Friday morning

Well, it has been a good week of riding, with a little running added in. I got out for about 20 with Claire on Monday. We did our favorite loop. On Tuesday I rode home from the shop on my fixed gear. I took the hilly route over Canfield and Pleasant Hill. (The map of my commute route home is slightly different since it doesn't show the bike path from Graton to Forestville.) On Wednesday I met A2 for a ride over Sonoma Mountain. On Thursday I ran for exactly and hour. I felt very heavy during the run. My calves felt good. I was going to ride this morning, but took the morning off so that I could come into the shop early. Tomorrow is the first Grasshopper race. It is a 50 miler, which I will write more about later.

Another commute in

I commuted in the boring way on Friday. It was threatening rain the whole way, but I didn't get a drop until a couple of blocks from the shop. I rode in on my Miyata track bike, which is one of my favorite bikes. I almost had a little mishap on Martinelli Road when I forgot which bike I was on. I was adjusting my helmet a bit and sitting up riding no handed, when I decided to coast. Anyway, the cranks threw me forward and I just managed to catch the bars with one hand, otherwise I would have gone "ass over tea kettle". I took the bike path almost the entire way, with the long stretch of Stony Point at the end.

Thursday Morning Bike Ride

Well, I agreed to meet A2 at the shop this morning for a bike ride as long as it was not raining. We agreed on 7, which meant that I needed to leave the house at 6:30. That might be easy for some people, but... I heard a couple of sprinkles on the roof of our house at 5:45, but got up and out the door anyway. A2 was waiting at the shop, ready to go. So at exactly 7:05, we walked out the door. At exactly 7:06, it started to sprinkle just a tiny bit. We had planned on heading over Sonoma Mountain and the such, but changed our minds and decided it would be best to stay a little closer to the shop in case it really started to rain. Here is a map of our loop. It was almost exactly 25 miles. You will notice that we went around the Cypress/Poplar loop an extra time, and added in Pepper Lane. The down pour started right before we turned on to Roblar Road. We were both in great spirits, and rode back to the shop in the pouring rain with big smiles on our faces.

Saturday Commute

Mathilda and I commuted in on our trailer and bike this morning. Mathilda is very tired since she had to stay awake for an hour and a half. It was a great ride, except for breaking a spoke heading up 116 into Forestville. I had broken a spoke a couple of weeks ago in the same wheel and hadn't fixed it, so now I have two broken spokes. I hopped off the bike and loosened a couple of other spokes to make it rideable. I realize that most of my wheels are over 10 years old, so they may be starting to wear out.
I am trying not to get greasy today. I have Jim taking care of all the dirty work in the shop. I will keep him busy with flat fixes and rack installs. A1 is also here today. I have a set of wheels that I need to finish up, but otherwise my work load is light.

Roller Workout

I got on the rollers for a little over an hour this morning. I should have gone out on a bike ride yesterday afternoon, but I just didn't have the energy. I pumped up the tires on the bike and even filled my waterbottle before doing a deluxe tune-up instead. Anyway, I did go down in the basement this morning, which was very chilly, and rode for about 70 minutes. I did my usual workout of 5 on 3 off, ect... here is a graph of my heartrate. It was a great way to start the day.

Another Cotati Run

I had to force myself to go out for a run today. It was very, very windy out there. I decided not to do my usual Cypress/Poplar loop since they were doing some construction on the road. Instead I did this nice loop. It took 1 hour and 3 minutes, my average heart rate was 155 bpm. I would have rather gone out for a ride, but alas I had no bike at the shop today. Tomorrow I will try to get out and hopefully it will be less windy.

Pope Valley Loop

Today we did one of our favorite rides out of St. Helena, the Pope Valley Loop. It is only 35 miles, but it has some great climbing on some very lightly traveled roads. The weather was perfect, short sleeves and shorts. There is only a couple of hairy places on the loop. Climbing up around Conn Dam on Hwy. 128 we had to pull over once to let a big old double trailer semi pass us. Claire and I road our Burley tandem while A1 and A2 were on single bikes. A1 was test riding the Cannondale Super Six, which he liked a lot, except for the fact it was one size too big for him. A2 was on his steel LeMond Sarthe which he is loving. The highlight of the ride was the climb up Ink Grade out of Pope Valley. A1 said that Ink Grade was now his favorite climb in Northern CA. One of the best things about this ride is that there seems to be more descending than ascending. A1 commented on this after coasting down White Cottage Road and Howell Mountain Road. After the ride, The Hub Cyclery bought us lunch at Taylor's Refresher in St. Helena.

Great Weather is here

We finally have some dry weather, and I am trying to take advantage of it. I went out on Friday and did my usual run from the shop. I felt pretty stiff for most of the run. I listened to a book on my iPod while I ran which made the time fly by. I was listening to Dead Heat by Dick Francis. I was out in my shorts and short sleeve shirt for the first time in a while. My sister had sent me an email from Iowa earlier that day saying that they had near white-out conditions and that it was supposed to get up to 17 that day.

Yesterday Claire and I rode the tandem into work with Mathilda along for the ride. We took the boring route, staying on the bike paths as long as possible. Claire loves to ride in over Pleasant Hill and Bloomfield, but I have to talk her out of it from time to time. Here is a map of our route, we are on the bike path from Forestville till we hit Llano road. It is a bit sketchy climbing up 116 from Martinelli to Forestville, but we didn't have any gravel trucks pass us yesterday. Mathilda has a great time in the back of the trailer, and we draw plenty of smiles from people out on the road.

Sonoma Mountain Loop

Here is another look at the Sonoma Mountain loop using the USA Track and Field Website. It should show you elevations also. This website is great for checking out running and cycling loops, but takes some time since you have to manually draw in the route. I do like the elevation part of the program though.

First "brick" of the year

Okay, it wasn't really a brick, but I did get out for an hour run in the morning, and then rode for 2 hours in the afternoon. I feel great this morning, except for some pain in my calf. I did a slightly different running loop, going to the end of Summerhome Park, and then running down Martinelli to the two mile mark. I figure it was about 8.5 miles. I tried to take it pretty easy.
My bike ride was one of my old favorites. Up Roberts Road, turn right on Sonoma Mountain, drop down Enterprise, turn right on Bennett Valley, then right on Warm Springs, and then right on Sonoma Mountain again and back over to Roberts and back to the shop. I had the pleasure of riding a Cannondale Super Six. It was a good test ride for the bike. I tell you, who ever invented those fancy looking carbon fiber water bottle cages doesn't ride Sonoma County roads, I had to turn around twice to pick up my water bottle after it went flying across the road. The bike road great, and really felt smooth on those very bumpy roads. I still love the way my full Cannondale Aluminum bike feels on those same roads, but it was fun to try a different material. I think I will get out today and try the same loop again.

Finally, some sun

The weather has finally turned. The next week or so is supposed to be nice, so it will be good to get out and do some more training. Yesterday I went out and did the Elmo loop. It took 1:02.27 for the 8.6 mile loop. I will get that down under an hour next time. I ran 7:27 and 7:02 minute mile on Martinelli Rd. I have those marked out as my "speed trap". I am still feeling some tightness in my calves, which I need to address.

Our Cannondale rep dropped off a SuperSix for a week or two, so I will be taking that out for a couple of rides. It is a beautiful bike, and I like the fact that it is made in Bedford, PA. This one has a full Dura-ace groupo on it, except for the Cannondale SI cranks, which I love. I haven't ridden much Shimano stuff lately, so it will be different for me.