ALC Recap- Day Five: Red Dress Day...

Michael and I hiked back to camp in our red dress outfits, along with about 6 other guys in their red dresses- so it reallly wasn't too weird to be out and about on the streets of Santa Maria at 6:30 in the morning, wearing red dresses. Here is a sample of all that we saw:

don't ask me how Antonio rode in this outfit!

lovely Bob & John

part of the Red Duct Tape Dress crew
more red duct tape dresses...

the rest of my "homolicious posse", Chris makes a great cranky old lady...

The day was hilarious--- the best story being about Daniel (fancy hat, far left in above pic) meeting a group of kids. One of the little boys who was about 6 years old said to him ".... hello Mr. Lady...."

Day Five is a short day, only about 45 miles but pretty much all hills. So you spend the day sweating in a red dress, and stopping at every chance you have to eat sugar so you can make it up the hills and into Lompoc.

Oh.... me? I was dressed as the "Anti- Minnie". Here's a pic of me with the "Minnie Brigade"
My dress was exactly opposite in color from that of the Minnie's, and I wore devil horns on my helmet instead of cutsie Minnie Mouse ears.... appropriate huh?

Chris, Kimball and I rode into the town of Lompoc (y'know on a bike riding through, the town is NOT THAT small...) until we found the famous taqueria that all the riders ride to before heading in to camp. It was yummy.

Day, or rather Night five is also the day we take our group pictures. Mostly, its teams and clubs but also its a group picture of all of the Training Ride Leaders from Northern and Southern California. Here are a few of mine:

East Bay Cat 2 TRL's

And of course the Friday TRL's:

along with Chris who somehow got his head in there....

ALC Recap - Day Four: Evil Twins, that long assed downhill and cinnamon rolls in Pismo

Day Four is always my favorite day. Not only are those climbs my favorite because they are all pretty gradual, but at the top of those climbs is the halfway to L.A. point.

I rode to RS1 and ran into Lillian. Since people had been stopping her all week, mistaking her for me we decided we'd take a picture together to show you all that we look nothing alike!

see!? well, ok we do look like we could be related...

After RS1 I basically made my way up to the Halfway Point where our group of Kozy Korner (aka Krazy Korner) members decided we'd take a picture...

Hell there were so many of us you couldn't even see the "Half the Way to L.A." sign. Afterward we travelled down that looooong downhill which eventually put us on Hwy 1 on the way to Cayucos. Unfortunately that looooong downhill had a nice headwind on it, which meant paying more attention to the sway factor of my bike, and not getting as much speed on my downhill as I would have liked! Ah well, there's always next year.

I stopped briefly at RS2 to say hello to Ruben, then rode on into the town of Cayucos and ate my lunch there....yum, burger and fries!! Then on eventually through Pismo with a stop at the famous Cinnamon Roll place. Each year we stop here for cinnamon rolls and iced coffee- most importantly I stop there because right after is a gnarly climb on a two lane road on the way to Santa Maria. It's usually pretty windy through Guadalupe, our last rest stop before making a turn and getting an awesome tailwind into Santa Maria. And this year was no different.

My ride husband Michael and I stayed at the Holiday Inn, Santa Maria- which is walking distance from camp. It was nice to get all the dirt and grit out of my hair for awhile..ooh it was also nice to have a drink at the bar! :-)

ALC Recap - Day Three... Quadbuster, Hwy 101 and Bradley

Day Three- Having taken a nice spill the day before, I was a little nervous about over taxing my knee. Although the joint felt fine, falling on it made it swell and bruise a bit so I consciously made an effort to take it easy on the rolling hills that lead up to the ever infamous "Quadbuster".

The road out of King City is especially bumpy, but to tell you the truth it was much better than last year. I don't think the rough roads lasted as long as before, and the city had actually paved some of them. I'm sure last years rains made the roads horrible, and since the weather was entirely different this spring- the roads were easier to maintain. Every year newbies freak out about how bad they are, and I still say "WHAT?-- they have been far far worse in previous years!"

Daniel and I made our way out of town (after a nice stay at the local King City Inn), over the bumpy roads and on to rest stop one where I ran into many a nervous newbie. Here are a few of them (they all kicked my butt on Quadbuster, so I don't know what they were nervous about!)

miguel & mike

Brian

Antonio

Eventually we all made our way up to the top of Quadbuster with no problems... and I proceeded to cheer as many people up to the top with my very loud cowbell. As you can see I had a lot of fun!

Kimball and Daniel thought I was crazy...

Everytime I saw someone I knew making their way slowly to the top, I'd ring the bell extra hard to let them know I was egging them on to the top.... good ol' John Hershey caught a photo of me in action: (okay, not really my best side...)
That's me egging newbie Geoff Gillette up to the top of Quadbuster. Geoff, by the way wrote a great article for the Danville weekly and it made the cover story!! You can read it HERE.

I pretty much stayed at the top of Quadbuster until my friend Ken Gaskins got to the top on his recumbent tricycle... then waited to see if anyone else I knew was on their way up. Eventually I rode on to rest stop 2 and met up with Ken. I decided I'd ride with him for the rest of the day, on to Paso Robles. You probably saw Ken on his recumbent... sitting low to the ground with a cool pinkish/purpley flag sticking up from it.

Ken on a ride New Year's Day 07...

It was great riding with Ken. Although the recumbent is a heavy trike, he kicks along on it at a pretty good pace and since I really didn't need to be screwing with my knee the pace was good enough for me! We rode from RS2 down that long boring road on the way to RS3. You know, the one that has a single little post office and store where we all stopped for ice cream and stood outside tempting you to stop too? Yeah, that one.

And yes I rode with Ken on Highway 101... you think that's a freaky ride for you on your road bike?? Imagine riding it on a recumbent!! I think mostly I rode behind Ken to make sure he got to Bradley and then on to RS 4 safely. Unlike most of us, Ken was not able to "ride the white line" on the freeway because of the width of this trike. SO... we rode every single one of those bumps, and I think it was right about then that Ken decided that next year he would go back to being a Roadie on the Sweep Team! (I don't blame him!)

After RS4, the Dreamgirls rest stop- we headed on to camp. On the way we stopped a couple of times to rest. Although the rolling road was great for both of us, being so low to the ground I think Ken has to work a little bit harder than I do. It was a fun ride, I started singing songs from the Sound of Music (that comes from riding with Gay men so much). At one point, Ken and I had stopped to rest and a group of 4 guys came riding past. All I had to do was sing out to them".... doe a dear a female dear...." and they all chimed in and sang that song all the way back to camp! Ken was so amazed, I think he also vowed to learn the song so that he could sing along next year.... ah, but I digress.

The day was fun, pretty effortless because I chose to ride and be social instead of racing back to camp to sit and eat pizza... oh yea that's what else we did that night, we ordered pizza and had it delivered to the fairgrounds in Paso Robles- which was where we camped night three.

ALC Recap - Day Two.. Crash Day

Day Two- No, it wasn't planned to be crash day, it started innocently enough with Michael and I awaking at 4:30 for our fresh pressed Peets wearing our matching "horny flames" hats! The morning catering guys were so impressed they had to take our picture, as did Dave.

Peets and Oatmeal... breakfast of champions

The morning was fabulous with the annual stop for artichokes: Hey was I right? Hella long line for the fried ones (which came back to visit you as you rode) and no line for the steamed ones-- which were great fiber!

Jeff and Me with steamed artichokes

From the artichoke stand we rode on to rest stop two where Ruben was their greeting us as Ernie with Bert and Big Bird. Of course, Ruben had to show us his yellow finger.... ugh...LOL!

From rest stop two we headed to lunch. Right before the turn to lunch, on the local neighborhood street I ran over some gal's head.

That's right. Julie Brown ran over someone's head- yes literally. Good thing she was wearing a helmet!! So let me explain...

This woman and her sister were riding in front of us. Yes I was about TWO BIKE LENGTHS behind her (and I have witnesses to confirm it), and we were all going at a good clip, probably about 16-17mph. She was apparently riding too close to her sister's wheel, because her sister slowed suddenly without calling out and she clipped her sisters wheel, sending her down and sliding backwards on her frontside as I rolled up quickly towards her. In order to avoid running over her neck, I turned my bars hard right and ended up running over her helmet instead. Thus, I can now say I ran over someone's head on the AIDS Ride.

Yes, she took me down but I didn't even notice that I went down because as I rolled over her helmet I thought- damn she's gonna be hurting! I went down, popped back up (so they tell me) and looked at her and said "are you ok? are you ok?" No response. Not even a moan. She was unconscious and looked like a little rag doll on the pavement. I immediately scream "call 911! call 911!!" Then realize, if we call 911 we are not going to get the local emergency services so I looked at the emergency 800 number for the Ride on my wrist bracelet and called that, got an answer immediately and got the ambulance there pronto. As I'm giving all the info to dispatch, she and her sister decide that she should stand up!! Ay yiyi!! by this time there is a Salinas Policeman on the scene and they and the EMT's are taking care of her....

Well she turned out to be ok, they did take her to the hospital at my insistance because I said "hello? I RAN OVER HER HEAD". Turns out she was fine to ride for the rest of the week. I had a nice big gash on my left knee (maybe you saw I rode with one knee warmer over the bandage all week?) and a gnarly bruise on my right thigh. When I told my cycle buddy about it that evening, she said... "and when's the marathon?" Oh damn, I thought - I forgot all about that!!

Anyhow we can joke about it now (and we do constantly) because she was fine with no major injuries--- so it has now been said that you'd better be safe around Julie Brown or she'll run over your head.

On another note- I GOT TO SAG for the first time ever!! yippeee for me! Since my knee swelled up pretty nicely at lunch, I decided I would take it easy and ice it for the rest of the day, since I really wanted to ride tomorrow as it was Quadbuster Day. This meant that I got to SAG to King City from lunch. It also meant I missed the skinny dipping bridge, Cookie Lady, the Otter Pop stop and the DMV at rest stop 4. It was a bummer because I found that riding the SAG bus is boring... but I did get to meet people on the Bus, which was nice too! I met Rebecca who is a TRL from L.A. and said she remembered me as her tent neighbor last year. (damn, and I though MY memory was good!) and I also got to ride with two of my newbies- Annette and New Nicole.

So all in all, it was a good day- except for the crashing part.

ALC Recap- Day One.. a foggy start.

First of all I've got to say- thanks for reading the blog! I guess I didn't realize how many ALC'ers read what I have to write (ooh I'd better start paying more attention to how I express my opinion, huh?). I met so many people on the Ride this year who told me that they read my blog all season. Way cool, so thanks!

Here's a recap of my AIDS Lifecycle week:

Day One- Chris, Daniel, Michael and I were privledged to be invited to ride out on Day 1 with the Positive Pedalers. This is quite an honor, as we got to be one of the first 100 or so riders that rode out that day.

Chris and I up front with the Pos Peds

This was nice because we were then "ahead of the pack" for most of the day. The day was much like my first ALC ride (2) because we rode up Hwy 92 then over Skyline and then down Old La Honda to the coast. My sister Cyndy met me and my "homolicious posse" at San Gregorio beach. From highway 1 down to Santa Cruz it was a helaciously lovely tailwind blowing us all the way to camp!

Somewhere along the way on Day One.... my cycle computer rolled over 21,000 miles! So that means that I have ridden 21,000 miles since I first started riding my bike in prep for my first AIDS Ride ( ALC 2) in 2003. I forgot to keep track that day so I could take a picture and by the time I remember to look, we were already almost to camp in Santa Cruz!

Me & Cyn in our U-2 pose...

We stopped in Davenport to have coffee (and a little caffeine spike) for the ride to camp. I spent the week with a cowbell in my back pocket just in case I came upon certain occasions (like this one) to make a little noise!

I gotta tell ya, I've seen lots of pictures of myself on the ride this year--- I hate spandex. Talk about showing every single bulge that you try to hide all the other weeks of the year!! Ack!!

Michael and I were part of "Kozy Korner" with a total of 27 tents! Marybeth made sure everyone had their own sign- to make sure we got back to the correct tent at night...


Between that sign and Rowdy & Bob's magic butterfly, we never got lost when returning back to the tent after a porta-pottie trip!

Rowdy & Bob's solar powered butterfly light.

This trip I vowed to Princess every other night... and it was perfect! On nights 2, 4, and 6 I stayed a local hotel. I made sure it was walking distance so that I didn't have to worry about hitching a ride to and from the hotel... it worked out great and I still felt a part of camp on the other 3 nights so I wasn't missing out on all the fun entirely!

Pre-Ride last minute thoughts...

So I plan to be asleep in about an hour and 15 minutes (with the help of 1 Tylenol pm) so I thought I'd put some last thoughts out there before we ride out....

1. Don't change anything now!!
-if you got a new pair of sunglasses, great! Bring 'em along but ride out tomorrow with your old faithful ones. Don't try out a new brand or style of shorts tomorrow either! Stick with what you know, at least for Day One. It will make you feel a whole lot more confident if you do!

2. Eat breakfast, and bring a snack to have right before ride-out. I'm packing a chicken salad sandwich. Hey- you are gonna eat breakfast at 4am and we ride out around 7... you're gonna be hungry and the ride away from the Cow Palace is UPHILL... mind you!

3. Don't forget your helmet, shoes and water bottles (you should have your cycling shoes ON)

4. Take lots and lots of pictures! This is one morning ride out that you do not want to miss getting photos of.

5. Take your time, at least up to Rest Stop 1. The last 2 years, we've had 2 people crash -badly-within the first 25 miles of Day 1. Take your time, enjoy the moment!
It will literally be a "Cattle Call" out of the Cow Palace- there will be a lot of people, and many who still don't know how to handle their bike in a crowd so WATCH WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

6. Don't forget to drink!! It may be cold and foggy, but you still need to hydrate.

7. What to do first? (be there by 5:30am) Roll your bag over to the gear truck with the letter that matches the letter on your tent/bag tags (the ones that should be around your neck at this very moment). Then go over to your bike and put your water bottles on it, put anything on your bike that you need to put on- computer, bento box, etc. Then you and your helmet and gloves should go over close to the stage where they will have morning stretching before Opening Ceremonies.

8. Take a moment to remember why we are riding.

9. Introduce yourself to 3 new people each day. If you can, find out their reasons for riding...

10. Have a GREAT WEEK!! And remember YOU ARE READY FOR ALL THIS!

YOU ARE ALL HEROES AND I AM EXTREMELY PROUD TO KNOW YOU!!

see you on the road,
dtjb

Word of the Week....

My sis sent me an email last night after I told her what I thought the route would be for Day 1's ride out. (She always comes to lunch at San Gregorio, so if you see her say, "helloooo juliebrown's sister!")

"Hey, sounds like a lot of fun....NOT! But I'll get goin' around 10 and meet you there at San Gregorio with your homolicious posse to wish you a safe and sane trip. I'll have my cell on."

So this week's Ride word is:

"HOMOLICIOUS!"

(think: "SUPer SONic!")

Day -0 what I did today...

Checked out my seat bag to make sure I had:

2- tubes
3-CO2 cartridges
1- bike multi tool
extendable tire iron
motrin
eye drops (gonna be hella windy this ride!)
shower cap for the seat
band aids/rubber gloves
handy wipes

A tube of sunscreen hangs from my seat rail.

In my collapsible tote bag (available at Sports basement) at home is my helmet, my bento box with a little bottle of purell and handy wipes, a cowbell (of course!) and my cycling gloves. I'll bring that tote bag with me on Sunday morning, along with water bottles and my gear bag.

The tote bag folds down and zips into itself and has a keychain hook that will attach to my seat! I'll use it each day after parking the bike, to put my helmet and water bottles and whatever else I need to take from my bike to my tent area without dropping...

I think I'm ready! Are you??

Shout out to Mike's Bikes San Rafael!

I just wanted to give a big ol' THANKS to the guys at Mikes Bikes in San Rafael. Who gave my Cannondale one last look over on Wednesday before I make my way to LA on AIDS Lifecycle 6!

Adrian (my personal bike mechanic!) and General Manager, Jon Gomez have always treated me like royalty. I first started bringing my bike to them when they were both out at Mike's Sausalito. (Oh and hey a big shout out to Bryan and the gang at Sausalito too-- they are always helpful to us when we bring riders in from our ALC rides.. either to get stuff fixed or to use their bathroom.)

Adrian had Murray (the Cannondale guy) go through my bike with a fine tooth comb because I was complaining of a "clicking/ticking sound" as my left pedal hit 9 o'clock on each revolution. They switched out the rear cassette, the chain, greased the bottom bracket and did everything possible... and we are all hoping that the sound doesn't come back while I'm on this 585 mile trek! (Or we will ALL be going crazy over the sound!)

Luckily, Cannondale is a major sponsor of the Ride- so if it does happen again I can take it over and have them look more closely at it, not something I'm really looking forward to so let's just hope it is all fixed.

Anyhow- THANKS AGAIN MIKE'S BIKES for being so supportive of me, my riders and AIDS Lifecycle!!

(stop by the store on 4th street in San Rafael and give the boys a pat on the back!)

Some answers to questions people have asked me....

1. The hardest day is Day One.
Mostly because you will not have gotten much sleep the night before!

2. Ear Plugs are the most important thing to remember to bring.
Imagine if you didn't get sleep before Day 1, what it would be like not getting sleep before Day 2!

3. Afternoon Routine.
-Park the bike, pump up the tires. (You'll lose a little air overnight, but you can always ride to rest stop one the next morning and pump them again. The lines in the morning for bike pumps will be long!)
-cover your bike seat
-take your bottles, helmet, etc with you. rinse out your bottles sometime before bed.
-get your gear bag, tent and set up your tent
-eat dinner (do this before showering or you could get a nice sugar level drop while you're standing in the shower and pass out!).
-take a shower, if you can- bring one of those microfiber towels on the ride for your hair, it gets most of the loose moisture out and then your hair won't be soaking wet all night.
-listen for evening announcements.
-fill your water bottle with water for overnight sipping. Also bring a snack back to- your tent because you will wake up in the middle of the night starving!
-bring a headlamp (rather than a handheld flashlight) on the ride. When you go to the porta pottie in the middle of the night, be sure to "flashlight inspect" it before you enter. Sad to say but some people have a problem with aim.... think of this in the worst possible way and you'll know what I mean.

4. Morning Routine.
-get up (turn off your alarm clock before you leave the tent- if you leave it on snooze your neighbors will smack you when you return)
-get in the porta pottie line.
-go eat breakfast (bring your morning toiletries and towel with ya so you can wash up after breakfast)- if you want some french pressed Peets coffee, come find me.
-wash up
-get dressed
-take the tent down
-roll your bag and your tent over to the gear truck
-stop by morning "cyclist" Yoga with the Yoga Nazi (no really, it's good for you and you will end up doing it anyway by Day 3 so you might as well get in the habit early!)
-fill your water bottles, re-set your cycle computer to zero, take pictures.
-Ride out- no later than 7:30am or you will be behind all day!!

4. Trust me a rolling duffel bag is what you want. Even the most experienced backpacker won't want to carry his bag 100 yards after riding over 100 miles in the heat and/or wind.

5. Day 2 (Santa Cruz to King City) will be WINDY. Plan on it.
Definitely stop for artichokes, but don't get the deep fried ones, get the steamed ones. There will be a long-assed line for the fried ones, and no line for the steamed ones. The fried ones will come back to visit you- the steamed ones will be good fiber!
Trust me on this one.

More to come as I think of them....

Our Final Friday Ride....

Our last Friday ride was to the Fat Angel Bakery in Fairfax. Nice, new, clean bathroom and the gals that work there were so nice! (I emailed them beforehand to let them know about 20 of us were coming by that morning). The Fairfax Coffee Roastery is closed. The guys sold it and rumor has it that the new owners will re-furbish and open under another name. But of course it will still be a coffee house! yay, I think.

In the meantime, give the gals at the Fat Angel Bakery your business next time you ride that way. Their savory scones will definitely help you up and over White's Hill!

The Final Friday Ride gang... we're ready to roll on June 3rd!

Looking for a tentmate?

My good friend Dave Kim has set up a website for ALC riders who would like to get connected with a tentmate BEFORE having to stand in line and be assigned one on Day Zero and get the luck of the draw...

The Tentmater website is HERE

Basically, you go on and provide your profile info. It's free. You can view the person's picture (if they post one) and their info by clicking on the little magnifying lens icon under "view". Then, if you think it might be a good match, drop them an email and see what happens.

Once you get "matched" don't forget to remove your profile so that others are not sorely disappointed by your unavailability! (and they won't have to waste time figuring out who's matched and who's not!)

Thank You Super Dave!

Bloggin'

On AIDS Lifecycle 4 I was lucky enough to be asked to be a blogger on the ride, which is how this whole blogging thing got started with me in the first place.

It was hard to remember what we did each day because the ride always goes so fast and is quite a blur, so I had my friends come into the bloggers tent each evening to help me remember what went on.

If you'd like to reminisce with me, the link to the blog is HERE.

On my end it's weird to read, as alot of the folks I rode with that year are not riding anymore (eventually they all stop riding to get on with life... LOL!)

Patrick, my favorite massage therapist is now one of the Captains of the Massage Team this year, so make sure you introduce yourself to him and tell him he's famous. He'll blush.

TWENTY MILES!!!

So this past Saturday, Daniel and I ran our longest run ever with our AIDS Marathon training group. We ran 20 miles!!

Afterward, we walked down to Ocean Beach and walked into the water to cool our leg muscles. The freezing water made us scream, (you should have heard Daniel sing opera!) but definitely helped in constricting the blood vessels in our legs and helping curb the inflammation that was already occuring in my legs right about mile 15!

It worked apparently, because I was able to get up this morning and ride the Three Bears in Orinda.... ok only 23 miles but hey the fact that I could even get out of bed was a feat in itself!

Here are a few pics of our group during the run.. yes those are stairs, and a purple head!!

Those are waay fake smiles, we were dyin'!

The Last Tib Loop...

"Friday Hooky Players..."

... was Friday, May 18th. Our last official ALC Friday Ride is next Friday May 25th with a ride to the Fat Angel Bakery in Fairfax.... because we Ride to Eat on Fridays, you know.

"GOOD MARKETING"

Michael (my ride husband) and I have decided that somewhere along the line, I must have picked up some good marketing for myself.

I have never, and I mean NEVER- been a fast rider, EVER. My best average speed ( and this was when I weighed 2grams) has probably been about 15mph. On average I do a good clip at 13mph.

That's it!

I keep coming upon people who say, "well you're a fast rider, so....." and I'm always flabbergasted. I ride ALOT, but I don't ride alot very fast. Most of the people I ride with ride faster than me, but are kind enough to wait for me at the next stop.

So for those of you who are thrilled to catch up with me, or hang with me and pass me on a good climb- you're probably doing very well compared to how you did when we first met early on in the training season, but you are definitely going to surpass me in your average speed because I AM NOT FAST AND I'M DAMN PROUD OF IT.

I just have a good Marketing Team, I guess.

My first ALC was ALC 2

Oh yeah, and I rode my first AIDS Lifecycle with a Crab on my helmet. He looked more like a lobster, I think. He retired that year- looked pretty funny flying down the evil twins.

Day 6, ALC 2

Yep, that's me.... about 20 lbs heavier in 2003! wow...

How it all started....

People ask me if I've always been a cyclist. The answer: Nope!

I started cycling the year after I turned 40, determined to get fit and get my cholesterol count down below the startling 283 count that hit me in the face when I was 39....(5 years later its down to 175, still could be better but hey! it's down!)

Cycling all started with AIDS Lifecycle 2 in 2003. Er, well actually it started just before ALC 1, in April 2002 when I met Glenn Hammerson at a dinner party. He was getting ready and training for "this bike ride from SF to LA to raise money for AIDS" in June. He convinced me that I could easily get ready for next years ride, or something like that. I must have drunk alot that night because I actually agreed!

Yes- You can all blame Glenn. He is the reason I got on my bike in 2003 and never stopped riding AIDS Lifecycle.... it's his fault. (Track him down on the ride (he ride fast), and tell him what you think of that!)


Well, ok he and few others who I met while training for ALC 2 in 2003:

We used to call ourselves 5 chicks and a dude- (Patrick liked to say Bosley and his Angels)

Emily, Cami, Vilma, Me, Tammy and Patrick, Day on the Ride for ALC 2!

We all met on various training rides and eventually all ended up together that week. It was a love/hate/cranky bitch/best friend sort of week, where you realize these people are true friends because they see you at your worst and still love you afterwards- well mostly (you'll read this later after the Ride and know what I mean) but one where we completely bonded over having ridden EFI (Every F'ckin Inch!) that year. We became members of our own originally founded "Club EFI".

My first ALC will always be my favorite ALC because it was my "first" and everything was so new to all of us.

Along the way that first training year, Tammy, Cami, Emily and I met our favorite training ride leaders: Eric and Peter. They were the first TRL's to get us up to Alpine Dam and back down without killing ourselves! And this was when we used to start rides from McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park, imagine! They have become and are still, very good friends to us. They too are riding ALC this year (you can blame THEM - as well as Ferd Garcia- for me becoming a Training Ride Leader too)

Peter, Tammy, Eric and I- Alpine Dam April 2003

My first ALC, I weighed about 145 lbs. By the ALC (3) I was down to about 120, which was my fastest cycling/lowest weight ever. But alas, you know I ride to eat so now it's evened out at a comfortable 130 (give or take, mostly give). But this is my favorite photo of me on ALC 3 with Jeff Smith as the "Sweet Transvestite" at Rest Stop 2:
I can't wait to see what all the Rest stops have in store for us this year!!

Pos Peds/ Safety/ Keeping the Ride alive!

One of the most fun rides I've lead is the Jonathan Pon Memorial 2 day ride up to the Russian River and back this past weekend. The weekend is organized by the Positive Pedalers. The ride is much like the energy of what the actual ride is like, along with catered meals, camping overnight, and feeling what it's like to ride two days in a row after sleeping (or not sleeping) among all the snoring..

We met in Sausalito Saturday morning, started with stretching and moving on to the expectations of safety- both on this weekends ride, and the Ride in June.

Saturday morning before ride out. I must have been saying something funny because everyone in the picture is laughing..

I also did what I always do about this time (May) each year, before each training ride. I make people remember why it is they are riding. I remind them that it's not about finishing first, or riding fast, or even riding every mile. It's about the Cause. Raising money for the Cause, and raising awareness for the Cause.

I remind them that there are those among us who are HIV+ and feel very fortunate to be riding with us, and there are those who are not among us because they are too sick to ride. That for all of us who are healthy, that gnarly uphill has a great down hill, that every cloudy sky clears for us.

But for those who live with AIDS or are HIV+, there is no downhill. There is no sunny clear sky- not yet. And what we are doing is too important to jeopardize the continuation of AIDS Lifecycle. But we will jeopardize it if we are unable in the future to get permits to ride the route because we show that we are selfish riders who cannot ride safely or share the road.

So think about it when you ride in the next 3 weeks, and when you begin your journey to LA.

Practice being a safe, law abiding, "single file ALC rider". The money we raise is too important to lose, don't you agree??

Rod Wong raises thousands and thousands...

My friend Rodney Wong (rider #4985) was one of the top fundraisers for AIDS Lifecycle 5 in 2006. He raised over $21,000.00 last year (I'm estimating because I don't remember the exact amount!) This year he is already at over $26,000.00 and I'm guessing he'll be at $27,000.00 by the time we ride out on June 3rd.

TRL Rod offering a newbie good advice on fundraising...

The reason I talk about this is because Rod was invited to the Leadership awards dinner put on by the SFAF on May 3rd. And lucky me, got to be his guest! We were honored to be sitting at the table hosted members of the Board of Directors for SFAF, and they were all in awe of Rod and his fundraising skills.

"How do you do it?" they asked. His answer, " I ask. I ask a thousand people". Rod put out a thousand letters this year and thus he is already at $26,000 and counting. What a guy!

So the next time you see Rod, tell him he is awesome. Better yet, send him an atta-boy via a message of support on this homepage.

"... It's what I enjoy doing..."

...... when I'm not riding, or running, that is.

Day On The Ride 2007- my new calling as a cowbeller...

THE RIDE (one more time)

I saw Russ at the Day On The Ride yesterday and asked him how many books he had in stock. He said that luckily he had just received a shipment of 200 books so they were ready to go if anyone wanted to order.

So once again I want to encourage you Newbie riders to order Russ' book: "The Ride: How to ride your bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles Without Even Dying".

Russ book is the best thing to read if you are at all nervous about the Ride, want to know what to expect and want to laugh out loud (and I mean belly ache laughing). He will validate all that you are feeling now, and if you have been training regularly with us this season, many of his stories (and opinions ) will ring very true!!

You can order Russ' book on his website at: The Ride (just click here)

Time In The Saddle (TITS)

For the first time ever, I actually feel like I have not been riding enough for this years ALC. That's right folks not enough TITS. LOL! (story of my life)

I hope that makes you "just signed up" Newbies feel a whole lot better: My longest ride since Jan has been 100 miles and that was on one of the hardest organized centuries I've done in awhile (Solvang). Since then my longest ride has been 74 miles and that's it!

So expect to see me at the back of the pack, taking my time on the next few training rides and on The Ride itself. I've decided that this year will be year I ride at a "Social Pace". What the heck, there are so many people I have not yet met since I have been busy running on the Saturdays that I usually ride, this will be a whole lotta fun! Hey maybe this year I'll even get to ride that SAG bus one day.... woohoo!

Now excuse me but I gotta go get my legs massaged...

AIDS Marathoners

L to R: Me, Jose, Raj,Marie,Ashley,Damon,Hannah, Keira (sp?)Cheryl,Allison,Daniel

Just wanted to post a photo of our AIDS Marathon training group. This is what we looked like after running 17 miles on Saturday morning. Look! We're all still smiling (or maybe grimacing)

A ride with Twany, with me as the Renegade...

Saturday night, after a 54 mile ride around Marin, my legs were pretty tired. But I thought what the heck if I can get someone to ride with me tomorrow, I'll ride! So I dropped Antonio Velasco (a newbie I met this season) an email to see if he was going to do Bens ride, and told him if he was I would meet him in Fairfax around 8:30. He emailed me back and said he would be there....

Newbie Antonio Velasco & I

Ben's CAT2 ride was a total of 93 miles from the Sports Basement, but since I was riding from Fairfax it would only be about 54. What the heck, I was going to be riding the hardest part of the route anyway.

I was a "Renegade Rider"- a rider riding unofficially, while Antonio would be riding "officially". Once I was in Fairfax, I ran into a whole bunch of CAT 2 riders, including Dorothy who was now back from her Vancouver vacation and well rested. I said to her, "okay! enough vacation, get on your bike and ride!" She called me a slave driver, imagine!

Antonio was already at the Coffee Roastery, and soon we proceeded over White's Hill and Nicasio Valley Road. Then after a brief stop at Rancho Nicasio, we were off to the Cheese Factory. Riding with Antonio was fun! We got to talk alot, and he learned how to "manage his energy" by not riding so fast in the first half of the ride. The key to endurance rides (like this one!) is to not try to ride so fast, but to save some of your energy for the rest of the ride. This also means, however that you cannot hang out at the rest stops for too long. Get in, go to the bathroom, eat if you need to then get on your bike and go. This is pretty much what we did all day.

Soon we were out of the Cheese Factory and onto Wilson Hill Road, climbing none other than- Wilson Hill! I had forgotten how beautiful this part of the County is. Everything is so lush and green and we saw lots of cows and sheep. Soon we were down Wilson Hill through Chilleno Valley, and on our way into Petaluma.

One of the nice things about riding with someone you started the training season with, is that they do exactly what you expect them to do- because you've trained them! Antonio has been riding since the beginning of the season (October I think), in fact his first training ride was one of my Friday rides. So it was nice to ride with someone who remembered to call out car back, car up, pothole, car right.... all of that. He is one considerate rider and I was lucky to be riding with him.

Once in Petaluma, we stopped for lunch at the Apple Box Cafe. I think we were in the "front pack" because there were only about 5 or 6 riders there once we got there, I must mention that I am RARELY at the front of the pack, so this was a whole lot of fun! We ordered lunch and sat and talked with Charlie and Victor (at least I think that's what his name was). Charlie had a sore knee and asked if I knew if there was a drugstore nearby for some ibuprofen. I offered him the motrin that I keep stored in my seat bag. Soon we were all back on the road.

'D' Street in Petaluma is one long road that becomes Red Hill Road and then Pt. Reyes Petaluma Road. It was a long climb back to the Cheese Factory, but not too too bad because I had Antonio to moo at cows with, and breathe heavy with! LOL! About 3/4 of the way up Antonio had to pee something fierce, so he hopped off his bike and stood in the bushes... I am used to this (heck I usually only ride with men), so I held his bike and looked out for oncoming cars. He was lucky that none came by. Somehow, I don't think I would have gotten away with doing the same thing on the side of the road...

We finally made our way back to the Cheese Factory, congratulating ourselves and I fueled up for the rest of the ride back only about 15 miles for me but another 30 or so for Antonio. On the way back up White's Hill we ran into Charlie, whose knee seemed to be feeling better and I led the way back down White's Hill (warning Charlie about the descent) and into Fairfax. At the Coffee Roasters we regrouped and I led Antonio and Charlie through to San Anselmo, where I bid my fairwell and wished them a safe trip back to the Sports Basement.

All in all a good weekend, although not a whole lot of time in the saddle for me. OH well.

Next Saturday I'm running 17 miles so I won't be at Day On The Ride, but look for me cheering on the road!

Headlands, Tiburon Fairfax and rain...

I love riding other people's rides, as just a rider.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the times I lead rides. It helps me to hone in on my leadership skills, teach others skills, and hopefully impart some much needed information to others in preparing them for the ride. But leading rides often times means I end up riding with the same folks- I generally don't lead the pack, but prefer to sweep and make sure others get in safely.

Today was a great day of riding. I had been invited by Dave T to do a 90 mile ride (the same ride Ben is doing tomorrow) out to Petaluma but didn't think that Daniel would have it in him to do 90 miles yet, and didn't want to push him to do it. (heck I didn't know if I had it in me!) So we decided instead to ride Kurt's CAT 2 ride out of SB, up Conzelman and back down, out to Tiburon and around Paradise Drive thru Corte Madera out to Fairfax- 54 miles.

Since Daniel lives at the base of Camino Alto in Corte Madera, I suggested he bring his house key with him, just in case we got rained out. Luckily we didn't have to use it.

We hooked up with Alkarim, Hector and Mike at the top of Conzelman and we all stuck together for the rest of the day. We stopped in at Shark's Deli and Daniel and I split a sandwich... I needed the protein. Then we headed out around Paradise and for some reason I was feeling a little sluggish. I think I waited too long to eat.

Once in Corte Madera, we stopped in at the Peets coffee on Tamalpais Blvd. It was on the route, and we could see riders going by so we had our coffee and scones/coffee cake quickly and were on our way. Wow I really needed the coffee and sugar, I felt so much better on the way to Fairfax. Of course it started to rain a bit as we rode into Fairfax. The guys grabbed a sandwich at Peri's deli and we met up with Chris and Chris. They ended up riding back with us. The rain was off and on- not too drizzly which was nice. We got back around 3, I think.

One of my favorite things that happens this time of year as well, is that I start seeing folks again who I hadn't seen since back in the fall when the training season started. It's amazing to see the "shape shifting" that has taken place in all those bodies!! Its really cool! You people look so fit!!

The other fun thing is to see someone again, whom you rode with on one of their very first rides... they didn't know how to shift their bike then, they had no cleats and swore they wouldn't get them.... Now they all blow past me like I'm standing still.

It's awesome! I applaude you all!! Only 5 training weekends to go!

Michael's ALC 6 Blog

Michael, my "Ride Husband" (don't worry my real husband calls him that too)

Right about now you are all searching for every little bit of information on what the Ride is like... pictures, blogs, what to bring, etc. I know because I still remember my first ALC Ride and pre-ride "need for info" with great detail. I'll try to impart a little bit of wisdom here in the next few weeks, but thought I'd forward you the link to my tentmate Michael's Blog. It's all about ALC 5 (last year's ride) He's got photos and info and since he's a graphic designer, it all looks really good!

A note from RoadBikeRider.com

Hmm.... I'm hoping to remember this piece of advice on Day 3's ride out of King City....

"Take the bite out of rough roads.

Did you watch Paris-Roubaix on Versus last Sunday? Some riders love the cobblestones and use them to great advantage. They know that other riders, even some great pros, never get the hang of it and hate races on gnarly roads. They're defeated even before the flag drops.

The same goes for fast recreational riding. If you have the skill, rough stretches won't be a problem and you'll even think they're fun. But if you're intimated, you'll struggle mentally and physically, go slow and get dropped by groups you'd normally have no trouble staying with.

The good news is that even at a brisk pace, anyone can learn to handle rough sections. When a stretch of your local pavement resembles the Hell of the North, try these tips:

---Reduce tire pressure. A 160-pound rider should normally run about 100 psi in the rear and around 95 psi up front when on 700x23C tires. But when you know the day's course will be on rough roads, reduce pressure about 10 psi so tires will transfer less shock to the bike and won't chatter as badly in turns.

The importance of proper pressure was just underscored in Paris-Roubaix. British pro Roger Hammond (T-Mobile) flatted and received a front wheel from a neutral support vehicle. But it was inflated so hard that he had trouble controlling his bike on the remaining cobbled sections. "I think it cost me dearly towards the end," he says. "I was bouncing on the cobbles instead of floating over them. . . . I couldn't go over the cobbles as fast as [other riders] with the pressure in the front tire."

Caution! Don't run tires so soft that they'll pinch flat when you clobber a rock or edge of a pothole. You'll need to experiment to find the inflation pressure that works best for your weight in a variety of conditions.

---Shift to a higher gear. Use a slightly bigger gear (smaller cog) than you would if the same section of road were smooth. This lets you sit back on the saddle and pedal with a lower, steadier cadence. It puts more weight on the pedals and less on the seat, reducing uncomfortable jolts.

---Relax! Keep a secure grip on the handlebar so your hands won't bounce off, but don't squeeze it and create stiff tension throughout your arms. Instead, let the bike's front end float over the rough stuff and find its line. Tensing up holds the front wheel rigidly in place. When it hits an edge, it veers. A relaxed grip lets the bike flow."

....The road out of camp in King City is worse than cobblestone! -jb

OH Yeah, and Running too....

For those of you who don't know, or maybe heard the rumor; I am training to do the AIDS Marathon in the San Francisco on July 29th. It is a fundraiser for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation too. YES that means I am doing AIDS Lifecycle during June 3-9th as well as the AIDS Marathon on July 29th and raising money for both. I have made my minimum goal for both, but if you would like to donate to the AIDS Marathon I'd like to ask you to direct your donation to my friend Daniel Gomez here

Daniel is a fellow TRL (my co-lead for most of the Friday Rides) and a Seargant on the Golden Gate bridge. Like me he will be doing The Ride AND The AIDS Marathon and can use all of your donations.... it was Daniel who talked me into doing both the ride and the marathon in the first place!!

How are we doing? Well, the past Saturday we ran a full 14 miles- IN THE RAIN, thank you very much. That was more than half of a full marathon so I think we are doing ok, although I was too tired to ride my bike on Sunday so instead I drove my car up to the top of White's Hill and cheered and rang the cowbell for the CAT 2 riders that day... did the same thing on the way up Cheese Factory hill too. People seemed to enjoy it, or at least they told me so. :-)

So, anyhow please think about donating to Daniel's run. I don't need any more donations to participate, but he does!!

6 more training weeks til THE RIDE

Some thoughts & suggestions...

1. If this is your first ALC ride, you'll want to get a copy of Russ Mendivil's book "The Ride: how to ride your bike from SF to LA without really dying" . It will tell you about everything to expect the week of the ride, and will validate all of the nervous feelings you are having right about now...

You can go to Russ' website for the book. http://theridestory.com/

2. Go buy an air mattress (twin size) at Target NOW-TODAY. No, not a week before the ride, but NOW. Remember there are 3,000 people registered to do the ride, which means about 2300 actually coming along. Target will be out of inexpensive air mattresses very very soon. You can get one as cheap as twenty bucks. Coleman makes a battery powered air mattress pump that takes 4 D cell batteries and that lasts all week.
If you can spend the dough, aerobed makes a camping mattress with a rechargeable pump- the charge will last all week as well.

3. Also if you can afford it, bring 7 pairs of cycling shorts. You will be too tired to wash them (by hand, in buckets!) every evening, and even if you do have the energy to wash them, there is no guarantee that they will dry fully in time. Nothing is worse than putting on a pair of cold shorts with a damp pad on a cold morning. REI has cycling shorts as low as $30, Nashbar.com and Performance Bicycles has them as low as 19.99 , and I think Mike's Bike's big sale starts tomorrow April 17, and I'm sure they've got some good deals and they also give an ALC discount!

And speaking of shorts- once you get into camp, get out of your shorts as soon as possible!! You'll have less of a chance of getting saddle sores and other yucky things down there if you don't sit around in your shorts. Lots of bacteria and sweat, etc will gather there over the course of the week, so get them shorts off when you are done cycling for the day and get "aired out" as soon as possible each day!

4. Instead of a flashlight for the dark nights, get a headlamp. Its easier to use the porta potty in the middle of the night when you have both hands free. And don't forget to look where you sit in the middle of the night... its gross yes, but I could tell you stories... bring a light! And oh- DON'T SLAM THE PORTA POTTIE DOORS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! (you'll be amazed how loud it can sound)

5. I pack an extra plastic tarp for underneath the tent. Michael (my tentmate) and I both have gnarly allergies and since the tents sit on the grass, if I can keep a layer between my bed and the grass we both generally wake up feeling less puffy and itchy. You can get the lightweight painting type tarps and they don't add a whole lot of weight to your bag. Also, binder clips or clothes pins help when you need to dry things out, you can clip them to your tent to dry.

6. Pack a shower cap (you know the ones they provide in the nicer hotels for free) or re-usable plastic bag to cover your seat overnight when it is in bike parking. Someone told me those plastic wrap "covers" for bowls that Glad Bags make work well too. -they sort of look like shower caps. It can be quite dewy some mornings, leading to a wet butt when you get on your bike in the morning...

7. Bring something for Dress in Red/Red Dress Day (Day 5 which is June 7th this year)! My first year, I did not wear Red and I never felt so out of place for a whole day in my life!! Even if it's just a red jersey/jacket because you don't do dresses, wear something RED that day, you won't regret it!


8. Make sure your suitcase/duffle/bag, whatever has wheels. Trust me, even the most experienced backpacker will hate riding 100 miles, then hauling their bag on their shoulders to find their tent space. Get a duffle bag or suitcase with WHEELS and get one big enough to hold your clothes, your sleeping bag and pad/air mattress too.

9. If you are a "good coffee-aholic", then bring your own unless you can stomach dishwater every morning. I pack a Lexan (plastic) french press and bring pre-ground Peets coffee with me each year. I really only need about 4 oz in the morning to be pleasant, so I walk around offering the rest to others. Its a nice way to make friends in the morning. Believe me, by Day 4 you will be coming to find me in the dining tent that morning....

10. Come to the Potluck Ride! It's the best way to get all your last minute questions answered, and maybe even meet your future tentmate! The last training ride of the season (in Northern Cal) will be on Memorial Day. You bring a dish to share, go for a 30 mile roundtrip ride then come back and eat! The Potluck Ride on the 28th of May will be on the Training Ride Calendar soon so look for it.

Lucky Friday the 13th Ride

Sunny skies and 20 or so people went with me back to Pt. Reyes this past Friday the 13th which is usually a very lucky day for me!

I finally got to ride with Dorothy, who I met way back when she first started riding... she told me that she reads my blogs regularly and hey, I needed to update it soon- so here I am.

...and here I am talking to Dorothy.

The day was blue and clear and a whole lot of fun. We rode the Nicasio Loop then went up Sir Francis Drake Blvd to Olema. Once through Olema we stopped for treats at Pt. Reyes Station and the Bovine Bakery- yum!

I wanted to sweep the last leg of the ride, from Fairfax back to the Bridge. Even though this means I get in close to 5pm (hey it was a 74 mile ride), its nice because it means I get to stop at Faifax Scoop for ice cream while I wait for the last riders to get to Fairfax.


I always ride to eat whenever possible. I've just learned not to over eat. That's it, I ride to eat but not to overeat. Scoop is an organic ice cream parlour- teeny in size but big on flavor! Whenever possible I try to talk the riders on my Friday rides into making a pit stop before riding the final leg back to the bridge.... anyone who has stopped for Scoop has never been dissapointed!

Especially Kelly, who loves Scoop as much as I do!!

A first for me...

Not to alarm you.

I got hit by a car in Pt. Reyes yesterday. Well, sort of sideswiped, well I'm not sure if she hit me or I hit her but...

I was coming into Pt. Reyes, crossed the bridge and was turning left onto the street that the Bovine Bakery is on. She was going straight. She didn't see me, and I didn't see her until it was too late. I basically started my turn left, realized she was drivingpast me so I turned my bike right and my left hip and my bike hit hersideways (I think). I went down on my back, hit my head (nice cracked helmet!) and it was actually a whole lot better than it could
have been. Also she was driving a Prius and I think the fact that the motor is basically silent probably contributed to the fact that I didn't realize she was there.

My thick pink jacket was rolled up and stuck in my back jersey pocket so it padded my back in the fall but I got a nasty case of whiplash this morning, and my left hip is sore but no road rash (miraculously) and no blood! Good thing I already have a new helmet to replace it. :-)

I did ride back- but only to Daniel's apartment in Corte Madera (25 miles or so) and he drove me back to my car at SB.

I wanted you to hear about it from me first, instead of through the grapevine although I know a few of you already heard it. It was a good excuse for me to take the day off of work!

This is a good reminder about awareness out there this time of year (especially for me!). And no, you should not tell your spouses/significant others, it will only freak them out!

(my sisters and my mother are already going to freak out because I've not told them either!)