By the way, Tahoe is beautiful

Some random pics from the drive up and the last couple days here.

Tahoe Weather Watch

I'm crossing my fingers and toes for good weather in Tahoe next week for the ride. I'm glued to weather.com lately.

Monday, May 26th: High 49/Low 31 Scattered Thunderstorms!

Tuesday, May 27th: High 54/Low 34. Thunderstorms.

Wednesday, May 28th: High 49/Low 36. Thunderstorms.

Thursday, May 29th: Raining still.

Friday, May 30th: Cool and dry some clouds. We traveled today.

Saturday, May 31st: Beautiful weather. Things look good for tomorrow!

Sunday June 1st EVENT DAY: OMG, so beautiful. PERFECT WEATHER.

Training Log - May 26 - June 1

Monday: Biked to work. Yup, working on Memorial Day. Rear tire blow out on the way home :<

Tuesday: Nothing. Worked late trying to get everything done in prep for vacation. Replaced back tire.

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Final Prep

Today was final prep day for our Team. This is the last ride we will take together before the actual event next week. We did a reasonable 36-Mile ride through Poway that included some pretty nasty hills on the way. It was a pretty dreary, bleak-looking day. I'm starting to get pretty worried about what the weather is going to be like in Tahoe so I bought some Knee Warmers yesterday. These are removable fleece leg insulators that you wear in conjunction with the cycling shorts. They may look a little goofy but they do the job and keep the legs warm which is key for both comfort and performance. The nice thing about them is that you can easily remove them when the weather warms up.

















I was also glad to have brought my jacket as we were treated to some bone-chilling wind and lovely rain. Good training for Tahoe, right?

Besides the weather it was a very kickback session and even included a 20 minute Starbucks stop! Back to the parking lot we were treated a pizza picnic and were given our final instructions for the ride. Each of the coaches and mentors offered some good advice that basically boiled down to

• Enjoy yourself and don't forget to take in the scenery;
• Watch out for the other riders. They don't have the training we do;
• Bring every article of bike clothing you own. The weather in Tahoe is unpredictable. Last year it was 80 degrees on race day but it snowed two days after that.
  

Afterwards, the majority of the Team turned in their bikes for transportation up to Tahoe. I held on to mine as we will be driving up ourselves.

One week left!

Take a look at our Team Photo. I'm 4th from the left. The people down below are part of the ACE team.

Strange Coincidence

With cycling training winding down, I decided it was time to get some new Kicks. I made my way to the San Diego Running Institute (SDRI) to try and find that magical pair of running/walking shoes. Long time readers will may remember the Shoe Saga from my marathon training.

I was helped by a friendly, strangely familiar looking young man, Allen. He asked about my experience with my last pair of shoes. I told him I wasn't particularly happy with them but they got me through the Dublin Adidas Marathon last October so they must be OK. We started talking about international marathons and he said that he was going to start competing internationally. I told him the only reason that I don't do it more often is because of the cost to travel and take time off of work, etc. He then said that he is regularly invited to compete internationally by various race organizers since he is "pretty good". That got my curiosity piqued so I asked if he ran in local races such as the La Jolla 1/2 marathon that I recently helped with by leading out the runners. Yup, you guessed it, he's the guy who I was assigned to during the race and "won" it. We talked a bit about the controversy and his general thoughts on running. He was a very nice, positive fellow and I wish him luck in the future.

I continue to be impressed with SDRI, who are avid Team in Training supporters. By purchasing a pair of shoes, I am eligible for a consultation with the owner, Dr. Runco for an extremely discounted rate. I've made an appointment to see him about my foot problems after I get back from Tahoe.

Oh, I ended up going back to the Asics Gel-Cumulous 9's.
















This is the first shoe I started out with and was extremely happy with. When I bought my last pair of shoes, I couldn't find this one anywhere so I had to change models.

Weather not Cooperating!

Ok, I know I have no right to complain about the weather as I live in San Diego, a town famous for it's good weather but...

• It rained yesterday canceling our last Mount Soledad ride.
• It was also raining this morning so my planned bike ride to work was also canceled.
• My plan to hit the Padre game tonight is questionable.
• Our final ride, team picture and picnic tomorrow is in danger.
• I have tickets to see the Police this Monday.

Rain, rain go away.

Actually, I'll stop my bellyaching as long as we have good weather in Tahoe next weekend for the Century ride. Crossing fingers.

Training Log - May 19 - 25

Monday: Rest day.

Tuesday: Last spin class of the season. Bittersweet. Coach Ricky gave a very moving speech at the end of the class thanking us for our fundraising efforts for the LLS.

Wednesday: Nothing

Thursday: Last Soledad Climbing session rained out! Spun at home in front of my TV. Did 20-Miles in just under two hours.

Friday: Scheduled ride to work day rained out! Grrrr.

Saturday: 36 Miles. Final Prep Ride.

Sunday: Nothing.

Bike cleaning

Today, Coach DJ, threw a little soiree at his pad where he taught a few of us how to detail clean our bikes. He's a big jazz fan so we were treated to an afternoon of New Orlean's style jazz while we scrubbed away. My bike was filthy. I had previously performed some cursory cleaning but nothing to this level. We were taught all the neat little tricks like:

1) How to get the sludge out of all the nooks and cranny's of your bike.
2) How to correctly clean and lube a chain
3) How to clean your tires and inspect for flaws, cracks, gashes or residual road glass,

When I was done, it looked like I had a brand new bike.

Three of us went for a late afternoon 8-mile spin around the Mission Bay area. The bike was shifting so much better than it had the day before.

Good times.

Ready Freddy

Today's ride was the longest scheduled ride of the season. Next week we taper off to around 40-miles, take our team photo and have a little picnic.

We started in UCSD in La Jolla and rode up the coast all the way to San Clemente with the overall mileage totalling 94-miles!

Last week our ride was 88-miles and involved a lot of climbing. This week's ride was just a few more miles but almost flat. Consequently, I thought the ride would be much easier.

Not so...

I hadn't considered a couple of factors:

1) Flat means increased speed. We were regularly hitting 22-24 MPH. Longer, more intense cardio.
2) Flat means less stopping and therefore less resting. With no hills in the way our stops were few and far between.
3) Flat means my position on the bike was much more static than usual. I had the tightest back and sorest butt at the end of the session. My shoulders and neck were also much tighter than usual.

When climbing hills, I vary my position quite a bit including sometimes going into a standing climb position. Also, since I tend to be faster up the hills, I usually have to wait for teammates at the top which gives me a moment to get out of the saddle and stand up. No such luck on the flats. It's just hammer, hammer and more hammer.

Our ride took us through Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base. I hadn't realized that we were allowed to ride there with the only requirements being that we have photo ID and be wearing a bike helmet. It was nice to be someplace with less road traffic and this also gave us a way to make it up the coast without having to ride along Interstate 5.

SAG (support, aid, gear) was at the San Clemente Carl's Jr. This is apparently a Team tradition. We invaded that place. Mentor Jay came back with a tray full of salty french fries that really hit the spot.

We had some bad luck on our way back through the Base on our way home when one of our mentors, Jack took a very bad spill while rounding a corner at speed. I was a few riders back and saw it unfold in all it's ugliness. He turned the corner, and his back tire somehow rolled off his rim causing his tube to burst. Next thing you know, his bike flew from under him and he landed HARD on his butt, then his shoulder. He bounced up trying to sound calm and positive but you could tell something was wrong. One of my teammates, Mike is a former fire fighter and was instantly on the scene. He was pulling everything from reflective blankets, rubber gloves, disinfectant wipes to aspirin out his bike bag. It was like Mary Poppins. He sat Jack down and starting inspecting him. He quickly determined that he had a broken clavicle. Ouch. Liz and I were tasked with standing above him, providing shade and keeping the sun off of him. We had a scary moment where he went very light-headed and looked like he was going to pass out. Mike laid him down, put the reflective blanket on him and sent Amanda back to the Base gate for help. Also at that time, we called for an ambulance. He was instantly better once he laid down and caught his breath. The ambulance showed up a few minutes later and took him away. By that time, he looked and sounded much better.

After that somber event, we continued on and after a few more hours made it back to the parking lot and who should we see?...You guessed it, Jack. In an arm sling, wearing a sexy little backless hospital robe. Thankfully he had pants on underneath. He was chipper and it seemed a little loopy from the pain pills but was there to cheer us on and let us know that he was ok. That guy is a rock. Sadly, it's looking like he will have to miss the Tahoe ride :(

At the end of the day, I definitely could have kept going the extra 6-miles to hit the Century mark. Looks like I'm ready, Freddy.

Training Log - May 12-18

Monday: Nothing

Tuesday: Biked to work, Spin Class - Totals ~ 24 miles

Wednesday: Nothing.

Thursday: Biked to work

Friday: Bike to Work Day! 21 Miles

Saturday: 94 Miles. La Jolla to San Clemente and back.

Sunday: Bike cleaning day, short 9-mile ride afterwards.

Sunday Noodle - Solona Beach to Oceanside

A few of us did a little 36 mile ride up the coast from Solana Beach to Oceanside today. In the parking lot of the train station where we met, I started talking to another pair of bikers that had parked beside me. I was surprised to find out that one of the riders, Damian is a 4 time Lymphoma survivor and has been involved with Team in Training as both a participant and an Honored Teammate. He and his friend hooked up with us and rode the first 10 miles until one of them had got a flat tire. We split up that point.

It was a beautiful day for a ride up the coast. It was a very different experience riding this familiar stretch of road with a smaller group. We basically own the road during our Saturday rides by virtue of having so many riders. Not so with 3-4 riders. We encountered several other groups that got a little territorial and made it difficult for us to pass them. On the other hand, we had a couple of single riders latch on to our group without asking and drafted off of us. I had one guy sneak up on me, latch on without me even knowing he was there. I found out when I braked a little abruptly to his dismay. I didn't think I had anyone besides me. Whoops. I wonder what the normal protocol for this kind of thing is.

Purple Monster

I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but today's ride set new personal records for mileage and climbing. The route was essentially the same as last week's ride with a few modifications. No Torrey Pines and the addition of a MAJOR climb at the end....but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I felt much stronger this week than I did last week. Getting a good night's sleep before a big ride is key. We did a total of 88 miles today covering a lot of ground. Take a look at the map of the route.










I don't have an accurate total for the amount of climbing we did but it was similar to last week so I'm thinking it is around 5000 feet.

Some of the route we covered today is part of the San Diego Century course. I find it amusing that there are some stretches of the road that have been named. I've previously written about "Stud Loop" and today we traversed "Three Witches", a series of three nasty little hills all in a row. The funniest named one was the famous "Purple Monster". This is a brutal 9-mile route along Scripps Poway Road up to Highway 67. The entire route is a long steady grind uphill. It would be hard on my best day but starting the climb after having already ridden 70+ miles seemed particularly cruel. But like everything else, it's complain on the way up and then revel in the accomplishment at the peak. Take a look at the team photo we took at the top.















Most people carry their spare tire in a little bag hanging from their bike seat, I've streamlined the process and carry it around my waist. Whose idea was it to have lime green jersey's anyway?

We spent over 8 amazing hours in the saddle today. I still felt strong when we rolled back into the parking lot. I think I'm ready for Tahoe.

Next week 95 miles, but mostly flat.

Training Log - May 5 - 11

Monday: Nothing

Tuesday: Spin class w/ Coach Phil. Starting to feel pretty blah. I think I'm getting sick. Foot started bothering me again which limited my standing climb. I decided to ease up instead of pushing it. I didn't want to risk aggravating it so close to the event. Did the equivalent of 15-miles.

Wednesday: Definitely feeling run down. Taking a night off from working out.

Thursday: Two faces of Mount Soledad with DJ. Was still feeling a bit under the weather but managed to muddle along and get it done. Need a good night's sleep tonight. 15-miles, 1,680 feet of climbing.

Friday: Shopping day. Dropped another bill on bike clothing. New gloves, gel-padded bike shorts, a couple of spare tubes and some bars in prep for tomorrow's ride. This sure is an expensive sport. I need to decide on whether to try and break the new shorts in during tomorrow's ride. We're scheduled to do something like 87-Miles so I'll be mighty uncomfortable if they don't work out. I may just take my normal shorts and have the SAG carry them around just in case so I can switch them out if it becomes a problem.

Saturday: Long mileage day. 88-Miles, 5000+ feet of climbing.

Sunday: 36-Mile Noodle Ride from Solana Beach Train Station up to Oceanside and back. Beautiful ride up and down the coast.

Sunday Noodle - Mission Valley Loop

Pretty sore after yesterday's ride but I decided to try and loosen up the legs a little and went for a late afternoon 15-mile loop around Mission Valley. Here's the map of the ride.









The loop took me down Texas, west on Friars then North on Mission Center which is a pretty steep climb up to Murray Ridge Road. Made my way through Serra Mesa, into Kearny Mesa then down past Fry's along the bike path by I-15, to Murphy Canyon through Qualcomm Stadium and the up to Fairmont for the climb back up Mission Valley to Meade and then back West to my apartment.

The climb up Mission Center road was a little more than I had bargained for being so sore but I was able to make it. Total were 15.25 miles and a bit of 1,000 feet of climbing.

Saturday Ride - New Milestones

Today's long mileage day starting with some exciting fund raising news. Our team has passed the $100,000 mark in fundraising!

The mission moment was delivered by a Leukemia survivor who started his cycling career after being diagnosed and going into remission. He described how the LL&S had personally helped him in his battle with Leukemia. As a rider, he said he knows exactly what we are putting our bodies through and the level of dedication and time that we commit to raise money and thanked us. He was very inspirational and even more inspiring is that he also rode with the ACE team today. Awesome.

We started in Poway and had perfect weather for the entire day. It was quite a contrast from the week before where I nearly got heat stroke. The planned ride for the day was a about 80 miles with an estimated 3,500 feet of climbing. Here's a map of the ride.













We made a couple of navigational errors while traversing Rancho Santa Fe that resulted in adding a few more miles to the overall totals. This was particularly funny since we were riding with Coach Rick, the guy who planned the route This irony prompted one of my teammates, Mark to post the following map which was his recollection of the route.















Too funny.

I made a couple of adjustments this week to try and deal with my nagging foot strain. I rode with a shoe insert that provided arch support. The experiment was a great success as I felt no strain the entire day. This is a big contrast from the week before where my foot was throbbing at the end of the ride.

One complication that I found is that my padded biking gloves appear to be at the end of their life span. The padding is gel and it has flattened out or something to the point where I'm not getting much benefit from them. Consequently, I nearly got a blister in the crook of both my hands between my thumb and index finger where I grip the "hoods". Time for new gloves.

Following is a photo taken of my climbing the inside trail of Torrey Pines State park at around mile 60.















I was still feeling pretty good at this point. We had a planned SAG (support and gear) stop at mile 70. I suggested that we just bypass it and get the ride over with as we had already been on the road nearly 6 hours and I just wanted to be done. After the climb we start heading back inland. About 5 miles later, I start bonking out. I get really really tired and really hungry. The SAG stop couldn't come soon enough. I got there nearly on my last legs and proceeded to chow down on a thick PB&J sandwich and drank lots of ic cold water. I felt better within a matter of minutes. We get rolling after a pretty long stop, nearly 20 minutes of rest. Around mile 78 we get to the last big hill of the day, which was Scripps-Poway road. It is a long constant grind of a hill which I couldn't believe we had to climb at that point of the ride. It seemed pretty sadistic. After a bit of grumbling we get it over with.

Thankfully the last few miles were all downhill which was a great way to finish up the ride.

Totals for the day 83.66 Miles 5,300 feet of climbing. The 5300 feet of climbing was just a wee bit more than the 3,500 feet we were told to expect. Hmm. Somebody needs to get their elevation estimator calibrated.

Got back to the parking lot, very pooped, nearly whipped but extremely proud to have survived. As an added bonus I reached a new mileage and climbing milestone on this ride.

Soledad Photos from Today

Here are some photos from the summit of Soledad Mountain. The first two are of me and the rest are some of my teammates.