Mountain Bike Ride In Annadel

Claire and I decided to go out for a mountain bike ride this afternoon, and by sheer coincidence, we ran into A2 and Jimmy Neutron.  We all decided to ride together.  The weather was perfect.  We ended up riding for over 3 hours and do almost the whole perimeter of the park.  We got back to the bus at right around sunset.  It was great to see Jimmy Neutron out on his mountain bike.  This was our first ride with him if you don't count the downhilling at Northstar this summer.  Everybody managed to stay upright the entire ride.  A2 was out sporting his new Sedi shoes and Frog pedals.  He was a bunny hopping fool.  Here is a link to the ride.  

Drizzly Day Run

I went out for a run around the neighborhood today while Claire walked.  I took my Garmin with me to see how it would work.  I think that running through all the trees threw it for a loop since it ended up saying that I only ran around 6 miles in a little over an hour.  I know there were plenty of hills and all, but I wasn't running that slow.  I checked the map that it came up with afterwards and there were some pieces missing, probably during the times that it had trouble with the satellites.  We did some secret stuff on the run, and I did a lot of looping back and forth to check up on Claire, so the map is pretty haywire.  I felt great.  Maybe a little cold at the end, but no aches and pains.  Here is a link to the loop.

Broken pedal(s) ride

Well, our intentions were noble.  Claire and I hopped on our bikes with Mathilda in the trailer behind me.  We headed out on our favorite loop out Westside Road, etc.  About 6 miles into it, my left pedal broke.  Nothing catastrophic, but just a little snap as the pedal body separated from the spindle.  I have been waiting for this to happen since they are a pair of inexpensive clipless pedals that I have probably overused.  The rest of the way home I just had to concentrate on keeping the pedal together and everything was just fine.  When we got back home I ran into the house and grabbed another left pedal which I had sitting around.  Claire didn't feel like going out any further, so I decided to go ride over Sweetwater.  When I got part way up the hill outside Rio Nido, my right pedal decided to break.  I turned around there deciding that it just wasn't in the cards for me.  Here is a link to my ride.  

Hour and a half on the rollers

I rode the rollers for an hour and a half the other day.  I am always surprised how fast the time goes by.  I remember when I was younger that a half an hour seemed like torture, but now the time just flies by.  I made a workout playlist for my iPod which I have listed below.  I ended with a average heart rate of 158. 

 

Not much going on

Well, I feel bad since I went out with A1 and A2 on Nov. 22 and didn't write anything about it.  We went out on a mountain bike ride in Annadel at 7 in the morning which is quite cold.  It was great to be out there and I showed the two of them a couple of new trails.  A1 had his Garmin along and he sent me this link.  We ended up going about 20 miles in two hours.  My average heart rate was almost 170. 

Yesterday I ran for the first time in a while.  It felt great.  I just ran for an hour around the Scenic loop while Claire walked.  My heart rate monitor was going crazy, so it showed an average heart rate of over 200.  I was taking it pretty easy, so I know it wasn't close to that.  It was chilly outside.  We went out and got our Christmas tree afterwards. 

I went down the basement this afternoon and rode the rollers for an hour.  I did my favorite workout of 5 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy, 5 hard, 3 easy, 4 hard, 3 easy, 4 hard, 3 easy, 3 hard, 2 easy, 3 hard, 2 easy, 2 hard, 1 easy, 2 hard, 1 easy, 1 hard, 1 easy, 1 hard, and 1 easy.  I worked on raising my heart rate by 5 bpm as each interval got shorter.  I started at 175 for the 5 minute hards.  The workout went by fast.

Oregon Run

I am up in Oregon visiting my family for a couple of days.  I got out this morning for a great run around the area.  I ended up running 11 miles.  It was drizzling most of the time, and there was one downpour for just a couple of minutes, but my smile was my umbrella.  My calf hurt pretty good, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.

Tough Twenty

Claire and I went out yesterday and did a 20 mile ride out of Duncans Mills.  We rode the Ibis Cousin-it tandem with some cross tires on it. I had the chance to use A1's Garmin computer which was fun.  We ended up with 1800 feet of climbing.  Where was the loop you ask?  We headed up Moscow Road and then turned on Bohemian Hwy. towards Occidental.  We took a little side trip out of Camp Meeker to add a short 20% grade to test out the Garmin.  We took Bitner out of Occidental and then hit Coleman Valley before turning left on Willow Creek.  We jumped off the road and headed through Willow Creek State Park and rode the ridge and down the steep hill out of the park and back to the car.  We only had one little incident off road, and that was where we hit a little sink hole and the front wheel of the tandem dropped down about 8 inches or so.  Claire flew forward into my back, but everyone was okay.

Riding the rollers on a rainy day

Since it rained most of the day, I decided to go down the basement and ride the rollers for an hour.  I also decided to make my first youtube video.  I kept it to 46 seconds.  The roller ride was for an hour.  

No Blogging lately

It has been a busy, busy summer, and I am happy to say that things are winding down.  The Furnace Creek 508 didn't go as planned, and our rider ended up dropping out at the top of Towne's Pass.  It was a tough decision, but stomach problems prevailed.  That is the main reason for any rider dropping out.  That was the second time that Claire and I had to witness our rider making that decision at that exact location.  

I hope to have more time to do some fun training this winter.  I have been out on a couple of runs and a couple of shorter rides.  Claire and I took Mathilda up to Healdsburg last weekend in the trailer.  The next day I rode over Sweetwater and had a blast.  I rode the rollers the other night for the first time this year.  With the attachment of the Killer Headwind I can get quite a workout in an hour.

The Night Before Furnace Creek 508

Well, we are down here in Valencia the night before the Furnace Creek 508.  It has been 14 years since I rode this event.  When I rode the event, there were around 30 people doing the solo race, this year there are 84 people.  Our friend Debbie is ready, and we are excited about crewing for her.  The race starts at 7 a.m. and Debbie is on her own for the first 24 miles.  After that we will be leap frogging all day taking care of her.

Still waiting on Interbike stuff

I plan on updating the website with some pictures from Interbike.  We have just been too busy at the shop these last couple of days.  We are taking off Thursday afternoon to head down to Death Valley for the Furnace Creek 508.  I am glad I'm not doing it, even though I think crewing is not much easier than riding it.  I can talk from experience on that one since I have crewed twice so far and ridden it once.  This time I just need to make sure that Debbie's bikes are working perfect the whole time.

Back from Las Vegas

We just got back from Interbike yesterday morning.  Claire and I spent 5 days in Vegas and we flew A2 in for 3 days.  It was a blast.  The show was incredible and we left very excited about being in the bike business.  I had the opportunity to test ride a bunch of bikes during Dirt Demo day which took place outside of Las Vegas.  I will write more about that here or on our webpage.  I will also post some pictures on our webpage when the dust settles.

A couple of short runs

I went out yesterday morning and had a great hour long run.  I did the modified Scenic loop with plenty of hills.  After that I went to work and really got my butt kicked.  It was so busy that nobody knew what side was up.  Claire and I were trying to get stuff organized before we took off for Vegas, but we didn't have the time we needed.

We went over to Bill and Debbie's house for some Furnace Creek 508 planning.  We ended up just enjoying margaritas on the patio instead.  Debbie will be doing the ride in a couple of weeks, and Claire, Bill, and I will be crewing for her.

Today I went out for another run this evening.  Claire talked me into running up Canyon, which must be about 20% or so.  My heart rate hit 199 part way up.  I felt great otherwise.

We are taking off for Vegas tomorrow and really looking forward to it.  I am very excited about checking out the 2009 bicycle world.  

Just checking in

It is Friday evening, and Claire and I are getting ready to head off for some wine and pizza at our favorite winery.  It has been a busy week, and tomorrow promises a little more.  We will be taking off for Las Vegas on Monday for Interbike.  We are really excited.  We are flying A2 out there on Wednesday so he can join us.  We have been trying to get the shop sorted out so that the guys have an easier time of it next week with us gone.  I think the work load is starting to taper off at the shop, but I still feel like Mike and I can't quite stay up with all of it.  I have had some time to build up a couple of the nicer Giant road bikes that have been sitting in the back room.  They are quite eye catching.  The 2009 bike line seems to be taking off.

New Loop

I went out yesterday for a great 31 mile ride.  It was a new loop for me that I think will become one of my favorites.  It consists of some riding on 116, but the traffic is usually light on that portion.  You need to watch out for the gravel trucks for the first half mile, but otherwise it is smooth sailing.  I didn't see a single car on Mays Canyon or Sweetwater.  Here is a map of the route.  I felt really good and did the ride in a little less than 2 hours.  I tried to keep my heart rate up in the 150's for most of the ride.  I did hit 194 at the top of Sweetwater.  Oh, yea, I did have a first for myself.  I had a wild pig run across the road right in front of me on Westside Road.  I had just passed some tourists who were doing one of those organized rides, and I'm sure it gave the guy behind me quite a fright.  I had to hit my brakes pretty good.  I don't think those pigs have very good traction on the road because that thing was skidding all over the place.

Fixed the oven

Well, I finally got around to fixing our oven, so I could bake some bread.  

Another Northstar experience

Giant Bikes treated Claire and I to another great day at Northstar Ski Resort.  It was quite a luxury, there were only about 20 people total on the whole mountain and Giant supplied brand new 2009 Demo bikes for us to ride.  I spent most of the day on a Giant Anthem X2.  Claire rode the Giant Cypher.  The Anthem was incredible.  It climbs like nobody's business, but I was able to ride it down Livewire with it's 8 foot jumps.  We did a couple of pure downhill runs, but ended up riding across the face of the mountain and doing some great single track to test out the handling of these bikes.  I have spent most of the last 10 years or so riding single speed mountain bikes, so having the gears was an adjustment by itself.  Both of my single speed bikes are hard tails, so I was a little leery about how the Anthem would climb, but I found that I could climb in a bigger gear if I wanted to and the rear wheel would stick to the ground like glue.  For the last run of the day, I did take out a Giant Glory.  That is a whole different experience.  You can almost just point that bike downhill and let it go.  If you are going to do some downhilling, you owe it to yourself to take out a real downhill bike.  Giant arranged a three bedroom condo for us for the night, so we didn't have to drive home dusty.

Busy, busy, busy

Well, the shop is going like gang-busters, and Claire and I are just holding on tight for the ride.  We keep thinking that things will slow down, but to no avail.  We received 121 brand new Giant bikes last week and we are trying to get them built as fast as possible.  It sure makes the days go by fast.  There are some beautiful TCR road bikes in the order that I want to build, but I am having trouble finding the time.  Right now it seems like we are just building bikes as customers request them.

My parents visited for a couple of days last week.  My dad brought some salmon that he had caught two days before they came.  It was quite a treat.  

I haven't been able to get much exercise in.  I ran for a little over an hour last Sunday, but nothing since.  We jokingly say that as soon as it starts to rain, we can start to exercise.  It sounds like the guys at the shop are doing a good job of getting out on their mountain bikes early in the morning.  It is too early for Claire and I.  We did stack a cord and a half of wood yesterday, which is good for the upper body.

Northstar

Well, things have been going bonkers at the shop.  I think there is more work to do this week then I have ever seen on our work board.  I was telling Claire yesterday that I don't think it will be physically possible to finish all the work this week.  We have been going in early to try to catch up, but it is not working.   It is great to be this busy, and we are having one of our best months ever.  

We took some of our employees up to Northstar for a day of downhilling.  It was a whirlwind experience.  We took off Sunday evening after work, and got up to the condo at around 9:30 or so.  We had some burritos that we had got from El Favorito in Rohnert Park.  The next morning we got up, got our free bike rentals and hopped on the lift up the mountain.  Giant Bikes had taken care of all of our demos and lift tickets.  I think all of us had a great time.  

This is a picture of A1 preparing himself mentally for the coming day of downhilling.

Life rolls on and on

Well, it is Sunday morning and I am up having some coffee before work.  It has been a long week, but we are being rewarded with a trip up to Northstar tonight to do some demoing and downhilling tomorrow.  Giant has arranged for us to get free lift tickets and demo bikes for everyone in the shop to test out some of the Giant mountain bikes.  We will be leaving right after work this evening and taking the gang up there.  A1 is returning from fighting fires in Southern CA, and this will be a great chance to celebrate his return.  

The shop has been going crazy.  On Friday, it was my "day off" so I went in and put some Social D on my iPod and worked all day.  Since I was "not there", I tried my best to keep my head down in the work area.  I started the day with a list of about 25 jobs, and finished with only 3 jobs left undone.  It felt good to almost catch up.  Next week looks even busier.  We are having trouble getting bikes built to put out on the floor.  We end up just building bikes as customers come in requesting test rides.  

Claire, Jimmy Neutron, A1 and I went out for a bike ride on Thursday morning together.  We did the Roblar/Valley Ford loop.  Claire and I stopped in at Redwood Cafe for some breakfast afterwards.  Claire had the day off, so she did some shopping at Oliver's Market before heading back to Forestville.  After work, I rode home on my fixed, which was a good time.  I had quite a tailwind most of the way, so I had a hard time keeping up with the pedals.  

Yesterday morning I ran the Scenic loop and felt really good.  I tried to keep my heart rate up around 160 for the most part.  It ended up being 58 minutes which is a couple minutes faster than my usual time.  I had a couple of twinges in my calf when I really tried to stretch out my stride, so I am going to concentrate more on some stretching.

Running a new route

I had a GREAT run yesterday afternoon.  I decided to do something different, so I crossed the Hacienda Bridge and did some running over in those neighborhoods.  I then came back over and ran down through Summerhome Park and up into the hills above our house.  I hadn't been up in those hills for quite a while.  It is easy to get lost up there.  At one point I headed up a new trail I had never been on, but when I realized I had no idea where I was at, I turned around and came back.  My run ended up being about 1 hour and 20 minutes.  I felt like I could easily have kept going, but I wanted to get back for some lunch and pool time.

Life rolls on

We had a great ride last Monday.  We had our smartest employee, Jimmy Neutron out with his girlfriend, Vanessa for the Chalk Hill Loop.  I rode from home while Claire drove the Hub Bus to Healdsburg to meet me.  I went over Sweetwater Road first and then cruised in on Westside Road.  It was a terrific ride, not too hot, and almost no wind.  We stopped at the Jim Town Store for some water and chocolate pudding.  Afterwards we enjoyed some beer and pasta salad by the pool.

On Thursday I ran the Scenic Loop and felt really good.  My legs weren't tired for the first time in a long time.  I tried to push it to keep my heart rate up.  I didn't have my heart rate monitor on, so I didn't know what it was.

The shop has been very, very busy, so we have been working more than we like to.  We will get out over the next couple of days for a bike ride or two.  

Park City, Utah

Claire and I are in Park City, Utah for a couple of days checking out the 2009 Giant Bicycle lineup.  We had the chance Wednesday evening to take the Gondola up to the top of the mountain and ride a couple of their '09 full suspension mountain bikes.  I rode a Reign X, while Claire rode an Anthem X.  We did some great single track around the top before riding a long single track back down to our hotel.  Today we sat through some interesting presentations of their whole '09 lineup.  The Giant road bikes look super cool.  There are about a 120 other Giant dealers here checking things out, and it has been interesting talking shop with some of the other dealers.  

Discretion is the better part of valor

As the title might suggest, I chose to drop out of the Vineman this year.  I had a feeling that I would end up doing this, I even mentioned to Claire in the morning that I would be seeing her after the bike ride.  This is one of those times that I can feel my age.  I remember when I was 19, I went out and ran a marathon after only running 7 miles before hand, but those days are over.  This summer I hadn't done any training rides over 66 miles, and it showed.  I really hit the wall at that point.  I felt like I could have ridden through it, but I would have suffered miserably for the next 5 or 6 hours, which I did not want to do.  By dropping out, I accomplished my main goal of being able to go to the Bear Republic afterwards and have a black & blue burger and some Racer 5 IPA.  I did end up riding a 100 miles since I turned around at the Dry Creek store and rode home.  Oh yea, the swim went great.  I guess that is still something that I can fake since I had only swum twice all summer.  I am real excited about getting the aerobars off my bike and riding with Claire.  We went out yesterday and rode 43 km and even stopped by Andy's Market and picked up snacks for enjoying by the pool.  As far as hydration went during the race, I weighed myself when I woke up, and I weighed 12.86 stone, and when I got home afterwards I weighed 12.43 stone.  

Running in Oakridge, Oregon

Well, we are up in McKinnville, OR at the Hotel Oregon getting ready to head back to Claire's sister's house in Oakridge.  We went to a former employee's wedding last night up here.  He had worked for us from when he was 14 till, I think, around 18 years old.  He married his high school sweetheart. 

I went out for a run in Oakridge yesterday.  It was an awesome run of around 2 hours and 15 minutes.  I did most of my running in the Green Water Park.  I found a beautiful single track trail that ran up the side of a mountain.  I ran up hill for almost 45 minutes with my heart rate averaging around 175.  I then found a paved road to run down.  The downhill was the tough part, and my thighs are a little sore today.  My average heart rate was 154 for the run.  I was trying to take it easy, but when I get the chance to run on trails, I have a hard time keeping things contained.  

The Vineman is one week from today.  I am not putting any expectations on myself.  I jokingly told Claire I was only doing the event so that I could get a couple of extra days off at the shop.  I really don't know what to expect from the bike ride.  I only know that I want to take it easy.  I will try to keep my heart rate under 150 for the bike ride in hopes that I will have something left over for the run.  I am also going to focus on hydration, hydration, and hydration.

No brick tonight

Well, I had big plans for a nice short, hard brick, but, as A1 likes to say, "The Hub happens."  Claire and I went in to work this morning at 7, which is quite early for us.  We planned on getting off at around 4.  I planned on riding my bike home as fast as possible and then going out for a good fast run, but instead, we ended up working until 6:30 and not getting everything done.  Tomorrow evening we take off for Oregon for a couple of days.  One of our former employees is getting married and then we are visiting Claire's sister.  I will be taking along my running shoes, but I won't have a chance to ride.  Anyway, I will be well rested for the Vineman in 10 days.

11 Days to go

Well, I got out on a good 12 mile run on Sunday after work.  I had Claire drop me off at Analy High School in Slow-blast-apple and ran the bike path home.  It took me just over 1.5 hours.  I felt great the entire way.  I had run 10 miles the day before, so I was quite happy with the run.  I went out and rode 66 miles on Monday, taking it very easy.  I did the Vineman loop with a couple of extra miles down to the Lake Sonoma Visitor's center to get water.  I really concentrated on staying hydrated, which is my main goal for the Vineman.  I had thought about going out for a run afterwards, but Claire and I had just got done with a six day work week, and we knew that this week was going to be even tougher, so I decided that a nap on the back deck was a better idea.  We are off to work this morning 3 hours early so that we can try to get some work done before we open.  I hope to ride home and maybe put in a short run afterwards.  We will see how it goes. 

Long time no blog

Well, it has been a while since my last entry.  I will try to make it brief.  I went out two Mondays ago and almost didn't make it home.  It was the day that it got up over a 100 degrees here.  I went out first and did 63 miles at a 19.5 mph average.  I felt good the whole time.  I then put on my running shoes and took off for what I hoped to be a two hour run.  I ended up only making it 45 minutes.  I think I got a bit dehydrated.  This is no exaggeration, I weighed myself right before I took off on the bike and I weighed 13 stone, when I stumbled back in from the run, I weighed 12.5 stone.  

A couple of days later, Claire and I took off for Tahoe to camp on Fallen Leaf Lake for 5 nights.  I had big plans for some long rides and runs.  I was still a bit discouraged by Monday's brick and started thinking about not doing the Vineman at all.  Anyway, I didn't get out for any long bike rides, but instead enjoyed riding the bike trails with Mathilda in the trailer and Claire on her own bike.  I did go out on a couple of great runs.  Both of the runs consisted of running around Fallen Leaf Lake.  The first run I added in a run up the side of a mountain to Angora Lakes.  The first run was 2.5 hours and the second run was 1.5 hours.  I felt really good on both of them.  

While in Tahoe, I was pretty sure that I wouldn't do the Vineman, but after getting back to Sonoma County, I decided that I would do the race, but I would drop out if I got too uncomfortable.  Since then I have gotten in some riding to and from work, and a couple of hour runs.  I was planning a long ride for Sunday, but Claire and I will be heading in to work instead.  

The big lesson that I have learned from this is that a bike shop owner should not plan on doing full Ironmans during the summer.  The shop has been super busy and I have been unable to train like I would like to.  I shouldn't complain, I love my job, and a business owner shouldn't gripe about being too busy, but...  Anyway, that is all I have to say for now.

Commuting into work

Well, my first week of training has ended.  Four more weeks to get ready, or should I say three weeks and one week to taper.  Anyway, I rode home from work on Thursday, which was around 25 miles, and on Saturday I rode in and home.  I am feeling comfortable on the aero-bars, but have yet to really test them on a long ride.  We are off from work today and tomorrow, and I am planning a tough brick one of these two days.  It is supposed to get very hot here over the coming week, with temperatures around a 310 degrees Kelvin.  We will be heading to Tahoe Wednesday night for four days of camping at Fallen Leaf Lake.  I will get a chance to do some open water swimming and some long runs, but I don't know what kind of riding time I will get in.  

Morning run

I went out this morning and did an hour and 25 minute run.  I felt great.  Maybe a little sluggish from Sunday and Monday, but otherwise no pain.  I did the Scenic loop with a couple extra laps around Canyon while Claire walked.  My heart rate was lower than normal.  Usually when I do that loop I average around 150 BPM, but this time my average was much lower.  I did not try to push the pace, which probably made most of the difference.  Tomorrow morning I will get in a ride with Claire, and then hopefully ride home from the shop.  Right now I am enjoying a beer out on the deck before going in and working on dinner.  The shop has been crazy, busy, which I am not complaining about.  It is great to see more and more people getting into riding bike for what ever reason they need to.  

Back in the pool

I went for my first swim since The World's Toughest in May.  Before that I hadn't swum since the Vineman last year.  Anyway, I went to Ives Pool in Slowblastapple.  I swam 4000 yards, and felt okay.  I had a hard time getting my heart rate up because of my lack of upper body strength.  Every time I tried to go hard, my arms would get tired.  Otherwise I felt fine.  I timed myself for a 100 yards somewhere in the middle of my workout.  I did a 1:20.  It is hard to believe that I used to swim 25 seconds faster than that during practice, and that was when we were doing 20 or 30 of those.  I did a set of 50's at the end that felt pretty good.  Tomorrow morning I will try to get out for a run.  I will need to figure out when I can get back on the bike.

A good run and ride

I went out this morning and ran 12 miles.  I tried to take it pretty easy and just concentrated on getting some time in on my feet.  Here is a link to the route.  It took me an hour and 45 minutes.  I felt pretty good the whole time.  I was still a little tired from my ride yesterday, but I felt like I could keep running if I had needed to.  Claire and I went out and rode our favorite route afterwards.  It was a little windy out there, but we both had a pretty good time.  I need to find some time to swim.  

One Month to go

Well, I have one month to get myself ready for the Vineman.  It has not been the year I had hoped for as far as my training went.  The bike shop has been busier than years past, which has kept me off the bike more than I have wanted to be.  I have also had the nagging calf injury that kept me from training at all for almost a month.  I have accepted all of this, and I am not worried about my overall time for the Vineman this year, but I would at least like to finish it again.  So, with this in mind, I hope to dedicate one good month to training.  I feel like I have a pretty solid base just from my years of training, so it is just a matter of getting myself ready for a longer race.  I started yesterday with a 64 mile bike ride over most of the cycling course.  It was my first long ride with aerobars, and I was more comfortable than I had expected to be.  I felt pretty beat up by the end of the ride, but I had put some effort into it.  My heart rate was over 170 for an hour and 20 minutes, it was in my zone for 2 hours, and it was below 130 for 6 minutes.  I don't have an average heart rate on my cycling computer, so I don't know what that was.  Today I plan on going out for a long run around here.  Let's see how that goes.

Running in Cape Perpetua

I went for an awesome run yesterday in Cape Perpetua.  I ended up running for 1 hour and 50 minutes.  I felt great the entire time and did not feel the need to stop at the end, except that I had to stop sometime.  My 15 year old nephew, Ryan, even ran the last two miles with me.  It was quite a hilly run, so I don't think my distance was too long, but time is always more important than distance.  The area there is so lush that I felt like I was running in Nerf world for the most part.  

Today Claire and I are driving back down to California after 3 days in Oregon.  Then it will be back to work tomorrow at the shop.  

What can I say

I haven't written in a while.  I think it was a couple of Mondays ago that I did my last bike ride.  I went out with a couple of guys from the shop.  I had a tough time of it.  I rode from Forestville to the shop, and then we went over Sonoma Mountain.  From there we went up Cavedale, which I haven't done in years.  It was really hot outside and I had to call Claire from Cotati and beg her to come pick me up.  I was planning on doing 120 miles, but instead only did 70.  It was not one of my finer rides.  I have sold my Death Ride ticket, so I don't have to worry about that.  I have been doing plenty of running, and feeling quite good.  I have had a couple of two hour runs recently and didn't experience any pains.  Yesterday I ran 10 miles including some running on the beach.  I felt great the entire time and could have kept going except that I didn't want my family to think I was neglecting them.  This run took place up in Oregon as we are up here for a couple of days visiting my parents.  It is only 42 days till the Vineman.  I don't see myself having the time to really train especially for the riding part.  That is the tough part to running a seasonal business.  Claire likes to point out that I should be doing my triathlons during the winter when I have more time to train.  I will try to do some swimming starting next week.  Hopefully I will be able to get out on a long run tomorrow, maybe around Cape Perpetua, which is right down the road from us.

A run and a ride

I went out yesterday morning and ran for an hour and a half.  It was a great run.  I ran down to our regional park and then ran the perimeter 7 times.  I felt really good the entire time with only a couple of pains in my calf.  I felt like I could have kept going if I had wanted to.

Today I rode into work and rode home.  I installed my aero-bars this morning.  I wasn't totally comfortable, but it wasn't bad for my first ride.  I need to play around with my saddle position, which I will do in the near future.  I have a long ride planned for Monday with plenty of steep hills, so I think I will leave my saddle where it is until after the ride.

Running pain free (knock on wood)

I got up early on Wednesday morning and ran the scenic loop before heading in to work.   I was very excited to be practically pain free the whole run.  This was the first time in a while that I felt that good running.  I am not going to get too excited until it happens again, but lately my legs have been feeling better.  I haven't been able to ride my bike as much as I should be, and that might make things tough during the Death Ride.  Claire came out and rode her mountain bike while I did my running.  I didn't do anything today, I just wish I could get in better cycling shape by doing all those tune-ups.

Little Brick

Went out yesterday morning with plans to do the Sweetwater Loop multiple times.  I rode the first loop with Eric the Fireman.  After dropping him off on Grays Ct., I went out for my second loop.  About 3 miles down River Road, I had my first flat in a very long time.  In fact, it had been such a long time that when I pulled my pump off my bike, my pump had frozen up and wouldn't work at all.  I tried pulling the pump apart, but everything was stuck.  Anyway, I walked across the road and stuck out my thumb.  After about 5 minutes of selective hitch-hiking, I saw a pickup truck heading towards me with a tandem on its roof.  They stopped for me and gave me a ride back to my front door.  It was a couple from the city who were up staying in Guerneville at their parents rental cabin.  They were going to go out and explore Westside Road a bit.  They had very good energy and it would have been nice if we could have talked more.  I probably should have fixed my flat and headed back out, but instead I put on my running shoes and went out for an 11 mile run.  I did a new loop, which I think will become one of my favorites.  I did the usual Martinelli loop, and then combined my favorite Scenic loop.  I had some tightness in my right calf, so I didn't run as far as I wanted, but my legs felt great otherwise.  I'm down to about 13.1 stone at this point.  I would like to get down to between 12.5 and 12.8 stone.  I also really need to do some more stretching because I am still having the calf issues that have plagued me all year.

11 mile run

Claire dropped me off at Ragle Park in Slowblastapple and I ran home from there.  Again, it is tough to go out there after an 8 hour day of standing in the work area, but I have to consider it cross training.  After all, I will have to run 26 miles after cycling 112 miles.  Anyway, there was still some soreness in my thighs, which I can live with, and I had a couple of nice stabbing pains in my calf, but they disappeared as I got farther into the run.  My total time was 1:27 and my average heart rate was 146.  I was doing just under 8 minute miles for the whole thing.  Claire suggested that I ride in to work this morning, but since we are taking our son and daughter-in-law out tonight, I thought it would be better to save the ride for tomorrow.  I also plan on going out and riding long and hilly on Monday.  My weight is getting better, only about a third stone left to lose. I have not been drinking any alcohol for the last 3 weeks or so, which has helped, but I do have that weakness for Necco Wafers.  I am limiting myself to one package a day.  I had an echocardiogram done the other day, and the doc says that everything looks fine.  That was an interesting experience, getting to see an ultrasound image of my heart at rest and at play.  My resting heart rate was 42 and my playing heart rate was 192.

Scenic Loop

I ran the Scenic loop last night after work.  It was tough getting out there, and my legs felt a little sluggish from the work day, but I only had one twinge of pain at the very beginning.  It was quite exciting.  I ran a 1:02 with a double loop of Canyon.  My average heart rate was 142.  

Tandem Loop

Claire and I went out yesterday and did an interesting 36 mile ride.  Since Claire was in charge of coming up with a route, it was to have plenty of steep hills in it.  After climbing up Green Valley, we both were feeling a little uninspired, so we changed our loop and added in some flats out towards the airport.  We saw plenty of cyclist out on the road, which we aren't used to since we usually ride on Mondays when everyone else is working.  

Elmo Loop

I ran the Elmo Loop yesterday and felt great.  My time was 1:06 and my average heart rate was 164.  I had 5 shots of pain in the left calf, but only when I had to come out of my stride for something like a pothole.  My thighs hurt pretty good, but it was a good kind of pain left over from the week before.  I was able to open up my stride for the first time in a while.  I don't want to get cocky, but I may be turning a corner with my leg injuries.  Claire and I will be heading out on the tandem in a little while.  She has picked out a hilly loop, which I will outline later.  My shoulders are a little sore this morning from chain sawing up a bunch of wood yesterday.  I guess I will consider that cross training. 

Martinelli run

Did the Martinelli out and back loop yesterday morning.  I had 6 left calf twinges (like someone was sticking a knife in there), and a little tightness in the right lower calf, and my thighs were killing me, but otherwise I felt great.  I did 8 minute miles for the most part.  My thighs were really sore afterwards, but I think that was left over from the race last Sunday.  The sharp pains were very few, and considering that two weeks ago I couldn't run at all, I will take a few sharp pains here and there.  I really must try to do some more stretching.  I tried to dedicate a couple of half hour segments to stretching this last week, so I think it is helping.

Bike to work

I rode in to work yesterday.  I took the boring way through slow-blast-apple and down the bike path to Llano and then Todd to Stony Point.  My legs felt a little tired, but only on the little uphills.  I had a great tail wind on Stony Point which made the ride much easier.  I had a good burning sensation in my calf the whole way, but nothing too intense.  I did some stretching in the evening, and iced it a couple of times.  I need to get out for a run and test it.  My sports medicine doctor has referred me to physical therapy for some stretching exercises and hopefully some ultrasound treatment.  The ultrasound stuff really seemed to work well years ago when I was training for the Furnace Creek 508.  When I was swimming for Iowa State years ago I had ultrasound done on my shoulders all the time and it kept most of the pain away.  

World's Toughest Half Ironman

I will start by saying that I somehow managed to finish the whole thing.  I did not expect to be able to do the run because of my calf pain that I have been writing about a lot lately.  I had even considered not going up for the event.  I had not run in over a month and a half, I had not swum since last year's Full Vineman, which had been August 4th or so, I had only ridden my bike a handful of times in the since April 1, and, to top it all off, it was supposed to be over a 100 degrees on race day.  Usually, Claire and I would drive up for this kind of event together, but with the high temperatures and the lack of scenic beauty around the finish area, we thought it would be better if I went up on my own.  We were also worried about how Mathilda, our dog, would handle the heat.  Our decision for me to go up on my own was a good one.

I left Sonoma County at a little after 1 on Saturday, and was quickly enveloped by the heat as I headed through Davis and Sacramento.  Our Chevy Blazer has an air conditioning problem where the vents that blow air directly out on the occupants are broken, so you only get cold air around your feet and out of the front defrosters.  It was much better than riding in a VW Bus, but it was still very warm.  I got up to the registration area in Auburn at around 4:30 and picked up my stuff.  I then headed over to the finish area where I found some shade and relaxed with a good book.  I made sure I was drinking plenty of water.  I also dropped my running shoes and hat in the transition area even though I didn't think I would really be needing them.  It was an interesting "camping" experience since there were some collegiate teams there for the International distance triathlon.  I got to listen to a bit of rap music, and according to one guy nearby, "the best song ever written."  I always thought "Stairway to Heaven" filled that spot.

I woke up Sunday morning at around 5 and got my cycling and swimming stuff together.  I stuck my wetsuit and things into my messenger bag, slung it over my shoulder, and coasted most of the 7 miles to the start of the race at Folsom lake.  I didn't really know where I was going, but I ran into some other folks that were heading down there and we coasted together.  I was still a tiny bit hopeful that my calf would not be an issue since I had been taking plenty of Ibuprofen and icing it.  I lathered on plenty of sunscreen, and barely squeezed into my wetsuit from 1989 when I had done the World's Toughest Triathlon in Tahoe.  I was the only one around with pastel colors on.  It was  deep water start, so I swam out about 20 yards from the shore and waited along with quite a few people.  When the starting horn went off, I took off with the masses and "enjoyed" the experience of getting kicked and clawed by 100's of other swimmers.  About 5 minutes into the swim, my shoulders felt like they were on fire, and I was starting to second guess my lack of swim training.  I didn't want to slow down since I knew there were a couple of 100 other swimmers behind me, so I flipped over on my back a couple of times and backstroked to try to loosen things up.  Much to my surprise, things loosened up, and the second 2/3's of the 1.2 mile swim felt pretty good.  I came out of the water feeling much better than I had at the start.  Swimming in Folsom lake is not a good experience either.  There were times where we were swimming through lots of debris that made me scared to breath in.  There was also a very strong gasoline smell at some points.  As I started running up the boat ramp, I felt that all-to-common pain in my calf.  I had to laugh to myself, how could I have thought it would go away?  I hobbled over to my bike, threw my stuff into my transition bag, and climbed on my bike.

Well, remember that 7 mile coast down to the start, now we had to climb back up it.  I think it was about a 1000 foot climb or something like that.  I hadn't set my bike up special, not even putting on my race wheels or aero-bars.  I figured that since I hadn't been training at all, I didn't want to push myself too much on the bike.  For the most part, the lack of aero-bars was not a big deal.  The bike ride was seldom flat.  At this point it was also starting to heat up around there.  I made sure I drank plenty of fluids, and put down an Enervit every 45 minutes or so.  I was suffering pretty good during the ride, but I knew that I wouldn't have to do the run, so I didn't have to have anything left when I finished.

When I did finish the bike ride, I felt totally spent.  My legs hurt, my calf had been hurting the whole ride, I was very happy that I could just grab my stuff and head back to the car.  I pulled into the transition area, saw my running shoes sitting there, and decided that I might as well put them on since I didn't want to walk back to the car in my cycling shoes.  I then put on my hat and even wrapped my race number around me.  I downed one more Enervit, and thought I would just run a couple of steps and see what happened.  Much to my dismay, there was no pain.  I ran out of the transition area and onto the dirt single track that made up about half of the run.  I kept waiting for the pain to hit me, but I felt great.  I figured that anytime I started to feel the pain, I would just stop and walk back to the finish.  The run course consisted of two 10km loops with a little extra added onto the second loop to give you 13.1 miles.  At this point, it was over a 100 degrees out there, but the volunteers were doing a great job of throwing ice water on me and I don't think there were too many times during the run where I ever dried out.  I did have some stomach problems around mile 9, and I won't go into too much detail, but suffice to say that I somehow got rid of everything I had eaten and drank over the last hour in about 3 seconds.  It was a little embarrassing, but only a couple of runners were out there to see it.  After that I felt terrific and clicked off a couple of more miles before I started to feel tired.  I felt pretty good as I came across the finish line.  It would have been nice to see Claire there, but I wouldn't have wanted to think about her sitting out in that heat all day.  I was a little disappointed with the after race food.  They had advertised smoothies and burritos, and when I finished, all they had left were room temperature hotdogs.  I know there were plenty of people still out on the course, so I wasn't as if I was one of the last people.  I think that all the athletes who had done the shorter version ate up all the food.  A race organizer should plan for that.

Tour of the Unknown Coast

I did the 100 mile version of the TUC yesterday.  It is one of my favorite centuries.  Since it is a mass start, it is quite fast.  I think around 400 people do the 100 mile version, and there is a couple of shorter rides and even a 10 mile family fun ride.  Claire did her own ride, which consisted of going down to the coffee shop and talking for a couple of ours with some of the locals and then going out and doing about 40 miles on her own.  The organizers of the ride send the bike shop a couple of free entries each year which is a nice gesture.  

My goal was to stay with the front group until we reached Panther Gap, which climbs to an elevation of 2744 feet.  The ride usually stays together for the first 15 miles or so until you hit 3 little climbs before descending into Scotia.  In years past I have ended up in leading groups of only a dozen riders or so, but this year there were at least a 100 riders in the pack.  Anyway, I had a really good time with some tendon pain nagging me almost the whole day.  On the Wall, which is an 18% climb for a mile, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could have all the major muscle groups in my upper legs cramp up at the same time.  I just rode through it because I didn't want to fall over.  The whole ride took me about 6 hours and 20 minutes.  Definitely not my fastest time, but considering my lack of riding, I was very happy with it.  Probably one of my only concerns, besides the leg pain, was my heart rate.  I usually try to keep my heart rate between 130 and 170, but out of the 6 hours, I was over 170 for 4 hours.  There were plenty of times when I looked down and saw that I was running at around 191 or 192 bpm.  I am no spring chicken, and at my age I should probably try to keep things more under control.  I think I will email my doctor about this.  

For a more detailed description of the Tour of the Unknown Coast, which I would highly recommend, check out this website.

Windy Commute home

I was able to get out of the shop a little early on Tuesday and decided to take the long way home.  It ended up being the windy way home.  I have been riding out near Valley Ford for years, and yesterday was the windiest I have ever felt it.  At one point out near Middle Road, I was standing up on my bike in the middle of the road going 12 mph.  I had to stay in the middle of the road since the wind was buffeting me from both sides and from head on.  When I first started heading into the wind, all the way back on Pepper, I figured that I was in no hurry, and I would just visualize  I was a screen door the whole way.  By the time I hit Middle-Two Rock, the screen door analogy had slammed shut and I was not enjoying myself.  I had thought about heading down Highway 1 and going over Coleman Valley, but I was having a hard time keeping my bike on the road just from the town of Valley Ford to Valley Ford-Freestone Cutoff Road.  I did feel much better by the time I got in to Occidental and I enjoyed myself going over Morelli and down Harrison Grade.  Here is a map of the route.  My tendon was a little sore the whole time, but there was no extreme pain.  I did stretch for quite a while when I got home.  I am a little scared about going out for a run and seeing what happens.  It is 11 days until the World's Toughest Half Ironman, and I am very unsure about whether I can run or not.  Well, we shall see, I am just considering a training ride and not a race.  

Giving it a go

I went out and rode 60 miles today.  The first 30 was on my own and I rode down and over Sweetwater.  I felt really good, and just felt a dull ache in my lower leg.  I then rode a couple of extra flat miles and then met Claire back at the house for a ride into Healdsburg via Starr Road.  It was a good ride, but quite a headwind on the way out.  We had a small pizza at Oakville Grocery in downtown Healdsburg.  At $8 it was a great deal and filled us both up.  We came back on Westside Road and didn't get the tailwind that we deserved.  When we got back home I put on my running stuff and went out for a run.  I didn't know what to expect, and at first I was happy to feel good with no pain.  Then I started getting little pulses of intense pain in my lower leg.  I turned around when I had counted 10 of them.  I ended up with 3 miles.  If I can fix that pain, I will be content with my current fitness.  I will be heading into the physical therapist on Wednesday.  Let's hope that they can figure something out. I am hovering around 13.6 stones, and would be quite happy to lose that 2/3 of a stone.  Actually after the ride and run, I weighed approximately (10 + pi) stones,  which is a strange coincidence.  Anyway, here is a picture of my route from mapmyride.com, which always makes me think of that tv show called pimp my ride.  I know I should just link to it, but my web browser doesn't want to.

Back on the bike

I rode into work this morning, the boring way.  It was a pleasant ride and a nice temperature.  I had pretty constant pain in my calf, but nothing I couldn't live with.  It never got any worse for the 40 km ride.  Claire and I went mountain biking Thursday evening.  Our Cannondale rep gave me a  Rize 1 to ride.  That is one of their new carbon/aluminum models.  It is all made in Bedford, PA.   I haven't been on a mountain bike with more than one gear in years, and it has been even longer since I have ridden full suspension.  It was a blast.  You don't have to worry about steering around all those rocks, and you can really power through the bumpy sections on the climbs.  The carbon Lefty fork on the bike didn't take any getting used to, and tracked great.  It is stiffer than any other suspension fork I have ever ridden.  The bike goes for $5500, so I don't think I will be getting one, but it was lots of fun.  The bike weighed less that 24 pounds.

Seeing the doctor

I have an appointment tomorrow to see my doctor about the pain in my left leg.  It started hurting quite bad last week, and didn't let up over the weekend.  I have been unable to even think about running, and haven't had the time to ride my bike.  It looks like I got a mandatory week break from training.  It is 31 days till The World's Toughest.  I figure that I am in good enough shape right now, but I couldn't do it with my leg the way it is.  We will see how things go.

A1 requested hills

A1 and A2 came out today for a ride.  A1 was in the mood for hills, and really wanted to go do Sweetwater.  I am sorry to say that I let him down.  We found some hills, but didn't make it over to Sweetwater.  Here is a map of our route.  We started with a nice spin out Martinelli Road.  We then turned right on 116 and crossed our fingers for the next 3 miles.  We didn't have any big trucks pass us, but we were still all relieved when we finally turned on Green Valley.  My heart rate hit 191 on the Green Valley hill.  If I rode close enough to A1, my heart rate monitor showed 215, but I think it was combining our heart rates.  We then turned right and headed up Harrison Grade.  We were still all staying together, which makes those climbs more fun.  I took them across Graton Road and up Facendini to Occidental Road.  We dropped down a bit before turning right on Jonive.  I took them on a secret road off of Jonive which is not on the map.  I hadn't been on the road for probably 10 years or so, but it still had the gravel section on it I remembered so fondly.  After a quick drop down to Freestone, we stopped at the Wild Flour Bakery and split a sticky bun between the three of us.  We then battled a little headwind and headed out to the town of Bodega.  We turned right on Joy Road right before town and climbed up and back down into Occidental.  We could have come straight home from there, but instead we headed up Graton and turned right on Acreage.  That was another road I haven't been on in ages.  We dropped down Acreage and then got to climb back up Morelli which runs you back into Harrison Grade.  We retraced our path back home from there.  The big event of the day for me was wearing my new Sidi Ergo 2 shoes.  I don't know if they made me any faster, but I sure looked fast.  They were quite comfy also, which is a bonus to a pair of good looking shoes.  After getting back home, we headed into Guerneville for Mexican food at La Tapatia.  A1 got to drive the hub bus there, and now he says his life is now complete.  

Run in the park

I got home from the shop a couple of minutes early this evening, and somehow convinced myself to go out for a run.  I was teetering back and forth, and came very, very close to not going.  I am glad I went.  I felt really good with almost no pain at all in my calves.  I ran down to Steelhead Beach regional park and did some loops in the park.  I ended up running for almost exactly an hour.  I felt like I could have kept going all night, but I wanted to get home to barbeque up some red snapper and some vegetables.  I don't know why we haven't been doing this all along, but I cut up mushrooms, green peppers, red peppers, and a couple of zucchinis and put them in a basket that sits right on the grill.  I didn't add anything else, and they were great.  I had the same thing the other night and couldn't wait to do it again.  I am undecided about whether I will ride in to work with Mathilda or not in the morning.  The idea of a leisurely cup of coffee instead is awfully tempting.

Thursday Commute into work

Mathilda and I commuted into work on our bike this morning.  I was tired from the run yesterday evening, but it felt great to be outside.  I feel pretty darn lucky to have the opportunity to ride to work on back county roads with my dog.  We took a slightly different route this morning over Laguna Road, which is a tough one.  Those little rises get your heart rate up when you are towing 60 pounds in a trailer behind you.  I let Mathilda take a couple of minutes to explore on the little paths off the side of the road on Willowside before heading the rest of the way in.  It took us just a bit under two hours.  We decided not to ride home and bribed my son and daughter-in-law with some pizza for a ride back to Forestville.

Martinelli run

I had just enough energy when I got home from work this evening to do my Martinelli out and back.  I had some good, sharp pain in my left calf.  It feels like there is a tendon snapping back and forth.  I put a couple of pieces of neoprene around my calf to hold the tendon in place, and it felt better.  I was running 7:15 miles for the most part.  I really felt good except for the calf pain.  I will try to commute in to work and home with Mathilda on the bike tomorrow.  The shop is busy as all get out, so I am feeling pretty beat up by the end of the day.  I guess that could be considered cross training.  We do need to do something about the floor in the work area, it is hard standing on the concrete all day.

OUCH!!!

Stick a fork in me, I think I am done.  Well, A1, A2, and Tayler came out to the house today for a nice casual ride.  I planned on taking them out to do the Chalk Hill loop, and I promised them an easy ride since it was to be A2's longest ride yet.  We set off from the house at a little after 11, and we dropped A2 one block into the ride.  Actually, A2 was still trying to figure out those pesky clipless pedals.  Anyway, we crossed the bridge, and then turned right on Westside Road.  After coasting down the first hill, I was ready to spin along, when A1 decides that he wanted to go faster. That was the end of the "easy spin".  To make a long story short, we ended up averaging a bit over 19 mph for the 57 mile loop.  Everyone worked great together, which was a lot of fun for me.  Nobody increased the pace when it was their turn to pull, and nobody pulled for so long that they couldn't get back on.  We had a quick stop in Jimtown for some water and a bathroom break, and then we headed over to Chalk Hill.  It is a great experience getting to show new cyclist some of my favorite roads and to hear how much they enjoy them.  By the time we got back home, we were all feeling quite worked over.  Tayler had actually brought along his running shoes in case I wanted to go for a run after the ride, but we both agreed that a hot tub would be better.  I was super impressed by A2 considering that he has only been riding for a couple of months.  I know from experience how hard it can be to ride that fast and never take it easy, and A2 never complained and was right there at the front pulling when it was his turn.  We missed having Jimmy Neutron along, but sometimes school work comes before a bike ride, even if you put off that school work the whole spring break and have to do it the night before it is due.  A1 and A2 agreed that if Jimmy Neutron was along, it would have been easier because that guy love to go fast on the flats.

A Sunday Ride

I went out today with Eric the Fireman.  We had a terrific ride.  He has been itching to do Sweetwater Road for a while, so, after adding in Mays Canyon Road, we went up the Guerneville side of Sweetwater.  Here is a map of our loop.  I haven't ridden with Eric in quite a while, and I forgot how fast he likes to go on the flats.  I was joking with him about 2 miles into the ride because he was pushing the pace already.  He accused me of setting the pace, but I pointed out that his front wheel was slightly ahead of mine.  The total loop was 86 km, and we averaged 25 kph.  I'm sorry about that metric stuff, but I can't figure out how to set my new cyclometer to miles.  Actually, I know how to switch it, but I am enjoying the larger numbers.  It is fun to climb at 12 kph instead of 7 or 8 mph.  Tomorrow A1 and A2 are coming out and I am going to introduce them to the Chalk Hill loop.  I also have been feeding my sourdough sponge for the last 2 days, and need to make some bread.  I went to Andy's Market today and picked out some special flours and some stuff for my Killer Granola. The granola is not low fat food.  The recipe originally came from the Cheeseboard in Berkeley.

A Good, Tough Ride

I went out today and rode 120 km.  That is about 75 miles.  It was quite a ride.  I tried to make a map of it, and maybe I will try again, but I think it is too complicated for Google Maps.  Anyway, I headed out over every hill I could think of from Forestville to Cotati.  It took me about 2 hours to get to the shop where I got some more water and some more energy food.  I then did the wrong thing by heading back out towards Valley Ford via Middle Road.  There was, of course, a terrible headwind, and it was slow going.  I ended up riding up Bohemian Hwy. into Occidental, where, instead of heading over Graton Road and home, I had to go over Morelli and back down Harrison Grade and back over Green Valley.  It was just under 5 hours on the bike.  Tomorrow I will be going out with Eric the Fireman to do Sweetwater and some other hills.  It was cloudy all day and I got sprinkled on a bit when I was out on Jonive and Barnett Valley.  I had a big bowl of pasta when I got home and some buttered popcorn.  I also poured myself the perfect "black and tan", I had to take a picture of it.  The secret is using a spoon to pour the Guinness over.  Here is a map of the ride from Forestville to Cotati.

Here is a map of the ride home from The Hub Cyclery, in Cotati.

A week away from the shop

Claire and I just got back from 5 nights of camping in the Santa Cruz area.  We camped for two nights at New Brighton Beach, two nights in Big Basin, and the last night in Butano State Park.  We took our bikes, Mathilda, and Mathilda's trailer.  Of course we packed plenty of firewood on the top of the Hub Bus.  What does this all have to do with training, well, not a lot, but we did ride into Santa Cruz each day and did about 40 km of riding each day with Mathilda in tow.  The first day we piled up the trailer with beach chairs, dog, and a picnic lunch and rode down to one of our favorite beaches in Santa Cruz.  We sat on the beach, and I even jumped in the water for one wave.  

I ran for an hour on Monday, part on the beach and part on some trails on the cliffs above.  On Wednesday I did my longest run in a long time.  I ran for a little over 3 hours around Big Basin.  Claire hiked and I did little loops back and forth.  We went out to the waterfall in Big Basin.  It was about a 12 mile loop from our campsite.  I figured I ran about 18 or 20 miles while Claire hiked.  I felt really good the whole time.  My Average heart rate was 144.  I only tripped and fell once, but I managed to roll through the fall.  The only problem with that was that I had a water bottle on my back, and when I rolled, I popped the top on the bottle and lost all of my water.  I had to bum some off of some hikers a while later.   We were both pretty knackered when we got back to the campground.  

Today is the third Grasshopper race.  It is the only one that I have never done, but I just didn't have the energy to drive out to Point Reyes for the start.  The next one isn't for a while.  I am getting ready right now to head out for a bike ride and then hopefully a short run.  It is only 50 days until The World's Toughest.

Commute home with Mathilda

Mathilda and I rode home together last night. It was one of our tougher commutes since we had a good headwind the whole way and Mathilda refused to do any pulling. It took almost 2 hours instead of the usual 1.5 hours. I need to talk with Mathilda about doing her share of the work. She complains that she doesn't have thumbs, so she can't shift gears, but I think that is just an excuse. The least she could do is keep her ears down to reduce the wind resistance. Anyway, it is 59 days till The World's Toughest Half, and I haven't been running at all. Oh well, I will be well rested.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Claire and I took the Burley tandem out today for a 36 mile ride.  We parked in Duncans Mills, and then headed out to Highway 1 via 116.  We had quite a tailwind heading down the coast.  We were usually cruising at around 30 mph, which made some of those hairpin corners fun.  It was a bit chilly, but we both warmed up quickly as we climbed Bay Hill Road, which is one of Claire's favorites.  It is quite steep, and the down hill isn't much fun since it is so bumpy, but the views from the top are incredible.  We then headed past the town of Bodega, where we rode thru town at 7 mph over the speed limit.  We stopped at the Wild Flour Bread Bakery in Freestone.  We had a sticky bun that was incredible and a cup of coffee.  We talked with the owner for a couple of minutes about surfing and bike rides.  We then headed thru Occidental and down Bohemian Hwy. into Monte Rio before taking Moscow Road back to the car.  Both of us were a little tired from a late night the night before, but we were glad we did the ride.

I washed the top of the Hub Bus after the ride.  That is the third washing in 18 years.  It made quite a difference.  I even washed the rest of the bus the day before which was only about the 8th time in 18 years.  We are taking it camping next week down to Santa Cruz and Big Basin where we will be doing lots of riding and exploring.

Claire's B-day Ride

We drove to Graton, where we parked our car and went for a ride over Cherry Ridge and into Occidental.  We added a bit extra by heading out Bitner and then back down Coleman Valley.  We then rode back over Graton Road and back to our car.  It was only about 20 miles, but quite hilly.  The weather was beautiful and very dramatic with big clouds drifting through the sky.  

Both Claire and I got into the Death Ride this year, which we are excited about.

Duncans Mills and Scenic Loop

Claire and I went out on Monday for a nice casual loop.  We took it pretty easy and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  It got a little windy as we headed out to Duncan's Mills.  We stopped for a couple of Americanos and a pastry at the coffee shop in Duncan's Mills.  We sat out on the patio where we ran in to Steve from West County Bike Shop in Sebastopol.  We chatted a bit about life and the bike business before we headed on our way up towards Occidental.  

After getting home, I quickly changed clothes and headed out on a run.  I did the Scenic loop, with an extra Canyon loop added in.  I set the world's second fastest time of 49:50.  Only the second time in history that the 50 minute barrier has been broken.  I felt great.  I had a high heart rate of 193 and averaged 174 beats per minute for the entire run.  Except for some pain from a tendon in my left calf, I felt really good.  

It was back to work on Tuesday, where it was as busy as usual.  A person's job can really get in the way of there training.