Bouncing Bouncing...

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!

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

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...

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...

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

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.