Multi-Tasking is not a strength

This past Saturday I had plans to smoke a bunch of cheese to send out as part of Christmas gift baskets. Smoking cheese, as you can probably imagine, is kind of tricky. You have to get the smoker warm enough to get the woodchips smoldering, but not so warm that the cheese melts.

It's a process that requires constant monitoring of the smoker, opening and closing the door to maintain temps, turning the heating unit on and off and generally just paying close attention…..Anyone who knows me can already see where this is going right?

I had gone to the local costco, picked up several large bricks of various types of cheese, sliced them, lined them up in the smoker and prepared to begin. I soaked the wood chips to generate smoke without burning and was all set. I turned on the smoker, set to 100 degrees, figuring as soon as it hit that, I'd shut it down.

Not long after I turned it on, I called Dell support to help me with what I thought was going to be a quick video driver issue I was having with my external monitor.  I figured I could knock this little project out while waiting for the smoker to come up to temp…(in case you weren't paying attention, this is in direct conflict to the statement above about needing to pay close attention)

Well….Dell, being Dell, wasn't quite as quick at solving my issue as I hoped, and an hour and ten minutes later, having completely forgotten about the smoker (ok, so multi-tasking may not be one of my skills) the laptop was still not fixed and Dell told me to call Acer, the external monitor maker.

Hanging up frustrated I looked out back and noticed my smoker was going strong and producing a nice head of smoke……oh crap!

I wish I had taken pictures…..4 lbs of cheddar, pepper jack and monterey jack had turned into a 4lb blob of hot, gooey, yellow and white stuff oozing out the bottom of the smoker…..The upside is that cheese, being mostly fat and oil, cleans up relatively easily….and at least now my smoker s nice and clean which is something else I had hoped to do at the end of the day.

The other good news is that last night's round went off without a hitch and everything is bagged up and in the fridge to age for a week before serving….

It's All Starting To Come Together....

Which, of course is much better than it all coming apart...

Back in 2010, I and a group of my friends got involved with the non-profit group TurningWheels for Kids. Our involvement was that on a Saturday, at the beginning of December, we put together a team, head down to San Jose and helped them assemble bikes which they in turn gave to charities for kids at Christmas.  It's their Annual Big Bike Build....and it's an awesome event where over 900 volunteers got together for a day to assemble over 2000 bikes!

It was a really rewarding and an incredible experience combining my passion for bikes and my desire to give something back. I'm a firm believer in the bible verse that states, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded". And, while I know that times are tough and we're all working harder and harder to make ends meet, I still hold to the fact that I live in the greatest nation in the world, have been blessed abundantly and am far better off than many in my community and am richer than most of the world's population.

With this in mind, I began a dialogue with Sue, the founder of TurningWheels for Kids about how to expand upon their one day Bike Build and what I could do to get involved a little deeper.  But, as is usually the case, life got busy, the holiday's passed by and the conversation died. Then, after the 2011 Bike Build, and additional conversations with Sue, she sent me an email in January telling me there were others in my area that wanted to go deeper....and would we like to get together to meet.

And so it began....We launched the TurningWheels for Kids Tri-Valley Chapter at the end of January and here we are, 11 months and many hours later getting ready to host the First Annual TurningWheels for Kids Tri-Valley Bike Build.  Over the past months we've put together an amazing group of volunteers who, in turn have; raised almost $40,000.00, purchased 493 bicycles, helmets and locks, found a build location, arranged raffle prizes, set up breakfast and lunch, arranged for pickup and delivery of all 493 bikes, sought out, vetted and established relationships with 9 different charities, and found and organized almost 150 volunteers to help pull it all together. (pretty sure there are at least a thousand other tasks I've forgotten)

The really amazing thing, is that they've done all this with a smile on their face and I have to admit, it's really been a joy. Sure it's stressful at times and I do wake up in the middle of the night thinking of things that need to be done, but for the most part, this has been one of the most fulfilling projects I've ever been involved in.

So, for the next few days I'll continue to stress and worry about a bazillion little details, because that's just what I do, but come Saturday I'm sure everything will work out just fine and I along with 150 of my new friends will assmble and donate 493 bicycles to be given to kids at Christmas.....and we all know, there's pretty much nothing better than a new bike at Christmas. (too bad my wife doesn't read my blog)

The Ability to Suffer....

Last night was the last Thursday ride for the season that will start in the daylight.  This weekend will be the end of daylight savings time (or is it the beginning? I can never remember) so starting next Thursday, we'll need lights from the very start of the ride.
(yes - I know I haven't yet posted Day 2 of the Tahoe trip, but I'm still trying to get pictures and video edited)

We had a little bit of rain on Wednesday night/Thursday morning so the trails at Lake Chabot were perfect. Hero-Dirt as I believe it's referred, for the traction it provides and last night was no exception. After a summer of dry, powdered sugar over hardpack conditions, where we ended every ride looking like pig-pen, last night was a treat.

The trails were damp and tacky, but not muddy. Traction was incredible and the weather was cool, but not cold....a perfect evening for a ride. I, having had kind of a crazy week, decided I needed to work through some issues and brought the single speed. The single speed forces me to give 100% of my concentration thereby preventing me from thinking of work, or life or all of the myriad of projects I still need to finish.

As I'm sure I've mentioned in other posts, this has not been a great year for me fitness-wise. I've ridden just enough to maintain a base level of fitness but am way off my normal mileage for the end of the season. As a result, bringing the single speed out tonight meant that Brandon, the first long climb of tonight's ride, was going to hurt.....and it did...

One thing though that I think is common, no actually make that required, among cyclists is the ability and the willingness to suffer. People ask me when I mention a nice long ride, but don't your legs hurt, or your butt? Or why I ride a single speed or why I prefer rides with lots of climbing, but doesn't that just make it harder?  Why yes, yes it does.

I've found among most of my riding friends that the same mentality exists. The desire to go just a little further. The willingness to push the limits of what their bodies are used to. I mean sure, I have friends that prefer nice social rides to the coffee shop and there's definitely a place for that.....but most of the serious cyclists I know actually prefer pushing their boundaries a bit just to see if they can.

It strikes me as I type this that cycling is actually like a lot of things in life.  The ability to continue to move forward when things get tough is a characteristic that can be found in marriage, in our jobs, in our friendships, pretty much in everything we do. 

These thoughts were bouncing around in my head as I continued to stand and make circles with the pedals, willing my heart rate to mellow and trying my hardest not to have my lungs explode out of my chest. Then, another thought dawned on me....one which I shared with Jack as we finally got to the top of the climb.....it's  the end of the season....we're supposed to actually be in shape by now....

From here, we could have done the regular loop, but in a desire to suffer just a bit more, we decided to add in Redtail and Soaring Hawk. The suffering continues....things actually went ok. As long as I kept my pace mellow, my heartrate stayed under control. My legs though, were a different story. By the time we got to the Soaring Hawk, Cottontail intersection, both Jack and I agreed we had had enough....we dropped down Cottontail to the regular loop and finished the ride on that route.

Still, the last climb up to the parking lot on the road had my legs asking for a break and when we finally got to the truck after just under 2 hours, I was ready for a beer and a rest.

The weather ended up being perfect, the trail conditions were ideal, the bike performed flawlessly....now if I could just get the motor tuned up and running better, I'd be all set.

Feet of Clay....

If you say someone you admire has "Feet of Clay" you're usually referring to the fact that that person has hidden faults or a character flaw.  The analogy actually goes back to the bible where Daniel interprets a dream had by the then current king of Babylon, Nebechadnezzar in which he saw a great statue who's feet were made of half iron and half clay. The premise being there was a large, heavy object with a brittle, unstable base.

Last night, as I watched the premier of The Levi Effect, knowing that he and a whole slew of professional riders had recently confessed to doping led to some very conflicting thoughts as I sat there in the theater.

There have been events and decisions in my life that I would not be proud of and while feeling fully justified at the time of their making, have regretted them later. I would love to say that in every instance when facing a decision, I've chosen the moral and ethical path, but that's not the case. I have always made those choices though, knowing that were they to come to light I would own up to them, but in my heart of hearts I always hoped they would just pass by without ever coming due.

I think its interesting that there has been such an outcry and villianization of the pro cyclists that were caught. And yes, the majority of them were "caught". Very few have actually confessed and came clean and most would probably have tried to hide their dirty little secret forever had not the anti-doping agencies, the government, the cycling bodies, whatever pursued them to the point that they had to confess.

I was struck last night as I thought about the whole doping issue that yes, all of the riders had a choice to make and need to be responsible for their own decisions.  BUT, it's really not as black and white as many of us would like to think. For us, who ride recreationally, it's easy to say we wouldn't have done it.  If it was our livelyhood though, and you had bills, a mortgage, a family to feed, whatever......would it be that easy to say no?

Take this same scenario to other sports where people have dedicated their lives to acheiving their position. Many, to the exclusion of school, learning a trade or developing a market-able skillset and put them in a position where in order to keep their jobs, feed their families or put a roof over their head and ask them what they would do?

It's easy for us to judge and condemn these people. We've put them up on a pedestal and made heroes of them. People we don't even know. People that are above all, human, frail, prone to err and when they do come crashing down for any variety of reasons we feel cheated and angry and want to make examples of them for their transgressions.

Did the cyclists use illegal and banned substances, yep.
Should they pay the penalty, yep
Did they damage the sport in some way, probably
Will a witch hunt and public flogging of them fix the sport? Not at all

Many say punishment is a deterrent to crime and I actually agree that if you think you'll get caught, you are less likely to commit a crime - after all, most criminal never think they'll get caught. But, I think that the doping issue is much bigger than just the users. I think that a society that rewards victory at all costs and an industry that promotes, condones and even makes excuses for illicit behavior like professional sports has done for years carries a large part of the responsibility for curing itself.
I imagine, had some of the cyclists attempted to take the high road, the same teams that so quickly dropped them and denied any knowledge would have replaced them with riders more willing to "do what it takes to win"

Like I said at the beginning of this post, the movie generated some conflicting thoughts and I haven't come up with any hard and fast answers, but something has to change.
I've also come to a few conclusions:
 - These are basically good, decent people that made bad choices in the pursuit of their dream
 - Many of these supposed "villians" have leveraged their fame and noteriety to do tremendously good things
 - It's not like taking a performance enhancing drug made their lives easier - they still worked their asses off and rode their bikes for hours and hours in all kinds of weather

Donner Lake Rim Trail.....

It's 4:30 am on Thursday and there's an annoying ringing in my ears....its not until I realize its the alarm and I shut it off that I remember.....today I get to ride my mt bike! In Tahoe!!! with my friends!!!instead of going to work!!!

We've been trying to put together a Tahoe trip all summer and its just never quite worked out until this weekend.  Chris is off work and heading up, I have a bunch of vacation days I need to use or lose and Jerrry...well Jerry's retired and he can and does ride at every chance.

By 5:30 I'm ready and standing at the window looking for Jerry's van.  Ok, maybe I 'm a little excited.  My wife, my kids and most of my friends are working today and I'm going to be in Tahoe riding my mountain bike....what could be better than that?

The drive up goes smoothly, except for the part where Jerry forgets to put his FastPass on the dash going over the bridge.  Yep, there's a ticket in his future, but I guess its better him than me...yeah, I'm selfish like that.

Soon enough we're pulling in to the Tahoe Donner community and from there into Chris' driveway.  I love how my friends tell me they have cabins in the mountains only to find when I arrive that this is no cabin.  It's a house in a really pretty setting.  His place is really nice. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, hot running water, indoor toilets, and a high speed internet connection....evidently I need to adjust my definition of the word "cabin".

Chris had an amazing breakfast waiting for us with bacon and blackberry pancakes and fresh ground coffee....I'm guessing he didn't want us running out of gas on our ride today.
One of the coolest parts of today's ride was the fact that it was going to start and end at his house.  There would be no loading up and driving to the trailhead, we would go from his front porch to pedaling.  Not a bad deal at all.

First we rode over to the equestrian center/bike shop but, as expected, they were already closed for the season.  From there we headed up the road to the trailhead and began to climb.  The downside to living at sea-level and heading to Tahoe for a quick couple of days is that there's no time to acclimate.  We went from 0 to 7000 ft and my lungs were definitely feeling the effects.
 The first climb is a loose, rocky, dusty fireroad that at some points actually forced me off the bike.  It's not that it was just steep, and it was, it was also this loose, rocky decomposed granite that provided no traction whatsoever.  (yes, that's the story I'm going with although you'll note I already mentioned how much my lungs were suffering)
Once we got to the top, the fun really begins.  The next half hour was an amazing single track journey down through the trees winding our way through and along the canyon to the bottom where things leveled out.   The next section was mostly level with some up and down, a couple bridge crossings and a few sections of fire road.

It was a perfect day.  Weather was cool, but not cold and my choice of a lightweight, long sleeve jersey proved to be perfect.

Eventually, the road turned up again and once again became a loose, rocky, lung-busting climb.  At several points along this climb, staying in the saddle and red-lining, with my lungs crying for mercy, I was wondering if I was burning matches I was going to need later. Thinking that I'd just have to pay that bill when it came due, I put my head down and concentrated on making the pedals go round and round.

As we reached the top and pulled up to Summit lake I was overwhelmed by just how perfect today was turning out.  What could be better than spending a day with two good friends, riding great trails and stopping for lunch at one of the most scenic places I've ever seen?

It was here that a decision needed to be made. We had started the day without a real plan other than riding up to Summit Lake.  From there, we had talked about either continuing on or finding a different way back but hadn't really thought too far beyond that.

After eating our PB&J sandwiches, trail mix and cookies, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that a nap sounded better than getting back on the bike.  The dark clouds coming our way discouraged that idea and also helped confirm our decision to head back the way we had come and towards the ice chest full of beers sitting on Chris' porch.

The loose, rocky climb that hurt so much on the way in, was now a loose rocky descent which, although less painful, was still a bit of a challenge.  Traction was sketchy and the descent required our full attention.  Once that was over though, the ride back along the fire roads and singletrack to the bottom of the canyon went by way too quickly and soon enough we were faced with climbing the long downhill we had enjoyed so much just a couple of hours before.


Its interesting in that we were actually talking about this climb at lunch and saying at least its a long moderate climb and not very steep.  Funny how your perspective changes when you're going up a hill instead of down, this was turning in to a serious climb.  The narrow singletrack, the switchbacks and the elevation were all combining to push me well into the red zone and it wasn't too long before I was soaked.  Mostly from sweat and but also from the sprinkles that had started falling from dark clouds looming above us.

As all things do, the climb eventually came to an end as did the showers and we were able to enjoy a nice long downhill to the bottom.  At some point I realized I was having a blast but was completely alone.  Pulling to the side, I waited.....and waited....and finally, not wanting to, but without any other choice, I began again climbing the hill I had just come down and had climbed earlier in the day.

As I came to the first major intersection and the last place I remember seeing anyone behind me I stopped and started to dial Jerry or Chris' cell number.  Just as I began though, Chris pulled up and explained that he had pulled over earlier when he realized we had lost Jerry.  After much deliberation, we continued to the bottom and the road thinking he was just on a different path but should end up in the same place....um...nope.

The next hour was spent playing phone tag, trying to talk Jerry back on to our route and finally deciding to head back up the trail to meet him.  Once regrouped, we continued down a different route which turned out to be a really good twist since it took us through a stand of Aspens that were in all their Fall glory....

Soon enough we were back in the neighborhood, then back on the porch and enjoying an ice cold beverage.

Total for the day was about 20 miles and 3500ft of climbing - we definitely weren't breaking any speed records, but that wasn't our goal and the fun and beauty points more than made up for it.

 - video from the day https://vimeo.com/51420790

I was THAT kid....

This thought continued to run through my mind with every bike I put into the clamp of my workstand this past Sunday. The only difference was I didn't have this resource.

The TurningWheels for Kids Tri-Valley chapter held our first ever Free Bike Clinic in Livermore last Sunday. And, although it was over 100 degrees, we still had over 30 volunteers show up to help us fix 60 bikes.

As a kid growing up with a single parent who was doing his best just to get by, there was a good portion of my childhood where we didn't have money for a bike. Most of the time, I just did without and when I did get a bike, it was either one that someone had grown out of or a friend of the family had found, fixed up and given to me.

I can remember one instance in particular when I had just moved back in with my dad after a period living with my aunt and uncle. We lived in San Jose in the early 70s, BMX was just starting to take off and several of my new friends had converted their stingrays to bmx bikes by taking off the banana seat and the high rise bars and putting on an old 10 speed seat and some bmx bars.

I was so excited when one day after work my dad walked in to the apartment with some junk pile find and the promise that we'd fix it up just like "one of those fancy bmx bikes". That excitement eventually dimmed as Saturday after Saturday there it sat on the patio waiting for him to keep his promise.

Its memories like these and my later passion for biking that first got me involved with TurningWheels for Kids. Too often, for reasons beyond their control, kids today don't get to experience the liberation and freedom that comes with owning a bicycle.  And they pay for it in ways that will affect them the rest of their lives. In addition to never being able to experience the joy of the wind in their face, we've got a generation of kids growing up with ever increasing obesity rates, diabetes issues, health problems and an attitude of laziness from being shuttled and chauffeured everywhere they need to go.

As we were setting up our pop-ups and organizing ourselves and our tools, I noticed a kid out on the curb looking at us and I could almost imagine the thoughts going through his head....is it really free? what if they ask me to pay? What if the labor is free but I have to pay for parts? As we waived him forward he came tentatively, broken bike and the flier we had passed out at his school in hand...soon enough though, he was smiling and happy as one of the teams loaded his bike into the repair stand and began to get it back up and running.

As the day wore on, and the kids kept coming, I heard the same story told over and over again only in different voices..."yeah, I used to ride it everywhere but then I got a flat, my pedal broke, my brakes quit working, my handlebar came loose, etc, etc....."

For the majority of the bikes, the issues started out as minor fixes but turned into bigger jobs as a result of sitting un-ridden in a yard somewhere.

I actually spent a couple hours in the afternoon with what was obviously a hard-ridden, low budget bike in my stand. The wheels were so bent it barely rolled and brake pads so worn that if you did get it going there was no way you were going to stop. As I worked on it for a guy not that much younger than me, I kept thinking, "why doesn't he just break down, pony up the 100 bucks this thing cost and buy a new bike? It was only when he came over and said, "are you going to be able to fix it? I have to ride it to work tomorrow" that the reality check kicked in.....I spent more on my recent set of pedals than this guy has invested in his daily transportation.....yes, I admit it, I really do forget sometimes just how blessed I am.

Eventually, as the afternoon came to close and the last of the bike stands were folded up and put away I looked around. Everywhere on the faces of our group of volunteers, along with the dirty hands, greae stained clothes and tired eyes was something else...something more...something real....there were smiles. There were looks of satisfaction...an attitude of having done something worthwhile....of something good....

To a person, every single volunteer said, "that was a great experience, when are we doing it again?"

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Like putting on an old sweater....

The lawns needed mowing, my office renovation was still incomplete and we were expecting family for Sunday dinner in a few hours. So, looking at the yard, the house and the sun shining outside I did what any good, responsible parent and husband would do....I got the road bike out, put air in the tires, wiped off the layer of dust and clipped in for a nice quick ride.

I haven't been on the road bike but a couple of times since the Tahoe ride back at the beginning of June.  Its not that I haven't been riding, I've been trying to get in at least one or two a week, but they've all been on the mountain bike which is more about short, intense efforts than a longer sustained ride.

What would this be like? Would I be strong? Fast? Smooth? Would I remember how to shift?

As it turns out, clipping in was a lot like putting on an old sweater. At the beginning of the season, I invested an afternoon and had Chris over at Eden Bicycles spend some time and do an actual professional fitting of my bike.  Granted, I'm not a racer, I don't get paid to ride my bike and at the level that I'm at, the fit probably doesn't really affect my performance too dramatically.  What the fitting did do though was make my bike, my bike. 

From the moment I clipped in everything fell exactly where it was supposed to. My hands rested on the hoods perfectly, my fingers found the brifters with no hesitation or missed shifts, the reach to the bars was exactly in the perfect place to allow me a nice flat back and a comfortable pedal stroke....yep, its definitely my bike....where have you been she asked?

The time off the bike though did take its toll.  My pedal stroke was jerky and felt more like pushing pistons than making smooth circles.  Thankfully the first part of the ride, down Union City Blvd is with the wind and although there's not much shoulder, traffic on a sunday afternoon was light and the cars that did go by were all polite and moved over to pass.

At the end of Union City Blvd, I jumped on to the Alameda Creek trail and turned east....suddenly, the tailwind that had moved me along so nicely was a crosswind and immediately my pace slowed. My gps had died within a block of leaving the house so I had no idea how fast or slow I was going.

My previous best time for today's loop was 1 hour even. The route is 21 miles and on my best day finishing in an hour took a combination of me killing myself and the wind cooperating with and not fighting me. Today, knowing I hadn't been on the bike in a while and with no idea of my average speed, all I could do was turn myself inside out trying to maintain a pace that kept me right on the redline.

As I got to the end of the Alameda Creek trail and turned north on to Mission Blvd, the annoying sidewind became a full-on headwind and the work really began.  I had been keeping my pace high, trying to make smooth fast circles in the hopes that I could at least get close to my personal best, but the wind and the pain in my legs were leading me to realize that this was not going to be my day.

I continued to push myself, sweat running in to my eyes before being dried into a crust by the wind blowing in my face, my legs were definitely beginning to fade and my water bottle was empty....still I tried to keep the pace as high as possible as I made the turn west onto Industrial Blvd.  The last leg, the final push and thankfully, the wind had returned to being just an annoying crosswind.

Evidently, Industrial Blvd isn't one of the main bike routes in Hayward. Or, if it is, the City is really falling down on the job as I spent as much time dodging glass, wood, and various other types of debris as I did forcing my legs to continue going round and round.

Eventually, as I turned back on to Hesperian and then on to my own street I was able to sit up and cool down.  Coasting into my driveway I pushed the "end ride" button on the Strava app on my cell phone and immediately saw that despite my best efforts, today was not going to be my day.

Distance: 21.0 miles
Time: 1:11
Avg Speed: 17.5mph

Maybe I need to start spending a little more time on the road bike....even though it fits like an old sweater, the motor may need a bit of a tune up.