Granfondo San Diego

Did a Century on Sunday. It was the Gran Fondo San Diego. Gran Fondo is Italian for "big ride". The race was done in the Italian style and started and ended in Little Italy here in San Diego. It was the inaugural event for this ride. The guest of honor was Ernesto Colnago, world famous for building beautiful Italian racing bikes. Here are a few photos of some of the bikes that I took at the registration expo.
































I decided to do this ride with some reservations. I hadn't really been training enough since the end of the year when I did El Tour de Tucson. In fact, my longest ride since November, 2008 was 70 miles and I did that last Sunday. I had done a few 50 milers but was never able to fully train for this one. Holidays, lingering flu, work, severe calve strain...yadda, yadda.

The calve strain was the real concern. It was a pretty nasty and painful injury.




















Here's a photo of it almost healed up. At it's peak, the calve was nearly twice the normal size and the entire back of my leg was bruised. Friday morning, I got the tentative OK from my physical therapist that I have been seeing about it to ride, provided I didn't "hammer" and ride more for endurance, rather than speed.

I rode with one of my Tucson "C-Riders" teammates, Donna. She's a very strong cyclist. We had talked ahead of time and agreed to take it relatively easy as we both didn't feel we had trained enough.

The course started in Little Italy, which is essentially downtown San Diego and then proceed south and generally East, through Chula Vista, Bonita, Otay Mesa and then into the back country. We started out at the head of the race and kept up with the very speedy front group for about 5 miles. Average speed was up over 20mph. We decided to let them go on ahead when they started blowing through stop signs and lights. Not safe plus we didn't want to go that fast. It was fun while it lasted, though.

Part of the route was through the Olympic Training Center located near Otay Lake. It was a blast riding through the training facility where the Olympian's train.

After that we hit the backcountry where the terrain started getting pretty rocky and hilly. Hilly then turned to mountainy. Part of the course, Honey Spring Road, was timed as part of the King of the Mountain competition. This is a 7-mile stretch of road that proceeds upwards at grades between 4 and 8% grade. Each of the riders was timed up the climb and a special jersey and medal would be given to the fastest climber in each category. Well, I was nowhere in the running for that. In fact, the heat was so bad (90+ deg) and there was so little shade that I stopped about 5 times to cool down on the climb. Donna was feeling much stronger and could have gone on ahead but kindly stayed with me. It was a brutal climb and a very disturbing sight to see riders strewn across the course, out of water, overheated and with some puking. I stayed with my game plan and was probably overcautious but finally made it up the hill and was embarrassingly near the bottom time for the field. Lot's of riders didn't even finish the climb and were hauled off the course by the support vans.
















Honey Springs Hell

We get to the top of the hill, feeling pretty beat up and we are only 41 miles into the ride with 4300 feet of climbing already. Top the hill, the aid station is nearly out of water and people are looking really sad and tired. We take a short rest, fill up on bananas, pretzels, water and then move on. The good news is that the ride was advertised as 4800 feet of climbing. The next 60 miles should be cake, right? Umm....No. Someone needs to get their altimeter checked. After a beautiful fast downhill (46 mph!) we turn the bend to stare at a huge hill up ahead. Put the head down and pound it out.

Christine agreed to meet us at mile 59 to give us a little personal support so I had that as a short term goal. I estimated that we would be there between 12 and 12:30. We roll into the aid station to meet Christine over an hour behind schedule. The scene is even worse there, with many of the exhausted riders laying in the grass and phoning for rides home. We had been out of cell phone range for hours and this was their first opportunity to use their phones.

Christine meet us with open arms with a SUV full of goodies. First off was the camp chair in the shade of the car, then there was roasted chicken sandwiches, peeled bananas and oranges, gatorade and a beautiful 20-lb bag of ice.















Who has the better cleavage?

Kicked off the shoes, doffed the extra clothing, base layer, arm warmers from the morning and chowed down.

After about 20 minutes of resting in the shade, we're back on the road. By this time we had been on our bikes for over 7 hours with another 4o miles to go. We set a new goal to finish within an absolute maximum of 10 hours, which is very slow century time for us.

On the flats, we pace-line like pro's and get the average speed up to the low 20's MPH and make up lots of time. More climbing, followed by more climbing and we are in Alpine after passing through parts of Cleveland National Forest. We hit the last aid station at mile 85 for a pee pee break and leave quickly. The last few miles were through Spring Valley back into downtown. We join up with a group of 5 other riders going roughly the same pace as us to share in the work. We finally roll into the finish after nearly 9-1/2 hours in the saddle.

Total climbing for the day was over 6800 feet! That is by far the most I have ever done in a day. I think the previous best was 4500ish.

We celebrate with a burger and beer at the Princess Pub and then go home. Shower and try to keep my eyes open. Fail. I'm asleep on the couch by 7:30pm.

Brutal ride. Definitely the hardest Century I've ever done. I stayed with my plan, took it easy, finished safely, completed the event and lived to tell about it.

Lighthouse Century

This weekend I did the Lighthouse Century Ride. The route, support and amenities were all top notch.

I had managed to buy another rider's registration but wasn't able to make the Friday night check-in as we hit too much traffic on the drive up. Christine and I decided to make lemonade out of the lemons and stopped in Santa Barbara for dinner and ate at an amazing Danish restaurant/bakery on State street called Andersen's. I had the goulash and Christine ordered the Chesse Celebration that we thought was a simple cheese/fruit plate sampler. When it arrived we found that it was more like a New Year's Eve Party of Cheese. We were stunned when it showed up at the table. Poor Christine couldn't get through even a quarter of it and sadly, I'm lactose intolerant so I was no help.
















Cheese Celebration

I couldn't pass up the dessert and have a lovely slice of Danish Layer cake. I also took some Cranberry Scones for a pre-ride breakfast on Saturday. Delish.

The next day, we started the ride in Cuesta College which is a community college a few miles north of downtown San Luis Obispo aka SLOtown. The temperature is cool but not cold and the sky is very overcast but it looks like it will burn off. I made the call to not wear any cold weather gear on the ride although I briefly considered the arm warmers. Christine drops me off and I check-in and then cruise the parking lot looking for my people.

There are at least two dozen TnT alumni at the event. I chat briefly with the my current coach for Tucson, Ricky along with other teammates, Kevin, Lynn and Kim. There were a few other former teammates from my Tahoe ride, including Taj, Mark W, Lisa E, Jenny, Coach Rick, Christine H. Also attending were 12 of the San Diego Sub-5 team, including TnT alumni, DJ, Timmy, Troy and many others.

I meet up with Coach Rick, Christine and Mark W and hit the road, keeping a moderate pace of 13-15 MPH to warm up the legs. In the first 5 miles, we pass no less than 10 riders fixing flats or making other minor mechanical repairs. Weird. Riding along, I'm starting to deeply regret not bringing the arm warmers. We make our way up along Highway 1. The course is well marked and there are volunteers at any location where you might accidently veer off course. About 10 miles into the ride, the fog rolls in and we're swimming in pea soup. Visibility is poor. I have to remove my sunglasses as the condensation is too heavy to see through. Poor Christine is wearing prescption sunglasses and has to occassionally pull over to wipe them down. I look down and there is morning dew on my arm hair. I touch my face and it is soaking wet and I've got water droplets dripping from my facial hair. Luckily, the temperature wasn't too cold and I was starting to warm up. I estimate that 3/4 of our riding time was done in fog so heavy that we couldn't see the ocean, 100 yards away.

We pick up the pace and are doing anywhere from 18 - 22 mph on the flats and higher than that on the drops. We continue on and make our first SAG stop at mile 25. SAG means "support and gear" or "snacks and goodies" depending on who you talk to. Bagels with peanut butter, pretzels, bananas, apples, cookies, water, lemonade...you get the picture. I eat a 1/2 bagel with crunchy peanut butter, a banana, refill the water bottles and we hit the road again.

About 30 miles in, the sun miraculously appears and there is much rejoicing. I dry off, my compatriots pull over to remove their jackets and we proceed on. 5 miles later we're back in the pea soup! At this portion of the ride there were no other riders in sight. We cross over a bridge, I look down and see the mist swirling around the ground below. It was kind of spooky. It looks like one of the mideaval times movies and I kept expecting a fire-breathing dragon to zoom overhead.

Mile 50 is the turnaround point and there is another SAG stop. More of the same, but this time I choose a couple of apples and cookies. We head back and Rick comments on how the course if probably very beautiful and scenic...if you can see it! Mother nature hears his complaint and the sun finally fights back the fog and we are rolling down the coastline looking at the pristine Pacific Ocean. We pass Elephant Seal Rock and see a couple of dozen lazy seals, rolling in the sand. Lot of pelicans too. On the hillside up on the left we spy Hearst Castle in the distance. All of a sudden, after miles of myopic peddaling, the ride is gorgeous.
















Happy the sun finally emerged
















Riding Buddies Rick, Christine H, Mark W (F to B)

Then it is time to eat again. Let me tell you, the San Luis Obispo Bike Club really know how to party. This time it is deli sandwiches, pasta salad, green salad, loads of fruit and Olallieberry pie. Yes, that is right, PIE. Great lunch on picnic tables, chatting with fellow riders and then it's back on the road.

12 miles later, at mile 75 or so, there is unbelievably another food stop. What is with these people. We take a quick vote and veto the stop. Later we hear that the stop includes pound cake, strawberries, and chocolate syrup. These people are nuts!

Another 25 miles to go and the gang is tiring. Luckily, the weather remained cool and we were now riding in beautiful sunny weather. We triumphantly arrive back at Cuesta College. Ride totals were 97.58 total miles, with 6 hours, 1 minute of riding time. Elapsed time was a bit over 7 hours with all the stops. Average speed was 16.2 MPH. Very good. Not a lot of climbing. The ride was advertised at 3,500 feet of climbing but it was more like 2,200.

We roll back in and guess what...it's time to eat again. Post ride BBQ by the SLOBC. BBQ chicken, chili beans, salad, etc.

Ate, bought the event jersey and Christine took me back to the hotel and I had a nice nap. Good times.

Tahoe Century Ride

I'm a bit late in reporting the details but on June 1st I completed my very first century ride, "America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride" in Lake Tahoe. I trained for and completed the event to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as part of their Team in Training (TnT) program.

I had been sweating the weather in the week beforehand, as Tahoe had been frigidly cold and there had been non-stop thunderstorms in the week before the ride. The heavens smiled on us and we had A-mazing weather for the ride. Lows were in the mid-50's in the morning and the highs were in the mid 70's during the hottest part of the day. Perfect.

Here is a map of the route.




















The ride is advertised as 3,500 feet of climbing but I suspect it is closer to 4,500. Every bike computer our team has showed more than 3,500 feet of climbing. Here is a graphic showing the elevation gains and falls of the route.

The ride is called America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride for a reason. It is a spectacular loop around Lake Tahoe and a very well organized event. There were astounding views around every bend and at the crest of every hill. I found the course to be very doable. The ride was the culmination of 18-weeks of intense training and so the order of the day was to enjoy ourselves.

My team was very well trained and everyone was able to complete the event. My immediate group, the B3's, was very strong and we were constantly passing up other riders with our pace line. We averaged a little over a 14 MPH pace for the day. It was all about enjoying the ride as we weren't going for time. I found it strange that our team was one of the few that rode in pace lines. Only two of the sixty or so TnT groups we saw rode in a pace line. Weird.

Each of the TnT groups wore essentially the same uniform of black bike shorts and the Team colors jersey. With so many riders, it is difficult to easily tell who is in your group especially at the start when we were all bunched up. To alleviate this, each of the groups had a unique "helmet topper". Being from San Diego, our team had a pair of sunglasses fixed to the tops of our helmets. The Sacramento Team had a tomato, DC had a model of the Capital building, New York had and apple, Georgia had a Peach, etc. Every rider I encountered was very positive and courteous.

There were two major climbs along the course, Emerald Bay and Spooner Summit. Emerald Bay is short but very steep but was on Mile 11 when we were all still strong. There were lots of wheezing people on the way up but our Team was able to make it up with little problem. One of my teammates, Mark, joked that he wanted his money back as he was promised a challenging climb.

I think this one was taken at the top of Emerald Bay.






























Team Photo at top of Emerald Bay

We also took time to stop and take group photos in a couple of other locations including at the Olympic Torch in Squaw Valley where the 1960 Winter Olympics were held.
















The following Team Photo was taken after luxurious long lunch at King's Beach.















The Mighty B3's

Spooner Summit was a constant 9-mile grind uphill around mile 80 which seemed a little cruel. I did a quick self assessment and felt that I had plenty of gas left so.... Attack, attack, attack. I kicked that hill's butt. It was a pretty tough climb but I just powered up the hill passing people left and right. All those standing climb exercises in spin classes paid off. Oh, I spoke to Mark at the top of the summit and he no longer wanted his money back.















Exuberant at Spooner Summit

The reward of a steep climb is the screaming downhill afterwards. I had hooked up with Thomas, who is a very strong rider on the ACE Team, and we both had fun pushing hard, sprinting down the mountain. I got my speed up to 42 MPH on the way down. It felt great to really turn it loose.















On the road somewhere on the Lake




















Official Ride photo = $30. What a racket.

One guy in another group of my Team, broke his front derailer at mile 14 and did the rest of the event on his small front ring. He had full control of the back derailers but was stuck in his climbing ring on the front! He was OK on the climbs but had to do some crazy spinning on the flats to keep up. He had to spend most of the day drafting behind the rest of his teammates to not get left behind.

All the San Diego riders gathered about 3-miles before the finish line and rode in 60-riders strong in a double pace-line and crossed the finish line together. It was a very special moment. Somehow, possibly due to fatigue, I managed to not take a single photo of myself with my medal or at the finish line. You'll just have to trust me.

I rode the 1/2-mile or so back to the hotel and after a short rest and a quick shower, it was off to the Victory Party to load up on the food. Amazingly, we got a big group out on the dance floor whooping it up to the likes of Kool and the Gang, KC and the Sunshine Band and other disco favorites. I had my first beer (ok, several beers) in a month and generally had a great time. As typical, they had to kick San Diego off the dance floor at the end of the party so a bunch of us continued on to Cabo Wabo, a local casino dance club and kept going for another couple of hours. Really fun.

TnT comprised ~1,800 of the ~3,400 total riders and raised over 8.5 Million dollars for the event. They also raised 12.5 Million at the Rock 'n Roll Marathon in San Diego the same day, so 21 Million total. Not a bad day's work.

Special thanks to my baby, Christine who went above and beyond the call of duty. She got up at the crack of dawn to ride out to Emerald Bay at mile 11, before the roads were shut down, to take beautiful photos of us and carry our sweaty cycle clothes once it warmed up. She spent the entire day on the course supporting our Team including at mile 80 on Spooner.

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.

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.

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.

The next big thing...

is my new bike! I'm now the proud owner of a 2007 Lemond Versaille road bike. Christine and I tested a bunch of different models and brands while we searched for the perfect bike do our next TnT event. We are going to be riding our new bikes 100 miles at the, (and I quote) America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. Take a look at this Map. Crazy. We looked at a lot of brands including Giant, Trek, Specialized, Scattante, and Bianchi. I also looked at Fuji and Schwinns. The Lemond was the one that I liked the best and it was on sale. Not bad when you can get a $2,100 bike for $1300. It's purty...see














I picked it up late Friday night after getting "fitted" by one of the bike technicians at the bike store. First step was to buy pedals and shoes. It's important because the height of the shoes and the position of the clips affects the position of the rider on the bike. Next step is to adjust the height and lateral position of the seat. Then they look at the position of the rider in relation to the position of the cranks. It's best to have your knee be 1 tiny centimeter behind the crank to be in the optimum driving position so that you don't waste energy pushing out on the pedal when you should be pushing down. The final step involves positioning of the handlebars and sometimes swapping out the top stem so that the rider isn't so stretched out reaching for the bars. Of course with so many variables, one item affects the others so it ends up being an interative process. After about an hour, I was all set but it was too dark to ride!

Christine and I got to the bike store way too late so consequently, she wasn't able to get fitted on her bike. I was pretty bummed because we had planned our first ride at Lake Miramar the next morning. Sadly it was not to be. So we ate some pho.

















I took my new baby out for a ride on Saturday afternoon. I had planned a ride around Lake Miramar because it is pretty flat and is exactly a 5-mile loop. Geared up and took a ride. It was awesome. The bike is so fast and light. Spec says that it is less than 18 lbs! Damn, my dumbells at home weigh more than that. Using the clip pedals and shoes took a bit of getting used to but not too bad. 5-Miles came too soon so I decided to take another 5, making a total of 10-miles.

Good times.

I would have kept going but the next day was the Carlsbad 1/2 marathon.