Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Fall Update!
Well, my day job happened. I’m a high school teacher and part of our local union leadership. To put it mildly new contract negotiations with our employer, have gone poorly. This isn’t the place for griping about that however, this is my cycling sanctuary, so all I will say Is that organizing our members has been a full-time job on top of my teaching job. Time for riding has not been abundant. And where there have been gaps here in there, I’ve been too exhausted to jump on the bike.
Even my pretty ambitious riding schedule has been modified in the latter part of the year. The Tour de Scottsdale and the MS Bay to Bay rides are out of the picture. As you can see on the graph, the latter part of July, August and September were spent mostly riding conference chairs instead of “The Girl.”
If I needed evidence of how a couple of months of haphazard riding can really diminish one’s conditioning, the Rosarito-Ensenada Fun Ride, was pretty striking. There wasn’t much “fun” to be had. I shouldn’t say that. It was fun becauseI rode it with Molly for the first time. I think it was the first organized ride we’ve done together. We actually crossed the finish line side by side. It was also fun because I met colleagues and friends along the way. So in that sense it was very enjoyable. “El Tigere,” the well known climb of this ride…not fun at all. I cramped, I tried to climb faster than I should have, I ran out of gas at one point. Just not well prepared for this it at all. I did however close like gangbusters in the last 10 miles.
So having had that experience, I’ve pared down my riding schedule for the latter part of the year. At this point the only ride I’ve got left on my schedule is the El Tour de Tucson, the weekend before Thanksgiving. My goal at the start of the year was to do the full 109 mile ride for the first time. I think it’s still an attainable goal. It would be my second century this year. Not bad for never having done one before. I feel good about it. My conditioning wasn’t too bad for Rosarito. I think the heat combined with a lack of prep for the climb did me in, but I felt good and strong on the flats. So I’m on a 7 week plan to do more hill climbing and improve endurance further. Last year I did the 80 mile version and felt very strong at the end. I’m hoping that the same will happen in November after 109 miles.
Finally, I’m in the midst of trying to balance all of the important aspects of my life at this point. Of course my relationship and teaching are always on top of the list, but my union activity is important as well, yet, I’ve come to realize that cycling is something I love and can’t relegate it to the “if I have time” category. So…I’m in search of that elusive balance. My other passion is writing, so I’m hoping to blog more here, even if the posts are shorter. Expect to hear from me more often. For now…
Ride on!
PS: Here are some pictures from the Rosarito-Ensenada Ride a few weeks ago.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Quick summer update
As you can see, I hit my 300 target for June, a lot of that was thanks to the fact that I did the L.A. River Ride Century. However, I'm back on the bike and starting some serious training again.
In most competitive sports there are premiere events that athletes want to be a part of, the World Series, the Superbowl, the Indy 500, etc. In pro cycling of course it's the Tour de France which is happening right now across the hills and mountains of France. And a major time-suck for me since my July ritual includes watching every stage on TV. But I digress. The premier event of my riding year has become El Tour de Tucson in November. This year will be the first year I'm planning on riding the complete El Tour. I've done the 66 mile version and last year I did the 80 mile version. So the rest of the year is about preparing for the full 109 mile loop around Tucson. So, serious training for the rest of the year. Part of that training will include rides like Rosarito-Ensenada, I may do the Tour de Scottsdale, and I'm thinking of doing the Solvang Prelude. I'll update the rest of the year's ride schedule in a future post.
My summer break is almost over, next week is about gearing up to start a new school year, and then the kids start the week after that. Funny, but I find it more easy to post here and in other blogs when I'm in a regular routine, so I'll probably be posting more often. For now, it's time to get out and do a quick recovery ride.
Ride on!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Race Across America: My new fascination
I've been completely fascinated this week by a little known bike race: The Race Across America or RAAM. Although I've known about this race for years, I've never really paid that much attention to it. It's not part of the pro-riding schedule. Cycling pros like Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer or Alberto Contador don't participate in it. It's longer than the Tour de France and it's done in one third of the time. Last year, I realized that this race started just a few miles from my home. This year I decided to pay more attention to it. It's been compelling.
Earlier this month I did my first Century. Frankly I felt over the moon when I finished that ride. Here's some context, solo riders on RAAM will ride over 3,000 miles. I was looking at my training log and realized that if I do all the riding that I've planned for myself and reach my riding goals this year, it will take me 10 months to ride what RAAM participants will do in roughly 10 days. I am in awe of these people. Here are a few more statistics from the RAAM website:
- Total distance is more than 3000 Miles.
- Collectively, the Solo and Team finishers will travel a combined distance equivalent to circling the Earth at the equator seven times.
- Lowest elevation is 170 feet below sea level. Highest elevation is more than 10,000 feet high above sea level. This elevation range exceeds two vertical miles.
- Each Solo and Team will climb more than 100,000 feet. This is roughly the distance from the ground to the edge of space, more than three times the altitude flown by commercial jetliners and almost four times the altitude of Mt. Everest.
- Less than 200 solo and tandem racers have officially finished solo RAAM earning the title of RAAM
- Finisher, compared with over 2000 individuals who have summated Mt. Everest and 200 racers every year compete in the Tour de France.
- Racers have come from 5 continents - North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe. More than 25 countries have been represented in the Race Across America.
- The RAAM staff during the race is more than 50 people. More than 200 people staff Time Stations. Racers are supported by more than 800 people. More than 200 vehicles are part of the RAAM caravan across the country.
- In the last four years, RAAM racers have raised more than $4,000,000 for charities.
I want to thank my Twitter friends @katerpillar and @girlmeetsbike who are on the Crew for Janet Chrstiansen (Team Osprey) for their insights into RAAM and letting me hang-out before the start of the women's solo start.
For more information check out the RAAM website: 
