Oh, my

I am not quite sure what came over me tonight. I rode with the Valley Spokesman on the T 'n T ride and I was really looking forward to going fast. Thankfully, the group never lets me down. As usual, the fast men hammered up the first climb on eastbound Old Ranch Road and our portion of the group didn't see them again until the light at Crow Canyon Road and Dougherty. When I say "saw", I mean, of course, from a distance.

It was great to have my friend, John Brain, on the ride tonight. Since the group split, we were able to ride on the front quite a bit and drove a pretty good pace. He is a serious animal himself and always pushes me to work that little bit harder. (I plan to pay that bill tomorrow.) Even without the speed merchants, it was still a primarily big ring event on most of the ride... even a couple of the climbs (an unusual addition to the ride). It was also great to have Peg and Denise there as well. The start included Ross, but he is one of "them", defined as people who can, and do, ride really, really fast.

All in all, it was a fantastic outing and it is all in the service of great causes - The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Best Buddies.

Today's image is of the finish line from the 'Dot Racing' at MacAfee Coliseum from this Sunday's 7-1 winning effort against the defending AL Champion, Tampa Bay Rays. It is an homage to racing in general since each ride with Valley Spokesman is like a race just as we race to find cures for cancer.

Oh, who won? The 'Red' dot which is the dot I pick everytime. I have no idea what happened to the 'White' dot. I suppose he faded in the stretch.

Old Tunnel Road

I had a great but chilly ride up Old Tunnel Road today with Coach Cliff and Vivek. I felt good climbing up Old Tunnel in the middle ring. It was nice of Cliff to go slow and chat with me the whole way. Once we reached the top we headed up to the 'Steam Trains' before turning around. Even the moderate grades required some effort on both the uphill and downhill because the was wind really blowing.

At first I thought I would ride up Old Tunnel again, but once I reached the bottom through all that shade I was really cold and the car was way too inviting, so home I went. Still, I had a good time out there (of course, I will bring warmer clothes for next time and start earlier).

The photo from my Blackberry is of the view after having climbed Old Tunnel and crossed and climbed above Fish Ranch Road.

Fun With Fast Kids

Ok, it is clear that my cycling sickness is progressing. I am getting a kick out of getting pounded by the fast kids of the Valley Spokesman. Not only am I showing up for the rides, I am making an effort to stay with the fast folks (at least at some level). Today's ride averaged 17 mph with stops. Translation: since the group stops and waits a couple times, the actual ride pace is much, much quicker. I am using these rides as my only form of interval training. For example, how often do you find yourself sitting second behind a tandem at 28 mph when they wave you through. I guess in my case once is a enough. When they pulled off I couldn't hold the 28 mph (after all I am not a machine or a tandem), but I did manage 25 mph for about 1 1/2 miles and no one complained that I was going to slowly.

I guess I have to ride a bit more slowly now. I suppose that means I must ride uphill. Mount Diablo here I come!

The picture above is the reservoir along Calaveras. As you can see from the picture it is very serene and calming. As such, it provides the perfect counterpoint to the struggle inherent in trying to keep up on Valley Spokesman T 'n T rides.

Calveras 'Buddy Ride'

Wow, it was a blast to ride the 60 mile 'Buddy Ride' put together by Scott this weekend. I was able to talk with a lot of different people along the route. I am not quite sure how it ended up happening, but I rode the Kilkare portion of the ride with Dennis' team. Well, all except the last 1/4 where I decided that discretion was the better part of valor from a heartrate perspective. Even so, the effort took a good amount out of me as I rode the Calaveras rollers. However, my conditioning is improving because "The Wall" at Calaveras was bad, but not horrible as it had been the first time.

Once I reached the top, I rode the reverse rollers back with David, Joe, and Dana. It was great that these fast guys let this slow old mentor tag alone the rest of the way. After we descended Calaveras we got into a paceline and basically hammered the flats all the way back to Pleasanton BART. Of course, we did make one stop. At the turn for Pleasanton we saw Dennis' speed demons and started talking with them. However, the best part of the conversation was the strawberry Dennis gave each of us. It was so the perfect treat at the just the proper moment. I washed mine down a 1/3 of a can of Coke and Dana, Joe, and David has popsicles to supplement their strawberry.

From this point, we added Coach Cliff and mentor Jeff Gasparitsch to our legion for a 6-man paceline. We were really rolling now. It was no time before we were back at Pleasanton BART.

Post-ride David and I headed to Val's in Castro Valley for the some of the world's best hamburgers and shakes and we were not let down. Of course, I couldn't move for the next few hours, but it was worth.

Thankfully, the ride did not really do me in and I could easily have ridden longer. Life is good in the TNT saddle let us hope it continues.

Way Too Fast...

The Valley Spokesman Tuesday and Thursday rides are getting faster and faster. Yesterday, it felt like everytime I looked at the speed we were traveling between 22 and 25 mph. On the grades it was slightly slower between 16 and 18 mph. All of these ranges are above what I normally do. Still, I slugged it out for the duration until my derailleur started to act cranky when going into the big ring. Normally, if I am not on the big ring it doesn't matter. However, the ride yesterday was pretty much a big ring only affair. The shifting got really sketchy and so did my ability to hold on with about 3 miles to go. Still, I would have made it if I could have just reached the big ring one more time before Dublin Blvd. Instead, the bike would not cooperate and I missed the light and with it my chances to continue to hang tenuously on the back the pack.


Today, I am paying the price a bit for the effort. My legs have been sore most of the day. I suppose it didn't help that I did intervals the day before and then rode with these animals the next day. Still, it was a lot of fun (more so now than on the bike working to avoid hypoxia). I really hope they don't get much faster. If they do, I will have to eat even more Wheaties, drop weight, and get a tow rope affixed to one of these speed merchants. Of course, I do know that rides like this one will make me stronger for Tahoe and Death Ride.

Today's photo shows me in my Valley Spokesman get up and is offered up in homage to the speed demons and with the hope that next week is just a pinch slower.... fat chance. LOL

Will I be back next week.... but, of course. :-)

Intervals

Well, today's ride was fun in a kind of sick way. Since I didn't have too much time Bob and I decided to basically turn a 25 mile route into an intervals ride. We were pretty tired by the end of the ride, but it will be worth it come event day. The plan is to make sure we have at least one interval day a week from here until the Tahoe ride.

Recovery... I think not

Well, today it was hot, hot, hot, but Ross and I still made a go of it on the roads of the TriValley in support of LLS. We rode 25 miles at around 17 mph. Ok, we said it was going to be a recovery ride, but I never ride that fast so what happened? I don't really know, but I am glad I have a couple days to recover before the next ride.

I figure a "Palm Springs" ride jersey can serve as a reminder of how hot it was out there today. :-)

TNT #6 Stafford Lake

Alright, the sun finally made its way out in full force. Our ride and post-ride Honoree potluck at Stafford Lake were blessed with an abundance of sunshine, good spirit, and 55 challenging miles. It was really great for me to be back in the saddle after missing a week of training and a 'Buddy Ride' due to vacation.

It was really great to be back in Novato and reaquaint myself with Wilson Hill and the rollers. (It was also nice to not have to climb the Marshall Wall). Our group showed a lot of team spirit throughout the ride.

The temperatures made the ride a bit challenging and we all had to make sure to continue drinking throughout as Coach Doug had warned in his preparation team email. I think I got my hydration pretty close to right, but I will have to do better once the rides get a bit longer.

The post-ride potluck was, as always, fantastic and it was great to see Stu again. I couldn't help but remember back to 2005 training for the El Tour de Tucson and riding up the final climb past Nicasio with him.

I am really looking forward to this week's rides and next weekend's 'Buddy Ride'. I just hope it is close to my house. :-)

Cheers and Go Team!!!!

Vacation Come and Gone

Well, the 'Mancation' has come and gone. We managed 6 ballparks in 6 days and had a great time. Of course, the diet during that time wasn't so stellar, but I suppose that sometimes you have to make trade-offs. As a representation of our trip, I am merely going to post the caps from the home teams of the six parks we visited.

Getting Faster

Yesterday, I didn't have much time to ride because I had to run to the airport to pick up my wife. So, I figured I would go ahead and pick a flat route where I could kind of just "air out" my legs. The ride turned out pretty well because, despite the serious wind, I managed to maintain a speed of 15.4 mph for 23 mph.

Beyond the stats and wind there wasn't too much to say for this ride. In fact, I didn't even see the turkeys on Stage Coach Road. However, I was feeling really good the whole time. I hope the extended time off the bike for the next 10 days doesn't damage my training too much. Still, I can't wait to go see six baseball games in seven days with my friend, 'The Chief'.

Today's picture is an homage to Chelsea who play Liverpool in the Champions League tomorrow. Go Ya' Blues!!!

Team Ride #5 - Danville

We had a fantastic 53 mile ride from Danville's Monte Vista high school this Saturday. It was great to get out for a ride with everyone again after having to bail out in Point Reyes. The weather was absolutely perfect just a bit windy in Livermore as always. I am going to have to add this ride to my training regimen. It can be ridden at a good hard steady pace. The only issue is the fact that a lot of traffic uses certain parts of the route.

After the ride, we had a BBQ at the house and a number of my mentor group stopped by. David was running the grill and we all ate like pigs (or cyclists). The menu included chicken, burgers, Caspar's hot dogs, chips, salads, brownies, fruit, beer, and soda.

We all had a chance to hang out and talk cycling and TNT. We also spent a bit of time watching the semi-finals of the NCAA Men's Tourney where UConn (my pick to win it all) went down to Michigan State who in turn got throttled by UNC in the final last night.

I am going to miss the next 'Buddy Ride', but I can't wait to get back and ride at Stafford Lake (even with the long drive).

Go Team!

The Windy City Ride

If the Tri-Valley is anything distinctive in the afternoon it is windy. It is so windy that from time to time I use this wind as a surrogate for hill training. Instead to heading up the "big block of granite", as Rich so eloquently calls Mount Diablo, you can just head south to Pleasanton/Dublin/Livermore and get nearly blown off your bike in any direction. Yes, it doesn't matter what direction you are traveling in the wind will never be from the back. Go ahead, I challenge someone to get on a bike and prove me wrong. If you can, please let me know precisely where it happened. I want to feel it for myself.

Today, Ross, Bob, and I rode. It was kind of an eclectic route that made up of wind, some climbing, and a lot of turns "just because". The end result was around 35 miles and a really good time for all of us. Sadly, Bob got a flat at mile 33, but by then we were pretty much done.

I can't wait for this weekend's TNT ride in Danville and the post-ride BBQ at my house. Life really doesn't get too much better.