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Hey there and welcome to the long road, a web journal of my experiences as I prepare for and participate in the AIDS Lifecycle 2008. I'll be sharing photos, videos and stories of my journey with anyone who's interested. If you want to sponsor me go here.
This is it. Training is done. Now it's time to show and prove! Lifecycle is a mere day and half away and I'm scrambling a bit to make sure everything is set. I'm excited and nervous to get started, but I've been really good about not placing any sort of expectations on it. I'm just going there to ride and see what happens.
I'm pretty sure I'm up for it. I trained alot, although I never did do a 60-70 mile ride like I wanted to. I got up to 40. I feel good! I feel like I'm ready. After doing the 40 I definitely felt like I could ride more. But that's less than half way for the first day, so who knows what's going to happen to my blubber butt when you add more than twice that distance in a day. Not thinking about it though.
I'm ready to do this. And I can thanks to you guys that supported me. I made my minimum easy thanks to your generosity. If you want to track my progress I'm going to be doing an audio post during the ride. Come and check it out here if you want to keep track of me. I haven't posted anything yet, but I'll be updating it soon.
I'm off to LA! See you in week!
It's been awhile since I've updated, but that doesn't mean I haven't been out there. I've been out quite a few times and I've been making a good deal of progress. Here's a quick recap.
Sunday March 16th
I was supposed to hit Grizzly Peak (The infamous hill!), but some how I got turned around and ended up biking all over Oakland and Berkeley trying to meet up with Dan. I managed to meet him but I wasted a lot of my time finding the meeting spot so we only went up halfway. All in all, it was a good ride. that first hill before you get on Tunnel Road, (I think it's Keith) is a BASTARD! Kicked my ass good!
Monday March 17th
Dan and I decided to try Tunnel Road again. Man was it brutal. I stopped twice on the way up. At the beginning of the hill (Keith street I believe) I was pushing the pedals so hard and making so little headway, I was cursing up a storm. My legs were burning and it took my entire concentration just to keep going. A lady casually biked past me glancing over at me as I swore away. She made it look so easy. Dammit. But I made it to the top and it felt great when it was all said and done.
Crazy cloudy up in dem hills!
Wednesday March 19th
We went back to the regular run, up to the Richmond Marina and back. We did a little extra at the end bumping the mileage up from 19 miles to 22. It's amazing how much easier this ride is after doing "The Hill". I misplaced my bike computer so I couldn't track the stats for the ride.
Sunday March 23rd
Back to Grizzly Peak! I was a good ride. Every time I do this it gets a little easier. This time I only stopped one on the way up. There were a lot of people on the hill and it's amazing to see how in shape these guys are. It seemed like I was passed regularly. Not as much cursing this time but it's just as rewarding making it to the top. This time we went past our normal spot and rode a few miles deeper into the hills. It was a great ride. It's really beautiful up there. Makes the pain worth it. Still no bike computer.
Tuesday March 25th
MAJOR MILESTONE! I made it to up "The Hill" without stopping!!! Man! It was sooo rewarding when I made it, but I won't lie. It was an extremely rough ride. My legs were so fatigued and I was so tired I could barely see straight. I kind of entered a hypnotic state focusing on my cadence and just pushed through the pain. It felt so good to get to the top. It was a super cold though. Riding up there in the mornings you're pretty much riding through clouds. It's awesome riding back down though. It's pretty neat feeling zooming through the clouds.
Enjoying a Cliff Bar after a grueling ride.
Thursday March 27th
Back to the straight ride. Up to the Richmond Marina and back. It was deceptively cold that day making a now pretty leisurely ride very uncomfortable. We headed back without riding the extra couple of miles we've added to this route. We've made plans to ride a route called the 3 Bears this Saturday. It's a 33-35 mile ride and it's supposed to have a good mix of hills vs. flats. I can't wait! (Finally found my bike computer! So I'll be posting the stats from my rides.)
I'll update after the ride.
Alright, I started to do a video blogging thing for a little bit (I actually have a couple of entries.) but I was way too disturbed by the combination of my odd voice and my strange mannerisms so I've abandoned that idea. So I'll be posting the old fashioned way. Text baby!
So I went out for a ride today. If I'm not mistaken this will be my 8th day of training. I had to take a full week off because my derailer broke. I found that odd because the bike is brand new. Luckily the guys at Sport's Basement replaced it with no fuss. I was supposed to do my first hill training the weekend after it broke, but that had to be delayed. I did manage to get out this past Sunday and hit it. Man! It jacked me up! I started out really slow, but I finally managed to get into a rhythm and finish it. I stopped twice, which according to my trainer Dan, was a really good first attempt! Getting to the top felt like such an accomplishment. The next day I was feeling the pain though! All in all I rode 15 miles and my average mph was 9.6 I believe. Not too bad! Coming down was the best though. Getting up to 35 MPH on a rode bike is pretty cool. And I was riding the break a good deal.
I rode this morning and it was back to the regular ride. 19 miles. Consulting the bike computer my average MPH was 13.3. My max speed was 26.5 MPH (but that was down a hill). My flat out top speed was 19.5 MPH. I felt pretty good, but I have to admit my I'm still feeling it from Sunday. Next ride it Thursday. I think we're going to try the hill again, weather permitting. I'm looking forward to tackling that monster again.
So I've been out riding 4 times so far. The first time I rode 15 miles. The 2nd, 16. The last two days I rode 19. It's not easy waking up and doing it but I have to if I want to get in shape for this crazy ride. I always feel really good when I finish. Well... relatively speaking. Today I was really wiped. Riding consecutive days is a bitch. But that's EXACTLY what I've got to get myself in condition for. Check out my morning route.
Whew! Well I knew that the ride itself was gonna be tough, but I had no idea how tough it was gonna be on the wallet! Getting all of the proper equipment to make the trip comfortable (well relatively), and safe has taken a nice bite out of the ole bank account. What exactly are some of the essentials? I'm glad you asked. Here's a look at what I've assembled so far.
First there's the bike of course. I wanted something comfortable, light, and durable. I ended up getting the Fuji Team pro 2. It's a great bike and it rides like butta'.
The helmet. A great gift from my buddy Dan Weeks.
A pair of lycra cyclin' gloves. (Those morning rides get chilly!)
The bike pump.
A good pair of shades. Gotta keep that glare off the eyes.
Bike computer. Keeps track of mph, distance traveled and average speed. Very cool!
Bike repair kit. (When you ride, you're bound to need it at some point)
Spare tires. (In case the repair isn't enough)
A multi-tool. A very handy all in one tool for all your biking ailments.
A seat bag. To hold all of the miscellaneous goodies. (To be fair this was a freebie. Thanks again Dan)
But to be fair, I look at all this as an investment rather than an expense. If I enjoy the Lifecycle experience I'll definitely want to do it again. And riding again this past couple days I really do enjoy it. I plan on biking quite a bit in the future.
So the email has been sent. It's official and now I just have to sit back and wait for the money to roooooll in. I have to admit now I'm really nervous. It's out there. I have to participate now. I'm sure it'll be fine but these butterflies are killing me. I've got a back log of stuff I need to post. A few video journals and some pics and stuff. It'll start happening in the next couple of days.
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