Yep, even I get burnout.
I feel it coming on about this time each year. So what do I do? I take a break!
Last Saturdays ride had me exhausted. That exhaustion led to a state of disillusionment.
"How will I be ready for the ride if I can't ride 2 days in a row?" (uh hello? I rode Friday and Sat)... "I shouldn't BE this tired, I am so out of shape!" (duh... you rode 72 miles in a headwind).."
All that negative speak runs through your head when you are overtrained. It's normal. If you have been riding every weekend since January or February- take a break! I did! Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I did no exercise. I did go to see my Chiropractor Dr. Rizzo for an adjustment and A.R.T. (Active Release Technique) so that helped me feel better. But other than that I took it easy for 3 days!
Then today, I rode 30 miles alone from my house to Tiburon and back, and it was much more enjoyable and I felt rested and strong... and I HATE to ride alone!
Sometimes you have to take a break and rest your muscles completely so that all those muscle fibers you tear up each weekend have time to repair, resulting in bigger, stronger muscles that can then take you where you wanna go--- even faster than before!
My twocents worth...
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
I Was a Rider/Blogger on ALC 4
Three years ago I got to be a "blogger" on AIDS Lifecycle 4. I wrote about my experience at the end of each days ride.
If you want to know what goes on day to day... you can re-live ALC 4 HERE with me...
If you want to know what goes on day to day... you can re-live ALC 4 HERE with me...
Woodside and Back...
I rode this really hard ride on Saturday. It was with the Pos Peds and it went from Sports Basement to Woodside and back, a total of 73 or so miles. It was windy the whole way. I rode with David Uzzell and Dylan Ban- David I had ridden with before on ALC 3 and Dylan I just met on this ride!
The route basically goes down Skyline Blvd from SF to Canada Road, then lunch at Roberts Market and back.
On the way back David and I had a little accident. He ran into me when I stopped before the Hwy 1 interchange from Skyline. I felt it safer to stop and cross over all together rather than try to merge across with folks speeding at freeway speed. He didn't know I slowed down and ran into me, knocking me over on my bike and then flying over me and his bike going down hard.
Luckily we were both ok, although full of adrenaline I'm sure, and we hopped back on our bikes and continued... can't imagine what that looked like to Dylan who watched the whole thing.
I scraped my index finger and bled all over my shifter-- gross. And then Monday I had this beeeyootiful bruise on my right leg, where my top tube must have jammed into my thigh:
Another wound to add to my multiple scars over the past 5 years!
Anyhow, we continued into SF and hit the Upper Great Highway where the wind was sooo gusty that the sand would blow into our faces! Talk about microdermabrasion. We quickly found another way to get to GG park and through it, back down Arguello and into the Sports Basement in the Presidio.
A crazy day of riding, but hey at least it was with friends!
The route basically goes down Skyline Blvd from SF to Canada Road, then lunch at Roberts Market and back.
On the way back David and I had a little accident. He ran into me when I stopped before the Hwy 1 interchange from Skyline. I felt it safer to stop and cross over all together rather than try to merge across with folks speeding at freeway speed. He didn't know I slowed down and ran into me, knocking me over on my bike and then flying over me and his bike going down hard.
Luckily we were both ok, although full of adrenaline I'm sure, and we hopped back on our bikes and continued... can't imagine what that looked like to Dylan who watched the whole thing.
I scraped my index finger and bled all over my shifter-- gross. And then Monday I had this beeeyootiful bruise on my right leg, where my top tube must have jammed into my thigh:
Another wound to add to my multiple scars over the past 5 years!Anyhow, we continued into SF and hit the Upper Great Highway where the wind was sooo gusty that the sand would blow into our faces! Talk about microdermabrasion. We quickly found another way to get to GG park and through it, back down Arguello and into the Sports Basement in the Presidio.
A crazy day of riding, but hey at least it was with friends!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
How this all started....
People always ask me how why I started doing AIDS/LifeCycle... every year I do a post about how it came to be, and this year is no different.
You can all blame Glenn Hammerson, Rider #1308.
Sometime in April of 2002, I met Glenn at a dinner party thrown by Mike's good friend Hans. We got to talking and Glenn told me about the AIDS Ride he was doing in June. It was a week long bike ride from SF to L.A, he told me. I thought-- hey! what a great idea! (ok I was not very sane at the time and had probably had one too many glasses of wine). I figured that April was probably too late to start training--- funny not everyone thinks that way-- but decided to consider it for the following year.
I don't know how or why I thought of it again that December, but I decided right before Christmas 2002 that I was going to do it! I told Mike that I wanted to buy a bike and do AIDS/Lifecycle the next year. Wise guy that he was, he said, " why don't you wait until after the New Year and see if you still want to do it. If you do, we'll go buy you a bike."
On January 2nd, I said, "Ok can we go buy a bike now?". And that was that.
I bought my first bike at Mike's Bikes in San Rafael. (I also bought my second bike at Mike's Bikes in Sausalito.) I remember looking at that skinny seat and thinking my ass was not gonna be very happy by the time I got to L.A., so I walked over to the other seats, pointed at the wide, cushy one and said to D.J., my salesguy, " hey why can't I put this seat on for the ride?", his reply; " ...because I won't sell it to you for this ride." He was a smart guy, and the beginning of my great relationship with Mike's Bikes.
So there you have it. I rode in ALC 2 as my first ride, got hooked on cycling and have logged close to 24,000 miles in the last 5 years or so.
I ride because I enjoy blaming Glenn for it! (and oh by the way girls, Glenn is one of the only straight, single men I know who do the ride every year....)
ooh he's gonna kill me for this post! :-0
You can all blame Glenn Hammerson, Rider #1308.
Sometime in April of 2002, I met Glenn at a dinner party thrown by Mike's good friend Hans. We got to talking and Glenn told me about the AIDS Ride he was doing in June. It was a week long bike ride from SF to L.A, he told me. I thought-- hey! what a great idea! (ok I was not very sane at the time and had probably had one too many glasses of wine). I figured that April was probably too late to start training--- funny not everyone thinks that way-- but decided to consider it for the following year.
I don't know how or why I thought of it again that December, but I decided right before Christmas 2002 that I was going to do it! I told Mike that I wanted to buy a bike and do AIDS/Lifecycle the next year. Wise guy that he was, he said, " why don't you wait until after the New Year and see if you still want to do it. If you do, we'll go buy you a bike."
On January 2nd, I said, "Ok can we go buy a bike now?". And that was that.
I bought my first bike at Mike's Bikes in San Rafael. (I also bought my second bike at Mike's Bikes in Sausalito.) I remember looking at that skinny seat and thinking my ass was not gonna be very happy by the time I got to L.A., so I walked over to the other seats, pointed at the wide, cushy one and said to D.J., my salesguy, " hey why can't I put this seat on for the ride?", his reply; " ...because I won't sell it to you for this ride." He was a smart guy, and the beginning of my great relationship with Mike's Bikes.
So there you have it. I rode in ALC 2 as my first ride, got hooked on cycling and have logged close to 24,000 miles in the last 5 years or so.
I ride because I enjoy blaming Glenn for it! (and oh by the way girls, Glenn is one of the only straight, single men I know who do the ride every year....)
ooh he's gonna kill me for this post! :-0
Monday, March 31, 2008
Stop Means.... yeah, that.
"You must stop at all stop signs and stop lights without exception."
Duh!
It happens, trust me on that one. You all know I have lots of stories...
If you are on an ALC ride, show ALC courtesy and STOP, damnit! You'll jeopardize our ability to get permits to do large rides locally (like the Expo Ride from yesterday, or the Day on the Ride on April 26th). Our small little towns don't like it when we break the law, and that one is basic.
Besides, who wants to support a cause where all of the riders break the law? Heck, they can go donate money to Breast Cancer walkers instead because their participants are hella safer than us!
And yes, an ALC stop is foot off the pedal on the ground, period. Do you think I enjoy a stop like that? every 100 feet on Lansdale in Fairfax? Hell no, but hey at least slow down and look! Don't go breezing past the sign like it ain't there. I saw tons of that yesterday on the Expo rides... and quite a few ended up being NEAR MISSES where a car just about nailed the rider(s).
Do you think I ENJOY rescuing people at the hospital? Or trying to figure out who to call for them? Then do me a favor and at least THINK ABOUT stopping.
I don't care what all the other kids are doing. You're better than that.
As you can tell I get really annoyed at this stuff..... and I live in one of those little towns so I get to hear the other side from my neighbors.
Please keep me sane.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
I love my Click Stand
I posted this back in December and thought I'd re-post it again... a few of you saw my click-stand at the expo this afternoon and asked about it. For those who didn't see it, it looks like this (this is not my bike though, its the promo photo for the Click-Stand)
Awhile back I was telling someone that I wanted to bring kick-stands back in cycling style. I soon figured out it was not a good idea with a carbon fiber bike. SO I went looking for an alternative and found this:
So I got one and I love it!! No more putting my bike down on its side in the middle of a rest stop where the bike parking is full! You can take a closer look on their website Click-stand.com Or you can ask to see mine next time you ride with me....
Awhile back I was telling someone that I wanted to bring kick-stands back in cycling style. I soon figured out it was not a good idea with a carbon fiber bike. SO I went looking for an alternative and found this:
So I got one and I love it!! No more putting my bike down on its side in the middle of a rest stop where the bike parking is full! You can take a closer look on their website Click-stand.com Or you can ask to see mine next time you ride with me....
Saturday, March 29, 2008
White's Hill vs. Quadbuster?
White's Hill has often been compared to the infamous "Quadbuster " hill on the ride. I say no way--- White's Hill is hella easier, and feels shorter too!
Oh yes, you can actually see the elevation comparison and it looks pretty close. Ben blogs about it on his catseries.com website
I'd have to say (in my humble opinion of course) once you climb Pt. Reyes/Petaluma Road toward the Cheese Factory, although I'm sure the elevation climb doesn't match--THAT's the climb that is the most like Quadbuster on Day 3. The other thing is that like Quadbuster, that climb to the Cheese Factory you can see go up and up and up. You can see all us little ants on bikes climbing, climbing, climbing...
"Le Alpe Du Fromage" is what we've named it. Cheese Factory Hill. (no not CHEESE CAKE factory... although there IS one of those not too far from the Tib Loop, y'know).
Go ride Ben's CAT 2 series ride on April 13th... and then come tell me if climbing that Alpe Du Fromage is harder than White's Hill.
Oh yes, you can actually see the elevation comparison and it looks pretty close. Ben blogs about it on his catseries.com website
I'd have to say (in my humble opinion of course) once you climb Pt. Reyes/Petaluma Road toward the Cheese Factory, although I'm sure the elevation climb doesn't match--THAT's the climb that is the most like Quadbuster on Day 3. The other thing is that like Quadbuster, that climb to the Cheese Factory you can see go up and up and up. You can see all us little ants on bikes climbing, climbing, climbing...
"Le Alpe Du Fromage" is what we've named it. Cheese Factory Hill. (no not CHEESE CAKE factory... although there IS one of those not too far from the Tib Loop, y'know).
Go ride Ben's CAT 2 series ride on April 13th... and then come tell me if climbing that Alpe Du Fromage is harder than White's Hill.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Procrastination is not good...it can be painful!
In theory, someone who starts training this weekend (44 miles) could still ramp up their mileage in the next 8 weeks and get to 85 miles. Since really the average for the week is about that (one day is around 45 miles, 2 days are over 100) , getting to 85 miles would get your body knowing what long mileage days will feel like.
It would look something like this:
This weekend's Expo: 44 miles
wk2: 48 miles
wk3: 53 miles
wk4: 59 miles
wk5: 64 miles
wk6: 71 miles
wk7: 78 miles
wk8: 86 miles
wk9--tapering-- ride a very short ride, the following weekend will be ride out.
The trick is then to increase rides quickly (think end of April) and do them back to back. Maybe even take a Friday off of work and ride 3 days in a row. (shortest mileage on Friday, longest mileage on Sunday-- or even mix up Sat and Sunday).
I'm not saying that doing it this way will be easy, absolutely not at all!! But at least it gets your mileage increased gradually (about 10% each week). Starting earlier would have been the best bet, but starting any later than this week will be much much more difficult and almost impossible to do comfortably.
The time is now. Or hold off and start again next year!
It would look something like this:
This weekend's Expo: 44 miles
wk2: 48 miles
wk3: 53 miles
wk4: 59 miles
wk5: 64 miles
wk6: 71 miles
wk7: 78 miles
wk8: 86 miles
wk9--tapering-- ride a very short ride, the following weekend will be ride out.
The trick is then to increase rides quickly (think end of April) and do them back to back. Maybe even take a Friday off of work and ride 3 days in a row. (shortest mileage on Friday, longest mileage on Sunday-- or even mix up Sat and Sunday).
I'm not saying that doing it this way will be easy, absolutely not at all!! But at least it gets your mileage increased gradually (about 10% each week). Starting earlier would have been the best bet, but starting any later than this week will be much much more difficult and almost impossible to do comfortably.
The time is now. Or hold off and start again next year!
The Bag for ALC
This is the bag I bought a couple of years ago to do ALC rides. It is the Rolling Adventure Duffle by L.L. Bean. It will fit my sleeping bag and pad (or twin sized air mattress), cycling clothes for 7 days, extra kick around clothes, 1 pair of shoes (clogs) for camp, my camp towel, toiletries bag and extra bike gear (tubes mostly) and other misc. things. Usually there's lots of extra room too and good thing because somehow by Day 4, I find that my gear has gotten out of control and it fills in the extra space! Beware, however, that if you are flying with it you will likely get charged for having oversized or overweight luggage. That can be as much as an extra fifty bucks if you're not careful!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
CAT1 Intro Rides... graduation day!
I decided to rest my legs today and go out and ring the cowbell (something about that sound when you're riding....) and take pictures. I got to meet lots of newbie riders and see some old friends.
Ran into Joel Sale, who rushed out the door to catch a ride-- and forgot his helmet! So here he is riding into Fairfax without a helmet when Randy G says-- what the hell? where's your helmet? and he sheepishly told us how he rushed out to try and make the ride and forgot it, and missed ride out too.
Luckily I had an extra helmet in my trunk (don't ask, it's the mother in me). Joel gladly accepted it and we all felt a little bit better about him riding up and down White's Hill....
Got to meet my comadre Pinay riders (you rock ladies!) Debra, Gloria and Geraldine. We laughed and commented about how people mix us all up because we all look the same- (da plat nose gives it away). Debra insisted that she is a slower rider, but I think she is lying. :-)
Anyhow, I took photos and they're here on the <<<<<----- on the left side. Click on the pics and it should take you to my picasa web gallery with my photos on it.
Tomorrow I ride 75 miles (yesterday I rode only 50, so it will be a mellow weekend) to Petaluma for Easter lunch!
See you all on the road...
Ran into Joel Sale, who rushed out the door to catch a ride-- and forgot his helmet! So here he is riding into Fairfax without a helmet when Randy G says-- what the hell? where's your helmet? and he sheepishly told us how he rushed out to try and make the ride and forgot it, and missed ride out too.
Luckily I had an extra helmet in my trunk (don't ask, it's the mother in me). Joel gladly accepted it and we all felt a little bit better about him riding up and down White's Hill....
Got to meet my comadre Pinay riders (you rock ladies!) Debra, Gloria and Geraldine. We laughed and commented about how people mix us all up because we all look the same- (da plat nose gives it away). Debra insisted that she is a slower rider, but I think she is lying. :-)
Anyhow, I took photos and they're here on the <<<<<----- on the left side. Click on the pics and it should take you to my picasa web gallery with my photos on it.
Tomorrow I ride 75 miles (yesterday I rode only 50, so it will be a mellow weekend) to Petaluma for Easter lunch!
See you all on the road...
Sunday, March 16, 2008
"Man, I'm tired!"
I led a CAT 3 ride this morning, 68 miles from Sports Basement to the Nicasio Loop. Forgetting that I had ridden 50 miles on Friday, and 35 miles yesterday I anxiously hopped on my bike and rode like the wind, into the wind. My legs just about gave out on the spot. OMG I thought I was bonking!
Riding on the Sausalito Bike path, the wind was full force and my legs were soooo tired. I was planning on riding fast and steady through the loop and sweep the last part of the ride, from Fairfax back to SB. Nothin' doing. My legs were dead after the first 18 miles of the ride!
So, I hung with Annette, Sandra and John Young for awhile- becoming "mega sweep" for both rides. Eventually I had to leave them to follow up with two of my CAT 3 folks who I ended up riding with the rest of the ride. Good thing too, if I didn't have them to ride with I would have been dying of exhaustion! Both Nancy and Wly made it easy to make it through the rest of the ride, chatting, riding and just basically taking it easy.
Sometimes its nice to be the caboose.
I think I'll rest now. ugh, I'm so BEAT!
Riding on the Sausalito Bike path, the wind was full force and my legs were soooo tired. I was planning on riding fast and steady through the loop and sweep the last part of the ride, from Fairfax back to SB. Nothin' doing. My legs were dead after the first 18 miles of the ride!
So, I hung with Annette, Sandra and John Young for awhile- becoming "mega sweep" for both rides. Eventually I had to leave them to follow up with two of my CAT 3 folks who I ended up riding with the rest of the ride. Good thing too, if I didn't have them to ride with I would have been dying of exhaustion! Both Nancy and Wly made it easy to make it through the rest of the ride, chatting, riding and just basically taking it easy.
Sometimes its nice to be the caboose.
I think I'll rest now. ugh, I'm so BEAT!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
South Bay Cycle Buddy Ride
Boy those South Bay riders sure know how to party! We had 16 or so riders show up for a ride that we were not sure was going to happen, given the downpours that were happening just 2 hours before ride out! The plan was to go into Starbuck's and do a CB "meet & greet" if we got rained out, so folks came out just in case!
It never rained.
It was beautiful and the route took us through Palo Alto and Woodside with a stop for eats at Robert's Market. Afterward we rode through the Arastradero preserve and back to Los Altos for a quick spin down Foothill Blvd and back to the Starbuck's in Sunnyvale.
Awesome day, fun people!
Two days, 84 miles and another 68 tomorrow.
I think I'm gonna be tired on Monday.
It never rained.
It was beautiful and the route took us through Palo Alto and Woodside with a stop for eats at Robert's Market. Afterward we rode through the Arastradero preserve and back to Los Altos for a quick spin down Foothill Blvd and back to the Starbuck's in Sunnyvale.
Awesome day, fun people!
Two days, 84 miles and another 68 tomorrow.
I think I'm gonna be tired on Monday.
Friday, March 14, 2008
GG Bridge to Nicasio and Back
Absolutely no rain on ride out, a little chilly but dry. 8 of us rode first to Fat Angel Bakery in Fairfax and then up and over White's Hill and over to Nicasio. Anuj was on his first "official" training ride for ALC so we treated him like royalty. Rancho Nicasio has a great menu, and on a quiet Friday morning they can actually get your meal made pretty quickly! Lyra had a great chicken caesar salad, Gary and Diane shared a sandwich and Anuj had the "Buckaroo" plate. We told him that was his nickname from now on- Buckaroo.
It rained a bit on the road back, but basically a passing shower. A little wet on White's Hill back into Fairfax, so I rode the shoulder the whole way. It can be done, you just have to start out slowly (like 20mph) and hold it there. No problems, it was a great 50 mile ride!
It rained a bit on the road back, but basically a passing shower. A little wet on White's Hill back into Fairfax, so I rode the shoulder the whole way. It can be done, you just have to start out slowly (like 20mph) and hold it there. No problems, it was a great 50 mile ride!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
I GOT IN!
Um, yeah I think I'm happy about it!
I did this ride about 3 years ago and got up 3 passes. This year with better planning I think I can do all 5. Wish me luck!
Saturday, March 08, 2008
RSVP Please!
Ok, if you were invited to a dinner party that asked you to please rsvp, wouldn't you do that? Let the host know you were coming, or at least going to make the effort to come? You wouldn't just show up unannounced because that would be bad form, right?
Well then please keep that same scenario in mind when you decide to come on a ride. Don't just show up, because if everyone just "showed up", we wouldn't be prepared for the crowd! And this has happened where we have run out of route sheets and/or run out of ride waivers for folks to sign.
Now the route sheet part, well I guess you could wing it. Except for the fact that it has the ride leaders cell phone number on it and if some (god forbid) accident happened to you or your friends you wouldn't know who to call.
The Ride Waiver, is a requirement from our Insurance Company. So if you are going to ride officially on an ALC ride- you'll need to sign the waiver. If you're not going to ride officially on the ALC ride then what the heck are you doing there? Ride on! you don't need us!
But really, we all would love it if you would please let us know even if you are just thinking of coming to ride. Otherwise it's really a pain in the ass.
And I mean that in the sweetest way possible....
Well then please keep that same scenario in mind when you decide to come on a ride. Don't just show up, because if everyone just "showed up", we wouldn't be prepared for the crowd! And this has happened where we have run out of route sheets and/or run out of ride waivers for folks to sign.
Now the route sheet part, well I guess you could wing it. Except for the fact that it has the ride leaders cell phone number on it and if some (god forbid) accident happened to you or your friends you wouldn't know who to call.
The Ride Waiver, is a requirement from our Insurance Company. So if you are going to ride officially on an ALC ride- you'll need to sign the waiver. If you're not going to ride officially on the ALC ride then what the heck are you doing there? Ride on! you don't need us!
But really, we all would love it if you would please let us know even if you are just thinking of coming to ride. Otherwise it's really a pain in the ass.
And I mean that in the sweetest way possible....
Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday Ride! Lagunitas and back
So today we rode from the NW parking lot of the Golden Gate Bridge out to Lagunitas and back. It was a chilly foggy start with 18 of us in nice layers to keep the fog out. After stretching, route review, & safety speech we took a group photo to mark the occasion.
Sandra and Donald swept, John & I rode mid pack. We traveled down thru Sausalito and on to the bike path where we did a quick restroom stop. It was here that we heard about Carmen's flat tire and the heroic efforts by Mark and Donald to change it quickly...
Soon we were off and up and over Camino Alto, thru the little towns in Marin and finally to Fairfax Coffee Roasters where we stopped to fuel up before our next "significant climb", White's Hill. Some of our riders were short on time so decided to turn around at Fairfax. My good friend and rider Bill Lehrke was turning around to go home (to San Anselmo) and offered to take my jacket back to my house-- it was warming up quite nicely by then. I took Bill up on his offer.
(Did you know the Bridge on White's Hill is called "Brown Bridge"? Really! take a look at the plaque on the far end... just think of it as "Julie Brown Bridge" and you'll never forget it!)
After a quick descent we floated on down Sir Francis Drake Blvd for about 5 miles till we hit the Lagunitas Market for lunch. Newbie Mark Wise decided he wanted to buy me lunch- what a pleasant surprise! Thanks for that again Mark!
Soon we were on our way again, with Sandra and John sweeping up and over White's Hill. They gave Barbara lots of room to descend since she is a little skittish on the downhills. She did fine.
I met them all in Fairfax and decided to sweep along with them. As we headed thru San Anselmo I saw a familiar face standing on the corner and watching us ride by-- my husband mike! I stopped said hello, kissed him and ate a coconut macaroon and was quickly on my way. I had to ride a little fast to catch up with the others but made it back on their sweep tail by Ross Commons.
Once at the bottom of Camino Alto, John slowed down to take the sweep position again. Barbara wanted a shot of Gu so I went ahead and joined Sandra up Camino Alto. We all met up at Mike's for one more shot of Gu for Barbara... we were all complaining that our legs were tired and we didn't know why (duh!) The wind was picking up so we made our way back thru Sausalito , up the grade and down thru Ft. Baker. At that point I waited for John and we headed back up the last climb of the day. The fog was coming in again, so it was good timing on our part!
John posted his photos of today's ride here for you to enjoy
Sandra and Donald swept, John & I rode mid pack. We traveled down thru Sausalito and on to the bike path where we did a quick restroom stop. It was here that we heard about Carmen's flat tire and the heroic efforts by Mark and Donald to change it quickly...
Soon we were off and up and over Camino Alto, thru the little towns in Marin and finally to Fairfax Coffee Roasters where we stopped to fuel up before our next "significant climb", White's Hill. Some of our riders were short on time so decided to turn around at Fairfax. My good friend and rider Bill Lehrke was turning around to go home (to San Anselmo) and offered to take my jacket back to my house-- it was warming up quite nicely by then. I took Bill up on his offer.
(Did you know the Bridge on White's Hill is called "Brown Bridge"? Really! take a look at the plaque on the far end... just think of it as "Julie Brown Bridge" and you'll never forget it!)
After a quick descent we floated on down Sir Francis Drake Blvd for about 5 miles till we hit the Lagunitas Market for lunch. Newbie Mark Wise decided he wanted to buy me lunch- what a pleasant surprise! Thanks for that again Mark!
Soon we were on our way again, with Sandra and John sweeping up and over White's Hill. They gave Barbara lots of room to descend since she is a little skittish on the downhills. She did fine.
I met them all in Fairfax and decided to sweep along with them. As we headed thru San Anselmo I saw a familiar face standing on the corner and watching us ride by-- my husband mike! I stopped said hello, kissed him and ate a coconut macaroon and was quickly on my way. I had to ride a little fast to catch up with the others but made it back on their sweep tail by Ross Commons.
Once at the bottom of Camino Alto, John slowed down to take the sweep position again. Barbara wanted a shot of Gu so I went ahead and joined Sandra up Camino Alto. We all met up at Mike's for one more shot of Gu for Barbara... we were all complaining that our legs were tired and we didn't know why (duh!) The wind was picking up so we made our way back thru Sausalito , up the grade and down thru Ft. Baker. At that point I waited for John and we headed back up the last climb of the day. The fog was coming in again, so it was good timing on our part!
John posted his photos of today's ride here for you to enjoy
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The Windy Hills of Hollister
Friday night I drove down to the South Bay and stayed with my mother since she lives in San Jose which is only about a 45 minute drive to Hollister. David planned an official ALC training ride of 55 miles from Off the Chain Bikes, so I volunteered to help co-lead.
The sky was looking ominous, but the forecast said the wind and rain wouldn't hit until the afternoon so we decided we'd go ahead and ride, cutting off a 10 mile loop and hopefully getting us back in before the storm hit.
David, Rick and I were TRLs, Kumar, Natan and Kim were our newbie riders who braved the windy hills with us. And it was wiiiiiiiinndy! Like "blow you over" windy! Our first major climb up Cienega Road was not so bad until we hit the winds near the top of the hill. After that it was sort of cross windy until we took a right onto Old Airline Hwy and hit the headwind DEAD ON. Talk about stopping you in your tracks. All I could do was put it in granny (on a majorly FLAT road) and spin until I got to the end of the road where I made a left and that major headwind became an AWESOME tailwind!!LOL! I'm talking pushing me along the road at 37 miles an hour--- without me even pedaling a stroke!
Soon we were blown to our lunch destination, the Paicines Market in Paicines. They have the best burritos-- good nourishment when you've been fighting headwinds all day. Normally I can only finish a half a burrito there. Today I was in the middle of a conversation with David and Kim, looked down at my burrito and there was just a teeny piece of tortilla in my hand (I had inhaled the whole thing without looking at it!)
After lunch we headed up the biggest hill of all, a road called "Quien Sabe", which in spanish means "who knows". Well indeed who really knew what we were in for? The first part of the hill had a cross wind, the second part, a tail wind and the final climb was a cross wind so fierce I had to keep my head down and just look at the white line on the shoulder of the road while I pedaled.
At one point I looked up ahead and saw that Kumar was walking up the hill with his bike. Kumar walking up a hill??? Unheard of! I slowly road up to him and asked him if he was ok and he said that the wind had blown him off of his bike! I turned to him and asked, "REALLY?", and as I did that the wind blew on my front wheel catching the bladed spokes, causing the handlebars to turn right and effectively turning me off the road and into the soft grassy (luckily) shoulder. I looked up at Kumar and said, "... you mean like that?!". We both started laughing hilariously! Needless to say I got off of my bike and started walking up that hill too, only to have the crosswind gusts blow so hard (I swear they had to be 60mph winds!) that my bike was trying to fly up in the air sideways. The same thing happened to Kumar a couple of times, so with a hilarious bout of laughter we pushed down on our handlebars and top tubes to keep the bikes from flying away, while walking up the rest of the hill.
Once at the top we met up with Rick and Natan who both had the same experience. The wind gusts were crazy but we waited there until we saw Kim and David nearing the top, both also walking their bikes.
Once descending, the wind was at our backs for most of the rest of the route. We stopped before the next turn that would take us into town, Rick and I waited for Natan and then for Kumar. The four of us looked at the sky and determined that we were going to get rained on for the next 5 miles, but that was ok-- we were close to town. We looked back and saw no sign of David or Kim but we figured they were together (and David of course, knew his way back) so we rode on.
The rest of the ride was a little trafficky- I won't tell you about the part where I blanked out and got the "horse to the barn" syndrome-- forgetting to come to a complete stop while I was with Kumar. (He can tell you the story). Other than that it was a pretty uneventful ride back in the rain....
But the wind I will never forget, nor watching Kumar's bike fly in the air!!
The sky was looking ominous, but the forecast said the wind and rain wouldn't hit until the afternoon so we decided we'd go ahead and ride, cutting off a 10 mile loop and hopefully getting us back in before the storm hit.
David, Rick and I were TRLs, Kumar, Natan and Kim were our newbie riders who braved the windy hills with us. And it was wiiiiiiiinndy! Like "blow you over" windy! Our first major climb up Cienega Road was not so bad until we hit the winds near the top of the hill. After that it was sort of cross windy until we took a right onto Old Airline Hwy and hit the headwind DEAD ON. Talk about stopping you in your tracks. All I could do was put it in granny (on a majorly FLAT road) and spin until I got to the end of the road where I made a left and that major headwind became an AWESOME tailwind!!LOL! I'm talking pushing me along the road at 37 miles an hour--- without me even pedaling a stroke!
Soon we were blown to our lunch destination, the Paicines Market in Paicines. They have the best burritos-- good nourishment when you've been fighting headwinds all day. Normally I can only finish a half a burrito there. Today I was in the middle of a conversation with David and Kim, looked down at my burrito and there was just a teeny piece of tortilla in my hand (I had inhaled the whole thing without looking at it!)
After lunch we headed up the biggest hill of all, a road called "Quien Sabe", which in spanish means "who knows". Well indeed who really knew what we were in for? The first part of the hill had a cross wind, the second part, a tail wind and the final climb was a cross wind so fierce I had to keep my head down and just look at the white line on the shoulder of the road while I pedaled.
At one point I looked up ahead and saw that Kumar was walking up the hill with his bike. Kumar walking up a hill??? Unheard of! I slowly road up to him and asked him if he was ok and he said that the wind had blown him off of his bike! I turned to him and asked, "REALLY?", and as I did that the wind blew on my front wheel catching the bladed spokes, causing the handlebars to turn right and effectively turning me off the road and into the soft grassy (luckily) shoulder. I looked up at Kumar and said, "... you mean like that?!". We both started laughing hilariously! Needless to say I got off of my bike and started walking up that hill too, only to have the crosswind gusts blow so hard (I swear they had to be 60mph winds!) that my bike was trying to fly up in the air sideways. The same thing happened to Kumar a couple of times, so with a hilarious bout of laughter we pushed down on our handlebars and top tubes to keep the bikes from flying away, while walking up the rest of the hill.
Once at the top we met up with Rick and Natan who both had the same experience. The wind gusts were crazy but we waited there until we saw Kim and David nearing the top, both also walking their bikes.
Once descending, the wind was at our backs for most of the rest of the route. We stopped before the next turn that would take us into town, Rick and I waited for Natan and then for Kumar. The four of us looked at the sky and determined that we were going to get rained on for the next 5 miles, but that was ok-- we were close to town. We looked back and saw no sign of David or Kim but we figured they were together (and David of course, knew his way back) so we rode on.
The rest of the ride was a little trafficky- I won't tell you about the part where I blanked out and got the "horse to the barn" syndrome-- forgetting to come to a complete stop while I was with Kumar. (He can tell you the story). Other than that it was a pretty uneventful ride back in the rain....
But the wind I will never forget, nor watching Kumar's bike fly in the air!!
Friday, February 22, 2008
YES I RODE TODAY!
Ha Ha Ha! I told you we'd meet and decide if we should ride... but noooo you all thought it was going to rain! Cami met me at the NW parking lot of the GG bridge at 9am. We stayed in our cars chatting while we waited to see if anyone else would show, and then officially canceled (since I had no co-lead) the ride. We still went out and rode "unofficially".
Not knowing for sure how rainy it would end up being, we decided on a modified version of the Tib Loop which would not take us over Camino Alto, but would still give us some good climbing. We decided after Mike's Bike's that we would loop around the back side of Richardson Bay and do what I call the "reverse Tib Loop" path. It was absolutely gorgeous and not a speck of rain fell on us! We made good time into Tiburon and had brunch at the Sweden House. The sky was full of clouds but we did not get rained on until the sprinkles that hit us when were back on the bike path heading back through Sausalito.
Just goes to show that you really can't predict what a day will bring until you get to the meet point and decide at ride out time!
WOOHOO! We got 28 miles in today!
Not knowing for sure how rainy it would end up being, we decided on a modified version of the Tib Loop which would not take us over Camino Alto, but would still give us some good climbing. We decided after Mike's Bike's that we would loop around the back side of Richardson Bay and do what I call the "reverse Tib Loop" path. It was absolutely gorgeous and not a speck of rain fell on us! We made good time into Tiburon and had brunch at the Sweden House. The sky was full of clouds but we did not get rained on until the sprinkles that hit us when were back on the bike path heading back through Sausalito.
Just goes to show that you really can't predict what a day will bring until you get to the meet point and decide at ride out time!
WOOHOO! We got 28 miles in today!
Friday, February 08, 2008
Friday Ride- Reverse Tib Loop
Me, talking about the long down hill which becomes the long up hill...
Peter came out for his first "official ride".
This week's Friday group.If you have Fridays off (or can play hooky every once in awhile), come out and ride with us on Fridays! Take a look at the Ride Calendar and see where we meet and where we go.
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