Cancellara Descending - Poetry at High Speed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgVmq4UBJs4

Fabian Cancellara is not only the World Time Trial champion he goes downhill like a bullet, enjoy.

Kilkare, Because It's There

I just love the Kilkare ride. This time I was able to ride it with Ross, Ray, and Lin of the TNT-Marin/Moab team. I managed to get in some extra miles with Bob beforehand and then tacked some on at the back in order to ride home.

We all rode together from Shannon Park out to Kilkare and once we got there Ross and I rode with Ray. He really seems to enjoy riding and we all rode comfortably together. I think Ross just let Ray and I keep up. Hold out, maybe Ray and Ross just let me keep up because Ray was really spinning like Lance Armstrong... just like Ross does! I felt a bit like the Jan Ullrich of the bunch turning the pedals at only around 70 revs per minute as these two made the cranks fire like a sewing machine.

All in all, we had a great ride and the Mavic Ksyrium wheels John gave me really feel good and the stiffness makes for a solid ride. I also like how free and easy the wheels turned with smooth "new" bearings.

Well, Thursday was an off day and I am still not sure what to do with Friday. I may try a bit of soccer, but we will have to see based on the weather and my sanity level.

Cheers!

Lafayette Heat - Monday, July 12

Monday was the first day back from my Death Ride adventure and I figured I better get some miles in since I only did two passes. So, I went ahead and emailed my compadres John and Mark and out we went for a ride.

We rolled from San Ramon out to Lafayette and, ok, it was hot. I am not sure if it was 100, but my guess is that 'Yes' is the answer. The only reason I didn't know was because I refused to look prior to leaving work. I take this approach because sometimes "knowing" clouds my judgment. For example, I might have decided not to go if I realized it was triple-digit hot.

As it turned out, we had a good ride despite the heat. We moderated the pace and enjoyed conversation as we rode. It was good to see Mark on the bike because he had taken a bad fall just awhile back and separating his shoulder and just generally beating himself up.

I particularly liked the part of the ride where we blasted right by this inconsiderate cyclist who had nearly hit us as we travelled through central Lafayette. He was totally discourteous, endangering us so it was good to "smoke" this guy on the short climb up to Glorietta.

Today's photo is of Mark and John.

Death Ride Day - 2009

Wow, I can't believe July 11 is here. I am excited and a bit apprehensive at the same time. Excited because the last two times I began training in an attempt to complete my second Death Ride I got injured. The first time I managed to tear my quad just 2 1/2 months out from the event day. In 2007, I had to bail out after two surgeries on my knee. It was good to be healthy in 2009. My apprehension stemmed from the fact that while I was back on the bike and healthy I had not done any climbing that remotely resembled Death Ride passes.

Since my mountain training was a bit sparse, I thought it best to keep my goals for event day modest. As I told John, if I was able to complete one pass I would feel blessed and two would put a big grin on my face. Of course, in the back of my mind I was hoping for all five passes (realistic or not).

The alarm rang at 2:50 in the morning. Good God, what the hell is that sound? I am totally disoriented. It seems to take me an eternity to find the bloody BlackBerry to initially disarm the thing with the first 10 minute snooze. Our plan is to leave at 4 am and start by 4:30. I finally drag my sorry, what the heck am I doing self, out of bed and stumble upstairs to down a bagel with peanut and a banana along with some orange juice. I still can't believe how early it is right now.

John and I head outside load the bikes and head for Markleeville. On arrival I can't believe how many folks are here at this godforsaken hour. The last time I started at 5:30 and even then it didn't seem crowded like it was in Woodfords five miles from the start line. I must still be delirious and not realize it.

5am - we role! OMG, we crest the smallest grade in memory and my lungs are screaming at me. What a mess, thankfully, the others in the line are laughing and joking about the same thing - no oxygen. We role through Markleeville and the weather is absolutely perfect. Any second now I will have to bid my fast friend, John, aka "C2K", adieu and pedal up Monitor alone.

On the front side I feel pretty good. I am only moderately tired. Who knows, maybe the base fitness I garnered from the TNT Tahoe season will be enough to carry me over the passes with no climbing prep. Mentally, I am feeling good when they slap the first sticker on my top tube along the five from before.

I descend to the second sticker pick-up and turn around and head up the backside of Monitor. Ok, after about a two miles I am really starting to feel tired... this is so not good. Still, I am within my heart rate zone and I am turning the pedals. However, those pedals are really moving slowly. The cadence is about 50 and I am not even catching the tandem in front me. What is going on here? About mile 4 of the ascent my legs are considering checking out. I decide to get off the bike in the shade and rest for a few minutes. I get back on the bike and I am hopeful that this is just an aberration and my legs will come back. I slog on another 3 miles or so and I stop at the water stop for an extended period in a second effort to recover in the shade. About ten minutes later I am off again, but my legs are seriously only phoning the pedaling in now. The speed is now around 3-4 mph.

I am now beginning to wonder how the pedals are getting turned at all now. It is now pretty clear to me that five passes are out of the question. I am beginning to wonder if I can even get to Ebbetts let alone make to the top... once!

Alright, the legs have now told me the game is up. I have to make a third stop about 1 1/2 miles from the Monitor summit. My legs are utterly destroyed. I am glad to have made it this far. I suppose that I will now have to come back next year and tackle the beast again after undertaking the same climbing program I used the first time around.

Still, the good news is that the knee held up and was virtually pain-free despite the stresses put on it over 20 miles of mountain pass climbs. My mind and spirit were also great even after deciding to "pull the plug" on the ride. I have to admit it was good to just be out there. I didn't even realize how pretty everything was the first time I rode.

******************
*** Postscript ***
******************

While I didn't get my second five pass day I had a great time and I also got to help my friend John complete the ride. As John was having a fantastic day, it almost came apart on Carson when he broke a spoke 2 miles below Picketts. The good news is that we both ride Campy 10 speeds and I was able to give him my rear wheel for the final climb and his third five pass completion. I may not have been able to wear the "Finisher's" jersey in 2009, but my domestique work got someone else to the top.

Photos: The Death Ride "Welcome" sign and me on the top of Monitor Pass.

Why Bother....?

Well, John and drove up to Tahoe in preparation for the 2009 Death Ride today. The trip was uneventful except for Alex's cousin Abby not being able to direct us around her own town (which was really funny).

On arrival, we decided to take a prep ride before the Death Ride the next morning. So, I figured we would challenge ourselves to go down the street to the stop sign and then turn around. Since this 400 yard jaunt seemed pretty short we turned around and rode up the street until the gradient hit about 2% and then retreated to the house to carbo load. The total ride distance probably didn't exceeed 1000 yars.

What a riot...

The photo was taken at 4:45 in Woodfords prior the start of the Death Ride.

An Uneventful Ride

I know I rode Thursday, but I really can't remember anything about the ride. I suppose everything from Thursday morning to Saturday at 3:00 am is pretty much a blur. I hope I had fun on the bike - I usually do, so I suppose it was a good ride.

Ok, the Hooters' photo exists merely because John keeps giving me a hard time about how the wings made me sick last time we went there -- why I think that is funny is beyond me.

Sunday Series #2

We finally had that second 'Sunday Series' ride and it was a blast. The turnout was excellent as well. The following riders took part from left to right in the bottom right photo: Steve Z, Fredsky, Sheila, Sabrina, Brett, Doug, Jeff, David Z, and John B (taking the picture).

The ride took us from San Ramon to Castro Valley, up Redwood Road, through Moraga, and ultimately back to San Ramon. The ride also featured a stop at the Si Si's coffee shop where we all got something to eat and I enjoyed a double espresso (the ride sure was easier after that).

We totalled about 50 miles and ended the ride on my driveway eating watermelon, grapes, and drinking soda. All and all it was a pretty great time, thanks everyone!

The Last Challenge

Well, the Wednesday "Mentor Group" ride was the last one of consequence before the Death Ride. As a result, John, Lili, Paul, and I headed out to Kilkare.

The weather was great and we all took turns leading the paceline out to Kilkare. It was really great to head out for a ride. Once we got to Sunol both Lili and Paul headed back as they had appointments at around 7pm. After they left, John and I took on Kilkare. As John had only just returned from the Ukraine he was taking it easy. I decided to put a bit of an effort in to build some confidence in prior to Saturday's alpine challenge. By the end of the ride, we had traveled just under 40 miles and I had gone up Kilkare 1 1/2 times.... maybe Death Ride is doable with no real hill training.

Today's photo is off my friend and 2009 TNT Tucson mentor, John Corden.

Rest Day

The sheer bliss of doing nothing and really not caring.

Welcome Back C2K!

Today was the day to welcome John back to the local ride circuit. This past weekend, he measured Kaiser's 155 miles and ceaseless, steep climbs and then got the job done. His return had us taking a 40 mile recovery ride from San Ramon up to Lafayette and back.

Of course, a recovery ride for John is still enough to beat me up. Of course, I did my best to keep up (in combination with begging him to slow down). Thankfully, I chose a flat course. We averaged about 16 mph and had our usual good time.

We also began talking about what we are going to do for Death Ride. My choice, of course, would be to wait until Monitor and Ebbetts open to vehicle traffic and then just drive all the passes with the bike in the back. Of course, I doubt that John is going to allow me this out. I suppose I will have to attempt some of the passes under my own power. We will have to see how it goes. My guess is that I have 3 passes in me; however, life is funny so I am not discounting any possible outcome. I mean how can you when the day is going to start at 4:30 am!

http://www.deathride.com/

The "snap" is the logo from this years Death Ride.

Moab/Marin Mentor Ride #2

Well, we had our second Moab/Marin Wednesday "Mentor Ride". Both Lili and Ray came to the ride and we rode for about 90 minutes at between 12-13 mph. The ride was Lili's second and Ray's first. The weather was absolutely perfect and we did a loop within San Ramon and Danville. It is really good to have the season underway and fun to see people starting to come out for the rides. I guess I am going to have to get the Blackberry camera out and start taking some pictures.

The tour is coming so a picture of George and Lance seems right. I hope they both kick ass in the 2009 TdF.

Sunday Roasting

Ok, I don't know what I was thinking (go figure). The temps were in the triple digits and I still got on the bike and rode. Of course, at least I had the sense after 15 miles to call it a day. I will testify to only this - riding was not fun. Usually the shower and cool-down are mere afterthoughts/necessities; however, with this ride they were the best part of the day by far.