AIDS LifeCycle 7 Thank You BBQ

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

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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...

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

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...

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!