Thanksgiving at Pajaro

We spent Thanksgiving out at Pajaro Dunes in a vacation home for 4 days. The weather was beautiful! Clear blue skies all week and it didn't rain once! My family came out with a turkey and fixin's and we had a potluck at the beach (in the house). On Saturday a few friends (15 or so) came out to spent the day at the beach with us and have dinner. Donald, Matt, Daniel and Michael spent the night and we hung out by the fire in the evening. Hannah had a blast, learing to ride her new skim board and playing games with all of our friends.

Hannah and her dad, with a little help from Kevin- built an awesome sand castle. Dad- ever the contractor- had brought a shovel, and many cement trowels to make the castle a little more than kids play... All in all it was a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Friday Tib Loop Rides...

These days I spend my Friday mornings riding with ALC folks training to do the Ride. We usually do some variation of the Tiburon/ Paradise Loop. This is what a typical group of riders looks like- we took this picture on Nov 10... thanks to Bob Katz for the copy (and for taking the picture).

Robb's Birthday

I love being a trendsetter! 4 years ago when I started riding, I started my "Birthday Ride for Cake". People love the idea (hey, it means you can eat all the cake you want, as long as you ride), and four years later I rode with my friend Robb and his 20 closest friends to celebrate his thirtysomething birthday! We rode from Orinda Bart to the French Cafe in Danville and back, about 40 or so miles.... I love celebrating this way! (And so did Robb, he rode faster than I've ever seen!) Happy Birthday Robbie!

2 Day Training Ride Leader Certification

I had someone ask me my opinion about the new 2 Day TRL certification program. Here was my response:

"So I had a few thoughts- the same as yours, but probably more colorful- when I first heard about the 2 day training. I gave myself a few days to digest it before commenting on it too. Then I realized that the perspective I was taking was sort of a selfish "me, me, me", " how can they make ME give up MY weekend, etc... what more can they teach ME? I'M not a newbie." (of course it was really MY choice to give up my weekend) but then I thought:

Are there new things I might learn? probably, cuz I really don't know it all- I just know I like to ride my bike with others.

If I was the parent or partner of a new rider, would I want the TRL's to be trained for 12 hours or 3? um, as many as possible.

Do I remember from year to year, what we should be doing--- have ALL of the rules ever been stated to everybody at the same time, veterans & newbie TRL's alike? um.... I don't remember, but I think so but I'm not really sure.... but I would like them to be.

Have I ever been frustrated because there were all of these TRL's who were certified (for the 3 or 4 hours), and THE SAME PEOPLE KEEP LEADING RIDES? hell yes! .... if I remember correctly there were 80 TRL's on the list last year, and the same 30 kept volunteering to lead/co-lead!!

Have other TRL's ever called me because they were in a situation where they didn't know what to do, and wanted to know what they should have done? yes... and I could only answer them based on experience, not on what ALC wanted because I was never told their perspective in training...

.... and other thoughts like that.

For me, a 2 day commitment from a TRL to be trained hopefully means more of a commitment to lead more rides, bottom line.

We have gone through the same training for the past 3 years and have never given the newbies (us included when we started) the skills to train others, ie: riding behind someone to teach them how to shift (have you ever had to do that?) , talking someone OUT of riding the training ride that day because they are obviously not ready- but they have emotional reasons for doing it, making someone turn around on a ride... etc. Even if you are experienced, I think there is always something new you can learn (as happens in life!) and can also share with others.

I've learned how to do that stuff during "forced on the job training"-- which I've been lucky at, but would have liked to have known how ALC wanted us to do it. There are others who have never had to do it, or have muddled their way through it. And when that all relates back to the safety of others, I want to know that I'm making a decision based on experience I got in training (especially important for newbie TRL's), as well as the fact that I am representing how ALC wants be to deal with it. Does that make sense?

Now with all that said, I will tell you honestly that in my opinion not everyone who has been a TRL should've been a TRL. I have co-lead rides with lots of leaders and some of them are just there to ride, not to help. I would presume that anyone going through this training will understand that THAT is not acceptable to other leaders anymore, period.

We are there to help others in their training, and that training strongly involves training people to automatically follow the basic ALC ride rules so that they are instinctual during the week of the actual Ride, ie; Single File riding only, following ALL traffic laws (especially stopping), calling out, signaling, etc. You know as well as I do, this is a HUGE problem during the actual week of the ride.

Ok, I will get off my soapbox now."

On Top of the Golden Gate

Last Sunday Mike and I met our friend Daniel who took us on a tour of the top of the South Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Yes THE Golden Gate Bridge. The one you see in all the movies, that gets blown up, that people fall in love on, that people jump off of. Probably the most famous and most photographed bridge in the world. WE got to go up to the top of it! My friend Daniel, whom I met when he was training for his first AIDS Lifecycle ride, is a Sargeant on the the Golden Gate Bridge. One day he emailed me and invited me and a friend to tour the top of the bridge. Talk about a once in a lifetime trip. "Of course!" I emailed back. And with that we set the date for October 1st. The south tower is 760 feet tall, and you have to ride a very small elevator to the top, climb a ladder that is about 20 feet, flip open a hatch and climb out. The view, as you can imagine is spectacular!


We spent almost an hour at the top, taking over a hundred photos from different vantage points on the tower. It was a pretty clear day, with only high clouds to worry about and very little wind.
How many times to you get a photo like this in your life?

The Big Sur Ride

About three months ago Mike decided that he wanted to ride the Big Sur Ride in September. Last year I did the ride with a handful of friends, and Mike drove and met us at Ft. Hunter Liggett and then at the end of the ride. Big Sur is a two day ride, with overnight camping at the Fort. Day one is about 92 miles starting in Carmel Valley, will a hellacious 7 mile climb up Nacimiento Road at mile 60. Day two is about 76 miles back through King City (over Quadbuster in the opposite direction), up to Cahoon Summit and back up Carmel Valley Road. This year there were nine of us: Mike & I, David, Jeremy, Charlie, Kelsey, Michael, Chris and MaryBeth. We left Carmel Valley at 7:30am on Saturday morning, and had a gorgeous ride down Highway One all the way past Big Sur, almost (about 45 miles short) to Hearst Castle! Charlie, Kelsey and I rode most of the first 2/3 of Day One behind MaryBeth. She is a little slower than us, and we were all wanting to take it easy so by riding with MB, it insured that we would not go to fast, nor drop her and never see her until camp.
If you've ever driven down Hwy 1 south towards Hearst Castle, you will recognize the pictures. Let me tell you, riding it on a bike is so much different because you get the sounds and smells of the sea and as Charlie says, you also don't have to worry about getting car sick because of the winding roads. In fact, the rolling winding roads on a bike are simply awesome!

At mile 60 or so, you make a left turn off of Hwy 1 onto Nacimiento Road which is a 7 mile, winding, two lane road with a climb up to about 2500 feet. At the top, there is a rest stop and lots of folks applauding the completion of your ascent. I road up the road at a snails pace, but was happy to meet up with David on the way who had stopped to catch his breath and take some pictures.
This is what Nacimiento looks like after you've climbed a couple of miles...
After the climb there is a great, winding, fast downhill a few miles until you get to the gate of Ft. Hunter Liggett, where we camp overnight. Once you are through the gate, it is another 10 miles of rollers, if you're lucky you miss the afternoon headwinds. We were lucky.
Without going into too much detail, I will tell you that Mike and I have decided to make this an annual ride, something like our annual rafting trip, where we invite everyone we know (who bikes) to come out and join us. It is a great ride, well supported and when you ride it with good friends, it really is an event!

Eighteen Thousand Miles and counting...

Hmmm. This past Sunday a group of us went out for a leisurely 82 mile ride out to Petaluma, then Tomales and finally down to Point Reyes station then home. While riding to Tomales Bay from Petaluma, I realized my odometer would be rolling over to 18,000 miles. I was basically almost in the middle of nowhere when the magic numbers appeared. Wow. I suddenly felt tired.

I tried to figure out in my head how many miles a month that was, since the time I started riding and it averages out to be about 430 miles a month! No wonder my family feels like they never see me.... :-)
We continued out on Tomales/Petaluma Road out toward the Tomales bakery and about halfway there, Michael hit 9,000 miles on his odometer.
He's afraid though, that his computer will only read out 4 whole number digits, which means when it rolls to 10,000 miles the computer will say 0000.00 I guess we'll have to wait and see. So we finally hit the Tomales bakery but got there a little too late for pastries. The bakery basically opens at 7:30 and stays open until they sell out. Well they sold out, so we had to go next door to the deli (which is also very good) and had sandwiches and snacks. That was ok because we knew we would hit the Bovine Bakery in Pt. Reyes in plenty of time and they rarely run out of goodies!
The 17 mile ride from Tomales to Pt. Reyes was great because we had a tailwind the whole way! It is a great rolling route that can really suck if that tailwind turns into a headwind. We made it to Bovine Bakery with no problem, fueled up on coffee and sweets for the ride home, er well to our one last planned stop, SCOOP ice cream shop in Fairfax.




Of course, after that it was two miles home to end a fabulous day of riding!

August in a Nutshell...

The months keeping moving, flying by and every once in a while I stop to try and figure out what the heck I did with my time. This month: (ok this is pathetic, I had to go back to my ical to see what I did last month!) The Marin Century was Mike's first 100 mile ride. He did very well, finished in a little under 8 hours. I chose to do the metic century, however because heck- I've done 100 milers enough times to cover me through the end of 2007.
Yoichi and I decided at the first rest stop that we only wanted to ride the metric century.
We had started out at 7 am, so this meant we were done with the metric right around noon. It was a nice relaxing and enjoyable ride. We realized as we rode up Red Hill back toward the Cheese Factory, that the ride was going to be a whole lot windier for those coming back from the hundred. We came up Red Hill around 10:30am and the wind was already picking up!

The rest stop in Petaluma was sponsored by AIDS Lifecycle so it was fun to hang out there awhile with people we knew before heading back to the start

August 13th was Mike's 42nd birthday, which he celebrated in true Brown style, but what else but a Birthday Ride.
We met up at Nicasio with our friends Dave, Chris D, Chris Z & Michael, and did a 55 mile ride out to Marshall, then up to Tomales Bakery- down through Chileno Valley and up and over the back side of Wilson Hill on to Hicks Road and on to the Cheese Factory for salami and cheese.
Wouldn't you know it, we ran into Kelsey at the Cheese Factory and she rode back with us Nicasio, then onward back to San Francisco.
I guess I should mention that Mike is planning to do the two day "Big Sur Ride" that takes place at the end of September. The first day is 90 miles with a hellacious climb at mile 70, and the second day is about 72 miles with another good climb about mid way. This is why he has been getting out on his road bike a whole lot in the past month.For details on the Big Sur Ride, Sept 23,24 see http://www.cypressgroup.org/bigsur.htm
In the meantime, we've been riding A LOT! August 20th was the Tour d'Organics- an organized ride put on by Organic Athlete. It was basically a ride from Organic Farm to Organic Farm, with each farmer offering up fresh, organic fruits and vegetables at each rest stop. It was awesome! We are always so filled up with bad, well preserved "ride food" that this was a refreshing change. Michael, Chris Z, Mike, Sandy and I rode through most of the Sonoma Wine Country, an area we have ridden through many times before. But where we usually stop at schools, wineries, community centers, etc; this time we got to see the really rural areas and the farms that produce most of the Organic foods in the area.

Tour de Julie Brown's Birthday- The Ride for Cake

Ever since I was a kid I've celebrated by birthday with a party of some sort. In the last 4 years that I have been cycling I've been making my friends ride with me before we partake in some sort of eating. This year was no different. With Michael's help, we designed rider bibs for each birthday ride participant.
Each Rider wore the number 044. I wore the number 029. You figure it out.
About 40 of us rode out from San Anselmo to the Cheese Factory, about 64 kilometers with a brief stop at Nicasio where Yoichi pulled in to offer us snacks of cookies and fresh fruit. Michael called it the "Execu-SAG". It was a nice touch.
We rode on to the Cheese Factory where we snacked on salami, cheese, chips and drinks while fighting the yellow-jackets for food. Afterwards we headed back to the house for some well deserved cake.

Since no one can ever decide on whether it should be a chocolate cake or a white cake, and since I have to order my own I decided I'd get both. That way I cover everybody. Heck I even had soy yogurt/ice cream!

The best part of the day was when Daniel gave me a very special birthday gift which he insisted I open before I cut the cake. It was the most awesome hat (I love hats, by the way) you could ever get for your birthday...

In case you can't see it, it is a birthday cake hat with candles on top. It is really really cool and I will wear it every birthday from here on out.
I figure we rode about 38 miles, times the average of about 30 calories per mile, that's about 1,140 calories burned. A slice of each cake was probably about 500 calories so with ice cream we pretty much canceled out the cakes by riding to the Cheese Factory. See? I ride to eat!
You can view more pictures of the "Tour de Julie Brown's Birthday" on my homepage:

Michael's ALC blog/photos

So I was going to finish off my ALC blog (better late than never), but then decided I'd just give you the link to Michael's since his is so much more thorough and entertaining.... a view from the injured cyclist side. Now I can continue on to tell you about other stuff happening...

Here's his blog/webpage: Michael's Blog

AIDS Lifecycle 5- Day 6

Lompoc to Ventura...

Michael decided he was feeling better and decided to try riding today. His leg was INCREDIBLY PURPLE.... I mean INCREDIBLY! (you'll see the photo below) So we left Lompoc and decided that we would ride easily and as long as he could, and then I'd SAG with him! WOOHOO! I'd get to finally SAG for the first time in 4 years. I was sooo looking forward to it. Well, of course we rode along at a good clip with Michael pretty much dropping me for the first 10 miles or so, and every time we'd get to a rest stop, I'd ask him how he was feeling and he'd say "Fine!". We climbed out of the Santa Ynez Valley and onto hwy 1, which to me-although its beautiful because it's along the coast, it's a pretty boring ride. No major climbs, sort of rolling hills and lots of ocean along the right side. We rode and rode and pretty soon we were coming up on Santa Barbara. Michael, Chris and I stopped to take photos.

We eventually made our way to Paradise Pit for real ice cream and it was then I realized that there was to be no sagging, as Michael was feeling too good and was gonna ride all the way in to camp.
Oh well, I set my sights on Rest Stop 4 and couldn't wait to see what Rowdy, Cami and the gang had in store.

Turns out they had re-done the Playboy Mansion, right there on the beach, with Hef and everyone!

The Boys had fun hanging out with all the Playboy bunnies, and we watched as everyone rode in and posed for pictures.

Soon we were off again, riding into camp to get ready for the Candlelight Vigil after dinner.




In the meantime, Michael's bruise had become somewhat of a spectacle. It was soo purple and so big- pretty much covered this thigh, that people came from all around camp to look at it!

Below you'll see their reactions
Yes, that purple is the bruise on Michael leg.
But here's an even better one.

Ok enough of the gory stuff.

That evening is the annual Candlelight Vigil we do on the beach at Ventura. All participants (that would be about 2300 people) are given a candle to light and we take them out on the beach. It is just our way of remembering those who we've lost to AIDS, and our silent statement of sadness. There is no "agenda", we just walk out on the beach holding our candles.

It's a pretty emotional time, and a good way to bring us back to remembering why we've spent the last 6 days riding, a good way to spend our last night of the ride.

DAY 5- Red Dress Day

We all love Red Dress Day- its the shortest day mileage wise (although there are lots of hills) and we get to dress up all silly and take pictures of ourselves!

Michael and I spent the night princessing at a local hotel in Santa Maria, but got back to camp early enough to eat a hearty breakfast. We took lots of pictures while waiting in line to get food...

Here's a group shot of all of us before we rode out for the day.


I rode out under overcast skies, and stopped at a local coffee shop for a mocha. While I was there, hundreds of cyclists on bikes also stopped. There I ran into Donald, looking much like Barbara Bush- with his red dress, proper hat and of course white fishnet stockings on.

Also present were Irish Greg and Chris, in their proper attire:
the day was loads of fun, and full of laughter. We stopped (ok a few of us stopped) at an ice cream truck along the way, to fill up on sugar before we climbed one mega hill into rest stop two in Casmalia...
(me, in front of the ice cream truck in my red dress...) I kept trying to talk people into stopping to eat ice cream, but they didn't believe me when I told them there was a hill ahead. They wanted to rush on. Imagine the curses they said under their breath when we hit the hill- the sugar kicked into my system and I passed them while saying... "I TOLD you, you'd need the sugar for a hill!! next time you'll listen to me...." Yah I can be a nagging bitch. :-)

Anyhow, I stopped in Casmalia to dance in the street with a hundred others. One of the local shop owners plays DJ to our group and blasts music on to the main street. We all stop, eat some barbecue and dance for a few before getting back on our bikes to climb the next hill, and the next and the next.

The route takes us past the entrance to Vandenburg Air Force Base. Normally we stop and take pictures in front of the sign. This year they got tired of us and had some guard come and tell us to leave.... no sense of humor, those military guys.

Anyhow, I eventually rode to the lunch stop feeling a nasty 'bout of acid reflux coming on... at that point Chris, Greg, Shance, Donald and Wayne said they were going to go into town for some mexican food before heading back to camp. At that point all I really wanted was a glass of milk and the thought of spicy food with my acid reflux made me shudder.

At lunch I sat with Charlie, Steveo, and their friend (who's name i cannot remember!), Doreen and her brother, and Tony- one of my newbie riders on the Tib Loop... it was a really nice day and I tried to take a nap but the acidy reflux stuff was just too much. So I hopped on my bike for the last 8 or so miles back to camp. I met Michael there (Yay! with the tent already set up!) and we hung out for the rest of the evening.
Me, hanging out--------->

ALC Day 3 and 4.... specifics

Ok.... um lets see what I can remember. Day 3 was Quadbuster Day! I met 3 other Velo Girls (see photo) at 7am for a Velo Girls photo shoot.... there were four of us all together: Michelle, Tati, Me and Winnie. Michael waited while we took photos, then together we rode out toward the rolling warm up hills of Quadbuster- he of course dropped me so I hooked up with Makoto and rode the warm up hills with he and Doreen. Soon I was rolling into rest stop one, which is just before the actual climb to the 'buster, directing people to the shorter porta pottie lines and soothing over peoples nerves.... I remember my first time on Quadbuster- I burst into tears at the top of the hill, so relieved that it was over. I think a few people did that this time around as well.
After climbing to the top, I put my bike down and cheered others on and took pictures of riders expressions as they reached the top. (you can see them here )

Donald and Chris decided this was the year they would do Quadbuster twice- and they did- and said that "no it is not any easier than the first time..."LOL!

The hill after Quadbuster is a nice descent, so the three of us road for awhile toward rest stop 2 where we had ice cream (popsicles) then continued on in the heat of the day toward the next rest stop and eventually lunch in Bradley. Before Rest stop 3 we found a post office/ market in a 2 building town (I can't even remember the name of it!) where we ate hawaiian potato chips, sunflower seeds and diet coke! After a brief stop there, it was on to rest stop 3 and more ice cream.... it was the hottest day yet.

In Bradley, we were late enough that they had already run out of burgers, but also late enough that they had already made the next run for food and were re-stocked by the time we arrived.

After stuffing ourselves, we rode on in the heat onto highway 101 (yes, it freaks me out every year!) and to the last rest stop at the Mission whatchamacallit. Sorry, but my now I was so hot and tired that I can't even remember the name of the place, except that RS 4 was the "After prom party" with pregnant homecoming queen and all. :-)

On to Paso Robles... the last stretch is a short climb then on to rolling hills toward the fairgrounds. At one point in the road, there was orange spray paint, pointing out a gnarly pothole that was like a moon crater and we needed to avoid. I found out later that day the pothole was not marked, until after Michael crashed into it.... OW OW OW.

I rolled into bike parking, parked and headed toward the tent where I was so happy that Michael had made it in before me and had set up the tent. That was when he walked up (limped up) and told me that he had crashed.

His right arm was bandaged after getting 2 stitches, and his right hip was swelled up so badly, I thought that it had been bandaged too because it was soooo huge compared to the other side.

I had decided that I would not Princess in Paso Robles, but it turned out that Yoichi was princessing and invited Michael to stay in the hotel room to be a bit more comfortable. Michael took him up on the offer, and I called trusty Ken Gaskins (SAG driver extraordinaire) to please give him a lift.

It's no fun staying in a tent by yourself overnight. Even though I had Charlie and Mark to keep me company next door- it took awhile to fall asleep...

On day 3 I actually was on the road for 10 hours! However only 5 hours and 20 minutes of that was actually cycling! The rest of the time it was socializing and eating!

Day 4: Paso Robles to Santa Maria. Evil Twins Day. Cartman Jersey Day.

I awoke early to get coffee, breakfast and take down the tent. Michael came back from his hotel stay and I helped him pack up his bag and dragged it to the gear trucks for him. He was obviously going to SAG today, as he was put on medical hold by the Medical Team because of his injuries.

About 2 months ago, I sent out an email and posted a message on the forum to invite people to wear the Cartman jersey. The back of the jersey says "Man, You Guys Suck!" which is about what you're thinking as you climb the Evil Twins on this day. I think about 40 people wore the jersey that day, and I got pictures of a few of them here

The road over the Evil Twins also takes you to the Halfway to LA point. Here, 7 of us got together to pose in our evil twin Cartman Jerseys:







<------Charlie, John, Lorenzo, Julie, Carl, Bill and Wayne looking evil.




It-was soo much fun- people kept asking us where we got the jerseys, and all I could say was "didn't you get the memo?"

So onward down toward Hwy 1 we rolled, and on to Rest Stop 2 which is right along the ocean. After a short break there, we continued on to Cayucos where we stopped for coffee and a danish... then of course lunch and RS 3. Afterwards it was a nice ride to Pismo Beach where we stopped for our traditional coffee and fresh baked cinnamon rolls with icing. yum!

That was just enough sugar and caffeine to get us over the last big hill and through the cross winds as we made our way toward RS 4. As we approached RS 4, Chris and I decided to skip it and ride on, since it seemed as if the winds were getting stronger. One quick turn and the wind was at our backs, blowing us along toward camp. WOO HOO! Day 4 was a Princess Night, Michael and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Santa Maria. SAG driver Ken was rewarded with a stay on the roll out sofa and a bathroom of porcelain for helping us out the night before.

The next day was Red Dress Day. You can imagine what that was like!

AIDS Lifecycle 5 Day 3 &4

Photo's are up! Click Here
It is 10:47 on Day 4. I'm beat and will go to sleep shortly....
In a nutshell:
Day 3 was Quadbuster Day. I rode with lots of people, but mainly Chris and Donald. I started the Day with Michael, but the bugger is so strong that he soon dropped me and I didn't see him until I got back to camp, where I found out he had hit a pothole on the last stretch into camp- and crashed badly. He got stitches in his elbow, and is on medical hold (can't ride ) Day 4. He now has a bruise bigger than the state of Montana on his right hip. (yes Emily, even bigger than yours last year!) Other than that he is fine, I'm sure he will fill you all in on it. And I will take a picture of that bruise to show you!

Day 4 was Evil Twins day- Cartman Jersey Day... on yeah and those freshly baked cinnamon buns in Pismo Beach! Ok I'm tired... now go look at the pictures!

AIDS Lifecycle 5: DAY 2

WHAT A LOOONG DAY!

106 miles, Santa Cruz to King City via the scenic route. (and that's NOT highway 101)

Michael, Chris, Charlie, Mark and I.... (MICHAEL picking up typing here, as Julie is falling asleep) headed out of camp at 7:20, only to be stopped five miles down the road when Michael got a flat. Course it had to be one of those "difficult flats and took about 30 minutes to fix, thus killing our good lead time. So back on the road and two miles later stopped for coffee, heck we're already behind might as well fuel up! Charged with caffeine and sugar we took off towards the artichoke stop skipping rest stop one. As we rolled over the rolling hills the aroma of strawberries wofted in the air, the roads were bustling with traffic, trucks carrying the freshly picked crops to market.

Upon arriving at the artichoke stop we met up with Matt, Rob, Wayne Donald and Dave. The line for the fried artichokes stretched through the parking lot, however, there was no line for the streamed ones inside, so we bolted inside. We devoured our treats and socialized with friends (what we do best of course!) Onwards it was a brief stop at RS2, and Ruben was dressed as Robin, Batman was nearby. Surprised by how late it was getting , 11:45am, we bolted to lunch and had a nice tailwind most of the way. Afterwards we began our way to the second half of the day, knowing what was ahead, wind, wind, and more wind! Luckily the wind gods were on our side and gave us some awsome tailwinds! We flew down the road for about 20 miles will little effort. At rest top 3, Mark O'Brian, Charlie's tentmate, stopped to chat with Lori Jean about his Day 1 dilemma, (will tell you about that later- long story).

Off we went,more wind, arrived at the mission in Soledad to the fill our water bottles and snack on Otter Pops. A few more miles down the road we crossed the skinny dipping bridge and stopped (well some of us) to admire the views. Then it was up big hill into a headwind.. fun! But we were rewarded by Cookie Lady on the downhill ..and YUM her cookies were good! Oh and Julie got a spanking! We got pictures.

With a brief stop at Camp Sorebumm ... we were off to the favorite part of the route- the roller coaster hills and a sprint to the finish! OK goodnite, I'm exhausted.

Michael & Sleeping Julie (go Here for Day 1 & 2 pics!)

Day One ALC 5

Ahhhh....
Finally, Day One is here! We picked up Michael at o dark thirty and we headed over to the Cow Palace, arriving about 5:15am. Hannah and Mike came along with us to see us off. All riders were given red helmet covers to wear for the first 7 miles of the ride (to rest stop 1). The helmet covers read "Not Another 25 Years" commemorating this year as the 25th year since the first reporting of "Aquired Immune Defficiency Syndrome". The red on all of us was a unique symbol- much like a big red ribbon traveling west towards the ocean.

The pole that Charlie took out when he hit it last year on Day One was still along the side of the road, so Sandy Chris and I stopped and took pictures commemorating that accident.

The route took us up Skyline to Hwy 92 and over to Highway One where we traveled south and had lunch at San Gregorio Beach. From there we continued south on One through the little beach towns- stopping in Davenport for what else? Ice Cream!

Onward with our sugar high, we rolled into Rest Stop Four where our friends Cami and Rowdy were roadies, their theme for the Day: The Car Wash (as in the song)

From there it was into Camp at Harvey West Park, showering, eating a huge dinner then off to bed at 9pm... heck I think we were asleep before our heads hit the pillow!

Day Zero

Today was the Day we: Finished packing (ha!), checked our bikes in and put our numbers on them, saw the safety video and bought all the ALC schwag for the week!

It was fun seeing the nervous faces of folks I'd trained with throughout this rainy season.... now all we have to do is eat a good carb dinner, go to bed early and ride!

I've posted photos from Day Zero and will continue to post on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night, so stay tuned. For simplicity sake the link to photos all week is here:

Three Years Ago... AIDS Lifecycle 2

How it all started....

<--- This is us the original group of ALC cycling wannabe's. We met on several different training rides through the 2002-2003 training season. (L to R: Jen, Vilma, Me, Patrick, Kathleen, Gary, Nancy and Tammy- we're missing Cami, Emily and Rowdy)

We all met as newbie riders doing our first ALC ride that year . After figuring out that we all rode at about the same pace, we decided that we should all hang out and be a new riding group. That's how it starts... you tell two friends, they tell two friends and so on and so on and so on.

I look at this picture from Day Zero, ALC 2 and remember how naive we were! We had no idea that this cult called AIDS Lifecycle would take up our whole lives and provide us with some of the best friends anyone could ask for. Your ALC friends see you at your worst and at your best. They celebrate and cry with you, they laugh at you, they bitch at you but most of all they accept you for who you are and are amazed at all that you (we ) can become!

Every year I look forward to Day Zero- that original little group has gotten so big, and even though some of us do not ride anymore, we always support the cause- be it by making a donation or volunteering on Day Zero.

It's here that I thank that original little group of riding friends that got me through ALC 2: Vilma, Jen, Tammy, Patrick, Gary, Nancy, Kathleen, Cami, Emily & Rowdy.
You made my first ride worth coming back to ride year after year!

Have plastic French Press, will travel...

Someone told me today that I am famous on ALC for my need for Peets Coffee and my plastic French Press... (famous?) Anyhow, I thought I'd share the info on my French Press so that I don't have to share so much of my coffee this year. :-p

This is the Lexan (plastic) French Press available at REI.



It is 33oz and if you go to the dining tent early in the morning (or heck, late for that matter) you can get boiling hot water to pour into it. Let it steep about 5 or 10 minutes then press and voila- everyone is your best friend!

I don't need a whole lot of coffee in the morning, usually just about 6 oz or so. But its amazing how people will smile widely at you when they see you with a fresh pot of good coffee at 5 in the morning.

Me, Michael and Peets makin' friends.

Go Greenbelt Ride Report...

A few folks have asked me about the Go Greenbelt ride I did last month so I figured I'd post the letter I sent out to my donors to recap...

Wow. It's been a month since the ride and I can't believe I'm just coming off the high of riding for 7 days.... well ok, just getting over a horrible sinus infection that gave me a cloudy brain for two weeks.

Thanks so much to you all for your incredible support, both monetary and mentally. Riding 7 days in the Bay Area is just about as incredible and green as you can imagine! The organizers of Go Greenbelt have been doing this for the past 14 years, and have the support part down pat- I had no complaints whatsoever!

The greatest thing about this ride is that it is limited to 75 riders or less, and most riders are experienced at riding multiple days. Most had done the AIDS ride at some point in the last 10 years, and most now do this ride because it affects the area in which we live and because riding with a much smaller group is so different from the AIDS Rides. Not better mind you, but much much different. Rather than camping, we were able to stay at a church in each town, sleeping in sleeping bags on air mattresses- in recreation halls or the actual church itself!

Day 1 was SF to Los Gatos. We rode through the Presidio and GG Park out to the Great Highway and on to Skyline. From there we headed to Woodside with a lunch stop at Robert's market. Note: many lunches and dinners on the ride were "on our own" (aka we paid for ourselves), but because the ride has experienced riders on it, there was no lack of suggestions for eating places. It was nice to eat in reasonably priced places with good food! After Woodside, it was up Old La Honda back to skyline, riding all the way to Highway 9 into Saratoga (great downhill!!!) and into Los Gatos.

Day 2 was Los Gatos to East San Jose (the old 'hood where I grew up!) via Morgan Hill and parts of South San Jose. We also rode up Metcalf Road (those of you who do Tierra Bella know this road) and down toward the Silver Creek Area of San Jose. When I was a kid, all of these areas were agricultural land with cows grazing area. Now there are Mega Homes with zero lot lines and homes so close to each other you can tell when your neighbor is running out of shampoo...

Day 3 East San Jose to Livermore VIA MT. HAMILTON. yes, over the mountain, past the observatory and down Mines Road to the next county. The road on the downside of Mt. Hamilton is CRAZY! Windy and steep hairpin turns, each ending with a CATTLE GUARD! what is up with that? Actually, it was very beautiful on that side of the mountain, and we got lucky- usually that side is dry and hot and this time it was cool and comfortable.

Day 4 Livermore to Fairfield. THis was a veeery interesting day, because we had the option of A. riding the entire 88 miles, 40% of which was on Vasco Road- a very very dangerous piece of road that is bad enough driving a car on, much less riding a bike on. or B. Getting shuttled to Brentwood to start your ride from there- about a 55 mile trek, or C. Starting from Rio Vista through the Montezuma hills (where the windmills are!) and onto Highway 12 which is also busy with trucks but not as bad as Vasco Road. I took the C option- I'm no fool! The Montezuma Hills are very very windy but beautiful- and those windmills are so very cool when you see them up close!

Day 5 (no red dresses, darn!) Fairfield to Santa Rosa. The route took us through Napa Valley, up my favorite Silverado Trail and across to 29 and the V. Sattui Winery where we had a catered lunch which was awesome and needed before a very very hard climb up Spring Mountain Road which basically is the most direct non highway road from Napa directly into Sonoma County. It was one of the hardest climbs I've done- not to mention the fact it was about 90 degrees that day and you all know how much I love to climb in the heat! NOT.

Day 6 Santa Rosa to Olema. I think this was probably the most beautiful day because Sonoma County really has kept it's country areas rural with little or no development. There is something to be said about riding in rural areas, cleaner air, friendly people, and residents who are so up with the Greenbelt Alliance and Go Greenbelt that they are very proud that you are riding through their towns. Riding up Coleman Valley Road to the Coast (Bodega Bay, Tomales, Pt. Reyes) reminds you that we are very lucky to be living in an area where people still respect their open space! Highway 1, although a little busy- is still one of the best cycling highways in the area. We traversed down highway 1, with a stop of course at the Bovine Bakery before pulling into the Olema Campground where we spent our last night. Well ok, Everyone Else spent their last night-- I stayed at the Olema Inn.

That night we had our last dinner together at the Olema Ranchouse- the dinner was paid for by a grant from Bill Graham Productions, and also we were visited by a major Sponsor of the Go Greenbelt Ride- KFOG! (yes, I think by now I've talked Greg into doing this ride next year...) I'm guessing by next year, with sponsors like that - and me blabbing my mouth off- the Go Greenbelt Ride will be "the ride to do", as an alternative or in addition to, AIDS Lifecycle.

Day 7 Olema to San Franciso via Mt. Tam. From scenic highway 1, we hung a left at Fairfax-Bolinas Road and headed up, up, up through the fog to Ridgecrest Road and on to the Seven Sisters- if that's what you call them. I think there are nine sisters actually, but mostly because I'm delirious by the time I get to Ridgecrest so I can't count anyway. From there its up to the top, or down Pantoll Road, which I did and back to SF via Sausalito grade. It was ALC's "Day on the Ride" so I ran into a few riders on the way back to the Presidio. It was a blending of rides, which was sort of cool!

Would I ride it again? you bet! Even though the organizational logistics are very different from ALC- it is an exceptionally well run 7 day ride. The fundraising minimum is $1,000 and your $50 registration fee goes toward your fundraising. It is an awesome route, and I think they may move the date out a week or two so that they can get consistently better weather. In the past they have had days of rain on this ride. Luckily this year it was only a little rain during ride out day 1. Next year they are also hoping to adjust day 4 so that we avoid Vasco Road and instead go up Mt. Diablo. That would mean riding the 3 major mountains in the area in one week - Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Tam and Mt. Diablo! Diablo I would gladly do instead of Vasco Road...

So thanks again for all of your support and Kudos! I think I am the #3 fundraiser for Go Greenbelt this year, but I will find out for sure when we have our reunion/prizes party in June. Stay tuned.

Countdown...

Got this idea from Shelly Ross... pretty cool!

Rain (and fear) Cancels....

Friday, May 19th.... Just about 2 weeks until we ride out for AIDS Lifecycle 5. Today we had a ride scheduled from the Sports Basement to the Cheese Factory and back, about 65 miles. We headed out from SB under overcast skies and wound our way over the bridge without incident and then out to Marin with a stop at San Anselmo Coffee Roasters. There were a few sprinkles here and there along the way, but nothing that I worried about. We all re-fueled at the coffee shop and sat outside chatting, noticing that the sprinkles were coming down just a little harder now. Rain? We know how to ride in rain, and this is nothing like what we rode under in Napa on the Silverado trail way back when. No problem, lets gear up and go....

6 folks took the lead, John - an official TRL went with them. About 10 minutes later the rest of us got our act together and rode out together toward Fairfax. As we rode, the rain came down much more steadily. Hmm.... my brain starts working.

"Pull over at the Fairfax Coffee Roasters!", I yell. About a dozen of us huddle under the awnings, watching the rain come down while I make the mental decision that NO, we cannot ride over White's Hill and onward, with only 2 weeks left til Ride Out. I decide it would be safer and drier for us to turn back. How many people have wiped out on White's Hill in dry weather? I will not chance it. I leave a message for John on his cell phone, that we have turned back. I hope that at some point in Nicasio he will have cell service and receive my message.

I invite anyone who would like to continue on, to do so (at their own risk). Luckily, everyone agrees that we do not need to take the chance on riding in the rain this close to Day 1. So instead we turn back and re-trace our steps back to Sausalito, stopping at Cafe Trieste for lunch (pizza with marybeth, yum!!). I talk with John, who reassured me we made a good decision to turn back, as he was at Nicasio and drenched. We figured out how to reach one rider, David, who was ahead of John and probably already at the Cheese Factory.... call the Cheese Factory and have them get a message to him. After a few tries it worked for John!

Special Note: David Buonocore, awesome rider riding ALC (and this training ride) on a FIXED GEAR bike- was the ONLY rider today to make it to the Cheese Factory and back. David, we all stand in awe. (oh to be young again!) You ROCK man!

After lunch, as a special treat some of us decide to ride back to the bridge via Fort Baker, which has a gnarly climb back up to the bridge. After that climb we carry our bikes under the bridge via the pedestrian walkway, back to the East side to cross the bridge. Not too bad.

I talk with John to find out status (besides the fact that they are soaked). He and Wilfredo are back in Fairfax, waiting for a cab. It is waaaay to rainy to continue riding. Later on the catch up somehow with David and the three take a cab back to SB, soaking wet, I'm sure.

I'm bummed, as I always am, when I have to cancel a ride. It seems like I have had to do this too many times this season. But when I think of the fact we are only 2 weeks out, I don't want to be the TRL that has an accident on her ride where someone breaks a bone and cannot do The Ride- because we made the dumb choice of riding White's Hill in the rain. No sirreee, not me, I don't want that distinction! :-)

Wow I just found out Blogger is now a widget on Mac OS 10.4   way cool.....

May Already?

For some reason Blogger doesn't like my browser (or my browser doesn't like blogger) so I haven't been able to update for awhile... I finally decided to use someone elses computer. That and my recent sinus infection is my excuse for the delay in blogging.

Lesseee...what has happened recently.

Go Greenbelt! ride took place April 23-29th. What an awesome Ride! It is a very well supported organized week long ride around the greenbelt of the Bay Area. I would suggest this ride as an alternative to AIDS Lifecycle for anyone who wants a change one year. I, of course have decided to do both rides this year, meaning I am taking two weeks off work to ride. Not a bad gig. I was able to raise over $2,000 for Go Greenbelt this year, but hitting up all of my cycling friends for donations. With their help, I think I was in the top 3 or 4 for fundraising. I will find out for sure next month when we have our "reunion and prizes" party.

Go Greenbelt was a much much smaller group of experienced cyclists (45 of us). The mileage each day was anywhere from 60 to 80 miles each day. The route, however was nowhere close to easy, with mega climbs up to Mt Hamilton and Mt. Tam as well as a little known road between Sonoma and Napa County called "Spring Mountain". Man that was a tough climb, but well worth the crazy downhill! The best thing about Go Greenbelt is that we are helping Greenbelt Alliance in its quest to prevent Urban Sprawl. The route took us through many areas (Morgan Hill, Brentwood) where the creeeping of residential developments into agricultural or open space areas is clearly evident... and sad.

May 6th Mike and I rode the metric centry route of the Wine Country Century. It was a beautiful weekend to ride, the weather was not too hot and the colors of the valley were amazing! We started our 62 mile ride at 7am and ended at 1pm. What's funny is that we had to actually slow down our pace, or we would have gotten in at about 11am (with lunch at 9am)! We took lots of pictures and met lots of nice riders who we pacelined with and generally enjoyed chatting with.

Unfortunately, that afternoon triggered a nasty hay fever spell for me. This eventually progressed into a full blown Sinus Infection for about 2 weeks which pretty much kept me off the bike and kept me inside the house. I finally got to my Doc who happily gave me an antibiotic so that I could get back on the road this weekend... Last weekend I missed a two day ride The Jonathan Pon Ride, which was sponsored by the Positive Pedalers. I felt a little better the 2nd day of that ride, so I drove up to give support and "go rider" shouts to those on the road that I passed.

This weekend it's supposed to rain (figures), and I am slated to lead a 90ish miler from SF to the Marshall "wall" and back. I am actually happy it may rain, I think it may knock all the bad pollen out of the air and leave me some good air to inhale for awhile. I'm pretty used to riding in the rain anyway, so at least riding it in 65 degree weather will be better than some of the temps I rode in back in March!

See you on the road... AID Lifecycle is only 16 days away!

April already?

Wow, I hadn't realized that I haven't updated this blog for awhile until someone pointed it out to me this weekend. I forget that other riders read these things too, not just my Donors!

Let's see... although the weather has been horrible for the past month, I have been able to get quite a few rides in anyway. Of course, this usually means that I start out the ride with dry gear and by the time I'm done I'm pretty wet. What I find is that as long as my core (torso) is able to stay warm and dry, I'm usually in pretty good shape and pretty good spirits too.

Gloomy weather just makes me (and everyone, I'm finding) CRANKY. Add to that the pressure of my upcoming multi-day ride, Go Greenbelt on April 23-29th and worrying about rain that week, and I am just pretty stir crazy. I can't even worry about ALC 5 at this point because I've just got to get through the week long ride known as the Go Greenbelt Ride.

I went out and bought some waterproof socks and gloves, made by Sealskinz. I will ride with them on this Friday and see how water tight they actually are. I can ride in wet gear, but once my feet get wet and cold it's all over. Having water slosh around in your shoes as you pedal is no fun!

About 2 weeks ago, I put the idea out to a huge group of AIDS Lifecycle riders, that we should all wear this jersey on Day 4 because Day 4 is the day we do Evil Twins:



So far about 20+ people have ordered so this should be a fun "Day Four" on ALC 5. You can order it in Men's or Women's sizes at Team Estrogen's website: http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=19995
If you are an ALC rider reading this, join us! Can't wait to see what 2700 people look like wearing the same jersey! LOL!

I emailed customer service at Team Estrogen to tell them I had suggested this and this is what they wrote back to me:

"Wow, thanks for sending us so many customers! We're glad you wrote because
for the past week we've been trying to figure out why there was such a high
demand and also why everyone purchasing the South Park jerseys were from
California! Now we know! :)"

Anyhow, I'm all about looking like a team. And I like the obnoxiousness of it all....

Why I am a Training Ride Leader....

Every training ride season since I began riding and training for AIDS Lifecycle, there are always a couple of training rides that bring me back to the memories of the year when I myself began training for the Ride in 2003.

I remember buying the bike, spending the whole weekend studying it to figure out how it worked, riding with my husband up and down the street and falling. I had been falling so many times that I had at least 12 band-aids on my legs and knees by the time Monday came. My pedals were set too tight so that I had a hard time un-clipping from them- I mean I had the weakest ankles you could imagine anyway so that twisting motion of getting out was really difficult!

I also remember climbing a really small hill (not small at the time to me) and having my gears in the wrong place and nothing I could do would make the pedaling easier, and even when I did click the correct lever to make it easier, two minutes later I couldn't remember what it was that I clicked....it was soo frustrating. The fact that I couldn't breathe whenever I went up hill made it even harder, and it was pure hell but I was determined to get it right.

Yesterday's ride in Hollister brought me back to that year and its memories again, and made me realize again the reason that I decided to become a Ride Leader and why I like it so much....

Carmen came out to ride with us yesterday ( at some point I'm sure she's gonna read this blog so I hope she doesn't mind that I'm writing about her). It was her first ride with an official ALC training ride, her first "group ride" ever. I sensed the overwhelming nervousness from her when she approached me at let me know that she was still learning her bike and that she had fallen alot and thus far had said to herself that if she couldn't get the hang of it she was giving up.
I looked her straight in the eye and said- "falling is not a reason to quit. We all fall. We still all fall even after years of riding. Its sort of inevitable..." and she looked at me like "yeah right", and said "okay."

Two minutes later, my friend Scott who was also on the ride with us, demonstrated that fact by rolling to a stop while admiring someones bike, forgetting to unclip and falling right in front of Carmen.

Thanks for confirming my statement, Scott.

For the next 20 miles, I rode with Carmen up and down some pretty hilly roads in Hollister. Mostly I rode behind her so I could look to see what gear she was in, then call out "cllck your right big lever" or "right small lever" or "keep pedaling!" or "use the momentum of the downhill to get up the next uphil!". She was obviously very determined because she listened intently to what I said and was able to finally figure out what levers did what. Climbing hills where a little hard for her just because she was not used to it, but she would absolutely not stop to walk her bike up the hill if she felt she could keep pedaling. She reminded me of me, three years ago, absolutely determined not to be defeated... except I indeed stopped at just about every hill that was too hard. I guess I was not as hard headed as Carmen is!

Its rides like these that make me happy about being a ride leader. When I can help in making someone succeed and they end up enjoying their ride and training, I feel pretty damn good.

She asked me, as most newbies do, how long I'd been riding, how many ALC rides I had done, what else I did to train besides riding my bike, etc. We talked about different centuries she had heard of, and when I told her I had done most of them she was astounded... 100 miles in one day ? Wow. I thought back to my first conversatin with someone when they told me they had ridden 100 miles in one day and how I thought it would never be possible for me to do that! 100 miles? It would take me at least 15 hours if not more!!

So I am living proof (as are many many more of the Training Ride Leaders) that you can accomplish riding 585 miles in 7 days. That you can ride 100 miles in one day, heck even 200 miles if you're THAT determined, that you will make great life long friends when you go through this with them. But sheer determination will not be enough to do it, you must ride and ride and ride. And if you fall, you get up and ride and ride and ride some more. And when you fall and tear your cycling tights, you stitch them up and ride again, then tell people the story of why it tore in the first place. And when that scrape bleeds through your leg warmers don't worry, spandex makes a great tourniquet and the blood washes out in the wash.

And if you need my help, just ask but don't stop riding!

Come Ride in Hollister!!!

This Saturday I'll be co-leading a ride in Hollister, home of Pinnacles National Monument. Although we won't be riding the rock formations of the park, we will be riding in some pretty nice out of the way places in San Benito County. I'm sure the wild flowers are starting to bloom, and hey its someplace different to ride so why not? Rick Warren, Kathleen Jones and I will meet you all for a little 40 miler... this is Rick's hometown so I'm sure that he'd be thrilled if you came out to see it!

Meet time is 10am and ride out time is 10:30, so that gives you all time to get down to the South South Bay. Come on out, its supposed to only be partly cloudy (the only day without rain this week!), and heck you know even if it does rain when we get there, we'll just have to go eat and get to know each other better!

Come on over! Can't wait to finally meet you!