celebrate their hundreds and hundreds of volunteer hours given this season), skinny dipping in the river below the green bridge, and a visit from the Cookie Lady!

Day 3- Your choice... this is the day we climb Quadbuster, and have lunch in Bradley.... also the day we ride on the shoulder of Hwy 101--- NO PASSING!!

Day 4- "Evil Twins" day... we climb the evil twins, and some of us (lots of us) wear the same jersey. Each year its different, this year we've chosen the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) jersey... you can see it HERE (be aware they run small!!). We ride thru Cayucos (coffee!) and Pismo Beach (cinnamon rolls!! yum!)... after the cinnamon rolls we climb a nasty one! (hint: you'll need the sugar)

Day 5- "Dress In Red" or "Red Dress" day. We all try to wear red so we look like a big long red ribbon as we ride the hills of the day... shortest day-- very hilly!! Wear red-- something red, anything red or you will DEFINITELY feel left out. I made that mistake my first year (ALC2)

Day 6- Your choice... we ride thru Santa Barbara, stop at "Paradise Pit", an unofficial rest stop with Ice Cream! (also a "cliff bar free zone"). Lots of riding along the coast. Camping in Ventura (an In & Out across the street!) and the Candlelight Vigil after sunset.

Day 7- Incentive Jersey or ALC "Souvenir" Jersey.... We ride the PCH for most of the day-- lots of traffic!! Keep your wits about you, ride very defensively... you want to make it to closing ceremonies! Everyone off the route by 3pm.... closing ceremonies at 4.

thats all I can think of for now....

Day Zero... what to expect.

2008-05-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

If you've come to one of our official "Meet & Greet" meetings that have been held all over Northern California (yes even Sac!) then you know already what I'm about to talk about. What happens each day of the Ride....

Day Zero- Orientation Day at the Cow Palace. If you are a social butterfly, come early to stand in lines and chit chat with everyone (it's fun!). If you're not a social butterfly, come around Noon and the lines might not be as bad.... be sure to get there by 2pm and no later or there's a chance (depending on what you still have left to turn in) you won't GET through all the lines. Bring your printed "E-Ticket", and your bike-drop the bike off at Bike Parking and proceed to the Safety Video.

There are TWO rooms the Safety Videos will be shown in- one starts at 10 am and goes every 1/2 hour, the other starts at 10:30 am and goes every half hour.

Waiting for the Safety Video to start...

IF YOU'RE LUCKY- you'll get in to the one that I will be "hosting" (introducing) and you'll get to hear all my schmucky Cow jokes... ok no not really, I don't have any Cow Palace jokes...yet.

Then, when you're done with the Safety Video, be SURE to get the safety video bracelet put on your wrist before you leave the room. You will not be able to register if you do not have the bracelet on... and yes you will leave it on for the remainder of the week, so don't cut it off that evening when you go to take a shower.

After the Safety Video, you'll take your E-ticket and your PHOTO ID (required!!) to registration. note: IF YOU DO NOT HAVE YOUR MEDICAL WAIVER ON FILE, your E ticket will state that and you will have to fill one out before proceeding to registration... same goes for if you have not yet raised your Minimum $2500.

Once those things are taken care of (do it in advance!!!) then you can proceed to Registration. In your registration packet will be your helmet number and your bike number. DON'T LOSE THESE!!! you will be placing them on your bike (and helmet, at home) soon after. You will also receive ANOTHER BRACELET, to go with your safety video bracelet. Both stay on your wrist all week!

Waiting in the registration line...

After registration, the last thing you will need to do is to be assigned a tent. Even if you are planning to stay in hotels all week, you must be assigned a tent with a tentmate. If you haven't already gotten a tentmate, go to the Tentmater website and you might find one there! Tentmater was originally designed by former ALC rider Dave Kim, and he generously just resets the website each year for folks to use. It is self editing, so be sure to de-activate your posting once you get a tentmate!

Once you and your tentmate are assigned a tent, you will be given a chip that lists a letter and number that corresponds to your place on the tent grid... in each camp they mark out all of the lettered areas and stick little signs in each place to mark where your tent should be. For instance, if your tent chip says "H-22" then you are in section H, and in space #22. The Letter corresponds to the Gear Truck your stuff will be on all week... in this case, your gear truck would be "Gear Truck H". get it? good... its really easy, and don't worry you can ask ANYONE and they will help you out!!

After all of that official stuff, you are now officially registered!! Go pack to bike parking, locate your bike and put your bike number on your top tube. This number MUST be visible at all times (even in bike parking each night!!). (When you get home, put your helmet number on the LEFT SIDE of your helmet)

After that it's time to go SHOPPING!! at the camp store.... so oh, don't forget to bring cash or a checkbook or a credit card. All of the newest ALC 7 schwag will be there for purchase... do it now (Day Zero) because usually they sell out of stuff pretty quick! It will be available for purchase in the camp store during the week, but there's no guarantee that your size will still be there by Day 2 even!

After all that, you're done! Go get some lunch! Or stick around and meet those folks you've been chatting with on the Discussion Forum all year!

Jonathan Pon Memorial 2 Day ride

2008-05-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend I rode with the Pos Peds and other ALC riders on the Jonathan Pon weekend ride. It is a 70+ ride (each day!) out to the Russian River and back, with a bit o' camping in between.

Saturday night Ronnie stayed at our house since he lives too far away, and was scheduled to be one of the 14 TRLs on the ride.

We got up around 4:45, intending to leave the house around 5:45 to make it to the meet site at 6am. At 5:20 I got a call from Kari saying that Hillary could not get to the ALC van at the office since her entrance badge was not working for some reason--- talk about panic!-- so Kari asked if I could bring along some ride waivers and accident report forms. Sure ! I have about 50 pre-printed for TRLs so I just brought along what I had. I had also printed up 150 route sheets, for each day so I was keeper of the paperwork this morning.

Ronnie and I got there a little after 6am, and from there I proceeded to unpack my bike and get ready for ride out. We had planned to stretch starting at 6:50, so I had a bit of time to say hi to folks and prep the bike. My hubby Mike was planning to come up to the River and camp with us so I didn't have to worry about trucking my sleeping bag, pad, tent and bag out to the start to put on the gear truck. Mike was also bringing along our portable fire pit and wood so we'd have a nice hang out spot around the fire Saturday night.

I had Michael, Mark and Matt lead stretching, I reviewed the route and did the safety speech with a little help from Gabo's cute little dog...

In between those things I asked folks to take a minute-- take a deep breath and remember why we ride. I personally ride for those whom I miss dearly, and also for those Pos Pedalers who were standing within our midst. I can't imagine doing this ride without any of them with us, its just waaay too much fun! I also asked people to meet the person next to them, and to also say "thank you for riding". I hope that they remember to say this to others during the week in June. Its an important thing to remember.

We rode out promptly at 7:40. I had given Matt D. and Donald first sweep duty, meeting Mark O and I at the top of White's Hill where we would assume sweep duty until Walnut Park, our lunch spot. I rode along with Tom Yetter, since we sort of ride at the same pace. On the way up Camino Alto, I came upon my first flat tire victim. While I usually use the time to teach and explain how to change a flat, since it was still early in the ride I basically did the change, quickly explaining as I went. We were done in about 5 minutes, just as Donald and Matt came upon us.
Turns out the guy ended up getting 4 more flats that day!! ugh!

I rode like the wind, didn't stop in Fairfax but headed up to the top of White's Hill. Mark soon met up with me and we proceeded to wait and ring cow bells for riders. Funny, there were also about 2 or 3 club rides going on so we just rang our bells for everyone. Soon, the Saturday "Bride of Cat 2" ride was coming up the hill too-- while we were still waiting for our sweeps! It was fun seeing our other riders and cheering them up the hill too.

Soon the sweeps passed off to us and Mark and I proceeded down the hill. Our strategy was to stay far enough behind the last person, so as not to pressure them nor engage in conversation with them so they can keep pedaling!! Too often I sweep folks and engage in conversation only to have them slow down their pedaling. We had too far to go today to have that happen, so Mark and I spent the day catching up on gossip.... of course!

Soon we were at the Cheese Factory, then up and down Red Hill into Petaluma and our stop at Walnut Park for lunch, where we handed off sweep duties (and strategy) to Kerwin and Matt Martin. (There were 3 Matts who were TRLs on this ride! ) Once we were at lunch, who should we run into but the famous Ginger Brewlay, who was visiting us from Southern Cal!! What a treat!

Mark and I headed out to Bodega Ave and eventually Valley Ford Road which is always stinky and windy and today was no exception. The nice thing about sweeping the first half of the ride is that you are forced to ride slowly, thus saving your energy for that crappy headwind! Soon we were in Valley Ford at the Valley Ford store where I bought homemade beef jerky (it's awesome!) and I talked Mark into buying a pound of smoked salmon and crackers so we'd have some great appetizer food before dinner. He was able to put the package in one of the coolers that the Sag truck had and we were off! Off to where else, but Wildflour Bakery where we stopped and had iced coffee and a little bit of their baked goodies. From there we left Michael and Annette, who were now waiting to take over sweep duty from Kerwin and Matt.

Mark and I got into camp 'round 4:30? I think- Mike was there setting up tents with Donald and after helping them out I walked over to the showers. Ah that was nice getting the saltiness off of me!

Soon we all gathered at the picnic tables, while they set out hummus w/ pita, and veggies for appetizers. Mark and I set out the smoked salmon and crackers and invited folks to join us. Not too far afterward, dinner was served. It was fantastic! Thanks to Jerry & Carol (two ALC riders who ride a tandem!- no they didn't ride with us this weekend, just fed us) for a great dinner and breakfast on Sunday.

After dinner we were treated to entertainment by Mark Growden who came with his accordian AND his banjo. We all hung out around the fire pit, laughing and listening to Mark sing.

Soon it was 10pm and I was ready to hit the hay. I put my earplugs in, took one tylenol pm, kissed mike good night and passed out.

Sunday I awoke without alarm clock at about 5am and decided I was wide awake so headed over to the bathroom to wash up and put my contacts in. Ahhh a clean face! I was ready for coffee now, so I headed over to the kitchen. The coffee was not quite ready yet so I helped Carol by washing some blueberries and when she came over with a cup o' peets I was very happy. Soon after I headed back to the tent to put cycling gear on, then helped Mike take down the tent. Breakfast was soon ready so we went over for yummy quiche and fruit and lots of other food. After everyone had eaten and broken down camp we met for a quick review of the route, a double warning about White's Hill and then we were off!

Mike and I at breakfast...

Unfortunately for me, at about mile 12 just about into Bodega Bay, I started feeling my rear wheel start to vibrate and soon it was making some squealing noises. I asked Donald to ride behind me to see what it might be and when it started vibrating again, he said he could not see anything wrong. We had already opened both front and rear brakes and yet the vibrations were still happening... very scary. So as much as I hated to (and boy was I pissed!), I flagged down the next sag car and had Leon pick me up. It would appear that it was a problem with my rear hub (basically the middle of the rear wheel), so Leon took me all the way back to Sausalito and I was able to take it to Mike's Bikes. With any luck I'll get it back on Wednesday.

Anyhow, since I was supposed to sweep the last leg of the ride from Fairfax back to Sausalito, after dropping off my bike I drove home, got into "civilian clothes" and drove back toward Pt. Reyes where the group was having lunch. After that I basically followed the group on the road back to Fairfax where I stopped at Scoop for organic ice cream while waiting for the last riders to come by. Eventually they all got there, rested for a bit and then headed out on the last 10 miles to Sausalito. People were tired (and a little cranky), but got in to Sausalito a little before 6pm. NO major incidents or accidents!! yay!

"Wonder Rider"

2008-04-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

My friend Bill Delaney is selling "Wonder Rider" and "Super Rider" t-shirts. The price will be somewhere between $20-$25 depending on how many pre-orders he gets.

IF YOU WANT ONE YOU'LL NEED TO EMAIL BILL BY MONDAY, MAY 5TH!! That's when he's placing the order.

I am partial to this one... and I'm going to encourage any of my brunette girl riders to buy one since it will look like you! (I think that this one looks like me of course! LOL!)
The Wonder Rider (above) is done in womens sizes and the Super Rider (below) is done in Mens sizes). If you'd like to order one, just send Bill an email at wpdsf@hotmail.com and let him know. He'll have them Day Zero for you to pick up!

Maybe we'll all get together on the afternoon of Day 5 and take a photo together? Sound good?

Regardless, $10 of each shirt (more if there are larger orders) will go toward his ALC fund raising!

Let's do it! Get One! This'll be fun!

Day On The Ride... SF (well, really Marin)

2008-04-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday was our Day On The Ride, an 80 mile day complete with rest stops, moto safety, route markings and porta potties, just like on the ride!

I spent all day Friday with Kari marking the route with arrows from GG park all the way to Petaluma and back. I never realized how much time and effort that really takes even when you're in a car! I had to find the most logical place to place the arrows and either staple gun them or tape them to poles along the way. Luckily I ride the route regularly so was familiar with the "normal line of sight" that a rider might take. The arrows pointed right, left, slight right, slight left... and everything in between. I don't think we got very many riders lost-- and if they did get lost it had to have been because they were not paying attention or didn't take a route sheet!!

Saturday morning I got to GG park before the butt-crack of dawn. It was nice to be there early so that I had a prime parking spot right across the street from the start point. I got checked in, set my bike up with numbers and such, then parked it in the official bike parking. After that I just hung out waiting for folks to get there, and then for the official announcements to begin at 7am. After thank yous, a great big donation check for $100,000 from Fed Ex, and stretching done by Wonderkurt, it was my turn to review the route and recite the safety speech. After getting everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) to be completely silent and listening, which I hear was a first- I read the safety speech, included some "show me what I mean" hand signals, did my red flag warning about descending White's Hill into Fairfax -- what to do in an emergency and we were officially off!

Just like day 1 on the ride, we were let out in small groups so as not to overwhelm the streets of SF with 600+ riders. A good thing too because even with our small groups out at a time, we got backed up in different places. It was still a lot of fun, the energy and excitement really made the day worthwhile.

I had put on a pair of really nice warm cycling knickers for the morning but by the time we reached San Anselmo (our first stop was in Fairfax), I decided the day was going to be way too warm to keep them on so I did a little unofficial pit stop at home to change into shorts. I'm glad I did! Soon after I was at Rest Stop 1 in Fairfax, less than 2 miles from home...Beth, Me and Kari at RS 2 in Fairfax.

I rode most of the day with Tom Yetter, a "newbie" rider but not new to ALC. Tom has been a roadie in Bike Parking for a few years and finally decided this was the year to ride. Tommy and I rode off and on with Cami, Rowdy and Anuj throughout the day.

The route went from Fairfax to Nicasio Valley and up and out to the Cheese Factory in Petaluma for lunch. The hill on the way to the Cheese Factory which we have named "le alpe du fromage", was a long a warm climb. At the "almost top" of le alpe were my 4 friends, Tammy ("Gu Girl"), Kelly, Shayne and Bob in superhero costumes-sort of . They hung out there cheering folks on and handing out red vines and overall making people happy. It was great!

Tammy, Bob, Kelly and Shayne

We have all done previous ALC rides together (in fact Tammy was my tentmate on my first two ALC rides and we originally met on a training ride back in ALC 2) but this year they are unable to ride, but love being cheerleaders anyway!
They later drove in to the Cheese Factory and gave us rice crispy treats and strawberries too, yum!!

Soon we were off toward our next destination... Sir Francis Drake Blvd, just outside of Samuel P. Taylor park. We were bummed that we were not able to ride thru the park due to permit issues, so we rode the length of Sir Francis Drake to Lagunitas--- which is the worst paved and probably the most dangerous part of the ride. Luckily it was still early afternoon, so most traffic was traveling northbound and we were traveling southbound so it was not as bad traffic-wise as it could have been. We made it in to Lagunitas and stopped at the market, downed a coke and headed back to Fairfax to rest stop 3.

On the way over White's Hill, I noticed several vehicles pulled off to the side and people on the side of the road motioning us to slow down. There had apparently been a rider who went down, and emergency services were attending to her... I slowed waaaay down, pulled into the shoulder and proceeded down the hill at a really slow speed.

I hate it when that happens. No matter how much I warn people about it- starting out slowly descending on any hill you are not familiar with--- the odds of 1 or 2 people out of 600 not heeding the warning is inevitable. I think there was also either a pothole or some sort of debris that was in the road that added to the danger of that descent. In reading other riders blogs in the last couple days, everyone was now aware of why we are so strict in our safety rules and how different it is riding with more than a few people on the road.

We rolled in to Fairfax, rest stop 3 and our final official stop before heading back to GG park. I made a quick pit stop at the porta potties, said a few hellos and got back on the bike and rode out with Talia, Anuj & Tommy. Somehow I dropped Talia on the bike path, then lost Anuj before the bridge. Tommy and I made our way across the bridge and then thru the Presidio and back to GG Bridge where we stuffed ourselves on pasta and salad...mmmm good!

Not sure if you all knew that was my sister Cindy attending to the cookies... the official cookie lady of the day. She came out to volunteer for DOTR too.

All in all a pretty good day, long-- but a good taste of what the week in June will be like!

April 23rd is my parents wedding anniversary

2008-04-23T15:38:00.000-07:00

my folks in 1983.

I recently had my mother write down how she met my father... its a cute story, here's an excerpt from a very long description, from the memory of an 87 year old gal...

From 1946 to 1955 I was teaching 5th grade Home Economics in Quezon City, Philippines. Every Valentine’s day our school would have a Valentine’s Party. My friend Feliza, who was also a teacher with me asked me to come over to her apartment in Manila on the Saturday morning of the party. When I arrived, she introduced me to her husband’s first cousin, Louis (who, by the way was still in his pajamas!).

We had a short conversation about why he was in Manila and what brought him there. He was going to school in Manila, studying Business Administration. After a short while, Feliza decided that she did not want to attend the party that afternoon because she was not feeling well. So because I did not want to attend the party alone, I went back to the dormitory in Quezon City and instead went to the movies with my friends.

That Monday, Feliza came to school and during our recess she handed me a sandwich for our coffee break. She told me it came from her “cousin” Louis. It was a peanut butter & jelly sandwich! Every day that week she brought me a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, telling me that it was from Louis. After a few weeks, Feliza asked me if it was alright for Louis to come and see me at the dormitory, which I told her was okay.

About two weeks later, on a Sunday he showed up in a white, well pressed outfit. I invited him to sit down but before he sat, he took another chair and offered me a seat before he would sit down. What a gentleman!! He continued to come visit me at the dormitory every Sunday for the next few weeks and we had many conversations. He told me about his purpose of coming back to the Philippines from the U.S. to go to school under his G.I. bill He also talked about his family who came from Vigan, Ilocos Sur, that he had lost both of his parents already and had only 2 sisters left living in Vigan.

That March he came to visit one Sunday and he said to me, “ I know you are also an orphan now, as I am. How about you and me facing the world together?” With this, I questioned his “status”. I asked him right out if maybe he had another family in the States. He said to me, “ your brother works in Immigration, why don’t you have him check me out?”

So I did.

I called my brother, Manong Quiling and told him that this 45 year old guy was asking to marry me and he wanted an answer quickly or he would be leaving to go back to the States. I asked Manong Quiling to check out his immigration file and let me know if he was “ok”. The next day my brother called up and told me, “ yah Ne’- he is here to go to school on the G. I. Bill. He is okay, he is not married to anyone else!” So the following Sunday when Louis came to visit, I told him all right, I would marry. I told him my brother had checked him out and he was “okay”.

We had further discussion that day about where we would live, how many kids he wanted and “sleeping arrangements” And we agreed on everything. So we went to our parish priest to find out if we could get married at another parish, since we would be getting married in Malati Catholic Church, which was not our own parish. The priest told us it would be fine. We were married in the Malati Catholic Church on April 23, 1950. The only family members in attendance were my 2 brothers, Hector and Achilles and their wives. Everyone else lived too far away to attend. This was all of 2 months after I met Louis!

My parents would have been married 58 years today. My father passed away on February 14th, 1989: 39 years to the date that he met my mother. Happy Anniversary!

Miles...

2008-04-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, April 9th : 30
Thursday, April 10th: 40
Friday, April 11th: 32
Saturday, April 12th: 45
Sunday, April 13th: 78!

No wonder I'm so tired. Not to mention that the hayfever has kicked in fulltime so I look rather--- puffy.

24,000 miles and counting...

2008-04-13T21:46:00.001-07:00

I still have the same cycle computer that I started with over 5 years ago. I have never cleared the odometer reading.

Today I rode from the Sports Basement to meet friends at Mike's Bikes. While I was on the bridge, I rolled over 24,000 miles!

It was about 7:15 am, and no one was on the bridge...

It was a nice feeling... even if I was all alone to celebrate. I have ridden over 24,000 miles since February 2003... 2 bikes, one bike computer. I still can't believe the battery hasn't died yet!

Burnout...and rest!

2008-04-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

Yep, even I get burnout.

I feel it coming on about this time each year. So what do I do? I take a break!

Last Saturdays ride had me exhausted. That exhaustion led to a state of disillusionment.

"How will I be ready for the ride if I can't ride 2 days in a row?" (uh hello? I rode Friday and Sat)... "I shouldn't BE this tired, I am so out of shape!" (duh... you rode 72 miles in a headwind).."

All that negative speak runs through your head when you are overtrained. It's normal. If you have been riding every weekend since January or February- take a break! I did! Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I did no exercise. I did go to see my Chiropractor Dr. Rizzo for an adjustment and A.R.T. (Active Release Technique) so that helped me feel better. But other than that I took it easy for 3 days!

Then today, I rode 30 miles alone from my house to Tiburon and back, and it was much more enjoyable and I felt rested and strong... and I HATE to ride alone!

Sometimes you have to take a break and rest your muscles completely so that all those muscle fibers you tear up each weekend have time to repair, resulting in bigger, stronger muscles that can then take you where you wanna go--- even faster than before!

My twocents worth...

I Was a Rider/Blogger on ALC 4

2008-04-07T17:36:00.001-07:00

Three years ago I got to be a "blogger" on AIDS Lifecycle 4. I wrote about my experience at the end of each days ride.

If you want to know what goes on day to day... you can re-live ALC 4 HERE with me...

Woodside and Back...

2008-04-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

I rode this really hard ride on Saturday. It was with the Pos Peds and it went from Sports Basement to Woodside and back, a total of 73 or so miles. It was windy the whole way. I rode with David Uzzell and Dylan Ban- David I had ridden with before on ALC 3 and Dylan I just met on this ride!

The route basically goes down Skyline Blvd from SF to Canada Road, then lunch at Roberts Market and back.

On the way back David and I had a little accident. He ran into me when I stopped before the Hwy 1 interchange from Skyline. I felt it safer to stop and cross over all together rather than try to merge across with folks speeding at freeway speed. He didn't know I slowed down and ran into me, knocking me over on my bike and then flying over me and his bike going down hard.

Luckily we were both ok, although full of adrenaline I'm sure, and we hopped back on our bikes and continued... can't imagine what that looked like to Dylan who watched the whole thing.

I scraped my index finger and bled all over my shifter-- gross. And then Monday I had this beeeyootiful bruise on my right leg, where my top tube must have jammed into my thigh:

Another wound to add to my multiple scars over the past 5 years!

Anyhow, we continued into SF and hit the Upper Great Highway where the wind was sooo gusty that the sand would blow into our faces! Talk about microdermabrasion. We quickly found another way to get to GG park and through it, back down Arguello and into the Sports Basement in the Presidio.

A crazy day of riding, but hey at least it was with friends!

How this all started....

2008-04-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

People always ask me how why I started doing AIDS/LifeCycle... every year I do a post about how it came to be, and this year is no different.

You can all blame Glenn Hammerson, Rider #1308.

Sometime in April of 2002, I met Glenn at a dinner party thrown by Mike's good friend Hans. We got to talking and Glenn told me about the AIDS Ride he was doing in June. It was a week long bike ride from SF to L.A, he told me. I thought-- hey! what a great idea! (ok I was not very sane at the time and had probably had one too many glasses of wine). I figured that April was probably too late to start training--- funny not everyone thinks that way-- but decided to consider it for the following year.

I don't know how or why I thought of it again that December, but I decided right before Christmas 2002 that I was going to do it! I told Mike that I wanted to buy a bike and do AIDS/Lifecycle the next year. Wise guy that he was, he said, " why don't you wait until after the New Year and see if you still want to do it. If you do, we'll go buy you a bike."

On January 2nd, I said, "Ok can we go buy a bike now?". And that was that.

I bought my first bike at Mike's Bikes in San Rafael. (I also bought my second bike at Mike's Bikes in Sausalito.) I remember looking at that skinny seat and thinking my ass was not gonna be very happy by the time I got to L.A., so I walked over to the other seats, pointed at the wide, cushy one and said to D.J., my salesguy, " hey why can't I put this seat on for the ride?", his reply; " ...because I won't sell it to you for this ride." He was a smart guy, and the beginning of my great relationship with Mike's Bikes.

So there you have it. I rode in ALC 2 as my first ride, got hooked on cycling and have logged close to 24,000 miles in the last 5 years or so.

I ride because I enjoy blaming Glenn for it! (and oh by the way girls, Glenn is one of the only straight, single men I know who do the ride every year....)

ooh he's gonna kill me for this post! :-0

Stop Means.... yeah, that.

2008-03-31T19:55:00.001-07:00

"You must stop at all stop signs and stop lights without exception."

Duh!

Okay I only tell you this over and over because in all of my years of training with folks for AIDS Lifecycle, I've never met anyone who got a ticket not stopping at a sign like this one and was happy about the $257 bucks (I think its more now). Or got booted off of a ride for blatant disregard of that sign and other rules-- and then had to figure out how to get themselves home from the middle of nowhere. (not to mention they had to tell their donors that they got booted off of the ride...)

It happens, trust me on that one. You all know I have lots of stories...

If you are on an ALC ride, show ALC courtesy and STOP, damnit! You'll jeopardize our ability to get permits to do large rides locally (like the Expo Ride from yesterday, or the Day on the Ride on April 26th). Our small little towns don't like it when we break the law, and that one is basic.

Besides, who wants to support a cause where all of the riders break the law? Heck, they can go donate money to Breast Cancer walkers instead because their participants are hella safer than us!

And yes, an ALC stop is foot off the pedal on the ground, period. Do you think I enjoy a stop like that? every 100 feet on Lansdale in Fairfax? Hell no, but hey at least slow down and look! Don't go breezing past the sign like it ain't there. I saw tons of that yesterday on the Expo rides... and quite a few ended up being NEAR MISSES where a car just about nailed the rider(s).

Do you think I ENJOY rescuing people at the hospital? Or trying to figure out who to call for them? Then do me a favor and at least THINK ABOUT stopping.

I don't care what all the other kids are doing. You're better than that.

As you can tell I get really annoyed at this stuff..... and I live in one of those little towns so I get to hear the other side from my neighbors.

Please keep me sane.

I love my Click Stand

2008-03-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

I posted this back in December and thought I'd re-post it again... a few of you saw my click-stand at the expo this afternoon and asked about it. For those who didn't see it, it looks like this (this is not my bike though, its the promo photo for the Click-Stand)

Awhile back I was telling someone that I wanted to bring kick-stands back in cycling style. I soon figured out it was not a good idea with a carbon fiber bike. SO I went looking for an alternative and found this:
So I got one and I love it!! No more putting my bike down on its side in the middle of a rest stop where the bike parking is full! You can take a closer look on their website Click-stand.com Or you can ask to see mine next time you ride with me....

White's Hill vs. Quadbuster?

2008-03-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

White's Hill has often been compared to the infamous "Quadbuster " hill on the ride. I say no way--- White's Hill is hella easier, and feels shorter too!

Oh yes, you can actually see the elevation comparison and it looks pretty close. Ben blogs about it on his catseries.com website

I'd have to say (in my humble opinion of course) once you climb Pt. Reyes/Petaluma Road toward the Cheese Factory, although I'm sure the elevation climb doesn't match--THAT's the climb that is the most like Quadbuster on Day 3. The other thing is that like Quadbuster, that climb to the Cheese Factory you can see go up and up and up. You can see all us little ants on bikes climbing, climbing, climbing...

"Le Alpe Du Fromage" is what we've named it. Cheese Factory Hill. (no not CHEESE CAKE factory... although there IS one of those not too far from the Tib Loop, y'know).

Go ride Ben's CAT 2 series ride on April 13th... and then come tell me if climbing that Alpe Du Fromage is harder than White's Hill.

Procrastination is not good...it can be painful!

2008-03-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

In theory, someone who starts training this weekend (44 miles) could still ramp up their mileage in the next 8 weeks and get to 85 miles. Since really the average for the week is about that (one day is around 45 miles, 2 days are over 100) , getting to 85 miles would get your body knowing what long mileage days will feel like.

It would look something like this:
This weekend's Expo: 44 miles
wk2: 48 miles
wk3: 53 miles
wk4: 59 miles
wk5: 64 miles
wk6: 71 miles
wk7: 78 miles
wk8: 86 miles
wk9--tapering-- ride a very short ride, the following weekend will be ride out.

The trick is then to increase rides quickly (think end of April) and do them back to back. Maybe even take a Friday off of work and ride 3 days in a row. (shortest mileage on Friday, longest mileage on Sunday-- or even mix up Sat and Sunday).

I'm not saying that doing it this way will be easy, absolutely not at all!! But at least it gets your mileage increased gradually (about 10% each week). Starting earlier would have been the best bet, but starting any later than this week will be much much more difficult and almost impossible to do comfortably.

The time is now. Or hold off and start again next year!

The Bag for ALC

2008-03-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

This is the bag I bought a couple of years ago to do ALC rides. It is the Rolling Adventure Duffle by L.L. Bean. It will fit my sleeping bag and pad (or twin sized air mattress), cycling clothes for 7 days, extra kick around clothes, 1 pair of shoes (clogs) for camp, my camp towel, toiletries bag and extra bike gear (tubes mostly) and other misc. things. Usually there's lots of extra room too and good thing because somehow by Day 4, I find that my gear has gotten out of control and it fills in the extra space! Beware, however, that if you are flying with it you will likely get charged for having oversized or overweight luggage. That can be as much as an extra fifty bucks if you're not careful!

Nothin' like a little reminder...

2008-03-25T20:28:00.001-07:00

Yep, I'll keep wearing my helmet!

CAT1 Intro Rides... graduation day!

2008-03-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

I decided to rest my legs today and go out and ring the cowbell (something about that sound when you're riding....) and take pictures. I got to meet lots of newbie riders and see some old friends.

Ran into Joel Sale, who rushed out the door to catch a ride-- and forgot his helmet! So here he is riding into Fairfax without a helmet when Randy G says-- what the hell? where's your helmet? and he sheepishly told us how he rushed out to try and make the ride and forgot it, and missed ride out too.

Luckily I had an extra helmet in my trunk (don't ask, it's the mother in me). Joel gladly accepted it and we all felt a little bit better about him riding up and down White's Hill....

Got to meet my comadre Pinay riders (you rock ladies!) Debra, Gloria and Geraldine. We laughed and commented about how people mix us all up because we all look the same- (da plat nose gives it away). Debra insisted that she is a slower rider, but I think she is lying. :-)

Anyhow, I took photos and they're here on the <<<<<----- on the left side. Click on the pics and it should take you to my picasa web gallery with my photos on it.

Tomorrow I ride 75 miles (yesterday I rode only 50, so it will be a mellow weekend) to Petaluma for Easter lunch!

See you all on the road...

"Man, I'm tired!"

2008-03-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

I led a CAT 3 ride this morning, 68 miles from Sports Basement to the Nicasio Loop. Forgetting that I had ridden 50 miles on Friday, and 35 miles yesterday I anxiously hopped on my bike and rode like the wind, into the wind. My legs just about gave out on the spot. OMG I thought I was bonking!

Riding on the Sausalito Bike path, the wind was full force and my legs were soooo tired. I was planning on riding fast and steady through the loop and sweep the last part of the ride, from Fairfax back to SB. Nothin' doing. My legs were dead after the first 18 miles of the ride!

So, I hung with Annette, Sandra and John Young for awhile- becoming "mega sweep" for both rides. Eventually I had to leave them to follow up with two of my CAT 3 folks who I ended up riding with the rest of the ride. Good thing too, if I didn't have them to ride with I would have been dying of exhaustion! Both Nancy and Wly made it easy to make it through the rest of the ride, chatting, riding and just basically taking it easy.

Sometimes its nice to be the caboose.

I think I'll rest now. ugh, I'm so BEAT!

South Bay Cycle Buddy Ride

2008-03-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

Boy those South Bay riders sure know how to party! We had 16 or so riders show up for a ride that we were not sure was going to happen, given the downpours that were happening just 2 hours before ride out! The plan was to go into Starbuck's and do a CB "meet & greet" if we got rained out, so folks came out just in case!

It never rained.

It was beautiful and the route took us through Palo Alto and Woodside with a stop for eats at Robert's Market. Afterward we rode through the Arastradero preserve and back to Los Altos for a quick spin down Foothill Blvd and back to the Starbuck's in Sunnyvale.

Awesome day, fun people!

Two days, 84 miles and another 68 tomorrow.

I think I'm gonna be tired on Monday.

GG Bridge to Nicasio and Back

2008-03-14T23:42:00.000-07:00

Absolutely no rain on ride out, a little chilly but dry. 8 of us rode first to Fat Angel Bakery in Fairfax and then up and over White's Hill and over to Nicasio. Anuj was on his first "official" training ride for ALC so we treated him like royalty. Rancho Nicasio has a great menu, and on a quiet Friday morning they can actually get your meal made pretty quickly! Lyra had a great chicken caesar salad, Gary and Diane shared a sandwich and Anuj had the "Buckaroo" plate. We told him that was his nickname from now on- Buckaroo.

It rained a bit on the road back, but basically a passing shower. A little wet on White's Hill back into Fairfax, so I rode the shoulder the whole way. It can be done, you just have to start out slowly (like 20mph) and hold it there. No problems, it was a great 50 mile ride!

I GOT IN!

2008-03-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

Um, yeah I think I'm happy about it!

I did this ride about 3 years ago and got up 3 passes. This year with better planning I think I can do all 5. Wish me luck!

RSVP Please!

2008-03-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, if you were invited to a dinner party that asked you to please rsvp, wouldn't you do that? Let the host know you were coming, or at least going to make the effort to come? You wouldn't just show up unannounced because that would be bad form, right?

Well then please keep that same scenario in mind when you decide to come on a ride. Don't just show up, because if everyone just "showed up", we wouldn't be prepared for the crowd! And this has happened where we have run out of route sheets and/or run out of ride waivers for folks to sign.

Now the route sheet part, well I guess you could wing it. Except for the fact that it has the ride leaders cell phone number on it and if some (god forbid) accident happened to you or your friends you wouldn't know who to call.

The Ride Waiver, is a requirement from our Insurance Company. So if you are going to ride officially on an ALC ride- you'll need to sign the waiver. If you're not going to ride officially on the ALC ride then what the heck are you doing there? Ride on! you don't need us!

But really, we all would love it if you would please let us know even if you are just thinking of coming to ride. Otherwise it's really a pain in the ass.

And I mean that in the sweetest way possible....

Friday Ride! Lagunitas and back

2008-02-29T21:12:00.000-08:00

So today we rode from the NW parking lot of the Golden Gate Bridge out to Lagunitas and back. It was a chilly foggy start with 18 of us in nice layers to keep the fog out. After stretching, route review, & safety speech we took a group photo to mark the occasion.

Sandra and Donald swept, John & I rode mid pack. We traveled down thru Sausalito and on to the bike path where we did a quick restroom stop. It was here that we heard about Carmen's flat tire and the heroic efforts by Mark and Donald to change it quickly...

Soon we were off and up and over Camino Alto, thru the little towns in Marin and finally to Fairfax Coffee Roasters where we stopped to fuel up before our next "significant climb", White's Hill. Some of our riders were short on time so decided to turn around at Fairfax. My good friend and rider Bill Lehrke was turning around to go home (to San Anselmo) and offered to take my jacket back to my house-- it was warming up quite nicely by then. I took Bill up on his offer.

(Did you know the Bridge on White's Hill is called "Brown Bridge"? Really! take a look at the plaque on the far end... just think of it as "Julie Brown Bridge" and you'll never forget it!)

After a quick descent we floated on down Sir Francis Drake Blvd for about 5 miles till we hit the Lagunitas Market for lunch. Newbie Mark Wise decided he wanted to buy me lunch- what a pleasant surprise! Thanks for that again Mark!

Soon we were on our way again, with Sandra and John sweeping up and over White's Hill. They gave Barbara lots of room to descend since she is a little skittish on the downhills. She did fine.
I met them all in Fairfax and decided to sweep along with them. As we headed thru San Anselmo I saw a familiar face standing on the corner and watching us ride by-- my husband mike! I stopped said hello, kissed him and ate a coconut macaroon and was quickly on my way. I had to ride a little fast to catch up with the others but made it back on their sweep tail by Ross Commons.

Once at the bottom of Camino Alto, John slowed down to take the sweep position again. Barbara wanted a shot of Gu so I went ahead and joined Sandra up Camino Alto. We all met up at Mike's for one more shot of Gu for Barbara... we were all complaining that our legs were tired and we didn't know why (duh!) The wind was picking up so we made our way back thru Sausalito , up the grade and down thru Ft. Baker. At that point I waited for John and we headed back up the last climb of the day. The fog was coming in again, so it was good timing on our part!

John posted his photos of today's ride here for you to enjoy

The Windy Hills of Hollister

2008-02-24T20:31:00.000-08:00

Friday night I drove down to the South Bay and stayed with my mother since she lives in San Jose which is only about a 45 minute drive to Hollister. David planned an official ALC training ride of 55 miles from Off the Chain Bikes, so I volunteered to help co-lead.

The sky was looking ominous, but the forecast said the wind and rain wouldn't hit until the afternoon so we decided we'd go ahead and ride, cutting off a 10 mile loop and hopefully getting us back in before the storm hit.

David, Rick and I were TRLs, Kumar, Natan and Kim were our newbie riders who braved the windy hills with us. And it was wiiiiiiiinndy! Like "blow you over" windy! Our first major climb up Cienega Road was not so bad until we hit the winds near the top of the hill. After that it was sort of cross windy until we took a right onto Old Airline Hwy and hit the headwind DEAD ON. Talk about stopping you in your tracks. All I could do was put it in granny (on a majorly FLAT road) and spin until I got to the end of the road where I made a left and that major headwind became an AWESOME tailwind!!LOL! I'm talking pushing me along the road at 37 miles an hour--- without me even pedaling a stroke!

Soon we were blown to our lunch destination, the Paicines Market in Paicines. They have the best burritos-- good nourishment when you've been fighting headwinds all day. Normally I can only finish a half a burrito there. Today I was in the middle of a conversation with David and Kim, looked down at my burrito and there was just a teeny piece of tortilla in my hand (I had inhaled the whole thing without looking at it!)

After lunch we headed up the biggest hill of all, a road called "Quien Sabe", which in spanish means "who knows". Well indeed who really knew what we were in for? The first part of the hill had a cross wind, the second part, a tail wind and the final climb was a cross wind so fierce I had to keep my head down and just look at the white line on the shoulder of the road while I pedaled.

At one point I looked up ahead and saw that Kumar was walking up the hill with his bike. Kumar walking up a hill??? Unheard of! I slowly road up to him and asked him if he was ok and he said that the wind had blown him off of his bike! I turned to him and asked, "REALLY?", and as I did that the wind blew on my front wheel catching the bladed spokes, causing the handlebars to turn right and effectively turning me off the road and into the soft grassy (luckily) shoulder. I looked up at Kumar and said, "... you mean like that?!". We both started laughing hilariously! Needless to say I got off of my bike and started walking up that hill too, only to have the crosswind gusts blow so hard (I swear they had to be 60mph winds!) that my bike was trying to fly up in the air sideways. The same thing happened to Kumar a couple of times, so with a hilarious bout of laughter we pushed down on our handlebars and top tubes to keep the bikes from flying away, while walking up the rest of the hill.

Once at the top we met up with Rick and Natan who both had the same experience. The wind gusts were crazy but we waited there until we saw Kim and David nearing the top, both also walking their bikes.

Once descending, the wind was at our backs for most of the rest of the route. We stopped before the next turn that would take us into town, Rick and I waited for Natan and then for Kumar. The four of us looked at the sky and determined that we were going to get rained on for the next 5 miles, but that was ok-- we were close to town. We looked back and saw no sign of David or Kim but we figured they were together (and David of course, knew his way back) so we rode on.

The rest of the ride was a little trafficky- I won't tell you about the part where I blanked out and got the "horse to the barn" syndrome-- forgetting to come to a complete stop while I was with Kumar. (He can tell you the story). Other than that it was a pretty uneventful ride back in the rain....

But the wind I will never forget, nor watching Kumar's bike fly in the air!!

YES I RODE TODAY!

2008-02-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

Ha Ha Ha! I told you we'd meet and decide if we should ride... but noooo you all thought it was going to rain! Cami met me at the NW parking lot of the GG bridge at 9am. We stayed in our cars chatting while we waited to see if anyone else would show, and then officially canceled (since I had no co-lead) the ride. We still went out and rode "unofficially".

Not knowing for sure how rainy it would end up being, we decided on a modified version of the Tib Loop which would not take us over Camino Alto, but would still give us some good climbing. We decided after Mike's Bike's that we would loop around the back side of Richardson Bay and do what I call the "reverse Tib Loop" path. It was absolutely gorgeous and not a speck of rain fell on us! We made good time into Tiburon and had brunch at the Sweden House. The sky was full of clouds but we did not get rained on until the sprinkles that hit us when were back on the bike path heading back through Sausalito.

Just goes to show that you really can't predict what a day will bring until you get to the meet point and decide at ride out time!

WOOHOO! We got 28 miles in today!

Friday Ride- Reverse Tib Loop

2008-02-08T20:01:00.000-08:00

Me, talking about the long down hill which becomes the long up hill...

Peter came out for his first "official ride".

This week's Friday group.

If you have Fridays off (or can play hooky every once in awhile), come out and ride with us on Fridays! Take a look at the Ride Calendar and see where we meet and where we go.

New Years Day Ride

2008-01-01T16:16:00.000-08:00

Today a group of 40 or so of us braved the cold SF bay breeze and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge for a trip to Peet's Coffee in Mill Valley.

Uneventful (aka no mechanical issues), and a rather nice sunny day. The wind on the bridge going north was a bit strong, but on the way back it was a tailwind so all in all it truly was a great day! Here's a pic of the folks who joined us...

Happy New Year!

Six Years and counting....

2007-12-24T09:17:00.001-08:00

On Christmas Eve, 2001 Mike and I got married (read: "eloped") at the Marin County Courthouse. Mike's daughter Hannah, who was 8 years old at the time, was one of our witnesses. She was just learning to write her name in cursive, and signed it "Hannah"... the court clerk whispered to her "you need to write your last name too!!", "Oh!" she whispered back, and promptly signed her last name in her finest cursive writing as well. To this day we always spend our Christmas eves together, and today will be no different. Merry Christmas!

I'm a Happy TRL Vest wearer!

2007-12-08T16:23:00.001-08:00

Those of you who've known me for awhile as a cyclist and training ride leader know that I absolutely hate the helmet covers we have to wear when we lead rides. We call them the "BUHC", short for "Butt Ugly Helmet Cover". It looks like this:

Well, this season I made the suggestion that we design Training Ride Leader vests that are still bright and loud, but fashionable. The vests became available yesterday and we wore them on our ALC training ride today! I am such a happy camper!!!

(note the mid-season shape of my body vs. the middle of winter shape! argh!)

So now instead of looking like a dorky beacon of rescue, I look like an official TRL! And they are just as noticeable as the BUHC so they serve the same purpose without being as dorky...

Loved this...

2007-12-05T12:22:00.001-08:00

click on it and you should be able to read it better...

Michael's Birthday

2007-11-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

My "Ride Husband" (aka Tentmate) Michael turned 36 on Sunday. So Saturday he threw a party for himself. He cooked for 26 people and we ate like kings! Mike and I got his birthday cake, chocolate with chocolate mousse filling and chocolate frosting-- with his picture on it!
Debbie Does Desserts on San Anselmo Avenue can create the image of whatever photograph you give them. So I just happened to have this lovely picture of Michael in this years Red Dress and thought it would make a lovely cake topping!

Michael loved the cake so much he almost ate the whole thing himself! (well I do know he had a piece for breakfast on Sunday morning!)

Everyone at the party was someone who Michael met through AIDS Lifecycle. So it was a lot of fun because everyone there knew everyone else!

Charlie got married!

2007-11-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I was in San Diego for my friends Charlie and Krisjon's wedding (that's pronounced "kris-shawn") To show you how deep AIDS Lifecycle friendships can become; I met Charlie on the Kick Off Ride for ALC 4 when he was just getting into cycling. (He can even remember the date, he's says it was October 17th!) I was a co-lead on the ride to Mill Valley and back. We trained together for most of that rainy year, while Charlie was a Resident at SF General hospital (at least I think that's where he was). Yes, Charlie is a Doctor of Pediatrics. When I found that out, of course I started calling him Doogie Howser.

Charlie & I at the artichoke stand, Day 2 ALC 5

I was an official ALC blogger on ALC 4 and if you read my blog of Day 1, you'll hear all about Charlie's little "accident" all within the first 12 miles of the 545 we had yet to do!

Anyhow, the weekend started out with a flight down to San Diego on Thursday with Mike (my husband), Michael (my "ride husband") and Donald (my twin- LOL!).

Friday was a "meet and greet" out at the beach in La Jolla with authentic, and I mean authentic- Mexican food. We had carne asada tacos with fresh made tortillas, rice and beans. It was soooo good! Kelsey and Doug showed up here as well, so add two more to our little party weekend!Michael, Donald, Kelsey & Doug

Afterward we walked around the little downtown touristy area of La Jolla. When you've traveled as much as I have, all of those places start to look the same. RETAIL AMERICA. Oh well it was fun to goof off with our friends anyhow.

After La Jolla we decided we needed to get back to town to hit a place called "Extraordinary Desserts"- OMG I was in heaven! The desserts were so beautiful we had to take pictures of them:

me and my favorite--- beignet!
(and I wonder why I gain weight...)

Charlie's wedding was the following day- Saturday- but not until 3:30pm. So he and Krisjon hosted a small hike on Saturday morning out at Torrey Pines state reserve. It was a great morning, no clouds and relatively warm considering the time of the year!
It was here that we met up with Mark O'Brien, who was Charlie's tentmate for both of the ALC's that they did. It was good to see Mark- always has a big smile- and he assured me that he was planning on riding ALC this year, at least I THINK that's what he said.... lol!

Donald, Doug & Kelsey

After Torrey Pines we got some lunch at what else, a taqueria and who else should we run into but the groom himself! It was some nice one on seven time with him just before the wedding.

What can I say? The wedding was fabulous, relatively small but fabulous. The readings were great and funny too and it was a great melding of two fabulous families.
Michael got a great photo of Krisjon and Charlie coming down the aisle as well as one of all of us in our wedding best:

After the ceremony, the entire wedding party and guests walked back the mile and a half to the hotel where the reception was being held and we partied like Rock Stars...

They clean up pretty good, don't they?

Kick Off Ride

2007-10-29T19:38:00.001-07:00

Saturday was the official Kick Off to the new ALC7 training season. Three different rides left the Sports Basement at three different times. The largest group was the group riding to Tiburon and back, then there was a ride to Mill Valley and back and lastly a short ride around the Presidio with a bike skills clinic afterward, presented by Endurance Performance Training Centers

me being bossy...

The last two or three years we've gotten rain on this day, so I was so happy to see clear blue skies when I got to the Sports Basement. It put everyone in a good mood and its always easier to direct people when they're in a good mood! We had free food and drink, prepping everyone for their first official ride of the season:

Susan as the food pusher...

I love this first ride of the season because its so easy to see the anxiousness in our new riders faces. The look of "everyone here knows everyone else!", so I earlier in the week I directed our TRL's to be sure and introduce themselves to folks so that we wouldn't seem unapproachable.

newbie Mike and Bob Katz

I think most of them tried to do so, however there were over 120 people on the first ride, that I'm sure we still missed some folks. Hopefully they will still come and ride on some smaller rides as we go forward. I felt like the hostess of a party, a BIG party- and wanted to make sure everyone felt welcome and of course, safe.

I asked Ken G. to come along as the invisible SAG vehicle, letting the TRL's know he was available to them if they needed it. We did use him once, maybe twice? but otherwise had no major problems. The goal was to get everyone back by 2pm, and by golly we got everyone in by 2pm.

Jon, making sure no one misses the turn to Mill Valley!

We registered 57 participants that day!

Oh, and I had also talked my sister Cyndy into coming and volunteering for the day. She got to greet the riders as they came back from their rides, checked them in and then handed them a raffle ticket.

Cyn & Me

My biggest surprise was to see my friend Marie, with whom I'd trained to do the SF AIDS Marathon with earlier this year! I was so excited to see her and excited that she had taken the plunge (although she is still sort of trying to figure out what she needs), and was certainly going to try and train and do the ride with us. AWESOME!

me talking marie into riding....

All in all it was a pretty good start to the Training Ride Season in Northern California. Folks won some pretty incredible prizes that day too!

Chris Thomas, one of our TRL's did a short video of the day and of course it's on YouTube.

You can take a look at it HERE (man I gotta drop some pounds....)

Enjoy!

Renegade Ride: Napa Valley

2007-10-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Donald, EJ, Me & MB

Paul, Robb & MB- observing EJ

I spent Saturday in the Napa Valley with a bunch of Renegade ALC riders... A "Renegade Ride", is an unofficial ride with a bunch of ALC riders and friends where we don't have to stretch if we don't want to (most of us do anyway), we don't have a safety speech, and if you're late then it's up to you to ride fast and catch up!

Michael, Debra & Jerome

This time the plan was to ride up the Silverado Trail to Calistoga, take a quick break then ride down highway 29 to St. Helena with a stop at Taylor's Refresher (the original) for lunch. A total of 57 miles and mostly flat!

This is what the Napa Valley looks like in October!

I say "the plan" was.... because although it was my plan, Talia and her rear tire had a different plan for us (Talia, Donald and I). First off was a flat tire with David, who has been having his share of flat tire bad luck lately. We were on the Silverado Trail and the three of us, George David and I took care of the flat in short order.... soon we were back on the trail.

Donald helping George, pre-ride.

Not even 5 miles later, I came upon Talia and Donald discussing the prospects of changing her flat, which they had pumped up just before coming out to Napa. Ah well, we took it all apart checked the tire and voila! nothing there. So we re-pumped the tube put the tire back on and were on our way.... soon after she was flat again. This time we put a new tube in, pumped it up and got on the road, we were obviously far behind the crowd and had yet another 12 miles or so to go. We pumped the tire (after figuring out how to use Donald's CO2 dispenser which was really weird and unlike mine), got on the road and went about 2 miles when it went flat again.
AARRGH! By this time we were just trying to figure out a way to cut across and into St. Helena because we were really going to be too late to catch up with the group. After much discussion, we decided we'd put another new tube in and pump it, then cut across on one of the side roads and meet everyone at Taylors. I called Michael to let him know and he said he'd tell the others. Three changes later and Talia's tire was finally happy.

Cutting across was quick time- like 5 minutes! Which means we got to Taylors in St. Helena at 11:30am, about 45 minutes before the rest of the group. This was a blessing in disguise because by the time the rest of the group got there, the line was miles long. Me, being the hungry person that I always am, did not wait for the rest of the group to arrive but instead had an early lunch and shake while we waited for the others.

Robbi celebrated his birthday on this ride, so Milam brought birthday candles and put them on his milkshake (yes, they're that thick!)and we all sang Happy "29th" (again) Birthday to Robbi.

Robb and his Birthday milkshake

Soon we were all fueled up and on our way back down hwy 29. At Oakville Cross Road I took a left and rode that the 3 miles back to the Silverado Trail. Interestingly enough, a nice head wind picked up which made the last 10 miles back to our start rather ....um.... taxing.

One by one we each made it back to the Chevron station on Trancas, which was our starting point (they have the cleanest gas station bathrooms I have ever seen!).

Not sure where the next Renegade Ride will be, but I'll be sure to post details here somewhere.

First Official Friday Ride for ALC 7

2007-10-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today was the first of many Friday Training rides for ALC 7.
Donald, Kelsey, Ben, John and I met in the back lot of Mike's Bikes in Sausalito. After stretching, doing introductions (small group makes it easy!), reviewing the route and finally reading the "new and improved" safety speech, we were on our way...

Kelsey & Ben chatting it up on the bike path...

It was a nice, leisurely ride and it felt nice to be on the bike again. I had not been on the bike since our ride up Haleakala so my legs felt a leeeetle bit stiff. But it didn't take much time before I felt like I was in th groove again. Of course, being sedentary for so long meant my heart rate would jump as soon as I started the Camino Alto climb... and jump it did, to about 171 bpm! OH Boy, I got some riding to do!

The ride around Paradise Drive was beautiful, the weather relatively clear but cool. Soon enough we were winding our way down into Tiburon where we stopped at Shark's Deli for a quick snack.

Donald and Kelsey

John & I
(we both decided we like how we look in jerseys with black sides!)

After a quick snack and some gossiping, we were back on our bikes through the Tiburon bike path, up and over 101 and back to Mike's Bikes where we said our goodbyes.
But not before signing out and of course, having John take our annual "First Ride of the Season" group picture!

Come join us some Friday!

Yes, I have a new job...

2007-09-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Me, getting balance in my life...

I have a new job!

After six years of commuting from Marin to the South Bay, I finally decided it was time to do something closer to home. In July I gave notice to cancel my contract job with a Construction Project Management firm in the South Bay... I had been working for the same person for over 6 years, driving 72 miles each Monday, staying with my mother during the week and going home (another 72 miles) on Thursday afternoons. Except for vacation time, I've pretty much never had dinner at home during the week!

As serendipity would have it, in August I found my own replacement (thanks Gina!)and two minutes after I had sealed the deal with her via email, I got an email. It basically asked whether I'd be interested in working part time as Training Program Coordinator for AIDS LifeCycle.

(...as a footnote, I had asked almost a year prior, to please consider me should they ever create a position like that. Wanting to keep in "in house" not volunteer, they gave the responsibility to Cycle Buddy Kari- who basically didn't want to take the job on this year. Can you imagine being a Cycle Buddy full time and then having to manage a bunch of TRL's???)

So here are the details- it's part time, I work from home and I am basically responsible for program development and execution. I've created this years Re-certification training, tweaked the New TRL 2 day training and will be working on a more comprehensive training/information book for all of our Out Of State TRL's. With all this program development I don't know how much time I'll get to spend on my bike!! (ok that's a joke, really)

I will still lead Friday training rides beginning sometime in October. They will start from Mike's Bike's in Sausalito (we love them!), and starting in January we'll move our start location to the Northwest parking lot of the Golden Gate Bridge. Come on out and ride!!

Day 2: The Big Sur Ride- plus 22,000 miles and counting...

2007-09-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

We awakened to reverie (remember we were on an Army base) at 6am, although Mike and I were already awake because 9 hours of sleep was plenty for us. We rode to breakfast after loading up our gear to the gear truck, had a nice warm breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc. Soon we were on our way back to Carmel Valley by way of King City. Yes, King City. This is the ride where we get to go over "Quadbuster" in the opposite direction as well as cross the "skinny dipping bridge", in the opposite direction.

Roger, David & Scott pose at the top of Quadbuster (in the other direction!)

Skinny dipping bridge from afar...

Soon we were at the 2nd rest stop, where we fueled up before the major climb of the day- an 11 mile climb up to Cahoon Summit, and soon after a drop back down on Carmel Valley road into town. But first, I noticed that I was now only 3 miles from rolling over 22,000 miles on my odometer--- yet another stop and photo for celebration! (wasn't it only last December when I rolled over 19,000?)

The climb up to Cahoon Summit starts out long and slow, and you don't really feel like you're climbing except for the fact that you can't figure out why you can't pick up speed. Plus to add insult, there was a bit of a headwind now so not only was it boring and long, but also windy.

As you can imagine, this was not my favorite it part of the ride, so I'm gonna gloss over it--- I rode it, made it very slowly to the top, had Yoichi massage my neck and shoulders (because I had a raging headache, but my friends wouldn't let me sag downhill!) and headed back to our starting point in Carmel Valley. Afterwards we ate yummy burritos and headed home.

An awesome ride with awesome riding friends: Marybeth, Beth, Nicole, Mike, Yoichi, Kimball, Chris Z, Chris D., Roger, Scott, Jeff, David, Charlie, Michael, and before and after ride-- Bill!
I think I'll do it again next year--- but come better trained.

Hey MB, let's go climb Diablo....

The Big Sur Ride- Day 1

2007-09-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend a group of us traveled down the coast to ride in the Big Sur Ride, a gorgeous and difficult 2 day ride. We started out around 7:15 am or so, about 15 of us, out from Carmel Valley and on toward Hwy. 1. Once on 1, we headed south for most of the day. The first rest stop was at Rocky Point Restaurant, a popular site that sits right on the cliffs above the Pacific. It was an absolutely clear morning. It was nice that they had drop bags so we could take off our arm warmers, leg warmers and jackets, toss them in a bag and they would take them to our camp that night.

The ride is pretty spectacular, day one is mostly rolling hills (ok looong rolling hills) with some awesome downhills in places as well. We had a lot of views like this one for most of the ride day:
I hadn't ridden a long ride since the trek up Haleakala, so I knew I had to take it easy for the first 50 miles otherwise I would be totally burnt by the time I hit Nacimiento Road at about mile 70... So we took our time and took lotsa pictures along the way:

There was no lack of food on this ride, although they did run out of sandwiches at the 2nd rest stop. That was partly our fault because we were late, due to the fact that we stopped at the Big Sur Bakery on the way to rest stop 2.

Marybeth was determined to get up Nacimiento Road this year (last year she was halfway up and they made her sag to the top). All that training on Mt. Diablo paid off, she easily made it up to the top. She did have a mishap on the way down though, hitting a pothole and crashing. Luckily she was descending slowly, since one of the ride vehicles had just passed her. Such a bummer, she was ok although a bit bruised and sore the next day, and she did get a bit of a scrape on her arm. (see the pink bandage on her left arm in the above picture)

Nacimiento Road is a loooong 7 mile climb, and not only is it rather steep in places, it also comes at about mile 70 of the 90 mile day. The only thing I had going for me was that I had climbed Haleakala 2 weeks ago, and I had also done this climb two times before. Mentally I knew what to expect. That was the only thing that got me thru.... well ok, that and Michael would stop and wait for me from time to time on the way up.
I finally made it up the 7 miles in a little more than 2 hours (yes it was that steep).... Mike, Charlie, Chris and Kimball were there at the top waiting for us. It's nice to get to the top and have someone there cheering for you. The downhill is long and curvy, eventually getting you to the gate at Fort Hunter Liggett, where we had dinner and camped for the night. We actually got to bed at 8:30pm and slept til 5:30am!!! heck that's more sleep than I get at home....

The ride up Haleakala

2007-09-01T13:12:00.001-07:00

Mike sent this ride report out to friends, so I figured instead of writing my own here, I'd just let you read his:

Well, yesterday was the day to take the plunge so to speak, or perhaps the opposite, to climb Haleakala on road bikes. It was our one ambitious goal for this otherwise placid vacation on Maui. I should have sensed what kind of day it would be when Julie and I left the condo, forgetting our bars, our pre-ride hydration water, sandwiches, etc...two vacationers in vacation mode, having done nothing for a week, attempting the assault of a 10,023 foot peak!

We arrived at the bike shop (http://www.gocyclingmaui.com/) in Haiku, on the Eastern slopes of the base of Haleakala, at about 400 ft above sea level, were outfitted with some great Litespeed bikes (I want one now) with our own pedals, and were ready to get on our way. Tim, our guide and host, (supported by a sag wagon that would leapfrog us for water stops) would ride with us up to the park entrance at 6,700 ft, but could not enter the national park, because the shop did not have a permit to operate within the park. At one trip per week with only a few riders willing to make the ascent, I gather it just did not make economic sense for them to get one. About 45 seconds into the ride, we started to climb-nothing like a good warmup! Off we went, through the small towns into the "highlands" (between 1,000 and 4,000 feet). Unlike most mountain ascents, there are very few places to rest or coast on Haleakala. I counted three downhill sections from the bike shop to 6,000 feet that were each about 15 seconds long.

The rest of the ride was a steady climb uphill, at albeit gradual grades between 5% and 8%. I have to say that the roads inside the park were some of the best that I have ever had the pleasure of riding. Good wide shoulders, smooth pavement, and plenty of signs warning motorists about bicycles (though I think the intention is to warn about downhill cyclists, of which there are many).

Anyway, back to my hyperbole: To our delight, the air temperature started to cool, from 86 at the shop to the high 70's as we climbed through the highlands. At 4,500 feet we entered some mist, that gradually turned to a drizzle the further we climbed. At 6,000 feet, our sag wagon provided us with leg warmers, arm warmers, a vest and a jacket (until this point, Julie and I were wearing only shorts and regular jerseys). At the time we thought, well, ok, It's drizzling now, but not cold enough to warrant wearing any of this stuff. If we need them on the descent, we will carry them. We rode on. We left the Shop at about 8:45 am. By the time we arrived at the park entrance at 6,700 feet, it was just before 1:00 pm. We were on schedule, with our legs feeling pretty good.

Tim left us at the park entrance, in a light drizzle, which almost immediately turned to a monsoon-a heavy tropical rain. Not a warm tropical rain though. No, at 7,000 feet, it was as cold as any bay area winter rainstorm. We trudged forward to the first park visitors center, completely soaked, wearing again, only our jerseys and shorts. Determined to carry on, We stayed indoors at the visitors center for a half hour to thaw out and regroup, spending 10 minutes of that time under the hand dryers in the restrooms trying to warm our cores and dry off (somewhat) before layering on the additional clothing. Donned with armwarmers, leg warmers, a light vest and a light jacket (none of which, perhaps obviously, was rainproof) we left the vistors center at 7,000 feet and climbed to 7,500 feet.

The rain did not let up, and if anything only persisted at getting heavier. Soaked to the bone again (read: next time carry some goretex!), we made the decision to turn around, thinking both of hypothermia (yes, by this time the temperature was in the high 50's, we were soaked, and still had 7,000 feet to descend with nary a pedal stroke!) and time, as it was by this time, heading towards 2:30 and we had 2,500 feet to go to the summit. The descent was a little harrowing, as we had to clench our brakes as hard as we could just to slow down. Needless to say, brakes don't work well when your tires (front wheel and back) are spitting a rooster tail out about 6' and water is sheathing across the road. My front tire was wobbling both from the heavy application of the brakes, and from my shivering arms. I had a steady drip of water coming off the front of my helmet, splashing into my eyes to aid my vision, which was nice. It was the kind of soaking that, when you flexed your foot, water would squish out of the tops of your shoes; when you sat down on the seat after lifting off for a moment, you could feel the squish of water releasing from your butt pad.

It rained solidly back down to about 3,500 feet. When we got back to the bike shop, by this time somewhat warmed by gradually warming rains, the now sunny weather, and 86 degree temperatures, we looked a little out of place with our bundles of clothes on. We rung out our clothes, laughed and told stories of our adventure, and were soon on our way. Tim confirmed that this was the wettest he had ever been on a bike ride since living in Maui (remember, he rode up with us, and had to descend through most of the rains as well).

To top it all off, before arriving in Maui, Julie had bought tickets to a benefit for the Lahaina community center: an outdoor evening event of approximately 500 people, a live band, open bar, and samplings from the best chefs/restaurants of Maui. Not thinking this through completely, we scheduled the climb to Haleakala on the same day. Hmm let's think about this: sit on the beach, read, snorkel for a week and then attempt to climb 10,00 feet and attend a benefit on the same day. How typical, or perhaps endemic of the us.

Needless to say, we ate and danced-yes danced, until we had nothing left. Just another day on Maui. All things considered, our legs feel pretty good today.

Aloha!

2007-08-28T00:26:00.000-07:00

Mike and I came to Maui to celebrate my 45th birthday (it was last Saturday, the 25th).
So far its been, sleep, eat, read, sit by the pool, eat, (ok I went for a 4 mile run yesterday morning) read, etc. Three days to decompress and now we are on the "activity" plan:
Hiking in Iao Valley tomorrow, 60 mile bike ride around West Maui on Wednesday, Kayaking on Thursday, Bike ride UP Haleakala Crater on road bikes on Friday- if all goes as planned.

We had dinner at the Plantation House Restaurant for my birthday... with a nice window seat.

Who could complain about a view like this from your dinner table? Needless to say it was a nice birthday all around!

Ten pounds by February 10th!

2007-08-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Last Friday a few of us went on a Tiburon Loop ride, by the time we left Sweden House in Tiburon there were just three of us- John, Beau and me.

As usual, John brought along his camera and took pictures. The three of us decided that we look way too fat in them, so agreed on a pact: Lose 10 lbs by February 10th. (we decided this on August 10th, this is why we chose February 10th!) I mean 6 months to lose 10 lbs, how hard can that be?

The following Friday I weigh myself and I have gained exactly 2 pounds. Hell am I off to a good start or what?

Anyhow, if you're reading this- next time you see Beau, John or me, ask us how we're doing on the 10lb loss.... this will if anything, make us feel guilty and get us back on track!

Sisters and Nieces

2007-08-05T16:20:00.000-07:00

Can you tell which ones are my sisters and which ones are my nieces???? My eldest sister is 11 years older than me and my oldest niece is 14 years younger than me.....

I think we all look pretty damn good for just about 30 and older....

The closest thing to a twin I'll ever have-
my sister "Bebot", which in Filipino slang means "hot chick" or "hottie"--LOL!

Marin Metric Century

2007-08-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

I was unsure whether I'd be up to riding 62 miles today since I'd been recovering all week from the SF Marathon, not to mention the fact I hadn't been on my bike in three weeks! Michael said to me earlier in the week, " c'mon out anyway- you can always turn around if it gets to be too much". (famous last words) So- I figured what the heck, I like riding and I liked all the people who were planning to be there to ride with us so how could it not be enjoyable?

We (MB, Mark,Mo,Michael,Em2,me,Kas,& Nicole) met at 6:45 and attempted to ride out at 7, which of course meant we rode out around 7:20. I was a little winded at the beginning of the climb up to Big Rock on Lucas Valley Road but chatting with Kas and Nicole made it so much more enjoyable and more importantly, do- able!

Kas & Nicole before ride out...

My legs felt strong, but my lungs felt tired so I tried not to push it too hard even though I knew my legs could push harder. We rolled down Lucas Valley and on thru Nicasio and up "le alpe du fromage" (remember that?) to the cheese factory where we decided we'd use the restroom instead of standing in line at the next official rest stop on Hick's Valley Road. At the Cheese Factory we ran into Chris, who had arrived late and basically hammered to catch up with us. We also saw Bob Katz, Raybel and Paul ride by, but figured we'd see them at the rest stop soon after anyway.

From the Cheese Factory we headed over to the Hicks Valley rest stop for a pbj and some fruit. It was here we realized how many ALC'ers were out on the ride. We also paused for a pic in our ALC Jerseys, just after we ran into Doreen Gonzales, another CAR and ALC rider.

Rest Stop 1:
Em2,Mark, Mo, Michael, Kas, Doreen,Nicole,MB, me, Bob and Chris

Soon we were back on our bikes and headed toward Wilson Hill. Chris and I rode along and I realized- hey there are a couple of hills on the way to Wilson Hill! Anyhow, we climbed the climb and suddenly I heard my name- it was Jeff Swanson busting his way up the hill and descending it with us. Also along the climb I ran into Dion Coakley- another ALC'er and chatted a bit before hitting the top of the hill and then the descent.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, which was nice. The next rest stop was run by AIDS Lifecycle and was themed and roomy and they made sure that they handed you food, instead of having you grab food with your gross gloved hands! LOL! I'm sure other non-alc riders didn't realize how easy it is to contract gastro-intestinal problems when you don't eat with clean hands...eeeewwww!!

We rolled into the last neighborhood mile, where we saw a nice little lemonade stand being run by a little girl and her brothers. We stopped to give them some business and enjoy some yummy lemonade, then headed on to the finish line.

All of us after some yummy lemonade

All in all it was a great day of riding, and the weather could not have been better. Warm and sunny with no major wind but just great company. It was a nice reminder of how fun it is to ride with fellow AIDS Lifecyclers!

5 Hours, 57 Minutes and 17 Seconds

2007-07-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

I ran the SF Marathon yesterday. It was my first "real" marathon (remember I ran 26.2 miles last month as "practice"). My total time was 5:57:17 I wanted to get in at under 6 hours, so when I realized at about mile 24 that I could probably do it, I kept running then sprinted the last 100 yards across the finish line, pumping my heart rate to over 190 bpm!

Me just after my 100 yard sprint!

Michael and Donald brought ice bags to the finish line so I could ice down my quads and hamstrings...

Icing down aka cooling down

Daniel finished the marathon too, although had problems with foot pain that slowed him down for the last half of the run. It was so painful he thought about dropping, but being the stubborn soul that he is- he iced down his foot and continued on, coming in at 6:44:23. Not bad considering he limped most of the last 13. Here he is at the end after receiving his finishers medal...

He's even smiling!

So, my goals for the year are done. Now I'm bored....