Haven't posted in like forever. Lots has happened in the intervening months. I've been posting most of my personal news on Facebook and have been taking a break, I suppose.
They days have been getting shorter which is a real bummer. I try to work out 2-3 days a week after work. When your main type of exercise is cycling, the short days are a real problem. I suppose I could break out the spin trainer (ugh) or do some walking, or go to the gym, but I just prefer cycling.
Last night I decided fight nature and try a little night riding. I chose a route that I know well, the 52-Loop ride that I've been riding almost weekly for months. It has several other advantages since 10 of the 20 miles are on dedicated bike paths with no cars. Only about 5 miles actually have any significant traffic.
I rode my new Medici Gran Turismo touring bike and mounted a light on the front bars and a blinky on the rear seatpost. I wore my Cal cycling "kit" which is bright yellow and white for extra visibility and hit the road around 6:15 pm. Traffic was pretty sparse at this time and there was still some daylight. After about 15 minutes the daylight had really faded. I flipped on the headlight but it wasn't effective at dusk so I switched it back off. I did turn on the blinkly at this point. I make it to the 52-bike path and then it really starts to darken. I play with the light. Hmm, the shifter cables from my bar-ends and the front tire cast a pretty big shadow. I fiddle some more. Better. I start the 2-mile climb and it is completely dark when I reach the top. I get some occasional and incidental light from the cars along the adjacent highway. Next is the downhill for the next two miles. My visibility is limited to about 6 feet in front of the bike. I usually scream down the descent since it is pretty smooth but I'm much more cautious tonight because I don't want to slam into a cardboard box or other road debris at 40 MPH and only have 6 feet to react.
Now I'm back on the road. One brief instant of traffic, but I cross at a crosswalk to avoid the highway onramp. Riding along the road, I can see fine. Even with my blinky light I can sense that some of the drivers coming up behind are surprised to see me. I hug the curb and am more cautious than usual. I decide that I'm going to do an out and back rather than doing the entire loop to avoid as much traffic as possible. I decide to climb the big Mission Gorge road hill since it's got a wide bike lane and not much traffic. Very quiet, moon out. I look around, concentrate on my breathing and enjoy the solitude.
Another downhill and then I make the turn into Mission Trails park. The road is now closed to vehicle traffic since it is after dark. I navigate the walker's entrance, cut over to the road and pedal on. It is completely dark now with even much of the moonlight blocked by the hills on either side. I've got enough light but it starts to get a little freaky riding through an out of the way park where any nutjob might jump out of the bushes. Starting to freak myself out now. What was that noise in the bush? I move towards the center of the road, drop the bike into a big gear and haul. Whoa, a couple of hikers with no lights. That was a surprise. I reach the end and see another rider coming the other way so I guess I'm not the only dope out here. Back on the road for another couple of miles before I'm back on the bike path. I've got about another 6 miles to go. Piece of cake. 2 miles of climb and I'm feeling warm and starting to feel pretty cocky. 2 mile downhill now and all of a sudden, I'm freezing. The temperature had dropped and I'm sweaty from the climb. Shiver. I'll bring a jacket next time. A small light up ahead gets brighter and I pass another night rider. Hey!
The rest of the ride is uneventful and I make it back to the office to grab my gear and head home.
All and all, it was a very interesting experience that I definitely plan on doing again. I've got some additional reflective gear for my ankles and my reflective commuter jacket that I'll use next time. I might get another light for my helmet too for some extra visibility.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Pray for Sunshine
It's rained all day today in Tahoe and was bitterly cold. The rain was more irritating than anything else. Lights sprinkles the entire day but enough to keep the roads wet and slick. Our practice ride was canceled today so I've been off the bike for an entire week. The forecast has improved from 30% chance of rain to "mostly cloudy with isolated showers in the afternoon". Sounds like good news to me.
Friday, June 5, 2009
In Tahoe
Made it to the hotel after two flights and a bus ride from Reno to Tahoe. Resting up, then early dinner with some of my teammates at the Sushi restaurant across the street. Going to bed early tonight to try and catch up on some sleep. We've got a short 25 mile ride at 8am tomorrow morning to check out the bikes and get a first hand test of what riding at this altitude feels like.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Back down week...
...is no fun. The culmination of 18 weeks of training is on Sunday. We've been mandated to take it easy this week and stay off the bike so we can be fresh and strong on event day. I understand this intellectually but it was really hard to not attend the Big Ring Tuesday workout tonight. Just a few more days...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Final Prep
Saturday was final prep day for the Team. Short ride of 40 miles was made very interesting because of the rain. I ended up riding most of the ride with my fellow mentor, Tom as we had a few no shows, one destroyed bicycle and rider take a messy spill and deciding to call it a day. We had a really fun and zippy little ride. We were supposed to take our Team photo after the ride, but 40 miles of riding in on wet roads killed that idea. I arrived back at the start soaking wet, with a big muddy stripe up my back. Luckily, my office was only a couple of blocks away and I was able to shower and get generally cleaned up for the pizza party. We received our event day jersey's and final instructions and generally had a lot of fun just hanging out. We're supposed to take it easy this week as next Sunday is showtime!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Team ride - 05-23-09
Saturday was our last "big" ride of the training season. The goal of our training program is to be able to complete the Tahoe Century, ie. 100 mile ride. Our training takes us very close to the 100 mile mark without actually hitting it. We save that completion of that milestone for event day.
The route is a straight out and back along the coast starting at on the UCSD campus out to San Clemente and back. We do this ride every program and it is pretty special. 95 miles of beautiful southern Cali coastline, a trip through the Camp Pendleton Marine Base and a stop at Carl's Jr for lunch at the turnaround point.
The last two programs, this has been historically one of my most difficult rides. We do 4000 feet of overall climbing but the course is mostly pretty flat. This makes for a lot different cycling than we normally do. The thing about very hilly courses is that you get to move your body position more while riding them. I sometimes scoot back on my seat or stand while climbing. When cresting the top, I can rest the legs and coast down with minimal pedaling. Not so on the flat climbs. It is pedal, pedal, pedal with no real chance to change body position or rest. 96 miles in the saddle usually results in a sore neck, stiff back and a sore butt. I was a little worried about it. Somehow, today's ride wasn't so bad.
I made a pretty radical change in my riding position this season after re-visting my bike fit at the beginning of the season. I raised my handle bars, raised and moved my saddle along with moving my shoe clips back towards my heels. The end result was a more upright riding position a smoother, more efficient pedal stroke. Magic.
The B3 group I mentor did very well and handled everything we threw at them today. They are ready for Tahoe. We had a nice surprise at the end of the ride. Our Team Coordinator, Laurie had champagne glasses of sparking apple cider at the end of the ride. Each group also took a team photo.
Totals for the day were 96 miles, 4100 feet of climb with 7 hours 12 minutes of riding time and over 9 hours on the road.
The route is a straight out and back along the coast starting at on the UCSD campus out to San Clemente and back. We do this ride every program and it is pretty special. 95 miles of beautiful southern Cali coastline, a trip through the Camp Pendleton Marine Base and a stop at Carl's Jr for lunch at the turnaround point.
The last two programs, this has been historically one of my most difficult rides. We do 4000 feet of overall climbing but the course is mostly pretty flat. This makes for a lot different cycling than we normally do. The thing about very hilly courses is that you get to move your body position more while riding them. I sometimes scoot back on my seat or stand while climbing. When cresting the top, I can rest the legs and coast down with minimal pedaling. Not so on the flat climbs. It is pedal, pedal, pedal with no real chance to change body position or rest. 96 miles in the saddle usually results in a sore neck, stiff back and a sore butt. I was a little worried about it. Somehow, today's ride wasn't so bad.
I made a pretty radical change in my riding position this season after re-visting my bike fit at the beginning of the season. I raised my handle bars, raised and moved my saddle along with moving my shoe clips back towards my heels. The end result was a more upright riding position a smoother, more efficient pedal stroke. Magic.
The B3 group I mentor did very well and handled everything we threw at them today. They are ready for Tahoe. We had a nice surprise at the end of the ride. Our Team Coordinator, Laurie had champagne glasses of sparking apple cider at the end of the ride. Each group also took a team photo.
Totals for the day were 96 miles, 4100 feet of climb with 7 hours 12 minutes of riding time and over 9 hours on the road.
Training Log - 05/18 - 05/24
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: Big ring Tuesday on Fiesta Island. Very windy evening on the Island. Did the ole forgot to turn on the bike computer thing but the totals were right around 20 miles. Had a great group of 7 riders. I got there late again and met up with teammate Kathryn in the parking lot. We rushed out to the road and started our warm up lap. I think I see the rest of our group on the road up ahead so we speed up to try and catch them. The two of us average over 20 MPH into a headwind trying to catch them. Not them :(
We finally meet up with them and get in one sprint before we do the follow the leader game. DJ takes a turn leading us out steadily ramping up the speed. After one fast lap, he pulls off and I'm in the lead again. Round and round we go with a face full of wind. I do two laps pretty much as fast I can steadily go before I pull off gasping. Good time.
Wednesday: some small walking during lunch time.
Thursday: Two climbs up Soledad Mountain with Lisa and Natalie. We climb Soledad Mountain Road first and then do the Nautilus Street face. 15 miles, 1660 feet of climbing. Woo-hoo.
Friday: Rest day.
Saturday: Team Ride. 96 miles, 4100 feet of climb.
Sunday: only work out was doing 12-ounce curls at DJ's Summer Kick-off BBQ party.
Tuesday: Big ring Tuesday on Fiesta Island. Very windy evening on the Island. Did the ole forgot to turn on the bike computer thing but the totals were right around 20 miles. Had a great group of 7 riders. I got there late again and met up with teammate Kathryn in the parking lot. We rushed out to the road and started our warm up lap. I think I see the rest of our group on the road up ahead so we speed up to try and catch them. The two of us average over 20 MPH into a headwind trying to catch them. Not them :(
We finally meet up with them and get in one sprint before we do the follow the leader game. DJ takes a turn leading us out steadily ramping up the speed. After one fast lap, he pulls off and I'm in the lead again. Round and round we go with a face full of wind. I do two laps pretty much as fast I can steadily go before I pull off gasping. Good time.
Wednesday: some small walking during lunch time.
Thursday: Two climbs up Soledad Mountain with Lisa and Natalie. We climb Soledad Mountain Road first and then do the Nautilus Street face. 15 miles, 1660 feet of climbing. Woo-hoo.
Friday: Rest day.
Saturday: Team Ride. 96 miles, 4100 feet of climb.
Sunday: only work out was doing 12-ounce curls at DJ's Summer Kick-off BBQ party.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Team Ride 05-16-09
Way late in reporting this ride of two weeks ago so I'll limit it to a map and some totals.
90 miles, 5000 ft of climb in 6:15 hours of ride time on the bike. Beautiful route that I will definitely repeat in the future.
90 miles, 5000 ft of climb in 6:15 hours of ride time on the bike. Beautiful route that I will definitely repeat in the future.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thursday Night Flight and Bike to Work Day
Been trying to get some extra miles in this week. Thursday was another night of climbing at Soledad Mountain. Met up with Lisa and Natalie at DeAnza cove for a couple of climbs before we lost daylight. First pass was the 3.5 miles long 800 foot grind up Mount Soledad road. Most of the route has a grade somewhere around 5-6% but it pitches up a to 9% for short sections. I felt much more comfortable this week than I did last week. Probably has something to do with all the climbing we did last Saturday. We stop at the top to catch our breath and enjoy the view. It's a little windy and the temperature has dropped at least 5 degrees. Having a sweaty jersey wasn't helping matters. Natalie decides to head home as she has already done some riding today and wants to save her "legs" for Saturdays long mileage.
Lisa and I chat with some other Team in Training alumi we meet at the top before we head back down for another pass. We decide to ride down Cardeno blvd. I've only ever done this ascent one other time. The last time was when I was training for the Tahoe last year. I remember it as being a very tough climb. The descent down is a lot of fun. Zero traffic and the road winds and rolls nicely. The last little bit drops down very quickly. We make the u-turn at the bottom of the hill and start the climb back up. Wow, this is steep! My bike computer says that this is an 11% grade. Nothing to it but to do it so I start humming and try to keep a steady cadence. We get past the big hump and then the rest of the road is a series of steadily rising rollers with nothing more than 4-5%. Back to the top of the mountain and than another speedy chilly decent back to our cars. Total are 1550 feet of climbing in 10.5 miles.
Today was bike to work day. I'm strongly in favor of cycling to work and would do it a lot more often if I could. I've got a 90 mile ride tomorrow and two repeats up Soledad Mountain took a bit of work but I still decide to ride. There were a few regular commuters with lots of first timers. I had to smile a little as I saw them struggling up the big pitch on Ruffin road crossing Aero drive. That was me a couple of years back. Today, I just flew up the hill. I've come a long way in the last couple of years of steady riding.
Lisa and I chat with some other Team in Training alumi we meet at the top before we head back down for another pass. We decide to ride down Cardeno blvd. I've only ever done this ascent one other time. The last time was when I was training for the Tahoe last year. I remember it as being a very tough climb. The descent down is a lot of fun. Zero traffic and the road winds and rolls nicely. The last little bit drops down very quickly. We make the u-turn at the bottom of the hill and start the climb back up. Wow, this is steep! My bike computer says that this is an 11% grade. Nothing to it but to do it so I start humming and try to keep a steady cadence. We get past the big hump and then the rest of the road is a series of steadily rising rollers with nothing more than 4-5%. Back to the top of the mountain and than another speedy chilly decent back to our cars. Total are 1550 feet of climbing in 10.5 miles.
Today was bike to work day. I'm strongly in favor of cycling to work and would do it a lot more often if I could. I've got a 90 mile ride tomorrow and two repeats up Soledad Mountain took a bit of work but I still decide to ride. There were a few regular commuters with lots of first timers. I had to smile a little as I saw them struggling up the big pitch on Ruffin road crossing Aero drive. That was me a couple of years back. Today, I just flew up the hill. I've come a long way in the last couple of years of steady riding.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Curses, foiled again
Got out of work late yesterday, rushed to Fiesta Island for episode number 2 of Big Ring Tuesday only to find that I missed everyone. The island has two different loops so I headed out to the intersection of both and waited. The group comes by after about 10 minutes looking a little peaked. They had started at 5:30 this week as opposed to the 6pm start last week so they had already done their warm up laps and two series of sprints. Bummer. Anyway, I jump on the line of 6 other riders and up my cadence to try and warm up in the 1/2 a lap I have before the next series. 2-miles later, we're at the sprinting area and I'm still not warmed up completely. The interval is two roadside signs "on" and two "off". I give it a go and hit it. It goes ok but the legs still feel dead. It usually takes me 5-6 miles to warm up.
We regroup after the sprint and start the follow the leader tempo work. I have a minor mechanical mishap starting up and am suddenly 30 feet behind the paceline. No big deal except we happen to be riding into a headwind. I measure my speed and slowly make up the distance so I can rejoin the line with minimal usage of energy. I finally get on after a mile or so just in time as the pace really starts picking up. We get to the "corner" of the island where there is a slight downhill and the headwind turns into a tailwind. It's the fast part of the island and you can pick up 4-5 mph very easily here. My back tire is suddenly very squirrely. It seems that my tire is going flat from a slow leak. I slow way down and limp back to the parking lot. The tire still has air in it. I check the pressure and I have dropped 20 PSI in the 15 minutes I had been riding.
I've got no spare tube on me, daylight is waning so I decide to call it day. My workout couldn't have more than 5 miles long. Frustrating.
We regroup after the sprint and start the follow the leader tempo work. I have a minor mechanical mishap starting up and am suddenly 30 feet behind the paceline. No big deal except we happen to be riding into a headwind. I measure my speed and slowly make up the distance so I can rejoin the line with minimal usage of energy. I finally get on after a mile or so just in time as the pace really starts picking up. We get to the "corner" of the island where there is a slight downhill and the headwind turns into a tailwind. It's the fast part of the island and you can pick up 4-5 mph very easily here. My back tire is suddenly very squirrely. It seems that my tire is going flat from a slow leak. I slow way down and limp back to the parking lot. The tire still has air in it. I check the pressure and I have dropped 20 PSI in the 15 minutes I had been riding.
I've got no spare tube on me, daylight is waning so I decide to call it day. My workout couldn't have more than 5 miles long. Frustrating.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Laurie's Mission Moment
We start each of our rides with a Mission Moment. This is when someone tells a personal story about how their life has been touched by blood cancers. Today's talk was given by our Team Coordinator, Laurie.
Laurie is a coordinator with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Her job is to recruit and retain participants like me and organize endurance events with the overall goal of raising money to find a cure for cancers. It's a lot of work, the hours are long and I'm sure the pay isn't very good, considering she works for a non-profit. She started out as a participant on the Walk team, just like I did. She recounts that at that time she had no direct link the the "mission" and joined the walk team for personal fitness reasons. She became good friends with two other participants during that season, including one that was a blood cancer survivor. That woman was mother to two little girls and was training for a marathon and was one of the Team's honored teammates. She had fought back cancer two times over the years. She lost her battle with a third bout of cancer a few days ago. It was heart-wrenching to hear the story but even more so for me to watch Laurie, struggling to retain her composure while recounting the story. Tears welled in her eyes, her face flushed, her lips quivered as she described how her friend's life changed from "is" to "was". She no no longer "is" she is now a "was". I don't think this is something you can ever get used to even if you work for the Leukemia Society.
Laurie is a coordinator with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Her job is to recruit and retain participants like me and organize endurance events with the overall goal of raising money to find a cure for cancers. It's a lot of work, the hours are long and I'm sure the pay isn't very good, considering she works for a non-profit. She started out as a participant on the Walk team, just like I did. She recounts that at that time she had no direct link the the "mission" and joined the walk team for personal fitness reasons. She became good friends with two other participants during that season, including one that was a blood cancer survivor. That woman was mother to two little girls and was training for a marathon and was one of the Team's honored teammates. She had fought back cancer two times over the years. She lost her battle with a third bout of cancer a few days ago. It was heart-wrenching to hear the story but even more so for me to watch Laurie, struggling to retain her composure while recounting the story. Tears welled in her eyes, her face flushed, her lips quivered as she described how her friend's life changed from "is" to "was". She no no longer "is" she is now a "was". I don't think this is something you can ever get used to even if you work for the Leukemia Society.
They're Ready - 05-09-09 Team Ride
Yesterday's Team ride was a killer. The weather promised to be hot, and the planned mileage was long at 85 miles, not to mention the 5,000 feet of climb to go along with it. I'd missed the last two long rides while gallivanting around Nashville on vacation and I'll have to admit that I was a little worried about what it would be like to come back to that mileage. I made sure to ride during the week to at least have a fighting chance.
The route started and ended in Poway right at that little "Z" looking shape is to the right of the "56" on the map below. I forgot to turn on my bike computer for the first 8 miles so that little "Z" is supposed to connect with the arch above to make a sort of lazy 8 route.
We rode northward through Rancho Santa Fe, before looping back to the center of the map before generally heading west and north again the coast. We rode north past Encinitas and then doubled back and started heading inland again.
The group I'm mentoring, the B3's, had an exceptionally good day today. Everyone's spirits were good, and the riding was exceptional. Today was the day where they really and truly "gelled" as a group. The pace lines were tight the entire day. The group did a very good job of pace line rotations the entire day with all riders sharing the load equally.
We also had a lot's of good communication. Our group has had trouble calling out "pace" or "gap" when the line stretches out too long. Sometimes this happens when a rider rotates off the front of the pace line and mistimes their re-entry to the back of the pace line. All of a sudden, that rider finds themselves, 5-10 feet behind the rest of the fast moving pack. The natural inclination is to spend extra energy to surge forward to reattach to the line. For me it used to be a pride thing when I was learning the ropes of riding correctly in a group. This is a needless waste of energy and can sometimes result in 1-2 minutes of work to do. It is better to call out "pace" alerting the riders ahead to slow down 1-2 mph, thereby allowing the following rider to reattach quickly. This takes 10 seconds instead of 1-2 minutes of hard work.
The last part of the ride was an excruciating 10+ miles climb up Mercy Rd, Scripps Poway Parkway affectionately known as the "Purple Monster". This is real big kid stuff and it was coming at mile 70 at 4:30 pm when the sun was beating down the hottest.
Everyone put their heads down and just grinded it out. Pedal, breathe, pedal, breathe, pedal, breathe, drink, pedal, pedal.... You get the point. 50 minutes later, we reach the top, drenched in sweat. I tell you there is no tougher sport than cycling.
We gathered up and we looked down the hill at what we had just done, drinking it all in. Awesome. At that point, we had ridden 80 miles and had climbed 5,000 feet. The route around Lake Tahoe, is 78 Miles and the total amount of climbing is 3,600 feet. They're ready!
The next couple of weeks, we have a 90-mile and a 93-mile rides but none with the amount of climbing we did today. Just long rides with lots of saddle time. After that, it's one week of resting, if you count a 50-mile ride, "resting" and the following week is event day in Lake Tahoe. Very exciting.
The route started and ended in Poway right at that little "Z" looking shape is to the right of the "56" on the map below. I forgot to turn on my bike computer for the first 8 miles so that little "Z" is supposed to connect with the arch above to make a sort of lazy 8 route.
We rode northward through Rancho Santa Fe, before looping back to the center of the map before generally heading west and north again the coast. We rode north past Encinitas and then doubled back and started heading inland again.
The group I'm mentoring, the B3's, had an exceptionally good day today. Everyone's spirits were good, and the riding was exceptional. Today was the day where they really and truly "gelled" as a group. The pace lines were tight the entire day. The group did a very good job of pace line rotations the entire day with all riders sharing the load equally.
We also had a lot's of good communication. Our group has had trouble calling out "pace" or "gap" when the line stretches out too long. Sometimes this happens when a rider rotates off the front of the pace line and mistimes their re-entry to the back of the pace line. All of a sudden, that rider finds themselves, 5-10 feet behind the rest of the fast moving pack. The natural inclination is to spend extra energy to surge forward to reattach to the line. For me it used to be a pride thing when I was learning the ropes of riding correctly in a group. This is a needless waste of energy and can sometimes result in 1-2 minutes of work to do. It is better to call out "pace" alerting the riders ahead to slow down 1-2 mph, thereby allowing the following rider to reattach quickly. This takes 10 seconds instead of 1-2 minutes of hard work.
The last part of the ride was an excruciating 10+ miles climb up Mercy Rd, Scripps Poway Parkway affectionately known as the "Purple Monster". This is real big kid stuff and it was coming at mile 70 at 4:30 pm when the sun was beating down the hottest.
Everyone put their heads down and just grinded it out. Pedal, breathe, pedal, breathe, pedal, breathe, drink, pedal, pedal.... You get the point. 50 minutes later, we reach the top, drenched in sweat. I tell you there is no tougher sport than cycling.
We gathered up and we looked down the hill at what we had just done, drinking it all in. Awesome. At that point, we had ridden 80 miles and had climbed 5,000 feet. The route around Lake Tahoe, is 78 Miles and the total amount of climbing is 3,600 feet. They're ready!
The next couple of weeks, we have a 90-mile and a 93-mile rides but none with the amount of climbing we did today. Just long rides with lots of saddle time. After that, it's one week of resting, if you count a 50-mile ride, "resting" and the following week is event day in Lake Tahoe. Very exciting.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Mid-Week Training
It seems that I lost a little pep in my step during the two weeks off the bike during my vacation. Beside the world's slowest 1/2-marathon, my exercise during vacation was limited to walking between Barbecue Joints in Nashville. Didn't really feel like riding but with some big mile rides coming up over the next month and I knew that I had to get some miles in during the week.
Big Ring Tuesday was pretty good but climbing today at Mt Soledad was tough. Rode with Lisa Hill and did two repeats. It was pretty warm and I was huffing and puffing. Heat is my personal Kryptonite and just saps the strength out of me. Toughed it out on the uphills and screamed on the downhills to relieve a little stress. Got up to 41 MPH on the Nautilus St. downhill. Wheee!
Totals were 14 miles with right around 1600 feet of climbing.
Big Ring Tuesday was pretty good but climbing today at Mt Soledad was tough. Rode with Lisa Hill and did two repeats. It was pretty warm and I was huffing and puffing. Heat is my personal Kryptonite and just saps the strength out of me. Toughed it out on the uphills and screamed on the downhills to relieve a little stress. Got up to 41 MPH on the Nautilus St. downhill. Wheee!
Totals were 14 miles with right around 1600 feet of climbing.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Cult of the Big Ring
The days are getting nice and long and that means...Hello Fiesta Island. Read my lament from last year when the days got too long to continue riding.
Tuesday night is usually a spin session but I've always preferred actually riding my bike to using a spin trainer. Coach DJ (aka the sadist), the coach of the ACE team premiered a new training session tonight on the island called Big Ring Tuesday. Lately he's been very big on heavy resistance training to build power and endurance. Our spin work outs have included lots of big ring (harder to pedal) work. Joining in the fun where a couple of team mates, Tonya and Christine H.
First rule of the Cult of the Big Ring: You must be in the big ring at all times.
Even our warm up laps were done in the big ring. Luckily the island is mostly flat so once you get going you can really get moving.
After a few warm up laps around the small 2.5 mile loop, we pick it up to 16-17 mph and make our way around the large 4-mile loop. Then the fun really starts. Interval sprints between random "no parking" signs on the side of the road. Gather speed to the first sign and then just cut loose going as hard and fast as you can until you get to the next sign. Recover to the following sign, then repeat. 5 sprints total. I get to the end gasping like a fish out of water with my legs on fire.
Second rule of Cult of the Big Ring: you must feel like you are going to puke for at least 20% of the time you are riding.
Another big loop around the island to recover and then let's do it again. This time, the sprints are two signs long instead of one.
Third Rule of Cult of the Big Ring: You must feel like murdering your Coach at least once during the training session.
Recover doing a small loop then it's follow the leader. We line up behind the coach in a nice orderly paceline and then he gradually turns it up until we can't hold on any longer and drop off. We start at somewhere around 15 mph and all is well. Then 16, 17, 18, 19, uh-oh. Tonya drops back, then Christine. Then it's me and DJ, 20, 21, 22, 23...going fast and furious. I'm on his wheel like white on rice. We get to a slight uphill at one of the "turns" and I know he's going to try and lose me on the incline. I'm ready and give it some more gas and hang on. Fun fun fun. We continue on for a bit more and then I start cramping on my right calf and decide to finally drop off. We all gather up somewhere down the road do one last cool down lap around the small loop and call it a night.
Very intense work out and very enjoyable. We've been doing so much hill work that it is nice to get a variety and do some speed and strength work. More training variety means can only improve our overall performance.
I had forgotten my bike computer so I don't have totals for the night but it was somewhere around 20 hard miles. It was actually pretty refreshing to ride without the data input, just reacting to the riders around you. Very pure.
Tuesday night is usually a spin session but I've always preferred actually riding my bike to using a spin trainer. Coach DJ (aka the sadist), the coach of the ACE team premiered a new training session tonight on the island called Big Ring Tuesday. Lately he's been very big on heavy resistance training to build power and endurance. Our spin work outs have included lots of big ring (harder to pedal) work. Joining in the fun where a couple of team mates, Tonya and Christine H.
First rule of the Cult of the Big Ring: You must be in the big ring at all times.
Even our warm up laps were done in the big ring. Luckily the island is mostly flat so once you get going you can really get moving.
After a few warm up laps around the small 2.5 mile loop, we pick it up to 16-17 mph and make our way around the large 4-mile loop. Then the fun really starts. Interval sprints between random "no parking" signs on the side of the road. Gather speed to the first sign and then just cut loose going as hard and fast as you can until you get to the next sign. Recover to the following sign, then repeat. 5 sprints total. I get to the end gasping like a fish out of water with my legs on fire.
Second rule of Cult of the Big Ring: you must feel like you are going to puke for at least 20% of the time you are riding.
Another big loop around the island to recover and then let's do it again. This time, the sprints are two signs long instead of one.
Third Rule of Cult of the Big Ring: You must feel like murdering your Coach at least once during the training session.
Recover doing a small loop then it's follow the leader. We line up behind the coach in a nice orderly paceline and then he gradually turns it up until we can't hold on any longer and drop off. We start at somewhere around 15 mph and all is well. Then 16, 17, 18, 19, uh-oh. Tonya drops back, then Christine. Then it's me and DJ, 20, 21, 22, 23...going fast and furious. I'm on his wheel like white on rice. We get to a slight uphill at one of the "turns" and I know he's going to try and lose me on the incline. I'm ready and give it some more gas and hang on. Fun fun fun. We continue on for a bit more and then I start cramping on my right calf and decide to finally drop off. We all gather up somewhere down the road do one last cool down lap around the small loop and call it a night.
Very intense work out and very enjoyable. We've been doing so much hill work that it is nice to get a variety and do some speed and strength work. More training variety means can only improve our overall performance.
I had forgotten my bike computer so I don't have totals for the night but it was somewhere around 20 hard miles. It was actually pretty refreshing to ride without the data input, just reacting to the riders around you. Very pure.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Avenue of the Giants
The second leg of our vacation was in the Pacific Northwest. Christine and I were in Ferndale, CA in way northern California for a 1/2 marathon called Avenue of the Giants. This race takes place in the Humboldt Redwoods State park and is very scenic. The route takes you through the Redwood forest with most of it being under the canopy of the trees. It was gorgeous.
It's been a long time since I participated in a 1/2-marathon now that my principal sport is cycling. the last one I did was the 2008 San Francisco 1/2-marathon and it did not go well. I didn't really train for it and had seriously underestimated how far my form had fallen since I stopped walking on a regular basis. I had decided to not make the same mistake twice and had made plans to attempt some real training for this one. I made plans to walk on Monday nights with my Walk Team friends, walk during my lunch hour and do some long mileage on Sunday. The best laid plans.... Works been crazy, I was prepping for a vacation, I've been riding lots of weekend miles, etc. I managed to get in 3 Monday night sessions, 2 weekend walks and 0 lunch time walks. I also got some new shoes 3 weeks before the event and was really pushing the limit of getting them "broken in". Not so good. I did manage to get in a 10-miler a couple of weeks before the event so I knew the 13.1 miles was within striking distance.
Sunday morning and it is showtime. I start out with Christine and a couple of Walk Team friends, Ellen and Debbie. Ellen was actually one of my Walk Team coaches when I trained for the Dublin full marathon in '07. Well, she's faster than the rest of us and takes off leaving us behind. Debbie usually walks a slower pace which leaves Christine and I. We gobble up some very scenic miles and then I have to take a nature break. Christine presses on and I say I'll catch up. Get back on the road and Christine is a small dot up ahead. I speed up to but I never did catch her. I had started to get some troubling symptoms; too much foot movement within the shoes, a burning feeling in my toes, hips starting to ache. I'm not physically tired but my body isn't used to the pounding any more.
I hit the 1/2-way point and we make a U-Turn to come back to the start.
There were a lot of Team in Training people with at least the San Francisco chapter using this race as a formal event so this represented the end of the season for them. It was great to see all the cheerleading going on from their teammates and coaches and it frankly felt a little weird not being a part of it. I wasn't wearing any of my TnT gear so they had no way of knowing that I am "one of them".
Walk the last 5 miles essentially alone. All the runners were long since done and the few walkers left on the course were few and far between. It was actually very peaceful and I tried to pay special attention to the surroundings. Feet are hurting and hip flexors are really aching.
I finally finish up with a very slow time, not really tired, just physically beat up.
Here is a post race photo
Coach Ellen, Debbie, Christine, Me with our Medals
I've never been particularly fast since I do the race-walking thing but at my peak, I could knock out the 1/2's right around 3 hours. This time, not so much. 3hrs and 46 minutes! Terrible time but not completely unexpected considering my lack of preparation. On the positive side, I did actually complete the race while most people in the world sat on the butt watching sports instead of doing them.
It's been a long time since I participated in a 1/2-marathon now that my principal sport is cycling. the last one I did was the 2008 San Francisco 1/2-marathon and it did not go well. I didn't really train for it and had seriously underestimated how far my form had fallen since I stopped walking on a regular basis. I had decided to not make the same mistake twice and had made plans to attempt some real training for this one. I made plans to walk on Monday nights with my Walk Team friends, walk during my lunch hour and do some long mileage on Sunday. The best laid plans.... Works been crazy, I was prepping for a vacation, I've been riding lots of weekend miles, etc. I managed to get in 3 Monday night sessions, 2 weekend walks and 0 lunch time walks. I also got some new shoes 3 weeks before the event and was really pushing the limit of getting them "broken in". Not so good. I did manage to get in a 10-miler a couple of weeks before the event so I knew the 13.1 miles was within striking distance.
Sunday morning and it is showtime. I start out with Christine and a couple of Walk Team friends, Ellen and Debbie. Ellen was actually one of my Walk Team coaches when I trained for the Dublin full marathon in '07. Well, she's faster than the rest of us and takes off leaving us behind. Debbie usually walks a slower pace which leaves Christine and I. We gobble up some very scenic miles and then I have to take a nature break. Christine presses on and I say I'll catch up. Get back on the road and Christine is a small dot up ahead. I speed up to but I never did catch her. I had started to get some troubling symptoms; too much foot movement within the shoes, a burning feeling in my toes, hips starting to ache. I'm not physically tired but my body isn't used to the pounding any more.
I hit the 1/2-way point and we make a U-Turn to come back to the start.
There were a lot of Team in Training people with at least the San Francisco chapter using this race as a formal event so this represented the end of the season for them. It was great to see all the cheerleading going on from their teammates and coaches and it frankly felt a little weird not being a part of it. I wasn't wearing any of my TnT gear so they had no way of knowing that I am "one of them".
Walk the last 5 miles essentially alone. All the runners were long since done and the few walkers left on the course were few and far between. It was actually very peaceful and I tried to pay special attention to the surroundings. Feet are hurting and hip flexors are really aching.
I finally finish up with a very slow time, not really tired, just physically beat up.
Here is a post race photo
Coach Ellen, Debbie, Christine, Me with our Medals
I've never been particularly fast since I do the race-walking thing but at my peak, I could knock out the 1/2's right around 3 hours. This time, not so much. 3hrs and 46 minutes! Terrible time but not completely unexpected considering my lack of preparation. On the positive side, I did actually complete the race while most people in the world sat on the butt watching sports instead of doing them.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Bluebird
We did so many things in Nashville, that I really didn't have enough time to write about most of them so I'll just comment on them over the next couple of days as I have some free time.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was a visit to the famous Bluebird Cafe. This is a very small intimate venue that has showcased local songwriters and musicians for over 25 years.
It is a staple of the Nashville music scene and has hosted a lot of musicians that polished or developed their craft there. People like
Garth Brooks
Kim Carnes
Carol King
Kris Kristofferson
Faith Hill
Cowboy Junkies
Bonnie Raitt
and on and on and on.
We were treated a In the Round session comprised of four musicians that are loosely related due to three of them being on the same record label.
Tom Kimmel
Brent Moyer
Hugh Moffat
Hunter Moore
They would take turns playing one of their original songs and the other musicians would either reverently listen or join in for some harmony or guitar work.
Our seats were so good that Christine could literally reach out and be able to touch the shoulder of one of the performers.
Brent Moyer
Christine with Hugh and Brent in the background
L to R (Hunter, Tom, Hugh)
The performers were all different but each were extremely talented professional musicians.
My impressions were that Hunter had the most polished "craft" in terms of construction of a song. He demonstrated a variety of styles like a downhome blues number, a funny semi-conversational toned song and an almost spiritual song about his childhood.
I thought Brent was the best guitar player of the bunch and would play a lot of the solos for the others. His songs were more bar room country romps. Feel good numbers but then he wowed me with a very sweet romantic ballad.
Hugh had the purest singing voice. He also had some very amusing anecdotes to his songs. His songs were mostly mournful love songs that tended to strayed a little too close to being over the top but I'm a sap so I loved them. One of his fans, played an CD of a 10 year old album to the top DJ in Australia who liked it so much that he played it non stop. Next thing you know, one of the songs is the number 1 tune down under. Hilarious. He's had some famous musicians record and perform his songs including Dolly Parton, Alabama, Merle Haggard, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Tom was the favorite of Christine and I and I personally think he is a genius. He has a sort of raw singing voice and his songs just cut right to the quick of you. I bought a CD of his music and he explained it is an album comprised of rough first or second cut recordings of his songs. He then recorded more polished versions but his producer actually preferred the raw versions of the songs and encouraged him to use those instead. I have to agree with his assessment. Great stuff.
A very enjoyable evening and another reason to love Nashville.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was a visit to the famous Bluebird Cafe. This is a very small intimate venue that has showcased local songwriters and musicians for over 25 years.
It is a staple of the Nashville music scene and has hosted a lot of musicians that polished or developed their craft there. People like
Garth Brooks
Kim Carnes
Carol King
Kris Kristofferson
Faith Hill
Cowboy Junkies
Bonnie Raitt
and on and on and on.
We were treated a In the Round session comprised of four musicians that are loosely related due to three of them being on the same record label.
Tom Kimmel
Brent Moyer
Hugh Moffat
Hunter Moore
They would take turns playing one of their original songs and the other musicians would either reverently listen or join in for some harmony or guitar work.
Our seats were so good that Christine could literally reach out and be able to touch the shoulder of one of the performers.
Brent Moyer
Christine with Hugh and Brent in the background
L to R (Hunter, Tom, Hugh)
The performers were all different but each were extremely talented professional musicians.
My impressions were that Hunter had the most polished "craft" in terms of construction of a song. He demonstrated a variety of styles like a downhome blues number, a funny semi-conversational toned song and an almost spiritual song about his childhood.
I thought Brent was the best guitar player of the bunch and would play a lot of the solos for the others. His songs were more bar room country romps. Feel good numbers but then he wowed me with a very sweet romantic ballad.
Hugh had the purest singing voice. He also had some very amusing anecdotes to his songs. His songs were mostly mournful love songs that tended to strayed a little too close to being over the top but I'm a sap so I loved them. One of his fans, played an CD of a 10 year old album to the top DJ in Australia who liked it so much that he played it non stop. Next thing you know, one of the songs is the number 1 tune down under. Hilarious. He's had some famous musicians record and perform his songs including Dolly Parton, Alabama, Merle Haggard, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Tom was the favorite of Christine and I and I personally think he is a genius. He has a sort of raw singing voice and his songs just cut right to the quick of you. I bought a CD of his music and he explained it is an album comprised of rough first or second cut recordings of his songs. He then recorded more polished versions but his producer actually preferred the raw versions of the songs and encouraged him to use those instead. I have to agree with his assessment. Great stuff.
A very enjoyable evening and another reason to love Nashville.
Passing
Got some bad news yesteday. Our honored teammate for my 2008 El Tour de Tucson Century Team, Kevin Hatch, lost his battle with cancer a few days ago. His visits to the Team provided a real face to the cause we are all fighting for. It greatly saddens me to see a young man taken in the prime of his life by this disease. His positive attitude made a deep impression on me. There really isn't too much to say beyond that.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Country Music Hall of Fame
No visit to Nashville would be complete without a little Country Music. I’ll be honest with you, I know next to nothing about Country music beyond some Patsy Cline and the occasional Johnny Cash. I vaguely remember some Kenny Rogers Gambler movie that I saw on TV. I also seem to remember watching a little Hee-Haw when I was about 9 years old. My latest impressions have been that Country is now essentially interchangeable with pop music. Lots of overproduced “crossover” music.With that being said, I didn’t know what to expect from our visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame yesterday. First off, the building itself is wonderful. It’s got a sort of modern industrial look to it, with lots of exposed steel, glass and wooden floors designed by local architect Tuck Hinton and Associates. Hats off. I’ll also note that whomever did the A/C work did a spectacular job with the tough spaces they had to work with.
The hall is three stories tall. The displays themselves range from showcase style displays of memorabilia to interactive displays. There were two featured displays. The first was Kitty Wells “The Queen of Country Music” . I have to claim ignorance here and I’m sorry to say I hadn’t previously heard of her. She is most notable for being the first woman with a big country hit that demonstrated that women could be commercially viable. The display include lots of personal jewelry, clothing, photos and some video of performances.
The second was a large interactive display of the Hank Williams family. Lots of photos and personal items. I know of Hank Williams and I know that Hank Jr is a big star, but again, know next to nothing about them. The displays included video interviews of Hank Jr and his children which were informative and touching. The interactive display was a sort of video scrap book where you could browse along and read old newspaper articles. I was so pooped out from trying to drink everything in on the floor above that I really couldn’t focus enough attention on this stuff.
My favorite display was a series of listening “booths” called “Rediscover a Classic” where you would find a very nice display of a classic 45 record and a recording to enjoy. Some real offbeat yodeling or borderline crooner stuff. It appears that they rotate these pretty regularly.
Which brings me to another impressive facet of the Hall. They archive and preserve a massive amount of recordings. Take a look at the shelves upon shelves of recordings and the recording equipment where they systematically transfer the recordings to tape for preservation.
There were also lots of video displays of rare early footage of performers. I particularly liked one of the Jordanairres, a gospel quartet and will definitely be looking them up.
There was also a particularly well done, “Country Music in TV and the Movies” ½-hour semi-documentary that ended with Johnny Cash doing his version of the Nine Inch Nails song, “Hurt” where he reflects on his life to a montage of images from his past. It is by far the better version of the song and hits you like a ton of bricks.
There were also some really off the wall items being displayed such as
Carl Perkin’s “Blue Suede Shoes”
Webb Pierce’s “Silver Dollar Convertible” complete with six-gun door handles.
Elvis Presley’s “Solid Gold Piano”
Lots of stage jackets and gowns too including this lovely Patsy Cline one.
Elvis may have been the King of Rock N Roll but boy did he have tacky taste.
Now from tacky to classy. Take a look at the wall of gold records lining the rotunda wall.
The display makes quite an impression. The record display continues on some interior walls where you can listen to quite a few of them by hitting a button on the display. Nice touch.
"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash"
After, all that, the presentation Hall of Fame plaque room was a bit of a let down. The room was a bit plain and a some of the lettering on the displays didn't match the original font when the artist's year of death was added to a previously made plaque. A minor complaint, but it felt a little cheap to me.
I enjoyed the visit very much. The presentation really showed the breadth and depth of the genre and really opened my eyes to how much variety there is in "Country" music.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Pansies
We're in Nashville, TN on vacation. Christine ran the Country Music Marathon on Saturday and we are sticking around for a few days to sightsee. Yesterday was an action packed day. One of the highlights was visiting the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens where the Pansies were in bloom. Cheekwood was the mansion and grounds built by Christopher Cheek and Mabel Wood who made their money in Maxwell House coffee! The home and gardens are beautiful.
Here are some photos of the pansies for your enjoyment. I'm sure they all have different names but I was too lazy to record them. Hey, I AM on vacation, you know.
Some more photos of the grounds can be found here. Cameras weren't allowed at the mansion. Too bad because there was a pretty good Faberge exhibit there, including 3 "Imperial Eggs".
Here are some photos of the pansies for your enjoyment. I'm sure they all have different names but I was too lazy to record them. Hey, I AM on vacation, you know.
Some more photos of the grounds can be found here. Cameras weren't allowed at the mansion. Too bad because there was a pretty good Faberge exhibit there, including 3 "Imperial Eggs".
Monday, April 20, 2009
I'm walkin...
Christine and I are getting ready to go on vacation. I leave Friday for Nashville where Christine will be running in the Nashville Country Music Marathon. I'm really looking forward to this trip. The following weekend, we will be in Eureka, CA to participate in the Avenue of the Giants 1/2-marathon. I haven't done a 1/2 since the debacle that was the San Francisco Marathon last year where I did it, with little recent training. I paid the price in severely swollen feet and lots of pain...
I've been trying to squeeze in some walking over the last month and a half. It's been tough with my heavy riding schedule and because of work. I've managed to get in a few 5-6 milers on the weekend and have been trying to walk Monday nights with some former walk team friends.
My half marathon is in two weeks. Standard procedure is that you taper (rest) the week before the event so that means that this last weekend was my long mileage weekend. I wasn't looking forward to a long walk in the heat the day after a 70 mile, 4400 feet of climbing ride but c'est la vie. I headed out on Sunday morning at 8am armed with my new kicks and a goal of 10-miles. I decided that it is really too late to work on speed so I was just going to concentrate on getting the miles in. There is a ridiculously long time limit of 8 hours at the Giants event as there are many people running the full marathon. Time won't be an issue so I've elected to just take my time and do the distance. I would normally average a few minutes over 3 hours for a 1/2-marathon when I was doing them regularly. This time, I've set a goal of finishing within 4 hours.
I didn't quite get the 10-miles on Sunday but I'm happy with the 9 and a quarter. I could have definitely gone further but I had miscalculated the distance and I was too close to home and it was too hot to go after 3/4 miles walking around the block. I'm going to do some more work the following week and will hopefully be ready for Avenue of the Giants.
I've been trying to squeeze in some walking over the last month and a half. It's been tough with my heavy riding schedule and because of work. I've managed to get in a few 5-6 milers on the weekend and have been trying to walk Monday nights with some former walk team friends.
My half marathon is in two weeks. Standard procedure is that you taper (rest) the week before the event so that means that this last weekend was my long mileage weekend. I wasn't looking forward to a long walk in the heat the day after a 70 mile, 4400 feet of climbing ride but c'est la vie. I headed out on Sunday morning at 8am armed with my new kicks and a goal of 10-miles. I decided that it is really too late to work on speed so I was just going to concentrate on getting the miles in. There is a ridiculously long time limit of 8 hours at the Giants event as there are many people running the full marathon. Time won't be an issue so I've elected to just take my time and do the distance. I would normally average a few minutes over 3 hours for a 1/2-marathon when I was doing them regularly. This time, I've set a goal of finishing within 4 hours.
I didn't quite get the 10-miles on Sunday but I'm happy with the 9 and a quarter. I could have definitely gone further but I had miscalculated the distance and I was too close to home and it was too hot to go after 3/4 miles walking around the block. I'm going to do some more work the following week and will hopefully be ready for Avenue of the Giants.
Training Log - April 14-19
Monday: 3.5 mile walk at Balboa park with some former Walk Team mates. We picked up the pace a little bit an boy did I feel it afterwards.
Tuesday: Spin class canceled due to rain. I worked late instead.
Wednesday: Rehab United Cross Training class. Hard circuit workout
Thursday: Repeats on Soledad Mountain. Got two climbs in before I ran out of light. Bought some new walking shoes!
Friday: Worked late
Saturday: Team Ride. 71 Miles, 4400 feet of climbing.
Sunday: 9.25 mile walk. HOT!
Tuesday: Spin class canceled due to rain. I worked late instead.
Wednesday: Rehab United Cross Training class. Hard circuit workout
Thursday: Repeats on Soledad Mountain. Got two climbs in before I ran out of light. Bought some new walking shoes!
Friday: Worked late
Saturday: Team Ride. 71 Miles, 4400 feet of climbing.
Sunday: 9.25 mile walk. HOT!
Team Ride - April 18, 2009
Toughy this weekend. We have pretty nice weather here in San Diego but every once in a while it gets HOT! This weekend we were treated to a lovely combination of low 90's temperatures and a gruelling 70+ mile ride in East County. Take a look at the ground we covered!
The little loop de loop at the top is repeat visits through Gopher Canyon, a particularly sweltering patch of real estate.
It is not unusual for each of the ride groups to include riders with a spectrum of riding desires and abilities. Ideally, it is best if the riders are have roughly the same abiity level and ride goals. Realistically, this doesn't always happen. I tend to suffer in the heat, while others can excel in it. Some riders excel at climbing while others excel at setting a blistering pace on the flats. Our group has been having trouble riding together as a Team the last few weeks. We had an unfortunate event last weekend where the group got split up for a decently long time which resulted in extra work for some of the riders to reestablish the paceline. No fun. I know that our group isn't alone in this. Perhaps by coincidence, the Coaches decided to really have us focus on riding as a group as much as possible this week. There were a few groans from some of the group but everyone was game to give it a go.
There's too much to tell, but overall I think riding together went a long way to improving trust and solidifying us into a Team rather than a collection of riders. Some riders had to rein it in a little bit, and all riders seemed to be more expressive in their needs. The end result was a slightly slower pace, but a group that really rode together as a Team. Things are really starting to gel. Very exciting stuff.
Totals were 71 Miles and 4400 feet of climbing! I went through 10 bottles of water.
The little loop de loop at the top is repeat visits through Gopher Canyon, a particularly sweltering patch of real estate.
It is not unusual for each of the ride groups to include riders with a spectrum of riding desires and abilities. Ideally, it is best if the riders are have roughly the same abiity level and ride goals. Realistically, this doesn't always happen. I tend to suffer in the heat, while others can excel in it. Some riders excel at climbing while others excel at setting a blistering pace on the flats. Our group has been having trouble riding together as a Team the last few weeks. We had an unfortunate event last weekend where the group got split up for a decently long time which resulted in extra work for some of the riders to reestablish the paceline. No fun. I know that our group isn't alone in this. Perhaps by coincidence, the Coaches decided to really have us focus on riding as a group as much as possible this week. There were a few groans from some of the group but everyone was game to give it a go.
There's too much to tell, but overall I think riding together went a long way to improving trust and solidifying us into a Team rather than a collection of riders. Some riders had to rein it in a little bit, and all riders seemed to be more expressive in their needs. The end result was a slightly slower pace, but a group that really rode together as a Team. Things are really starting to gel. Very exciting stuff.
Totals were 71 Miles and 4400 feet of climbing! I went through 10 bottles of water.
San Diego Custom Bike Show
Following are a few photos from the San Diego Custom Bike Show that took place on April 8th. This event was put together by a group of five local frame builders to showcase hand made or custom bicycles. The main guy is Brian Baylis, a local frame building legend. He's been building custom frames for over 30 years and is know for the high quality of his bikes and his fancy painting skills. Brian, along with a few others at the show were former employees of Masi bicycles located in Carlsbad, CA. Masi is an Italian brand and they opened up a production facility locally.
The show ran Friday through Saturday. Friday was primarily a set up day for the exibitors but was unusual because there were several hands very interesting seminars. While not an aspiring builder I found the seminars to be very interesting.
They started off with Brian speaking to a room of seated guests but soon turned into a very fun informal huddle around him as he lectured and answered questions while filing away on some nice looking lugs.
Following was a great hands on lecture by Dave Bohm of Bohemian Bicycles on using jeweler's tools to make head badges or other artwork for your bike. He encouraged people to take up the jewel saw and do some of the cutting while he spoke. I was so enthralled that I forgot to take photos! Sorry.
Last but not least was Rob Roberson's demonstration on how to to install braze-ons on the cheap by scavaging parts from old bikes and making any tool you need to do the job. His demonstration on how to adjust the fork blades to adjust rake or even out the length was great.
Brian shaping lugs
Getting down and dirty
Filing lugs
Rob Roberson's braze-on demonstration
Rob's Fork Rake adjustment Technique
If all else fails...use brute force!
The following photos were from the exhibit floor on Saturday and Sunday. These and other photos can be seen here
Bamboo Bike!
Bruce Gordon Touring Bike
Bruce is another master frame builder.
Wizard #43
Select the photo to read the story.
Wizard Bikes were made by the show organizer, Brian Baylis and his partner Mike Howard after they broke away from Masi. They only made 75 frames. This is number 43. I understand that frame #1 was at the show but I somehow missed it :(
Drillium!
Drillium is the practice of drilling holes, filing or cutting away metal to shave off weight and generally beautify the bicycle. The following Masi is an extreme example of that style. The guy riding it needs to be jockey size to not have the bike collapse under him.
Slotted Forks
Slotted Chain Stays
Following is my favorite bike of the show. It is a Mario Confente. Mario was another one of the MASI guys. He trained under Mr. Masi himself and was sent to the US in the early 1970's to manage their new operation. The factory was local being in Carlsbad, CA. He broke off on his own and moved his operations to LA and started building under his own name. He died young and had a reputation for peerless work. Double-click on the photos to get a look at the details. Wow. A bike like this sells for over $10,000.
I'm happy to report that the show was a success and the group has just announced the date for the 2010 show. Mark your calendars for April 8 through 11, 2010.
The show ran Friday through Saturday. Friday was primarily a set up day for the exibitors but was unusual because there were several hands very interesting seminars. While not an aspiring builder I found the seminars to be very interesting.
They started off with Brian speaking to a room of seated guests but soon turned into a very fun informal huddle around him as he lectured and answered questions while filing away on some nice looking lugs.
Following was a great hands on lecture by Dave Bohm of Bohemian Bicycles on using jeweler's tools to make head badges or other artwork for your bike. He encouraged people to take up the jewel saw and do some of the cutting while he spoke. I was so enthralled that I forgot to take photos! Sorry.
Last but not least was Rob Roberson's demonstration on how to to install braze-ons on the cheap by scavaging parts from old bikes and making any tool you need to do the job. His demonstration on how to adjust the fork blades to adjust rake or even out the length was great.
Brian shaping lugs
Getting down and dirty
Filing lugs
Rob Roberson's braze-on demonstration
Rob's Fork Rake adjustment Technique
If all else fails...use brute force!
The following photos were from the exhibit floor on Saturday and Sunday. These and other photos can be seen here
Bamboo Bike!
Bruce Gordon Touring Bike
Bruce is another master frame builder.
Wizard #43
Select the photo to read the story.
Wizard Bikes were made by the show organizer, Brian Baylis and his partner Mike Howard after they broke away from Masi. They only made 75 frames. This is number 43. I understand that frame #1 was at the show but I somehow missed it :(
Drillium!
Drillium is the practice of drilling holes, filing or cutting away metal to shave off weight and generally beautify the bicycle. The following Masi is an extreme example of that style. The guy riding it needs to be jockey size to not have the bike collapse under him.
Slotted Forks
Slotted Chain Stays
Following is my favorite bike of the show. It is a Mario Confente. Mario was another one of the MASI guys. He trained under Mr. Masi himself and was sent to the US in the early 1970's to manage their new operation. The factory was local being in Carlsbad, CA. He broke off on his own and moved his operations to LA and started building under his own name. He died young and had a reputation for peerless work. Double-click on the photos to get a look at the details. Wow. A bike like this sells for over $10,000.
I'm happy to report that the show was a success and the group has just announced the date for the 2010 show. Mark your calendars for April 8 through 11, 2010.
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