tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47195809818040403022024-03-13T07:52:06.995-07:00OneGearOnlyRandom thoughts on random stuffrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.comBlogger351125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-49143240346566273742022-03-25T13:38:00.001-07:002022-03-25T13:38:18.754-07:00Sunset Ridge Shop Build<p> Well, it's going to happen....</p><p>A couple of years ago we bought our dream retirement home in the foothills. Its a nice house on 6 acres and sits at the top of a hill. The house is oriented lengthwise North-South with a back deck facing East and the front porch facing due West. </p><p>One of our favorite things is to have coffee on the back deck and watch the sunrise and later to have a glass of wine on the front porch to watch the sunset....Hence the name Sunset Ridge.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLseceARxVDSGa0mq7HLxUUfbKyv-mci4bRsq-L7Ur9jAR5Yv7ZGXR8RBuWB96uE-Ws2UQr9iosj_fiVlvvMMP4rDF1Eo5syP0nzKTaBuR3nRmByRn2JKNlZZHIjr9YuAtQ2Q9eqGbhJ9UPQ29i1ccdxUCujwMdIp0hthL8w3bnKCkTsXqlToc-wCY/s4128/sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3096" data-original-width="4128" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLseceARxVDSGa0mq7HLxUUfbKyv-mci4bRsq-L7Ur9jAR5Yv7ZGXR8RBuWB96uE-Ws2UQr9iosj_fiVlvvMMP4rDF1Eo5syP0nzKTaBuR3nRmByRn2JKNlZZHIjr9YuAtQ2Q9eqGbhJ9UPQ29i1ccdxUCujwMdIp0hthL8w3bnKCkTsXqlToc-wCY/s320/sunset.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Over the past 2 years, we've been working on the unfinished basement, clearing the property of manzanita and other overgrown vegetation and a ton of other small projects to make it what we want it to be.</p><p>Last year, we began the planning for a barn/shop on the lower pad below the house. At the time, it was just that. Looking at websites, playing with design software, imagining the look, feel and usage of the space, budgeting estimated costs, etc....pretty much just dreaming.</p><p>Well, this week that all changed from a dream to reality when I put the deposit down on our 32x30 metal barn building. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2_MMlcpIadlQPzbh0zQzTgb0TlKEPXKgUJqXkV5BIKe2ZtQ5mvsexi1e-ig-poTbakf9Q_hKlAuJHTRicJGTU7IDRCnB3GSBt4-v34zPt_pykuymxy3tnFMrmg0DSx3M2LU6A57hmP1soiIro0sSe4qy79WKYKhX2hEdihggUEGxxM_vuEruYQwXl" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="878" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2_MMlcpIadlQPzbh0zQzTgb0TlKEPXKgUJqXkV5BIKe2ZtQ5mvsexi1e-ig-poTbakf9Q_hKlAuJHTRicJGTU7IDRCnB3GSBt4-v34zPt_pykuymxy3tnFMrmg0DSx3M2LU6A57hmP1soiIro0sSe4qy79WKYKhX2hEdihggUEGxxM_vuEruYQwXl" width="320" /></a></div>It's going to be a bit of a process still as we have to wait on engineered plans, then submit to the county for permits, send to concrete contractors for bids and wait for all of the pieces to fall in to place. And while this is all very exciting, waiting has never been one of my strong suits....<p></p><p>Fasten your seatbelts folks, we're in for a bumpy ride......</p><p><br /><br /></p>richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-67489805035462446752022-03-23T08:57:00.002-07:002022-03-23T09:33:45.635-07:00Trying to get back in the groove....<p> So, here we go....</p><p>Its been several years since I've sat down to write and one of my goals this year has been to try to get back in the groove on a regular basis. It's both fun and cathartic and actually allows me to have a conversation with myself without doing it out loud. (People tend to frown on that)</p><p>Between now and August we'll be preparing to finish the renovation of our house in the foothills, finish clearing our land, build a metal barn, quit our jobs, sell our current house and move up the hill full time. Oh yeah, and I'll be having shoulder replacement surgery and we'll both still be working full time until the move....</p><p>I figure my life isn't really that interesting to anyone but me, but some of these projects and changes should provide good content and writing has always been a way for me to work through some of the stress that is sure to come with the changes.</p><p>Where are we currently? </p><p>Well, we're both blessed with good, stable jobs and income which we recognize is not something everyone has. We own a nice home in the SF bay area and a nice home on 6 wooded acres up in the foothills. We're both active and in good health and have families that we actually love hanging out with. We're not young 30-something kids that have the energy to go all day and into the evening, but also not so old that we can't put in a full days work. (with the help of Tylenol of course)</p><p>So, since I'm big on lists here's my current one. (I mean after all, what better way to see how much you're not getting done on a daily basis than to write everything down and not be able to check it off)</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Build metal barn - Technically, its spec, order, prepare for and pay for metal barn installation. Although I think I could bumble my way through a concrete pad and assemble a metal building kit if I was not working full time and had several weeks to figure it out. Right now, its a matter of bandwidth and I have none.</li><ul><li>Decide on size, design, color, doors, windows and a million other little details - CHECK</li><li>Get bids from various vendors, read reviews, check licenses, make decision - CHECK</li><li>Pay deposit - CHECK</li><li>Wait on plans for permits and begin qualifying concrete contractors to bid on pad - PENDING</li><li>Begin permit process</li><li>Finish clearing/grading pad area</li><li>Award/schedule concrete pad install</li><li>Schedule installation</li></ul><li>Start going through/clearing out current house in preparation of move - ONGOING</li><li>Continue working with financial planner to see if we can afford to do what we've already decided to do (yes, we've got this a little backwards, but I think we're ok)</li><li>Itemize list of renovations/work to be done for foothill house to be completed</li><ul><li>New flooring</li><li>Painting of exterior</li><li>Finish clearing of bottom portion of property</li></ul><li>Work through surgery scheduling</li><li>Hire replacement at work and onboard/train</li></ul><div>I'm sure there are lots of other things I haven't or can't think of right now, but this is a good start....we'll see how it goes...in the meantime, a couple of pics of the future home</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkZcYHGai6FMS0clBWRMTdbsLt5JZKOjYo2ADRJkMG4buJ51KNx7yLS4eCjuxo5ds3UMDOc9uflR5IlWsUtx1jS6d77nbtxCQhQYXC9bR7T9i8s93HJpZbO7AqrxULzW32tC5aoUgTrthmrUAJKZntRrk3KXAvhW4QDxsLiTzYuPKBhqloJNgjqPM/s4128/snow.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3096" data-original-width="4128" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkZcYHGai6FMS0clBWRMTdbsLt5JZKOjYo2ADRJkMG4buJ51KNx7yLS4eCjuxo5ds3UMDOc9uflR5IlWsUtx1jS6d77nbtxCQhQYXC9bR7T9i8s93HJpZbO7AqrxULzW32tC5aoUgTrthmrUAJKZntRrk3KXAvhW4QDxsLiTzYuPKBhqloJNgjqPM/w302-h227/snow.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYYs0-CepWRwsJn9pTxU9hQAq7Wt9MlQAZE0BOyHbsWnejJfgu6WCv-6skysKetXyXrAEN5ICj801icp3aHLkI82HalpcxsKJYpojNatKeWApUX9zasLEmACEqyivp65DgQNYqqbSBP3VmymoqyWE-QKIc798zlUzkftVAP19RMmZc5PFlntuy0nRr/s4128/20220305_073212.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3096" data-original-width="4128" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYYs0-CepWRwsJn9pTxU9hQAq7Wt9MlQAZE0BOyHbsWnejJfgu6WCv-6skysKetXyXrAEN5ICj801icp3aHLkI82HalpcxsKJYpojNatKeWApUX9zasLEmACEqyivp65DgQNYqqbSBP3VmymoqyWE-QKIc798zlUzkftVAP19RMmZc5PFlntuy0nRr/w298-h224/20220305_073212.jpg" width="298" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p>richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-51683616919031630052016-04-18T12:19:00.000-07:002016-04-18T12:19:29.607-07:00I love Spring!! Wow, what a great day Saturday turned out to be. They were saying highs in the 80's but with the weather people being wrong more often than they're right, who knew....Turns out they were right for a change.<br />
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Chris' wife was on call and I was all caught up on my chores around the house so we both had a free pass for the day. We had decided to get a nice ride in instead of heading down to the Otter event. It was a pretty rough week at work and I decided dealing with a crowd was not how I wanted to spend my day off.<br />
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We rolled in to the Hunting Hollow entrance right about 9:30 and there were already a bunch of cars as well as a group of 4 on matching Ibis bikes that were headed out just before us.....we'd run in to them again a couple more times throughout the day.<br />
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I had ridden Coe many, many years ago on my rigid SS and all I remember was that it hurt....a lot. Today though, in a rare moment of good sense, I left the SS at home and brought the Vassago 1x10 with the front suspension.<br />
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The day started pretty much how I remember the last ride here starting.....with lots of up...we rode across the first of several creek crossings and immediately began climbing the Jim Donnelly trail which was a nice smooth singletrack that led us to the Steer Ridge trail towards Wilson Peak.<br />
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We met and passed several groups of hikers and I can totally understand the attraction for hiking here. The weather was perfect, the views were amazing and the wildflowers were out in abundance.<br />
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Eventually, after a short steep hike a bike section, we arrived at Wilson Peak. Here we ran in to the group of Ibis riders taking a break. they were either ahead of us the entire time or had come up another was as we never saw other cyclists on the trail, only hikers.<br />
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After enjoying a granola bar and some water, we headed out with no real clue where we were headed or how long it would take us to get back.(I love these kinds of rides)<br />
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After a long, steep, swoopy downhill that had my brakes howling (might be time for new pads) we ended up in the bottom of a canyon which necessitated a few more cross creek adventures. With no real idea where we were and only a general idea of where we needed to be, it was a nice time to again run in to the Ibis clan who it turns out actually knew the park really well. Turns out we were exactly where we were...<br />
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The middle portion of the ride was in and out of canyons with awesome singletrack, beautiful flowers, some ponds and creek crossings. It was awesome.<br />
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Eventually we saw a sign that pointed us towards the Coyote Creek entrance which was another long steep downhill and again had my brakes squealing like stuck pig. (not that I've ever heard a stuck pig)<br />
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As we rolled in to the lot, we were both wishing we had found another way back to the truck. As much as I like a fast, mostly downhill ride back to the truck (and beers) I didn't want the singletrack to end just yet. Unfortunately, we missed whatever options there might have been and neither of us really wanted to climb back up the trail we had just come down. Besides, there was a brewery in our near future.<br />
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I can imagine that in a couple of weeks, these trails will be brutally hot, dusty dry and brown. I don't know if the creeks run year round, but I doubt it. I'm very glad though that I got to experience this park, at this particular time of year......There's always next year for Sea Otter....<br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-81668342415357733842016-02-25T17:41:00.001-08:002016-02-25T17:41:39.876-08:00yet another dumb idea....Among my group of friends, I'm actually pretty well known for dumb ideas...I tend to come up with some really awesome dumb ideas. Some of my friends have even stopped riding with me because they're so in awe of my ability to come up with said dumb ideas.....<br />
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The most recent dumb idea is to sign up for the <a href="http://www.tahoetrailmtb.com/" target="_blank">Tahoe Trail MTB</a> race in July....it's a 62 mile race that takes place in the Sierras around Lake Tahoe and I'm both excited and nervous about this.<br />
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Now, granted, I've never ridden my mountain bike more than about 30 miles, I've never been in an "endurance race" and riding up at elevation usually leaves me weak, winded and fighting off delirium from the lack of oxygen....other than that, I'm not exactly sure why my friends think this is a dumb idea.....what could possibly go wrong?<br />
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In all seriousness though, I am a bit concerned about this. I'm actually in pretty good shape at this point in the year and I don't see any reason my fitness level won't continue to improve between now and July. I actually am a bit freaked out about a 62 mile mountain bike ride. I've done lots of centuries and metrics on my road bike and on the road, 62 miles would be a decent training ride.<br />
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On a mt bike though, at elevation and at race pace, the idea starts to get a little worrisome. The longest race I've ever done is Sea Otter which I think is just over 20 miles with about 2500ft of elevation gain. The thought of 62 miles with almost 8000ft of climbing is daunting to say the least.<br />
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I was actually thinking that being in my mid-50s I might have a decent chance of finishing in the middle of the pack for my age group. Unfortunately, in looking at last year's results, in my age group, it looks like the top 5 finishers were all right at or under 5 hours. (Dave Wiens happens to be in my age group...ugh!)<br />
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Just to be clear, I don't have any delusions about finishing on (or anywhere near) the podium. I don't have the kind of time and resources to train for that level of competition. (and I'm old and fat)<br />
I do though, hope to finish respectably and am determined to avoid any of the time cutoffs.<br />
This, combined with the fact that I tend to be a tad bit obsessive has really got me freaked out about this event.<br />
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I've never been good at failure. As a matter of fact, I'm somewhat insecure and so afraid of failure, that I tend not to try things that may end up either in failure or with me looking like an idiot.<br />
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Now that I've admitted that, I can tell you that emotionally, this race is kind of a big deal for me. Not only have I registered to do it, I've told a lot of people that I've registered to do it. So many people in fact, that bailing is not an option and not finishing would force me to explain my failure over and over again.<br />
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So, the goal now is to start actually training for this race and try not to die while I'm at it....what could possibly go wrong...<br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-34412694080390327732015-10-15T08:25:00.002-07:002015-10-15T08:25:58.526-07:00Take one grandkid, add a ropes course, some mountains and a lake...My first grandson turned 9 this year....but I was in Hawaii riding my bike up a volcano when it happened.<br />
So, in an effort to make amends for my missing this very special occasion (and my inability to manage my calendar) I told him we'd head to Tahoe for a "boy's weekend".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFb9rZa9ZL8CLTDg4hzzEXDx1zFxFSuuyyJ8Vc6VUckAT8motoIlQDnWrkHEtJ0hrlQGwldVMVr3AAH63lMaWGyzDu2xqfpOVpznGODCwN3ZOu1Mw3uAA3YF-S6a1ctS_EL5ng8BhrHfc/s1600/20151009_065219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFb9rZa9ZL8CLTDg4hzzEXDx1zFxFSuuyyJ8Vc6VUckAT8motoIlQDnWrkHEtJ0hrlQGwldVMVr3AAH63lMaWGyzDu2xqfpOVpznGODCwN3ZOu1Mw3uAA3YF-S6a1ctS_EL5ng8BhrHfc/s320/20151009_065219.jpg" width="320" /></a>I picked him up from school on Friday and after gassing up the car and stocking up on skittles, sour patch kids and vitamin water, we got on the road.....with a hundred bazillion other people trying to get out of the bay area. Eventually (5 hours) we arrived in Tahoe City at my sister's house to begin our weekend.<br />
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Saturday morning dawned clear and warm and after breakfast (and coffee) Maureen, the little guy and I headed over to the ropes course at <a href="http://northtahoeadventures.com/" target="_blank">Granlibakken</a> where they got him situated, harnessed, trained and ready to go....I wasn't sure how this was all going to play out. I've seen him sometime respond to new things fearfully and at other times with reckless abandon.<br />
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I'm never sure what triggers which reaction...is it that some days he's confident and others he's not? Is it how I present the different events to him? Or do some things just scare him and others do not?<br />
I'm not sure. Last year for instance I took him skiing. In the morning, before his group lesson he and I went up the lift and started coming down. Immediately, there were words like <i>"I can't, it's scary, what if...." </i>Another time I took him on a bike ride with some pretty decent uphills and downhills and he went at it with no fear and a devil may care attitude....<br />
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Not sure which version of the kid I would get and knowing that Maureen had paid good money for him to do this, I went to great lengths to emphasize the fun and minimize the risk....but when I saw how high up the ropes were, and how fearful a couple of the other kids were, I planned for the worst. As I, in my head, began making backup plans and trying to come up with good arguments about how not scary this was, he clipped his harness to the first obstacle and was 20 feet off the ground before I knew what was going on. Ok, so that answers that question....<br />
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For the next 2 hours, he climbed, ran, walked, and zip-lined his way around the property trying new variations and ever more death defying ways to complete each section.....at one point the instructor told him to try to do the zip-line upside down and he spent the entire ride down the line trying to flip himself head over heals....gutsy, crazy, kid.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJyg-9J25C6JeVpjAIUnAGQXoeranav4re_vcavitgQcHudpk-ebIFmrxKd06EDx-KYh-PpRApMxpMSvMXBoAs9qBU0nXhwe_i0jteQOqRbELa9PoR5Z5sp7RqQde0x_-vmKYA8EG30Y/s1600/20151010_124556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJyg-9J25C6JeVpjAIUnAGQXoeranav4re_vcavitgQcHudpk-ebIFmrxKd06EDx-KYh-PpRApMxpMSvMXBoAs9qBU0nXhwe_i0jteQOqRbELa9PoR5Z5sp7RqQde0x_-vmKYA8EG30Y/s320/20151010_124556.jpg" width="180" /></a>After the ropes course, we ate the lunch we had packed, drove down the road and parked to begin our next adventure. We would ride our bikes down the bike path to Squaw Valley and back. A 10 mile ride on the bike path is no big deal for anyone that rides, but for a 9 year old on a 20" bmx bike, it's a pretty big accomplishment. Of course, as you'd expect, there was a stop at the River Ranch bar for a root beer and some play time in the river to break things up.....we are on vacation after all.<br />
Maureen had left us at the ropes course to go play in a tennis tournament she had previously committed to so we got back to the house before she did and relaxed for a bit watching football with my brother in law. It wasn't long before she got home though and she wanted to take Caleb to the tennis courts for a lesson. <i>Wait, you want me to lay on the couch and watch football while you continue to wear out my grandson....OK!</i><br />
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After the lesson, we had a nice dinner and with Caleb being completely thrashed and worn out, we called it a day...more adventures were in store for Sunday.<br />
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Sunday we woke to another perfect summer day in Tahoe (unfortunately it's October and we need rain) it was sunny with blue skies and warm temperatures. Today, my friend Min was running the Lake Tahoe marathon which was to be her last marathon in celebration of her 50th birthday. (I've never seen the need to run my first marathon so needing to close the loop and run my last has never happened)<br />
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Her husband Chris dropped her off at the start then came and met up with Caleb and I. The plan was to drive to south shore where the finish line was, unload our bikes and ride backwards till we met up with her.<br />
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Chris though, had a surprise for Caleb. He had brought his kayak so we stopped at Sand Harbor and he got to go kayaking, play in the water and catch crawdads before we continued on to south shore.<br />
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After finding the finish line we unloaded our bikes and began to ride the route backwards. We had gone back to mile 22 before we saw her....the really crazy part is that she was still smiling. We decided to ride back towards the finish and intercept her along the way but somehow we got behind her when we thought we were in front of her so when we finally hooked up again, she had already finished.<br />
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After lunch at a local brewery, where Caleb had a rootbeer, we got on the road and headed down the hill and back to reality. Pretty sure he lasted at least 10 minutes before he crashed out and slept most of the way home.richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-29933375533149248132015-10-09T08:55:00.001-07:002015-10-09T09:01:45.866-07:00Not Riding In Tahoe....I was in Tahoe this past weekend with my friend Diane and I purposely did not bring my bike.....I know...weird....right?<br />
I was actually up there to hike...yes, I said it. I went to the mountains with the purpose of hiking and not biking.....(there would still be beer involved if that's any consolation)<br />
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The hike we were planning was from Fallen Leaf Lake to the top of Mt Tallac and to be completely honest, I was a little worried about it. I'm not much of a hiker and although I have been riding regularly for the past few months and I walk a ton at work, the act of hiking 6 miles up a mountain had me a bit freaked out. I really don't like doing stuff I'm not good at which causes me anxiety and stress.....Dumb right? Something that should be fun being stressful....just the way I'm wired....<br />
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We started fairly early and as we got ready in the parking lot to begin, I took some solace in the fact that I at least looked the part of a hiker. (there were other "hikers" there so I had a pretty good frame of reference)<br />
I had on boots that were made for hiking, good wool socks, actual hiking poles and a camelbak stuffed with food and water. As I always say on the bike, if you're not fast, you should at least look the part and it appears that the mantra translates to hiking as well.<br />
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As we left the parking area, the trail meanders along for a ways allowing my legs (and lungs) to warm up. It wasn't long though, before the trail went up and it pretty much continued going up for the next 6 miles. And, as you can probably imagine, when you go up for 6 miles, you gain elevation....in this case almost 3500ft of elevation.<br />
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The trail was in good condition and well marked and provided amazing views along the way. If I hadn't been suffering from oxygen deprivation, I might even have enjoyed those views....<br />
In all seriousness though, it really is a beautiful hike.<br />
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As we were nearing what I had been promised was our rest stop, Gilmore Lake, we met a guy that exclaimed his joy at seeing us....turns out he was lost. Well, technically, he wasn't lost, he just didn't know how to get from where he was to where he was supposed to be meeting his brother. (Velma Lakes)<br />
After a few minutes comparing his map with ours, and figuring out where he needed to go, he headed out and we made the last few steps to Lake Gilmore which is an amazingly beautiful lake.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVs1LBLwGu8AiKZnphwRlHYMNJbIRCyshBne4WCbMGjQf6pD_4U8RFQYE4cn3dcViVvIrZSXxLtYUkQV7vaGPG_w0dfHkTvEwYml6s8Zi4FVH9m0gvpIdL04nOJET8J09aes766C_PTQI/s1600/20151003_104854%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVs1LBLwGu8AiKZnphwRlHYMNJbIRCyshBne4WCbMGjQf6pD_4U8RFQYE4cn3dcViVvIrZSXxLtYUkQV7vaGPG_w0dfHkTvEwYml6s8Zi4FVH9m0gvpIdL04nOJET8J09aes766C_PTQI/s320/20151003_104854%255B1%255D.jpg" width="180" /></a>(In this pic you can see how crystal clear the water is and that the moon is still out)<br />
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We rested, ate rice krispy treats and finished off the small thermos of coffee we had brought with us. I was enjoying the break and the scenery and was actually starting to think that maybe this hike wasn't so bad after all. We had done 4 miles, I was still vertical and surprisingly I felt good.....right up to the point where Diane said, <i>now we start going up"....</i>wait...what???? we've been going up for 4 miles already, what is she talking about????<br />
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Well, I found out soon enough. The last 2 miles from Lake Gilmore to the summit feels like its straight up. It's funny that one of the websites I found describes it as an easy and steady 1300 ft climb.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWryKn7iUsh7BoWgnb-7nBHgpIL56NUxvZpGnPHT4uWajg6I0APMS_XPmxISPIaQObGJNUg15QINMUR7VnP8bMqHFfu9TkSE__YuBNyCIm5l3NIKCjx6AXIXGJGL6FtvxPtnzVWlPgWw/s1600/20151003_130400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWryKn7iUsh7BoWgnb-7nBHgpIL56NUxvZpGnPHT4uWajg6I0APMS_XPmxISPIaQObGJNUg15QINMUR7VnP8bMqHFfu9TkSE__YuBNyCIm5l3NIKCjx6AXIXGJGL6FtvxPtnzVWlPgWw/s320/20151003_130400.jpg" width="320" /></a>I stopped a few times on the last section, just to take pictures of course, not because I was dying, and the views behind us were incredible.<br />
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When you reach the top, the last several hundred yards are a scramble around and over large loose boulders. Surprisingly, there were quite a few people up and there and we arrived to the final strains of someone singing happy birthday to one of their group.....turns out he was celebrating his 70th birthday with the hike.....yes, I felt lame and weak and like a baby for all the complaining that was going on in my head.<br />
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The views from the summit are amazing. To the northwest you see the entirety of the Tahoe valley, and back to the west you see the Desolation Wilderness, several other peaks and the myriad of sparkling blue lakes that dot the wilderness area.<br />
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We found a spot out of the wind, which was blowing cold and strong at the top, and ate the sandwiches and snacks that Diane had brought along for us. As good as a nap would have been, there wasn't a flat spot to be found and the wind was cold enough to motivate us to begin our descent.<br />
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You would assume that hiking down a mountain would be easier and faster than hiking up, but that wasn't the case. The steps, loose rock and my old knees kept our pace down and required constant attention to avoid falling. The hiking poles were a huge benefit and saved me from embarrassment and possible injury on more than one occasion.<br />
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The wind kept up and the weather had cooled to the point that we had our jackets on most of the way down and with the Aspen in full color, you could tell that Autumn had arrived in the Sierras.<br />
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As we finally got to the bottom and back to our car, we had yet another Autumn celebration to look forward to....we were headed to the Oktoberfest celebration being held over at Camp Richardson....brats and beer after a long hike....what could be better?<br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-20341873260775532502015-09-28T11:51:00.000-07:002015-09-28T12:53:22.954-07:00Lost most of the day....and loving it.The last Saturday in September....it's officially Autumn and the weather should be cooler but this past week has been warm....Right now, early on Saturday, it's nice and cool, but I can tell it's going to be warm later. The "experts" call this Indian Summer ...perfect weather for a ride is what I call it.<br />
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We started at the dam at Lexington Reservoir and headed out. Diane, yes, I have my very own tour guide, knows the route and although I've ridden some of the roads before, I have only a general idea of where we're headed and how we'll get there.....which is perfect, I have no place to be and all day to get there.<br />
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We start out riding around the reservoir and up Old Santa Cruz Hwy which is a great, low traffic road up through the redwoods...it's a perfect way for my legs to wake up and the morning coffee to kick in and do it's magic.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wIM_Wc2BaChI26d_l5AFx3GvTf3qEAitSBjVx8oe1QrsBB2BqJD1b56APreeqsWBfExZGTVpsrvvvsfHy5Rh9mK7ukeoL2BnhZeZ-oUxrfJAP8unziIiLlmPXIV3J319-R0_cUcD88E/s1600/20150926_101954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wIM_Wc2BaChI26d_l5AFx3GvTf3qEAitSBjVx8oe1QrsBB2BqJD1b56APreeqsWBfExZGTVpsrvvvsfHy5Rh9mK7ukeoL2BnhZeZ-oUxrfJAP8unziIiLlmPXIV3J319-R0_cUcD88E/s320/20150926_101954.jpg" width="180" /></a>The next segment is down Summit Rd to Soquel San Jose Rd which is a little slice of bicycle nirvana. It's approximately 10 miles of smooth, fast downhill which at this time of the day has very little traffic. I'm sure as the day goes on, the traffic will increase, but for now it's bicycle heaven that is only interrupted by our decision to stop and regroup at Casalegno's Market. This is a cool old country market that is always good for fresh coffee and a cookie. Today though, we decided to pass on the treats and continue the downhill goodness in to Soquel.<br />
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From Soquel, we headed south through Aptos before heading back inland through Day Valley and in to Corralitos where we stopped for lunch. Day Valley is a nice, lightly traveled road. <i>(although it's actually a climb and not a valley)</i> It was at this point that I became officially lost and thankful for someone who actually knew where we were supposed to be headed.<br />
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Corralitos is a little 4 way intersection that is anchored on one side by the Corralitos Market and Sausage Company and on the other by a great little park with a covered picnic area. Evidently, the market is known for their fresh made smoked sausage which are served on <a href="http://www.gaylesbakery.com/" target="_blank">Gayles Bakery</a> hot dog rolls. I had the venison sausage and a side of fresh berry pie from the nearby <a href="http://www.gizdich-ranch.com/" target="_blank">Gizdich Ranch</a> (<i>if you've never been, this too should be on your must-visit list</i>) Both the sausage and the pie pretty much rocked my world.<br />
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Once we had devoured our lunch, we remounted the bikes and began to make our way up Eureka Canyon for what was to be about a 12 mile climb. This eventually turns into Highland Rd and brings you back up to Summit Rd where we once again stopped, this time for drinks, at the <a href="http://www.summitgrocerystore.com/" target="_blank">Summit Grocery Store</a> another cool little market.<br />
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From here it's a short grind up Summit Rd, which was much busier than it had been earlier that morning, and back to Old Santa Cruz Hwy. which provides a nice long, shaded, downhill back to the reservoir.<br />
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The last section back to the truck was probably the least fun. It's a rolling up and down (mostly up) with some short steep sections in the full sun. As we were coming up on 60 miles for the day, these really did a number on my legs...there may even have been some whining involved. Eventually though, we made it back to the truck, piled in and headed out in search of cold, adult beverages...<br />
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Total for the day, 60 miles, 5900ft of climbing - <a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/873492217" target="_blank">mapmyride route</a><br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-5650032257245304442015-09-25T15:51:00.001-07:002015-09-25T15:51:07.945-07:00A bike, An Island and a Volcano....what could be better?It seems like a lifetime ago that I've been motivated to sit down and put words on paper....(or computer in this case)<br />
It's been a pretty challenging year since my life was turned upside down and yet I've managed to get through it. Mostly thanks to God, my girls and some very close friends.<br />
But that's not what this blog is about. It's about riding and I've been doing a lot. Riding for me has given me purpose, kept me fit and most importantly, kept me somewhat sane....not that I've ever been too sane anyway.<br />
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Back around the holidays, a bunch of us got together for dinner and as usually happens, the beer and wine flowed freely and as also usually happens, the discussion turned to rides we had done and rides we wanted to do. One of our group mentioned riding up Haleakala as something he had done and just how tough it was. This of course led to the idea that we should plan a group trip to Maui with the goal of riding up the volcano....I mean after all, it's only 36 miles, how tough could it be? (<i>this may have been the alcohol talking</i>)<br />
It was then and there decided that we would do this and we would begin planning and training immediately. (<i>interesting that Chris, who started the discussion wanted no part in this upcoming adventure</i>)<br />
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Long story short, the planning happened, 4 of us committed to doing the ride, and for some of the others, the training also began. For me....well not so much. I rode regularly, but not at the level I should have been for the upcoming ride.<br />
What's the big deal you ask? Yes, I did say it's only 36 miles but I forgot to mention you ride from sea level to 10,000 ft in those 36 miles...add to this is rated as the 2nd most difficult climb on a bike in the US and you'll understand why I was having trouble sleeping.<br />
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There were some last minute calls back and forth to see if we were still going as Hurricane Ignacio as also supposed to be heading towards the islands. We decided, the heck with it and agreed we were still moving forward thereby sealing the name, Team Poor Judgement.<br />
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We landed on Saturday, got settled in to the house we rented (amazing btw) and, while Bob assembled his and Leticia's very cool travel bikes, I walked around the corner to <a href="http://www.gocyclingmaui.com/" target="_blank">Maui Cyclery </a> to pick up my rental bike. Wow, these guys are awesome. Great group of guys, that know their stuff and rent nice equipment. I ended up with a Carbon Orbea with disc brakes.<br />
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Sunday morning, we started out early (6:30am) with Leticia and I riding out in a light rain and Bob starting the driving in the van as sag support. (backstory, TPJ was supposed to include Keith and his wife Shelly and son Patrick, to do the sag, but he was still in CA trying to resolve bike issues - Bob and I decided to tag team so Leticia could do the whole ride)<br />
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The ride, even with the light and sometimes not so light rain, started out nice. It was warm, the climb was gentle, and the scenery was beautiful.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPAg7L33GqNtxiT2JDdEm6Uf5B9UFlgciBcMLfRXJhR_HmNZ3lX9Hzt8dDpC78lez9-9lThmUmTgDt5MstPtYMc2D_Og_C6jQPGM2fctd6Yuoe4n2MxZHnm3orgFKJV0vinhSgjjDsM-k/s1600/20150830_064004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPAg7L33GqNtxiT2JDdEm6Uf5B9UFlgciBcMLfRXJhR_HmNZ3lX9Hzt8dDpC78lez9-9lThmUmTgDt5MstPtYMc2D_Og_C6jQPGM2fctd6Yuoe4n2MxZHnm3orgFKJV0vinhSgjjDsM-k/s320/20150830_064004.jpg" width="180" /></a>The climb continues like that for roughly the first third of the route. As a matter of fact it was a downright pleasant ride to that point.<br />
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Eventually though, we hit the middle section and the road got steeper. The pretty, scenic route becomes a series of switchbacks that seem to never end. At this point you just plug a good song into the ipod and begin to grind away....trying to find a pace that keeps you moving but doesn't allow you to blow up.<br />
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Bob and I tag-teamed the drive. One of us would take the van, drive up a ways, unload our bike and ride back down to meet the others. We'd ride to the van and the other person would repeat the process. It allows everyone to ride and although you don't get all the miles, you get enough.<br />
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Eventually, we got to the official park entrance with sits right about 7000ft and the rain that hadn't been too bad, got serious...along with a pretty strong wind which had us blowing sideways so decided to call it for the day. (<i>total for week - approx 24 miles/6000ft of climbing</i>)<br />
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Monday, The three of us got up early again, drove to the 7000ft level and finished the ride to the top. No, we hadn't done the 0-10,000ft that we set out to do, but we still felt a sense of accomplishment. (<i>total for week 36 miles/10000ft</i>)<br />
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Monday afternoon, we heard from Keith that he got his old bike running, had booked their flights and would be joining us Tuesday.<br />
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Tuesday we decided to mix things up a bit and decided to hike instead of riding. We hiked along a really cool river to a series of waterfalls. It was a very nice day, a beautiful hike and a nice change of pace.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcqiRMUeLTtCDmKmX6JRalECzDFJRC27xai-Z_rCPs34lc9qWxpyu9q3Ba971HXXdkCQFGLDsR0JA-_KAelLe8wUjhiuh084KHGYxNjOanSVHr6KxZ7zd1Ca3p-3llBR8nXe_kf658LNM/s1600/20150901_113618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcqiRMUeLTtCDmKmX6JRalECzDFJRC27xai-Z_rCPs34lc9qWxpyu9q3Ba971HXXdkCQFGLDsR0JA-_KAelLe8wUjhiuh084KHGYxNjOanSVHr6KxZ7zd1Ca3p-3llBR8nXe_kf658LNM/s320/20150901_113618.jpg" width="180" /></a>Tuesday, Keith, Shelly and their son Patrick showed up so another assault on the mountain was put in motion. This time, Shelly and Patrick would sag while Bob, Leticia, Keith and I headed up the hill on the bikes.<br />
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Wednesday we started out with gorgeous weather, no rain, but crazy humidity....I was as wet from sweating as I had been a couple of days earlier from rain.<br />
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The ride went well and knowing how the climb played out helped quite a bit. At about 4000ft Keith started struggling with cramping issues and although we regularly stopped so he could stretch, he wasn't quitting. Eventually, with the help of at least 20 enduralytes to keep Keith from locking up, I once again found myself at the 7000ft entrance to the park.<br />
Being of the, "been there, done that" mentality I wished Keith good luck and godspeed I turned around and headed downhill for a beer, <br />
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What I didn't realize was that the rain and clouds had come in behind us as we were climbing so the ride down was a little more treacherous than I had bargained for....thankfully, I had thrown my jacket in my pocket and the disc brakes on the bike did what they're supposed to do.<br />
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The clouds and rain tended to hover between 5-7000ft so once you get down the mountain a little way, things clear up and the ride becomes a fast, beautiful downhill roller coaster.<br />
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Turns out the Enduralytes kicked in and Keith recovered from his leg cramps to finish strong.<br />
(total for week - <i>approx 84 miles and 17000ft</i>)<br />
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Friday morning we again got up early, (not sure why all my vacations leave me exhausted) and headed out to ride the Road to Hana. I had driven this road in a minivan, my wife and 2 kids a long time ago and remembered it as a full day of winding, twisting, car-sickness inducing hell. Funny how that's exactly what it was, but on a bike it became twisting, turning bicycle nirvana.<br />
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We started at 6:00 am to avoid traffic and at the half way point turned around. As we came back, the line of cars headed out reinforced our rare moment of good judgement. (<i>total for week - approx 115 miles/21000ft</i>)<br />
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Friday night I heard a rumor circulating among Team Poor Judgement that Leticia really wanted to do the bottom to top ride and was looking for someone to ride with....I, being weak minded and of poor judgement immediately chimed in with "I'm in"...<br />
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Saturday again found us on Baldwin Ave headed up...and up....and up. The weather was great, the views were amazing and we just had a really nice day on the bike making circles and heading upwards. Bob sagged for us and we took our time, stopping regularly to refuel, drink, take pictures, etc. Eventually we reached the top, made the final checkmark on this item on the bucket list and piled in the van for the ride down the hill and dinner. What an awesome week! (<i>weekly total 187 miles and 31000 ft</i>)<br />
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richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-41815329211682100312014-06-25T10:46:00.001-07:002014-06-25T10:57:06.750-07:00Checking out and not checking in...Saturday, a day normally spent having coffee, doing chores and hopefully squeezing in a bike ride. Life was so structured before...well, just before.<br />
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This Saturday though, now that I live in the upside down world, things are different. I got up early, had coffee and a bowl of raisin bran to fuel the day, loaded up my bike and headed out. I don't need to tell anyone where I'm going or when I'll be back. I do as I please, when I please and how I please.....and it's weird not checking in with anyone.<br />
I actually emailed the girls just so I feel like I'm still plugged in. (and just in case things go wrong and they have to come get me) It's all very strange but as I'm learning its my new normal.<br />
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I met my friend Lynn in Livermore and we rode out Mines Rd to the junction and back. It's about a 50 mile out and back with 4000ft of climbing and is a perfect ride for me as I continue my initiation into this weird place I now live. It's fairly tough, starting off with a long climb and it's lightly traveled which allows me to turn my thoughts inward.<br />
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My bike, always a trusty companion, has accepted its new role as full time therapist. It willingly accepts the abuse as I stand and hammer the pedals trying to drown out the thoughts in my head with the pounding of my heart and the loud ragged breath this type of effort produces.<br />
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Eventually, realizing there's no way I can keep burning matches at this rate for the entire day, I back off. I sit, settle into what i hope is a nice smooth spin, letting my heart rate return to normal and dropping back so Lynn and I can chat as we climb.<br />
We take it easy and talk for most of the ride out to the Junction where we sit in the sun and enjoy a gatorade while getting ready for the climb out. It's taken us about 2 hours to get to this point and I haven't fueled as well as I should have. Any nutrients from the raisin bran this morning are burned and gone and as I stood to make the last climb before the descent to the Junction I could feel the twinges of a cramp deep in my hamstring.<br />
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From the junction back to the top it's about 5 miles and by now the sun is out and it's pretty warm. Obviously not hot by Livermore standards, but I'm guessing it's almost 90 degrees with no shade and the heat coming off the road asphalt makes it feel much warmer.<br />
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As the climb begins both Lynn and I have gotten quiet and are focused on making smooth circles as we sit, sweat and focus on forward movement to the exclusion of all else. It's here that I want to be. Deep into the pain cave, all thoughts and focus directed only at moving my bike forward, thinking of absolutely nothing but making my legs turn and staring at the road ahead.<br />
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It's finally quiet now, both inside my head and outside in the empty canyons which surround me. The sound of skinny tires rolling on hot asphalt barely registering on a brain and a heart that has been too tortured and twisted for the past few weeks....this is the place I seek more and more frequently. A place to hide out from the world...a place I can check out and escape.richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-8298980068367669082014-06-20T08:46:00.000-07:002014-06-20T08:46:41.869-07:00Clicking in and checking out....This is the end of week 3 living in the upside down world. It's all still pretty surreal. I find myself thinking of calling her or sending her a text which is what I normally did at least once per day...every day....for the last 32 years.<br />
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I've never been good at sitting still and that has only been exacerbated by the fact that now not only do I not want to sit still, I've been trying to avoid allowing my brain any downtime to sit and dwell. I know that's probably not healthy, and the "experts" all say it's better to let the emotions come and deal with them, but that's not how I'm wired. I stay busy...<br />
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One thing I've found that really seems to help is riding. Last Saturday a couple of us did a ride up Diablo to the junction, down the other side, through Concord, Walnut Creek and back to Danville. As we climbed Diablo, I was able to put the brain in neutral and focus on making my legs go around in circles.<br />
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It's amazingly therapeutic and as the road climbed I pushed harder and harder on the pedals forcing the pain out of my heart and into my lungs and quads. I focused even deeper pushing out the pain with each ragged breath and letting the tears flow, mixing with the sweat as it ran down my face.<br />
Eventually, we reached the ranger station and as we stopped I could feel the flush leaving my legs as my heart rate settled and the endorphins began to flow into my system like a natural painkiller.<br />
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The downhill portion was another escape requiring total focus and balance. Tucking in to turns, avoiding the many bumps and potholes, the wind in my ears harmonizing with the worship music blaring through my ear buds allowing me to avoid any type of thought other than staying upright and on line.<br />
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Eventually we reached the canal path that takes us through town and back to Danville Rd where again, I was able to check out, make circles and take my brain offline. As the thoughts would begin to creep in I would push harder on the pedals trying to replace them with the pain and burning of my legs and several times I'd look up only to realize I had dropped the others at which point I'd have to sit up and soft pedal so we could regroup.<br />
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Later in the day as I reflected on the ride, I realized I was a less than ideal ride partner for the others since I was so focused on dealing with my own stuff, but that's the best part about riding with friends....they completely understand and don't mind.richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-8815047236658021792014-06-16T07:56:00.000-07:002014-06-16T07:56:42.310-07:00Living in the upside down world...There's no possible way this just happened....right? It must be a bad dream...I'm going to wake up and everything will be normal again.....right? Unfortunately, that's not the case.<br />
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So now, how do I move forward in this upside down world where everything I knew has changed so dramatically? Everything I worked for, every goal I had, every plan and dream has been flipped on it's head?<br />
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Things that once seemed so important now don't matter, plans and goals that were being worked on now seem trite, dreams that were meant for two suddenly seem empty and unimportant...what do <i>we</i> want has suddenly become what do <i>I</i> want? And to be honest.....I don't have a clue...<br />
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I've been told by everyone I talk to not to make any major decisions for a while and I get that. To be honest, making any decision right now is hard...nothing seems important and when I do make a decision, it changes fifteen times before I get there.<br />
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The world that once seemed solid and firm has been shaken and turned upside down....but as the psalmist said, <span style="background-color: #fdfeff; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.</b></span></i></span><br />
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As we move forward as a family we'll cling to this. In a world where things shift and move and slip beneath our feet, we'll stand on this rock....and we'll cling to His promises...<br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-45826385952331083742014-05-14T09:45:00.001-07:002014-05-14T09:54:11.658-07:00This sucks....but then it didn't....It's raining, I'm a pretty hungover and the wind is picking up.....I paid money to do this???<br />
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It's Sunday morning and I'm with my brother, brother in law and sister in Chico for our annual bike ride. We've done this almost every year now for several years and it's always a fun weekend.<br />
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The weekend traditionally starts on Saturday with dinner and beers at one of Chico's many good restaurants. This time we started at the Beach Hut Deli enjoying a few of the local brews during happy hour. From there we moved to Woodstock's Pizza where the pizza was amazing but was only a detour, barely slowing the ingestion of the fermented hops and barley. Note - Sierra's Torpedo Extra IPA is one of my current favorites.<br />
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We always end the evening staying up late and catching up on each other's lives, kids, etc and this year was no exception as we moved to a little restaurant near our motel for pie....thankfully beer doesn't go well with pie or I would have felt even worse.<br />
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Sunday morning, we were a little slow rolling out, but eventually Bob and I wandered around the corner to the local mini-mart for a jug of coffee and a pastry....it was when the pastry hit bottom that I knew it was going to be a rough morning....it almost came back, but thankfully didn't. That and the headache led me to believe I might not actually survive the upcoming ride...<br />
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Eventually, we made it to the start area and well after most of the metric century riders but right in the midst of the family fun ride group so the first few miles were slow and easy as we cruised along the bike path dodging families and kids like a real life game of Frogger (you youngsters will just have to look that one up)<br />
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As we got to the first rest stop at mile 12 or something, I was ready to try food again and after a couple of tylenol was almost feeling human....until the rain started...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUe699CiH4XSExOCBJ6T_VvkSlEHQFov0YqiJlGlRPaVAZLv9aJCnVLeCSQUeFKNbE9VZhNvSPASnIi_57I9cuCWi4DYD0FLvS7rYtdUI4AtxuTYovi3D0rSGPYSJiRphVhcINyPWLOQ/s1600/20140427_101630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUe699CiH4XSExOCBJ6T_VvkSlEHQFov0YqiJlGlRPaVAZLv9aJCnVLeCSQUeFKNbE9VZhNvSPASnIi_57I9cuCWi4DYD0FLvS7rYtdUI4AtxuTYovi3D0rSGPYSJiRphVhcINyPWLOQ/s1600/20140427_101630.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Thankfully the rain was just a drizzle and didn't last long and soon after we made a left and headed south it came to an end....but of course, having forsaken my vow of sobriety, my penance continued as a the next several miles would be directly into a headwind....<i>yay, I love this biking crap!</i><br />
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Leaving the first rest stop we could tell we had missed the mass start for people doing the metric century and for the next couple of hours actually didn't see anyone else. It was really pretty nice riding the farm roads surrounding Chico with no car traffic and no other bikes or people to be seen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMdn3TAyeATCZx8Hy6BMB5Yn-gL0DM0SDXLOBX3SvgaStouCLxpPIzWnwnlsd0BaM-8IvOK4NaIPFwtZ4TVa68CH_DsPJHcm7RubL14S7DpjOgM62jY9yfHPzVHv2ZCognw2PwMAjaP8/s1600/20140427_112057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMdn3TAyeATCZx8Hy6BMB5Yn-gL0DM0SDXLOBX3SvgaStouCLxpPIzWnwnlsd0BaM-8IvOK4NaIPFwtZ4TVa68CH_DsPJHcm7RubL14S7DpjOgM62jY9yfHPzVHv2ZCognw2PwMAjaP8/s1600/20140427_112057.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
My concern was that having gotten a late start and not riding at a very aggressive pace, we may actually miss the remainder of the rest stops and I didn't think there were any towns on our route for lunch or drinks until we got back in to Chico....thankfully that didn't turn out to be the case and we were able to hit every rest stop we needed.<br />
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Maureen and Craig turned off at about mile 15 since they still had to make it back to the start area, go get a load of firewood and then drive all the way back to Tahoe. Something they didn't want to do in the dark, in crummy weather, with a trailer full of firewood.<br />
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As Bob and I continued on, the headwind became either a tailwind or at worst a crosswind. This, combined with the fact that the sun came out (and my headache going away) actually made the second half of the ride really pleasant. Our pace didn't improve much since we were talking and had planned on making today a nice, easy ride, but my attitude improved dramatically and I was really thankful to be able to spend time on my bike and with my family....what could possibly be better than that?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZ_To-MZ7TwLzA8kimQ7J2XNhZ3_re55Vi6Hzcen7oa_Yo8FnMYdWNd1-zwrgry6lazrLOtQupiUiZZJnIHBeq6bH1a9bixPrCf1XtXHs-mlicywSWtqy7PjDXBXGoxenU0MYh3T90A8/s1600/20140427_104640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZ_To-MZ7TwLzA8kimQ7J2XNhZ3_re55Vi6Hzcen7oa_Yo8FnMYdWNd1-zwrgry6lazrLOtQupiUiZZJnIHBeq6bH1a9bixPrCf1XtXHs-mlicywSWtqy7PjDXBXGoxenU0MYh3T90A8/s1600/20140427_104640.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>As we cruised, the open farm lands and rice paddies turned into orchards and vineyards and just past the half way mark we merged with the riders that had done the full century so we had more and more people surrounding us as we rolled back into town.<br />
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The Wildflower is probably one of the best supported rides I've done and the post-ride meal didn't disappoint. Tri-tip and chicken, pasta, veggies and a delicious salad combined to make me one tired, fat and happy, no longer hungover survivor of another year's celebration of family and biking.<br />
<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-52179745281176762862014-04-22T11:15:00.001-07:002014-04-22T11:16:04.220-07:00A Metric this weekend....it's gonna hurtThis weekend I'll be in Chico with my brother, sister and brother in law doing the metric century at the Chico Wildflower. As I looked at my GPS data for the past year, it's dawned on me that this is probably going to hurt. <a href="http://www.chicovelo.org/wildflower-april.html">http://www.chicovelo.org/wildflower-april.html</a><br />
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I haven't ridden 60 miles at a stretch in over a year and although the route is flat and our pace will be relaxed, sitting on a bike for that long has associated aches and pains that go beyond just fitness. As anyone who has done a century will attest, you not only have to train your legs to pedal all day, but you have to build up the neck and shoulders and get your butt used to being in the saddle for that length of time.<br />
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I'm still riding once or twice a week, but I haven't been on the road bike much and most of my rides are 1-2 hours in length....I haven't spent all day in the saddle since last October when we did the Giro D Vino. Thankfully, both my sister and brother, whom I'm doing the ride with, are also lacking in saddle time.<br />
My brother, surprisingly, has probably the most miles of the three of us going in to this.<br />
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This ride, though, will be a fun day no matter how painful it is. It's an annual tradition for us and although we're on bikes, spending the majority of a day together, cruising through beautiful countryside, is always a really fantastic time. Most of the riding takes place on farm and orchard roads with little traffic so we're able to chat and catch up on each other's lives often times pedaling 3 abreast with no one else around.<br />
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Adding to the suffering portion of the ride is the fact that we'll start the weekend with dinner (and refreshments) on Saturday night. In years past, this has proven to run late and if things stay true to form, will involve some of the regions more <a href="http://www.sierranevada.com/" target="_blank">well known beverages </a><br />
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All in all though this should be a great weekend. Any time I can get away for some quality time with my family, it's fantastic. To be doing it on a bike is even that much better....richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-6798795504225520622014-03-26T13:43:00.000-07:002014-03-26T13:43:15.954-07:00Why Don't We Do It In The Road....Yep, that's a Beatles song. Although for me, it was a celebration of getting out on the skinny-tired bike last week Tuesday. What made it even better was that I hadn't planned on being able to ride and had planned on suffering on the bike that goes nowhere.<br />
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Turns out, we weren't going to be watching the grandkids this week after all and when I mentioned to my better half that I was thinking of riding Diablo with the Tuesday group she encouraged me to do so. (evidently my lack of riding has affected my attitude a bit)</div>
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I didn't have a lot of time though so I was only able to go to the junction and back and not all the way to the summit. Yes, time was my issue, not my fitness..(that's my story...) I actually felt surprisingly good considering how little I've been riding and although I know I was slow, I was able to get my heart rate up and keep it there without blowing up. I think it helped knowing I was only going to the junction and didn't need to keep anything in the tank. It's just under 7 miles to the junction and I was pretty sure I could go fairly hard and not die in that distance. The nice part is the second half is all down hill.<br />
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It was a really nice night not too breezy which allowed for shorts and short sleeves the entire way up and back. Usually at this time of the year, I need a jacket for the downhill and sometimes even the climb. Last week was the exception.<br />
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We didn't see many riders on the way up which with the nice weather was a bit of a surprise. Just as we were commenting on it at the junction, a large group of at least 50+ riders came up the hill. Evidently it was a memorial ride for someone that had passed away and the group, although large, was pretty subdued and quiet.<br />
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As with any trip up the mountain, the downhill is my favorite part. Lynn and Chris decided to head up a bit further and Xing, like me had places to be so was heading down. The nice part about being closer to 200lbs than I am to 150, is that the downhills are an area I can shine. Xing and Chris had pretty much dropped me right outta the gate on the climb, but on the downhill portion, I was the one waiting....evidently when you combine a large body of mass with a small amount of brain cells, you get a fast descending rider.<br />
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All in all, it was a great ride and my time although not my fastest, was decent for me and it was a great chance to get out, do some climbing, blow out the cobwebs and push my heart rate up for a while....<br />
15 miles almost 1800ft of climbing...beautiful evening!!!</div>
richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-86084010215779197662014-03-14T16:09:00.001-07:002014-03-14T16:09:12.319-07:00Riding to Nowhere...Once again, my post will start with excuses and lame attempts to justify my lack of fitness this year. Life continues to be busy and seems to either infringe on my riding opportunities or affect my attitude to the point that I don't want to ride.<br />
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I know a more determined or focused person would dig up the wherewithal to get the miles in somehow, but I've been struggling to find the time and when I do find the time, the motivation evades me. This week though, I'm recommitted. My buddy and his wife have been on some crazy cleansing diet and he's dropped enough weight over the last several weeks that I'm sincerely concerned about keeping up with him....evidently where my drive and focus fail, my competitiveness picks up.<br />
Add to that another buddy's attempt this coming weekend to complete the Huracan 300 in FL and I've got enough peer pressure to pass for motivation. I'm determined to force myself to get some miles under my butt.<br />
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Still, life this week has prevented me from riding on the trails. Between work hours, evening meetings and babysitting the grandkids, the time just hasn't worked. Instead, I've been channeling this little sliver of motivation into the garage where I slave away on the spin bike, or as I refer to it the bike that goes nowhere.<br />
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I love riding my bike and the spin bike is a pretty decent workout when I can't get out. It provides a good sweat, you can crank up the tension to simulate hills or stand and hammer and you'd think with the music on and the sweat flowing I'd be happy to at least be doing this.....but the truth is, I hate it. I've had this thing for over a year and I can count on one hand the number of times I've ridden it. (Four times....and 3 of them are this week.)<br />
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I'm not sure what it is that drives me crazy on this thing, probably my inability to focus, or sit still (ADD much?) but every time I've ridden it, it's killed me. I figure it's been 30 minutes and look at the clock to find it's only been 10. I get bored easily and sitting in my garage, with no scenery and only the whirring of the pedals and flywheel providing a backbeat for whatever is playing on my ipod is more like torture than exercise. Granted I have some friends that would argue that exercise is more like torture than exercise no matter what form it takes.<br />
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Last night, in an attempt to distract myself I brought out my kindle. And that helped somewhat but even still, with the kindle, 45 minutes felt like hours. I've heard of spinervals and other dvd options and today on my lunch break I spent some time going through YouTube offerings. Maybe I'll give that a try and see if it helps.<br />
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I need to get out....see trees, suffer up climbs, enjoy some descents, blow out the cobwebs.....hopefully this weekend I can get some time in the saddle....richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-15365199208622207272014-02-28T15:36:00.000-08:002014-02-28T15:36:47.547-08:00Proof That I Am A Cyclist....As both of you, my readers, know....and as I tell anyone that will listen, I am <i>a cyclist</i>. And not just an ordinary cyclist, I'm a committed cyclist that has worked long and hard to train my body into the cycling machine that you now see before you.<br />
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Now, if by some chance you've met me and haven't had the pleasure of hearing me regale you to no end about my cycling adventures and accomplishments, I apologize. I fully realize this is a failure on my part and your life is considerably diminished because of this error.<br />
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So, being as I stated,<i> a cyclist,</i> I love to talk not just about my exploits on the bike, but all of the paraphernalia that surrounds said exploits. I can talk for hours and hours (and hours) on things such as single speed gear choices, the benefits and handicaps of one type of frame material over another, cable disc brakes versus hydraulic, the benefits of going tubeless, etc and all the while sounding very condescending and without even a smidgen of fact or knowledge about said topics.<br />
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This ability is mostly due to my years in sales but lately has been honed and refined by time spent in bike shops, scouring the various message boards and internet forums and finally reading every advertisement in every magazine known to man on the topic of cycling.<br />
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As a matter of fact, my ability to speak inaccurately on any topic even remotely cycling related, has been enhanced lately by not riding and instead spending my time refining my loquaciousness and my verbosity. (Don't worry if you had to look those previous words up, it's a major part of being <i>a cyclist </i>to use words and phrases that others don't understand, i.e bridging the gap, domestique, echelon and embrocation)<br />
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Lately though, I feel like my life as <i>a cyclist</i> has affected my friendships. Granted, you always hear that elite athletes have to sacrifice to achieve their goals, but I have to be honest, I never expected this type of anger and jealousy among my less experienced <i>cyclist</i> friends. It's almost as if my less experienced friends are trying to undermine my expertise by throwing out questions in the middle of my dissertations like, so how far do you usually ride? Or where have you ridden lately? or even more biting is the question, when was your last ride?<br />
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These types of inflammatory questions serve no purpose other than to create conflict and as everyone knows, being <i>a cyclist </i>really has nothing to do with cycling. Sort of like being a public servant has absolutely nothing to do with serving the public.<br />
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So, how does someone prove their <i>a cyclist? </i>I put forth the following as evidence that I am indeed <i>a cyclist:</i><br />
<i> - </i>I own bikes - so many bikes in fact that many people that mistakenly believe I own a bike shop<br />
- I own (<i>and am willing to wear) </i>bike clothes - yes, the simple fact that I'm willing to wear clothes that make me look like 10 lbs of sausage in a 5 lb casing is proof that I'm committed to my sport<br />
- I have several large bins of miscellaneous bike parts - if I wasn't so committed would I spend so much money upgrading and buying new parts to replace brand new, perfectly acceptable parts on bikes that never get ridden?<br />
- I know what GU is and have actually tasted several flavors of this product - <i>(note, espresso love double caffeine GU goes really well with a chocolate old fashioned doughnut)</i><br />
- I can name (but not recognize) several pro-cyclists<br />
- I own, and can walk in, those silly clunky cycling shoes that make you walk like a duck<br />
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As you can see, even without actually riding a bike, there is incontrovertible proof that I am indeed <i>a cyclist</i> despite my body fat percentage and sure, I could actually get out and ride a bike, but since I'm already a member of this exclusive group....why would I need to?<br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-88926601646108521152014-02-07T09:47:00.001-08:002014-02-07T09:47:49.670-08:00Before the Storm....The word best used to describe our winter so far here in northern California has been "dry". As a matter of fact, according to the talking heads on TV, this is the driest winter ever since they started keeping records back in the 1840's.<br />
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And, while I'm definitely concerned about the pending drought, the effect on crops and all the ramifications of a lack of precipitation, I am enjoying the fact that my weekends have been spent outdoors and not cooped up in the house. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDubmiBhEbJNTsNepJU15jplEAGBHVANkQK1CINutEpD-6rYeSiIs26nLMwIJbFiyBrW4_7Kvk-SdQ75G3LGN6foWz8ReEXeqHWa_ZFWskDZ-e_RADcNltweP9pFGMdf702RfpzbxiHU/s1600/P1040191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDubmiBhEbJNTsNepJU15jplEAGBHVANkQK1CINutEpD-6rYeSiIs26nLMwIJbFiyBrW4_7Kvk-SdQ75G3LGN6foWz8ReEXeqHWa_ZFWskDZ-e_RADcNltweP9pFGMdf702RfpzbxiHU/s1600/P1040191.JPG" height="240" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a>This past weekend, with the rumor of an actual storm in our near future, we had planned to ride up Mission Peak on the mountain bikes. The amazing thing to me is that I've lived in the bay area my entire life and the east bay specifically for the majority of my 51 years and have never been up Mission Peak. I've driven by it hundreds of times and actually ridden my road bike around it on Calaveras Rd several times, but I've never hiked it our ridden it before.<br />
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We had a large group as we met up at the base, just outside Ohlone College and with bikes tuned and legs and lungs ready, we headed out. Almost immediately after hitting the dirt trail things pointed up and they never really stopped pointing up until we reached the top. Sure there were a few places where it was almost level, but for the most part, the entire 6 miles to the base of the summit is up....and parts of it are STEEP! Like <i>sit on the nose of your saddle and push down on the bars to keep from popping a wheelie</i> steep.<br />
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As I've maintained in this blog, my fitness level this year is not the best. Life has been too busy and I've had too many other priorities for it to be any different. But even so, I thought I was stronger than I felt doing this ride. Several times in fact, I had to stop and get my heart rate back under control because I couldn't hear my iPod over the sound of my heart pounding in my ears.<br />
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Eventually though, as all things do, the suffering came to an end and we were greeted with amazing views of the entire bay area. It had been a bit windy, so the skies were clear and you could literally see for miles....<br />
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Having never been up Mission Peak, but having heard its a popular local hike, I wasn't too surprised that we weren't alone on the trail. What I was surprised at, was just how popular the hike is. The entire ride was spent avoiding hikers, most of whom were polite and pleasant. It seemed as if everyone out there knew the beautiful weather was going to end and winter would soon show up for real...well, as much as winter does show up in the bay area anyway.<br />
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Having done all the suffering in the first half of the ride, we took our pictures, enjoyed a quick snack or gel and prepared for our reward. The downhill. And it didn't disappoint. Where it had taken us over an hour and a half of riding time (not including rest stops) to get up there, the downhill portion passed by in about 40 minutes...and that included several stops to regroup.<br />
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Now that I've completed this ride I can now say I've been there and done that and don't really need to do it again. I'd like to go back with the dog for a nice hike and a good workout, but as a ride, it really wasn't that great. There were a lot of people, the trail other than one section of narrow single track is all fire road and other than the views at the end, it's just not that pretty....yes, it's a tough ride and a really good workout, but on my mountain bike, I really prefer my rides to be more fun.....<i>(of course it could be that I'm just out of shape and not suffering the entire time would change my perspective)</i><br />
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Sunday, for once, the talking weather-heads were right and it rained which made for a perfect excuse to spend the entire day, after church of course, laying on the couch "recovering".richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-26806738119203166942014-01-20T11:33:00.001-08:002014-01-20T11:46:36.296-08:00Meh....That pretty much sums up my riding lately. It's not that I don't enjoy the rides I've been on, it's just that I'm really having trouble getting motivated or excited to ride like I used to. And it's not just riding. I'm finding it hard to be motivated to do much of anything productive. Maybe its the season? Maybe its just life? Who knows...<br />
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This past weekend I had a free pass from the wife to ride if and when I wanted. I had a few chores/responsibilities that I had to get done, but other than that, there wasn't anything on the calendar that absolutely had to be done. In the past this would have led to not only riding, but possibly trying to fit a ride in on both Saturday <i>and</i> Sunday.<br />
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This weekend though, I struggled mightily to find the motivation to get out on the bike. My fitness is at an all time low and my weight, although not at an all time high, is definitely at a seasonal high....I really NEED to ride. Both for my physical well being as well as for my emotional balance.<br />
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I knew this and yet wasted the day Saturday puttering around, not doing much and accomplishing even less. And to be honest, when the sun went down on Saturday in addition to the feeling of discontent that comes from being so out of shape and lazy, there was the added guilt of an opportunity missed....Sunday I HAD to ride. Even if I didn't feel like it.<br />
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After church on Sunday, the feeling of general apathy towards riding continued. I wanted to lay on the couch and watch the football game, to do nothing productive, to generally just be a slug. But I knew that was a self fulfilling cycle. I knew that to give in to the overwhelming desire to do nothing would lead to more days of doing nothing. That it would lead to guilt at having done nothing and that it would lead, as it always does to a general dissatisfaction in other areas of my life.<br />
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Knowing this, and not wanting to head down that road, as soon as I got home from church I put on my riding clothes, got on the bike and headed out before my laziness over-ruled the one remaining thread of motivation inside me.<br />
The amazing part about riding is that often times I don't really <i>want</i> to ride, but there has never been a time when I wasn't really glad I <i>had</i> ridden.<br />
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As I headed out of my neighborhood and down the road, I could feel the apathy and the laziness being replaced by something else....something that resembled motivation and enjoyment....joy at being out on my bike on a sunny day, joy at feeling the muscles in my legs working hard, joy at leaving the weight of doing nothing behind as I moved towards something else....something healthy, something positive. I began to look at the abnormally low speeds on my GPS as less of a conviction of my choices and more as motivation.<br />
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As the day continued so did the joy. I found myself smiling and although I continued to be pushed by the numbers on my GPS, I found myself stopping to watch a family of ducks in the creek, or to watch a group of deer in a field by the road, or just to stand for a moment in the sun amazed at how blessed I was to be out on my bike on such a beautiful day.<br />
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As the route turned finally onto my street and I neared the house, I knew without a doubt that I had made the right choice. My body, although tired was renewed and my mind was once again clear and free of all the junk that had piled up and weighed it down making it heavy and unmotivated....<br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-69316280663580481812014-01-09T10:27:00.005-08:002014-01-09T10:27:59.666-08:00A nice easy 11 mile loop followed by a BBQLast week we had our annual New Year's Day Hangover ride. Actually, the name of the ride should probably change to reflect our aging group. We no longer party all night then spend the first portion of this ride hating ourselves for our actions....instead, most of us are happy to be able to stay awake until Midnight on New Year's eve. (rumor has it that there were even some in our group that watched the east coast celebration so they could go to bed earlier)<br />
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Every year for this ride we try to pick someplace we either haven't ridden at all or haven't ridden in a long time. This year, it's someplace that most of the group has never ridden before. Almaden Quicksilver Park in San Jose. I had ridden this park once before with my buddy Chris and had done it on my SS. To be completely honest, I didn't remember it being very hard so I posted it to the group with above mentioned title. Turns out I may have undersold this ride just a bit.<br />
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Quicksilver park is the site of an old mercury mine and sits adjacent to the old mining town of New Almaden. The loop wasn't technical as it's all fire roads, but there was some decent climbing and some very cool historic sites and some amazing views of Silicon Valley and surrounding areas.<br />
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The group that we had assembled for this ride was pretty diverse. We had friends from our road riding group that had never been mountain biking, friends from our Thursday night mountain bike group, friends from church, children of friends and friends of friends.....19 in total with varying levels of fitness and skill. This was sure to be an interesting day.<br />
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The entrance that we had met at and would later be bbq-ing at offered a brutal climb at the beginning so we opted to start the ride at another entrance further down the road. This provided us with a nice mile or so section that gave us time to get our legs and lungs to warmed up without pushing everyone into the red zone right off the bat. (Turns out this was also helpful in that Nick, one of our riders was MIA and found us as we pedaled down the road)<br />
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Soon enough we gathered at the entrance, counted off to make sure everyone was there and started up the trail. Turns out the road section was the last semi flat section we would see for a while. The next 6 miles was pretty much all climbing and by the time we finally began the descent several of our newer riders were wondering what they had gotten themselves in to.<br />
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The sights on the way though were pretty cool. The park sits at the south end of Silicon Valley above Almaden, probably one of the higher income areas in San Jose, and next to several other open space areas. This provides a view that leads you to believe you're nowhere near anything at all.<br />
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As we continued to climb, we rode past an old mine building of some sort and further up the road came to what used to be an actual mine. It's closed off now, but you can go in about 30 ft and take pictures down into the gaping hole that people used to descend into daily for work. It was interesting that as you went further in, the temperatures went up pretty significantly. The outside temp was probably in the low 60's and I bet it was mid-70's inside.<br />
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I used to work in an office that we referred to as the cube farm and it amazes me that we complained when there were people that headed into places like this every day to do their jobs.<br />
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After ooh'ing and ahh'ing and taking the obligatory group photo, we continued our climb. At this point there were a couple of our riders that were beginning to wonder if they probably should have either 1) ridden more last year or 2) ignored the email that promised a nice easy 11 mile loop to start the new year....oh well, too late now....you're in up to your eyeballs at this point.<br />
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The next two miles should have helped them feel better about their decision as we lost about 700 ft on a nice fast fire road descent. Unfortunately for them, we still had almost 7 miles and some climbs still to go before we were done.<br />
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The remainder of the ride pretty much followed the contour of the hills but in a slightly uphill direction. This isn't usually a problem and is actually a decent way to end a ride. Unless of course the first half has already drained your tank and you just want the ride to be over.<br />
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There were now a couple of our riders that were not enjoying themselves and one who was stopping at every climb due to leg cramps. We had broken into two groups with the faster/stronger guys up front and the slower group bringing up the rear. As ride hosts, Chris and I had stayed back to make sure everyone made it home. Of course, by this point, I'm pretty sure the lead group had gotten back and were beginning the bbq, I was just hoping there would be a beer or two left for the rest of us.<br />
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As we rounded the last corner, I actually heard one of our riders swear out loud....there in front of us was a short, pretty steep climb.....this after I had been telling him we were done with the climbing for the last half hour. It's only a tenth of a mile, but according to my garmin there were parts of it over 14%.<br />
When you've been cramping up for the last hour, have no gas left in the tank and just want to be done, any climb sucks, even a short one. But a short one that looks like it's straight up is evidently enough to get a grown man to swear out loud and not care who is around to hear it.<br />
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With someone else pushing his bike up the hill, he eventually made it up and around the corner where we were greeted with cheers by the rest of the group who were already beginning to eat and had thankfully saved us some beer<br />
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All in all a great way to kick off the New Year! Final stats ended up at 14.7 miles - 2207ft of climbing.<br />
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Yep, definitely undersold this one....<br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-36718643104464486532013-12-27T16:07:00.001-08:002013-12-27T16:07:15.220-08:00No plan, no destination, no worries....Weather in California right now is beautiful. Unseasonably and for some, worrisomely beautiful. It's been cool to cold at night but in the mid-60s, sunny and dry during the day. More like early Fall or Spring than winter.<br />
The downside is that I still have new skis in the garage waiting for enough snow to take a day off work and go play. The upside is, it's perfect weather for a bike ride....which is what I tried to do on Saturday. Unfortunately I was too busy. (it is Christmas week after all) Sunday though, right after church, I went home, changed, loaded up the ipod and the water bottles and headed out.<br />
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I had no idea where I was headed other than a general direction, no deadline other than sunset and no plan other than get out, make circles and enjoy the afternoon.....and that's just what I did.<br />
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Most of my rides are either group rides where there's the whole dynamic of keeping up and not making other's wait, or on my solo rides where I have a limited amount of time or someplace to be afterwards which forces me to conform to some sort of schedule.<br />
Very rarely do I get a day like Sunday. I rode as hard or as easy as I wanted letting my legs dictate the pace. I stopped and looked at the view a couple of times just because I could and there were several times where I wasn't quite sure where I was....it was awesome.<br />
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The worst part of the ride is from my house south to the Dumbarton bridge. From there, traffic pretty much disappeared and although I continued heading south, the decision at every intersection was made by which road had less traffic. This continued with my mind on autopilot and my legs spinning along smoothly. My breathing was easy and the road continued to disappear beneath me until I found myself in a business park, somewhere south of where I started and north of wherever it was I was going.....<br />
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Eventually, as all things do, this mindless spinning came to a rather abrupt end with the sound of a pop followed by a whoosh and wrapping up with a wop, wop, wop as my rear wheel began wobbling. I coasted to a stop on the shoulder knowing immediately I had suffered a pinch flat going over the last set of railroad tracks.<br />
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Even this though couldn't ruin my mood. I sat for a moment on the nicely manicured lawn of some companies parking strip and enjoyed the sunshine, a gel and a nice long drink from my water bottle before beginning to address my flat tire. Evidently my relaxed state caused some concern for one of the few cars that drove by though as a lady stopped with a frightened look on her face and asked if I was ok.<br />
It was only later, as I thought about it that I realized with my bike laying on it's side and me reclined on the lawn she must have thought I crashed.<br />
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Soon enough it was time to get my hands dirty, change my tube and start on my way home. As I turned around and began the trek home I again disappeared into my head, pedaled along making random lefts and rights until I got back to an area I recognized and worked my way back home.<br />
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It wasn't a long ride at only 26 miles and it wasn't a particularly hard ride having less than 400ft of climbing but even at what I thought was a nice easy pace, I was able to average almost 18mph. a decent pace on a beautiful day with nowhere to go and no place to be....California Dreamin, on such a winter's day...richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-74454941159323769582013-12-23T14:41:00.001-08:002013-12-23T14:41:57.131-08:00DATMBA Revision 8..or is it 9?We've been hosting a DATMBA (dayafterthanksgivingmtbikeadventure) ride for the last 8 years...or maybe it's 9, I can't remember. It's not only an excuse to skip the Black Friday shopping madness and ride, but it's an excuse to eat way more pie on Thanksgiving because you know you'll burn it off the next day.<br />
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We've done this ride in a variety of conditions including the first year where it rained so hard our bikes wouldn't even roll due to mud and we had to cut it short for fear of ruining the trails (and our bikes).<br />
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This year, it was cold as I loaded the truck.<br />
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37 when I left my house and in the high 40s as I waited for the group in the parking lot at China Camp. As soon as the sun crested the hills though, things got nice. Really nice. So nice in fact that most of us rode the majority of the loop in short sleeves.<br />
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China Camp is a great place to ride. It's got fun fast singletrack and none of the climbs are so brutal that I regretted being on my single speed (even though I'm way out of shape this year).<br />
The other great thing about China Camp is that it's pretty....it's lush and green and the trails follow the contour of the hill in and out and around never allowing you to see much more than just the section you're on. It really is a unique place to ride in an area surrounded by people....<br />
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There were a couple of decent switchback climbs which sent me into the red zone a bit, but nothing that I actually had to get off the bike for. In years past even the switchbacks were cake, but as I mentioned, there's a bit more of "me" riding with me this year than in previous years.<br />
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Once you reach the top of the climbs, the rest of the ride is an amazing swoopy singletrack that follows the ridges and really allows you to rail along and enjoy the previous efforts. There are enough roots and tight turns to keep it interesting and to keep you focused, but it's all pretty much slightly downhill which makes it a single speeders dream....<br />
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Eventually though, as all things do, we reached the bottom of the hill and the ride came to an end. Now it was time for post-ride festivities. In years past this has ranged from huddling under a popup avoiding the rain, to sitting near the vehicles shivering in the cold and even on some occasions enjoying the nice day....never though do I think it's been as warm as it was this year.<br />
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I know we need the rain and I know there are all the fears about climate change, but I really did enjoy sitting in the sun at the beginning of December and worrying more about sunburn and warm beer than shivering in the cold....<br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-36905151834980663412013-11-27T12:31:00.000-08:002013-11-27T12:31:20.626-08:00Not a great loop, but it's quick and it's localI woke up early Saturday, as I always do, but today was different. The weekend before Thanksgiving and I knew we were going to be busy. We're expecting a houseful and had a pretty long list of of shopping, chores and preparation we had to complete.<br />
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Knowing this and, knowing I really wanted to get a ride in before the chaos began, meant I had to be up and ready to go early today. Thankfully, with daylight savings time, it was light enough that I had planned on starting about 6:30 for my regular quick 20 mile loop. Not a great ride, but local, and if I could keep my pace up, would allow me to finish right around an hour.<br />
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The plan quickly got bumped back a bit when I went out to the garage at 6:30 to get my bike and saw that it was only 42 degrees outside. Maybe I'd have another cup of coffee first...after all, it's not quite light and I really want to be safe (and warmer)<br />
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At 7:00 I again looked and it had warmed up a total of 2 degrees to 44...um....I really should be well caffeinated before I start...one more cup of coffee, just to be sure....<br />
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By 7:30, I really couldn't put it off any longer and with a base layer, a jersey, a jacket and leg warmers I headed out into the cold 45 degree weather. Granted, for those people that don't live in California, this isn't cold and I'm sure I'm kind of a wimp, but I pay outrageous property taxes and ridiculous real estate prices to live here so that I can avoid cold weather.<br />
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The loop is actually a pretty decent loop (more of a big rectangle really) but only if you do it on a weekend and in the morning. The first leg down Union City Blvd from my house is wide and busy, but has no bike lane. Any time other than early on a weekend, it's downright scary to ride. The next leg is a multi-use trail which although there are no vehicles, gets busy with walkers, runners, riders, families and dogs during the day. The 3rd leg along Mission Bl from Fremont back to Hayward isn't bad. It's a really busy road, but has a wide shoulder. The road conditions for most of it are new and pretty good. Unfortunately, as soon as you cross the city limit back into Hayward, the road deteriorates dramatically. The shoulder, while still pretty wide, is in horrible shape and more suited to a mt bike than a road bike. And the last loop down Industrial Blvd again, has a decent shoulder but it's littered with debris. and I've had a few flats in this section which really sucks because not only is it not a great area, it's at the end of the ride when all I want is to be done....thankfully today I had no issues.<br />
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As I headed out I realized I probably should have brought my toe covers. Again, for people in the east and the north, 45 degrees is probably pleasant this time of year, but I could immediately feel the cold air blowing in through the mesh on my shoes. Other than that though, I felt pretty good. I hadn't been on the road bike in a few weeks and although I've been riding the mountain bike the higher cadence definitely felt like work.<br />
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Once I jumped off the road onto the multi-use trail the ride became pleasant and although I was still trying to maintain a high pace, the scenery definitely improved from asphalt to a nice creek, trees, ducks, geese and the occasional runner.<br />
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This path ends at Mission Blvd which is actually the old highway 238 and is still a major traffic road during the week. Another reason I wanted to start early. By now though the temps had warmed up a bit. Not to the point that I was actually warm, but not so cold as it was earlier. I have an issue when the weather turns cold in that my toes never seem to stay warm. I had tried the toe covers and those work for cool mornings, but last year I broke down and bought neoprene boots that go over my cycling shoes for somoe of our nighttime mountain bike rides....pretty sure our Christmas ride last year never got above 35 degrees.<br />
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I continued to try to push the pace on the ride. My best time for this loop is just under an hour which was done when I was in much better shape and although I knew I wasn't going to get near that, I still wanted a good time.<br />
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One of the challenges I face when riding alone is pushing myself beyond a "comfortable" pace. I've actually invented little head games for times when I'm just not motivated. I'll race to the next intersection, I'll try to get to the next light before the car coming up catches me, I'll try to maintain a certain pace for the next mile, if I see another rider I'll push until I catch them, and on and on. This morning's game was even better...due to the sun coming from the left and slightly behind me, my shadow was just ahead of me for this entire 5 mile leg of the ride and I spent the entire time "chasing my shadow"...unfortunately it won.<br />
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As I made the turn on industrial and then the final leg to my house, I felt like I had had a good ride. Definitely not in the shape I should be, but it seems like my whole season has been that way....nice to get out in the morning and enjoy some road time.....(but damn are my toes cold)<br />
<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-78521714356486710212013-11-22T15:07:00.002-08:002013-11-22T15:29:11.595-08:00Blowin' in the wind...I ducked and flinched yet again. Sure that this time the branches I heard crashing down around me were going to land on my head.<br />
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Last night was Thursday and since Thursday is the one day I ride lately, ride I would....despite the gale force winds that howled as I pulled up to the parking lot. (the weather man said there were gusts up to 50 mph)<br />
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As the hardiest of our group showed up we joked that maybe this wasn't the best weather for a ride, but it was Jon's birthday, I had brought a cake and it wasn't raining...so we really had no choice.<br />
Other than the wind, the night wasn't too bad. The skies were clear and it wasn't very cold...as a matter of fact, I had over-dressed for the ride since as soon as I started up Brandon, I was wishing I had left the jacket in my camelback.<br />
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The wind though, played havoc with us for the entire ride. If it wasn't pushing against us on the climbs, or trying to blow us off the trail from the side, it was throwing stuff at us from the giant eucalyptus trees as we rode past. The trail, normally a smoothly graded fire road became an obstacle course littered with branches, leaves and everything that had blown in from a couple zip codes away.<br />
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Eventually, we made it back to the paved side of the lake and although the wind actually seemed worse, and the trail was still covered with detritus, at least we didn't need to worry about a eucalyptus tree falling on our heads...As we reach the top of the final climb up the road to the parking lot we were blasted with the full force and ended up riding the last couple of hundred yards directly into a headwind that tried it's best to stop us in our tracks.<br />
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Even more challenging than the ride though, was the post-ride meal and birthday cake. We huddled against a building trying our best to stay out of the wind, while balancing a beverage in one hand and a plate full of food in the other. The heaters, which for the next couple of months will be a staple at every ride, tried valiantly to crank against the wind, but it was a losing battle and soon we were all calling it quits and loading up for the drive home.<br />
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Getting back into the truck was a dramatically different environment than where we had just spent the last couple of hours. Suddenly the wind was something I could only see and not feel and the quiet in the cab of my truck was almost deafening. The evidence of the storm continued on my drive home though....a good portion of Castro Valley Blvd was dark and without power and I passed several PG&E trucks as I drove through town....all in all another great ride.richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-44734565420844564062013-11-19T15:19:00.000-08:002013-11-19T15:19:06.276-08:00Dark in the ParkSeveral years ago when our Thursday riding group first got started, we referred to the weekly ride as Dark in the Park. It was early Fall and we quickly learned that if we were going to ride, we were going to have to learn to ride in the dark.....and so our group became the nitedawgs.<br />
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Obviously Spring changed things and we were no longer riding in the dark, but by then the name was set and the die was cast....we were the nitedawgs and the Thursday ride became known as Dark in the Park among the original group.<br />
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Riding at night for most of us with day jobs is our only alternative for part of the year. And to be honest, it's actually a lot of fun. In addition to adding a whole new twist to our regular fire road loop, it completely changes the dynamic of the ride. Your focus is narrowed to that small pool of light that's either right in front of your bike for those with bar mounted lights or wherever you happen to be looking if your light is on your helmet.<br />
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As the years have gone on we've tested, reviewed, updated and refined our lights through a group beta test type system. One or two people will get a new light, everyone else will watch to see how well it works out and then eventually, we'll end up making a group buy and relegating last seasons choice to our backup or loaner lights.<br />
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Last year, I thought I had finally reached light nirvana. I had a 750 lumen light on my bar and another, much smaller, 750 light head on my helmet. It was perfect....there was nothing better and I enjoyed riding as fast as I wanted never once outrunning the pool of light cast by this setup. I could see down the trail, I had battery life plenty for even our longest loop and with the helmet mount, I could not only see the trail, but could look around at the wildlife I imagined to be stalking me as I rode.<br />
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Last week, we had decided to do the big loop and I was feeling good on the SS. As a matter of fact, I felt so good that there were several times when I'd look behind me and instead of seeing this....<br />
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I'd not see any lights from the others in my group at all. This of course left me with a dilemma....do I stop and wait or do I ride ahead...alone...by myself....<br />
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As everyone who rides at night knows, in the dark, out on the trail, live all the monsters and goblins that used to reside under our beds when we were kids. Only now, as grownups, we're supposed to pretend they don't exist. But we ALL know that's a lie....they do exist...and they exist just outside the ring of light cast by our headlamps. (or in the case of camping, just outside the ring of light from the campfire)<br />
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Of course, being the manly man that I am (in tights and lycra of course) I would stop and wait....just daring the boogey man and the monsters to try to get me...and they, knowing full well the level of my machsimo...wisely decided to stay away. As a matter of fact, when I stopped, it was so peaceful and quiet and such a beautiful night, that had I not known better....I would almost believe there weren't any monsters out there after all....<br />
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<br />richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719580981804040302.post-7866022155322136222013-10-28T09:41:00.000-07:002013-10-28T09:59:02.791-07:00Fall-ing On The BikeLiving in California, we're blessed with an abundance of amazing riding weather. Our winters are only moderately cold and wet and it's pretty rare that you're not able to squeeze at least 1-2 rides a week in during even the wettest months.<br />
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The downside to such a moderate climate is that we don't really have the traditional four seasons and the dramatic changes between them that other areas enjoy. I've heard from people that grew up in the east that this rates as a negative for us, but to be honest, I'm totally fine with it.<br />
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Here in the Bay Area, our Fall is traditionally marked with cool, crisp mornings which turn into sunny afternoons. We'll get breezy and windy weather, but again, the temps are usually moderate.<br />
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This past Saturday, was a perfectly typical Fall day in the east bay and I decided to break out the road bike for a ride up through the Oakland Hills to enjoy the weather.<br />
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Of course, as anyone that has seen my strava updates lately (<i>or rather lack of updates</i>) will understand, enjoying a ride through the Oakland Hills at my current level of fitness may be a bit of a misnomer. It was more like a suffer-fest in really pretty scenery.<br />
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The first portion of the ride up Redwood Rd is about 2 1/2 miles of up. None of it is dramatically steep, but it was warm, in full sun and it <i>is</i> all up. The reward though is that once you get to the top, you have almost the same distance in a nice, fast, swoopy downhill where you can let it hang out there while you recover.<br />
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At the bottom of Redwood, you enter a different environment. Where the front side is typical east bay hills with oak trees, scrub oak and dry canyons that thrive in the heat, the backside is like a different world altogether. There are still oaks but because you're in a valley they're surrounded by redwoods, eucalyptus trees and all the fauna that thrives in the cool shaded climate.<br />
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In the summer, this area is a wonderful respite from the heat of the east bay, usually staying at least 10-15 degrees cooler than the surrounding areas. In the fall, the difference is even more dramatic in that it looks like a different part of the country. Here, unlike the hills on either side in Castro Valley or Oakland, it was well and truly fall. The roads were covered in bright yellow leaves, the trees were awash in the reds, yellows and oranges of the season and the weather was crisp and cool.<br />
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As you climb out of the canyon, the oaks are replaced by more and larger redwoods, pines and eucalyptus trees until you get to the top of Skyline where the temperatures increase again and the surroundings revert to more of the typical east bay area hillsides.<br />
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This climb, as it reaches Skyline and turns up continues to hurt, but the views at the top and the solitude make it almost worth it. I've always been amazed at the homes at the top of the ridge. As I sat there straddling my top tube trying to catch my breath I could just imagine how nice it would be to be sitting on my balcony, (and they ALL have balconies) enjoying a nice cup of coffee or an adult beverage.<br />
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Instead, I gobbled down a handful of Honey Stinger chews, washed it down with a big drink from my water bottle and clipped back in, knowing I was only at the halfway point and still had a couple of decent climbs ahead of me.<br />
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It's interesting how a lack of fitness can completely change the personality of a ride. This loop, the zoo loop, used to be an after work ride for me when I was riding more regularly. It was tough but not brutal and I could bang it out in about an hour and a half. This time though, was a little more than tough, had me in the red zone quite a bit and took me 2 hours with a couple of different photo stops. (<i>uh...yeah...that's it, I stopped to take pictures...not to try to get my heart to stop pounding in my ears</i>)<br />
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Eventually, I made it back to the truck, and after loading up the bike, headed in to Peet's for my reward....a large mocha fredo...with whipped cream....pretty sure that made up for any calories I may have burned on the ride....richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02604447326957705684noreply@blogger.com0