A Thank You Letter to Bell Sports...

It’s funny that in last week’s crash, I was immediately aware of the broken collarbone and the copius amounts of road rash that I had sustained. The interesting thing is, that until I was in the ER and the doctor looked at my head, I didn’t even realize that I had a pretty significant scrape and hefty little lump on the right side of my head just above and behind the eye socket.

Later as I looked at my helmet, it dawned on me that had I not been wearing it, the outcome of the incident could have been much different.  And for that I want to thank Bell Helmets.

For the past several years, I’ve worn a Bell Alchera helmet.  It’s a great combination of price and value.  My first one was a black, carbon fiber looking one that I got at Performance Bike for about 50 bucks.  It fit my head well and it has a really nice retntion system that allows you to loosen or tighten it with a knob on the back.

After a few years and several thousand miles, the foam pads on the inside began to fall out.  Pretty sure the amount of sweat I produce had something to do with this and seeing as even trying to glue them in with a hot melt glue gun failed to hold, I decided to replace it.  It just so happens I also had gotten a new bike and wanted a helmet to match the color scheme I had going.....

So, off to Performance again and this time home with the exact same helmet, but in blue and white and with all the foam pads intact.  Amazingly, after 2 1/2 years, the price was still the same at around $50 bucks.

As I sit here and type this, looking at the photos of my helmet post-crash, it dawns on me just how thankful I am to Bell Sports for the Alchera Helmet.  It's a product that not only fits my head well, but offers a secure and easy to adjust retention system, great venting to keep my head cool and is available at a price that won't break the bank.  Add to all tha, the fact that I can still eat solid food and remember my name after putting it to the test and Bell has a customer for life.

This thing does exactly what it's supposed to do and at a fair price.....I'm not sure if I'll replace it with another Alchera or upgrade to one of the new swoopier, fancy models, I do know though, that I will alway wear a Bell Helmet.

Thank you Bell Sports!

The ER….

After meeting me on Redwood Rd and loading both me and the bike into the back of Michelle’s car, we dropped Michelle off at the parking lot where I left the truck so that she could take that home while Deb took me over to the ER to have my shoulder looked at.

One of the things I hate most about cycling is the clothing that road cyclists wear.  I completely understand the reason and purpose of the spandex shorts with their built in chamois and I’m totally sold on wearing them when I ride.  I enjoy the comfort the lightweight nylon jerseys provide and appreciate the pockets in the back where I can stash my gels and snacks.  What I don’t like is wearing them when I’m more than 10 ft away from the bike.  I feel self conscious and somewhat silly.  The shorts and jerseys are tight and with my middle-aged physique the jersey ends up looking like I’ve shoved 10 pounds of pork into a 5 lb sausage sleeve.  As a matter of fact, I always wear baggy shorts over them if there’s any chance I’ll have to be seen in public off the bike.

Today, of course was an exception.  I left my house in my spandex.  I planned on doing the ride, getting back in my truck and going home.  No side trips, no going out in public and no reason for anyone to see me off the bike…..Obviously that plan went out the window as soon as I crashed and now here I am, standing in the ER in shredded spandex and a ruined bike jersey.

Luckily at 9:00 on a Saturday morning, the ER isn’t quite in full swing yet and they got me registered and in process pretty quickly.  I went to x-ray where they took pictures of my shoulder, my ribs and my collarbone.  Everything looked good except of the course the collarbone.

From x-ray, they took me in to a room where I met with the doctor who not only showed me the x-ray, but provided a print out that I could save for future bragging rights.  Unfortunately this is also where I met the nurse that was going to clean out the road rash on my knee.

She was young and cute and seemed like a nice enough person….right up until she grabbed the sponge and water bottle that she used in the dark art of torture that she practiced…oh sure, she kept apologizing and tried to appear sincere, but I could tell that for some reason she hated me and wanted to see me cry….I didn’t of course, because I’m tougher than that…..ok, it’s possible I whimpered a bit, but I did it in a very manly way.

After what seemed like a full day of the Spanish Inquisition but was probably less than 10 minutes, she covered the wounds, the doctor deemed me fit and sent me home to begin my rest and recuperation period.

For anyone that knows me, you’ll understand when I say this is going to be the toughest part of the whole process for me.  I’m not really good at sitting still.  As a matter of fact, if I’m not sleeping, I prefer to be in motion.  The whole idea of spending the weekend laying on the couch would be like a prison sentence…..a sentence I have a feeling I’m going to be enduring for at least a couple of weeks…..

uh oh....crap...ouch.....

I was in the beginning stages of what was looking like it was going to be a great ride....I left the house at 7:00, got to the parking lot, unloaded and was on my bike beginning my ride by 7:30. It was cool, but not cold and traffic heading up Redwood Rd at this time on a Saturday morning was light.

As I passed the golf course and began the climb, I felt great! I hadn't been on a long ride in a few weeks and it felt good to be back on the road bike and riding alone on a beautiful morning. The climb up Redwood can either be a joy or a suffer-fest depending on my mood and current level of fitness. This morning, it went by really quickly and although I pushed the pace, I never once felt like I might blow up. The backside down to Pinehurst is a nice reward for the effort spent climbing and as I made the turn, I know it was going to be a great day!  The climbs were pushing my heart rate to the redline, but the descents and flats left me feeling good and I seemed to be recovering quickly.

My goal had been to meet Jerry and his group at the Orinda BART station or if my pace was off, then to run onto them somewhere between there and the top of Pinehurst.  I hammered the first climb on Pinehurst as hard as I could without exploding and as I got to the top, I was still feeling really good. I sat up and crusied throught the short flat section, finished off my first water bottle and got ready for my reward.....the narrow, fast downhill section on Pinehurst....

The first few turns were everything I expected. No cars, copius amounts of sunshine and me tucking my shoulder into every corner....the bike disappeared beneath me as I railed from corner to corner....I looked down and saw my speed was just over 25 mph. Fast but not a ridiculous downhill pace....What a great ride this was....and then all of a sudden it wasn't.....

In the blink of an eye, I had gone from leaned over and enjoying the grip provided by my Pro Race 3's to sliding across the road on my side to tumbling in the dirt of the far shoulder. As I stood to begin the inspection of both my body and my bike, another cyclist rode up to see if I was ok. As he helped me assess the damage I realized that in addition to quite a bit of road rash my right shoulder and collar bone were both feeling a little out of whack. I was almost afraid to look inside my jersey for fear of seeing a bone sticking out.....luckily that wasn't the case, but I could definitely tell it was broken.

Thankfully, once I got up and got myself together, I checked to find that I had cell service. This was surprising actually since I was out in the middle of the hills between Oakland and Orinda and nprmally don't have great coverage in this area.  After calling Jerry to let him know I wouldn't be meeting up with him, I called my wife and asked her and my daughter to start out towards Redwood Rd to meet up and pick me up.

As I pedaled back up Pinehurst, down the other side, then up Redwood,  I had time to think about how quickly things went from great to not so great and exactly what had gone wrong. I had worn my helmet, my bike was in top working order, I had definitely been going fast downhill, but felt completely comfortable and within my abilities.....the only thing I couldn't and didn't plan on was the gravel in the corner.

Could I have been seriously injured? Sure. If someone had been driving up the road as I slid across or had I been further down the hill and slammed into one of the large redwoods lining the road, or I could have not been wearing my helmet... things could have definitely ended badly.

But to be perfectly honest, I don't think there's anything I could have done differently to prevent the crash. Sure I could have stayed home in bed and prevented the entire event, but I think that to avoid anything you enjoy because you're afraid of getting hurt is a sad way to go through life.

Living is risky, that's the just the nature of it.

One of my all time favorite quotes is by Helen Keller that says: Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure.

The Taste of Failure...

Today, I was entered in to the Howell Mountain Challenge Mt Bike race. Without making excuses, I haven't  been riding as much as I should have been for a 20+ mile mt bike race and to be perfectly honest, I probably took it too lightly....

Afterall, I did an almost 50 mile road bike ride last weekend with some decent climbing and felt great....the truth though is that mountain biking and road biking, other than both being done on bicycles, have absolutely nothing in common.

For today's race, I had entered the Sport Class Single Speed division which is the same group
I had entered in the Sea Otter Classic back in April.....unfortunately for me, that was also the last time I had ridden 20 miles on the mountain bike.

For anyone that has ridden both road and mountain bikes, you understand the difference between the two....I compare the road bike to running long distance and the mountain bike to running wind sprints. Neither one is easy, both take training, good cardio fitness and strong legs....the mountain bike though, in my opinion is harder.....much harder....so hard that todays ride left me cramping and sore and wondering what the heck I was doing out there....

All of my non-excuses are leading up to what you've probably already figured out...I didn't do well today in the race....not only did I not do well, I DNF'd....after 10 miles of some steep ups and downs, amazing single track and more than a couple walking my bike sections, I came to the decision point where I could either turn right and do the second lap or turn left and call it a day.....yep...I turned left....the direction back to the beginning....the direction of failure

I don't race competitively, I don't get paid for riding my bike and today was just supposed to be fun....so why does it leaves such a crappy taste in my mouth that I DNF'd? Is it because I should have taken it more seriously and trained harder? Is it because I quit before riding to the point of failure like a real racer would have? Is it because I had to explain to everyone we talked to afterwards that I didn't finish?

Actually, it's all of those things....but even more, its because I let my ego lead me directly to this failure... I seriously thought I had this in the bag. I felt like I was in good enough shape that I could roll out of bed, show up for a tough 20+ mile mountain bike race and fake it well enough to pull off a respectable finish....

Sure I could have entered in the Class 3 group and my time of 1:17 probably would have netted me 4th place....but I didn't. I didn't think I needed to do that....I thought I was much better than I am at this point in the season....

So, what does failure taste like....it tastes a lot like humble pie....

The Death Ride…..version 2011

It can’t really be 4 am already can it?  As I lay in my sleeping bag in the pitch dark of early morning I hear zippers from the other tents and rustling as others in our group begin to move….

Finally, realizing that, unfortunately, it must be time to get up, I look out the tent and see lights and movement over by the picnic table. Bob and Leticia are already up and making coffee....(I LOVE these people…almost as much as I love coffee)

After a breakfast of oatmeal, a banana and a cup of coffee to wash down a couple enduralytes, we loaded up and drove down to town to begin the day’s festivities. Our goal was to begin pedaling at 5am and we were almost right on time. Bob and Leticia started off while Troy, Bill and I finished getting ready.

The advantage to starting in town as opposed to up at Turtle rock is that it’s cold in the morning and you eliminate the first downhill section where last year I froze my butt off. Granted, it’s still cold and you’re still an hour or so from sunrise, but at least you’re not going 30 mph in the dark, with a puny little headlight and shivering….

We met up with Bob and Leticia before we came to the bottom of Monitor and were able to chat and talk with everyone as we hadn’t started the slip into oxygen deprivation soon to come. As soon as we made the left turn, the sound of hundreds of derailleurs clicking surrounded us like a bunch of cowboys getting ready for a gunfight and the joking and chatter came to an abrupt halt….replaced I guess, by the need to suck in as much air as possible.

Monitor Pass…The climb from the turn to the top of Monitor is just about 9 miles and gains about 3,000ft of elevation. With grades that range from 7-10% it’s funny to see a 5% grade on your Garmin and think of it as a section for resting your legs during the climb. The further up the hill we went the closer we got to sunrise and as we came towards the summit the vistas opened up reminding us of the sheer enormity and beauty of God’s creation.

As I pedaled up the hill mostly hanging out and chatting with the other voices inside my head, it was easy to forget that there were over 3000 riders in the event. At the top though, as I looked into the distance, and saw bikers stretched out towards the horizon I was quickly reminded that I wasn’t alone.

The east side of Monitor pass provides a view into Nevada that is the complete opposite of the road we had just climbed. Where the California side is lush and green and covered with trees, the Nevada side is strictly high desert. Still beautiful and amazing in its own way of course, but different…

BTW - the sign at the top of Monitor looks a LOT like a tombstone....I'm just sayin....

For the next 9 miles I was torn between enjoying the amazing downhill and agonizing over the fact that what goes down, must eventually come back up. As I wove and worked my way down, passing and being passed by the other riders, I tried to block out all thoughts of the climb to come and focus instead on the enjoyment that comes with descending a closed road, in good condition surrounded by amazing scenery.

Soon enough though, the turn around point was in front of me and as I regrouped with Bill, Leticia, and Troy. We also ran into Dwight who’s buddy Dave was somewhere well ahead of us all.  Having forgotten my under helmet head covering,  I went off in search of sunblock for my dome. The funny thing is that as I was slathering it on, another follically-challenged guy came up commented on what a good idea it was and did the same thing. No sense getting the silly looking sunburn from the vents in my helmet…..been there, done that.

As we started the climb back up the east side of Monitor, I actually felt pretty good.  It was definitely getting warmer and with no shade, I managed to empty both bottles before the halfway point where the Boy Scouts were manning the refill station, but all in all I felt ok.

I wasn’t fast by any means, but as long as I maintained my pace and kept my heart rate under control, I felt good. Hopefully this would continue.

The downhill on the west side of Monitor is by far one of the best downhill sections I’ve ever ridden. The road is in excellent shape, the turns are wide open and you have great visibility. Add to that the incredible vistas and 9 miles with no cars to worry about and you have cycling nirvana. Troy was right on my wheel as we ripped down this section and although we got caught behind some slower riders in a couple sections, we pretty much let gravity dictate our pace. I saw 45 a couple of different times, but to be honest, I really didn’t want to look down at the GPS since the road was going by really fast beneath me.

We got to the bottom, regrouped and began the next section of slightly uphill towards Ebbetts Pass. Somewhere on the climb we had gotten separated from Dwight and not knowing how far behind us he was, we motored on. This section follows the Carson River and is just beautiful. Again, though it’s tough to just cruise along and enjoy the scenery when you know that in just a little while, it’s going to get painful….

Leticia had said that once we crossed the cattle guard the “honeymoon would be over” and she wasn’t kidding. From the turnoff up to that point we had been going pretty much uphill non-stop. The cattle guard though is the line in the sand where the mountain declares war on the cyclists….Immediately, the ride goes from a “nice climb” to “oh crap this is hard”. Several times on my GPS I saw 17% and although my legs were still feeling ok, the standing required would immediately push my heart rate into the red zone. Soon enough though, I went from feeling ok, to feeling done. My legs were running out of gas, every extra effort pushed me to the limit and I pretty much just wanted it to be over.

Bill and Leticia decided at the half way point that they felt good and still had another pass in them. Troy, not sure what to expect said he was happy only doing 3 and I knew there wasn’t a 4th pass anywhere in my future today. I’d like to blame the weather but it could just be my lack of commitment, either way I hadn’t trained nearly as much as I’d hoped for this year’s Death Ride and since my longest ride so far this year had been the weekend prior at 74 miles and 7400ft of climbing I was completely satisfied finishing only 3 passes.

As Troy and I headed back down the front side of Ebbetts we had already agreed to take it easy. This is a narrow road with lots of sharp corners and I was amazed at how many people were screaming down the hill, at 30+ mph, riding 2 across when there were still people coming up the hill. After all, it’s not like it’s a race. Is it really worth causing a huge crash to save a few minutes getting to lunch?

Troy and I took our time enjoying the lunch stop. We found a spot at a fairly shady table and relaxed thinking that Dwight would eventually catch up to us. After about 45 minutes though, we decided we’d had enough sitting around and got ready to head out. It’s amazing how good I felt after lunch. Between the nice long rest, the food and the knowledge that we were done, Troy and I set a pretty brisk pace back to town. We had a good paceline going and were cruising along at about 24-26 mph. I’m sure the people we were towing thought we were super human to be pulling them along at this pace, but little did they know we had skipped the 4th pass, were headed back to the barn and were pretty much done for the day.

After getting back to town, it wasn’t too much longer that Bill showed up. He assumed Leticia wasn’t far behind, but after waiting another 30 minutes or so we were getting concerned that she hadn’t made it back. Just as we loaded up and prepared to drive back up the road, we saw her pass, looped back around and met up with her. Turns out she was pretty shaken having seen a really nasty accident coming down the front of Ebbetts. In exactly the manner Troy and I had been discussing, someone flying down the hill had clipped someone going up and several riders ended up down and bloodied…..thankfully, she wasn’t among the carnage but the event shook her up enough that she sat for a while trying to rergroup and had fallen behind.

From there, she went to turtle rock to meet up with Bob who had decided to go for the 5th pass while Troy, Bill and I headed back to camp to clean up before heading over for dinner. After cleaning up, Dwight met up with us and we went to the start area for delicious burritos, live music and some relaxation.

The next morning we all got together for a breakfast of coffee, blackberry pancakes, bacon and eggs. We had after all burned off several thousand calories the day before so we felt we deserved to stuff ourselves silly….at least I did.

Dwight, Troy and I ended up with 3 passes, Bill and Leticia had 4 and Bob and Dave did all 5….

http://app.strava.com/rides/913350

Wow...

It's the week before the Death Ride and I haven't ridden at all....I guess I'll just say I'm tapering...yeah, that's it I'm tapering....
So, since I haven't ridden, I don't have anything exciting to post of my own....

I do though want to share an amazing video put together by Mike Curiak of an adventure he just had up in Alaska...an amazing video of an incredible journey...ENJOY!
http://vimeo.com/25943565

Going to Cramp City....

Leticia, who has single handedly organized more miserably hard, uncomfortable rides than any one else I know, had pulled together yet another doozy of a ride for our last weekend training ride before the Death Ride.

Although this one didn’t have the phrase, Mountain, or Monster or even Death in the title, it was still going to be a long tough ride.  We met up on Canada Rd at 8:15 and weren’t sure whether to bring a jacket or not.  I could tell it was going to be warm but the fog rolling over the top of the hills from the coast had me a bit concerned….in the end I decided to do without and filled my jersey pockets with gels, shot blocks and clif bars. More than I would ever need I was sure…

The ride starts out with a nice warm up along Canada Rd into and through Los Altos.  From there the fun begins as we headed up Old La Honda Rd. Thankfully, it was still pretty early in the day and with all the shade, the climb was tough, but the heat wasn’t too bad. (was that a cramp I just felt in my hamstring?)  Troy and Paciano motored off and as tempted as I was to give chase, I knew we had a long day ahead so I took it pretty easy.
As we got to the top and headed down, the weather remained clear and sunny. The west side of Old La Honda is a fairly fast 2.5 miles downhill and although the road isn’t in great shape, it’s downhill which is always more fun than uphill.

From here we merged with Hwy 84 and enjoyed another fast, swoopy 4 mile section where, according to my garmin, we averaged 25.4 mph before turning off on Pescadero Rd and starting to climb again.

This climb is called Haskins hill, although I have no idea why.  It’s a little shy of 1.5 miles and again, thankfully, is in the shade.  The backside of this is yet another downhill section where the road is in good shape, the traffic is light and our average speed went into the mid to high 20s.  Although it flattens for a while coming in to Pescadero, we took turns pulling and kept our pace high, knowing food was within reach.

We rolled in to town and headed for the Arcangeli Grocery, our usual lunch stop on this route.  In addition to the deli, they have the most amazing treats and locally baked goods in the world.  As we walked in there were two people out front enjoying personal sized Olallieberry pies….I opted for the hubcap sized chocolate chip cookie instead. (no, I didn’t eat all by myself, what kind of glutton do you think I am?)
From here the route goes up Stage Rd which is incredibly hard on a full belly.  It was here with all of my energy focused on digesting my lunch and not heating my body that I began regretting the decision not to bring a jacket, although the climbing warmed us up pretty quickly. (did my calf just twinge?) We hit 84 and headed out to the coast which was cool and breezy. Again, the climbing kept us warm.

Coincidentally, Bob, Leticia’s husband, head domestique and chief mechanic had met up with us at lunch and decided to ride with us the rest of the day.  Lucky thing too since not far up Hwy 1 Leticia flatted.  After we all stood around watching Bob repair a flat faster than a Nascar pit crew we were back on the road and soon turned inland.  Verde Rd connects to Purisma Creek rd which again has a nice little climb before turning back downhill towards the coast again where we rejoined Hwy 1 then again rejoined Verde Rd making a complete loop with the only purpose being that Leticia wanted to make us climb some more...

From Verde Rd things really became “fun” (yes, it’s in quotes because that’s sarcasm) Verde Rd takes you to a nice little section called Lobitos Creek Cutoff which at mile 60+ was a taste of hell for my already tired legs.  This cutoff is only about a half mile climb, but there are sections at the beginning that are 14%.  Eventually the cutoff from hell brings you to Tunitas Creek, the last climb of the day and the one to which I really did not look forward.

Tunitas Creek on a regular Pescadero Loop usually comes at mile 40ish….today, we were way beyond that and had done quite a bit of climbing already so I just plugged in my ipod, put my head down and went to my happy place for the next 7 miles….several times as I stood at particularly steep sections, I could feel my legs begin to twinge with the beginnings of a cramp, but it never actually hit. Thank you Enduralytes!

At the top, Troy noticed that Leticia’s rear tire had a bubble sticking out of the sidewall.  So, in true domestique fashion, Bob not only booted it, but he swapped wheels with her so she wouldn’t have to worry about it on the way down Kings Mountain.

The ride down Kings Mountain and through Los Altos went smoothly.  You could feel the heat building as we descended.  My legs were toast and there was nothing in the tank so when we stopped to turn on to Canada Rd I reached into my pocket for a gel only to realize that, although I had brought more than enough gels, bars and chews, I had gone through every single item.

The last section of Canada Rd is a slight downhill and Bill decided to put the gap on everyone.  I made up my mind to let him go until Troy, Tracy and Leticia went whizzing by and I had to jump on their wheel.  Soon after Troy decided to put the hammer down and I tried to follow….pulling up to the truck as I unclipped, I was thankful to be back….another 100 yards or so and I was sure to have been in cramp-city….all in all another great ride – 74 miles and about 7400ft of climbing….

Strava details - http://app.strava.com/rides/857768