Our original promo video for the CCC

I never put this video on the blog, but here's the video we created to raise money for the CCC...

It has clips from Christiana's last year of life :)

The long-awaited videos

So I did a lot of video on the tour... and I compiled them into little videos (which basically needed to be separated by day because uploading would take very long and watching a 50-minute video in one sitting could get boring).

Here they are...

Day 0


Day 1


Day 2


Day 3 (Part 1)


Day 3 (Part 2)


Day 4


Day 5


Day 6


Day 7


Day 8

Well, it's over. And we did it!!!

Again, hello.

It's been about 2 weeks since our ride of a lifetime adventure concluded. Since I've been back, many people have been asking me, "So, how was it?" And it has been hard for me to truthfully or completely answer this question without a terse, curt 1-sentence answer, or without spending the next 2 to 3 hours responding. I think I'm still in a bit of culture shock of the ride being over, and me being back...did it really happen? What did I just do to myself?

The ride was definitely all those things I have said to people in the past two weeks: It was great! It was fabulous and beautiful! We had great weather! It was fun! IT WAS HARD!! I did it! I was really tired! My legs really do hurt a lot! It was an amazing experience! Mel did great! Dwight and Evelyn rocked! Our team is the best!!

Mel and I were really busy the last week heading into the ride...we basically had one last training ride with Jerry and crew to Point Reyes on September 23. After that, there was no more time for biking. I basically bought a new bike thing every day to get ready. We were wrapping stuff up at work, trying to tie loose ends before we left. It was exhausting! Mel and I stayed late in the office on Thursday night and then had to pull an all-nighter on Thursday night/ Friday morning to pack our gear. On Thursday, Peter took our bikes up with him to the city. On Friday afternoon, we gave Peter our first duffel bags for him to take to the city. Then, Mel and I with our second duffel bags (we each had two) took VTA, CalTrains, and Bart (in that order) from Mountain View to SF and walked the rest of the way to the hotel for registration and check-in. Peter and Casey were nice enough to transport the rest of our stuff from their house to the hotel. Then, once we checked in and put on our new biking outfits...we ceased to be our normal, regular selves, and became cyclists!!

We became this sea of green, unidentifiable people...all wearing the same uniform of helmet, sunglasses, Arthritis Foundation biking jerseys and shorts...all with the same goal of riding down the coast of California from San Francisco to Los Angeles on our bikes on behalf of a single cause. We could not be recognizable from our individual selves and became a mass, a herd, a colony. Our bikes became inseparable from us. Life was different. I was different. Simple things mattered. Water never tasted so good. A sandwich was never more nourishing. A little breeze was sent from heaven on long, hot climbs. Small words of encouragement, a smile, a downhill were never so welcome. Life's daily rhythms changed...get up, eat, ride, eat, ride, eat, ride, eat, shower, sleep. Our lives' rhythm started to match the flow of the ocean waves and breezes alongside us, the big blue Pacific being our constant companion for eight days. It became the tempo of the bike's wheels turning in a smooth constant cadence...whoosh whoosh whoosh. Ocean waves, pedaling, sea breeze, heart rate, breathing...all became our internal beat.

Every morning we would wake up (unfortunately in a cold, wet tent), and go into a flurry of action: dress as quickly as possible, pack up tent and gear, eat breakfast (I had eggs and potatoes every day- decadant!) and ride. It would take a few miles to get the morning stiffness out, to warm up and settle into the day on our bikes. Practically every mid morning we would stop in some cafe on some coastal town for coffee and pastries. Riding became our only job...looking on the Daily Route Guides for directions, rest stops, check-ins (many of which I missed or was practically the last rider in), frequent pauses to enjoy scenery and take pictures. I was never one to spontaneously speak to strangers, but I'm glad other people do talk to strangers, because there were so many people who just stopped and asked us questions: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" I guess being an anonymous Greenie wearing tight fitting clothes, smeared with sunscreen, and stuffing down energy bars makes us more approachable than usual. Plus, we were one of many idling down the coast with nothing better to do, either by car or by bike. Everyone was in a good mood...enjoying the perfect weather, gorgeous scenery, nature in absolute perfection. We met many locals and tourists who were just so friendly and happy. "We're riding for the Arthritis Foundation," we'd say, "We're going from SF to LA and have raised 1.4 million dollars! Come join us next year!!"

I definitely could not have this adventure of a lifetime without the help of so many:
1) All the people who donated to me and our team- basically they paid for my experience, so THANK YOU!! Basically these include my wonderful family, friends, co-workers, and patients and their families. These are donations not just of money, but of time, and of support and good wishes. Thank you's just aren't enough for all that you have given me.
2) Of course, my office mates, co-workers and boss, who put up with hours of our bike talk/bike gripes, who had to step over or trip over our greasy bikes in the office, and who "let" us or at least understood when we left work early to go on a bike ride. Don't worry everyone, it's over!
3) Jerry Kruse- my biking hero and savior!! I will always remember his support, pedalling close by, helping me up the hill by simply being there and believing in me. You're the best! One story: we were all resting at the top of a tough climb when we noticed there was still one person left who hadn't made it up yet. Jerry went back downhill, and then did that climb AGAIN to bike with that other person. He voluntarily did a killer climb TWICE!
4) Peter Chira!! I luuuuv yooouuuu!! You pack-muled all of our stuff to your house, ate rubbery chicken with us during dinner, let us stay at your gorgeous place, woke up at 5 in the morning in the freezing cold the next day to take us to the start line
and put up with our frantics when we were about to leave and were panicked!! You called in to check on us, followed our progress and believed in us! You are a superstar!
5) Mel Balboni: thank you for introducing me to a great new sport, and I will definitely keep on biking! It's hard for me now to bike with anyone else, so reliant I've become on you and Pinkie in front of me, setting the pace, guiding me through traffic, signalling, pointing out road hazards...hope your back heals so we can ride again soon!
6) The Powerys: I'm in such Powery withdrawal right now. I've become accustomed to seeing Dwight and Evelyn every day.
7) New biking friends and Jerry's bike crew...we had so much fun together!!

Here are some selected photos if anyone is interested. I'll upload more to a photo sharing site soon too. There are also photos on the CA Coast Classic website itself (including a picture of me in a bathing suit....aack! you've been warned.)


Here's Jerry leading Team Stanford Pedi Rheum Zoom Zoom!

Yes, it's true. We're actually on the freeway. I know, I couldn't believe it either.

(It was really windy, in case you're wondering what we are doing here.)

See, Mel really did listen to her doctor's orders and did her physical therapy exercises!

Can you believe it? Mel had FOUR flat tires!! Here she is at her first one...note she is wearing surgical gloves for this operation.

This is us at the kick-off dinner.

That's it for now. I need to get to bed soon because I'm on service again. This has been a long week, being on service, and I've been upset. Angry and tired and frustrated at the ravages and the chronicity of lupus and arthritis on young lives. We need better medicines and more understanding. More research. Someone put me out of business so I can go ride my bike again.

To finish up...here's Day 8: The End

Hello everyone again!

We have re-emerged after resting up from the bike tour. I wanted to put in Evelyn and Dwight's running comments from when we were on the tour to finish up our day-to day summaries. Each night, Evelyn and Dwight would call Maria, and she would update the two blogs: The Ride of a Lifetime and Stanford Pedi Rheum Zoom Zoom for all 8 days. The last day was put in by Evelyn and can also be seen at http://biking4christiana.blogspot.com/... I just put in Evelyn's text into this blog; there are also photos of each day that can be seen on her other blog. Without further ado, here goes:

The Ride of a Lifetime
Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Day 8: The End
Hello everyone... (this is Evelyn) sorry we left you hanging for a couple days after we finished the race. It's been crazy busy with moving me in back to school, catching up with school and getting everything finalized for Hoops for Hope.

Anyway

Day 8: I fell a couple times today... just didn't clip out off the bike in time. I think I was a little too anxious to get there. Plus I wanted to have some wounds when I got to the finish line. We were on Highway 1 and passed through Malibu for half the ride (it was exciting to see that Los Angeles was less than 50 miles away!!).

Day 8 was very flat. I loved it. Just some rolling hills only 200 ft high (nothing like the 1500 ft climb we'd mastered on some other days). As we approached our destination, we stopped off at a seafood restaurant that was tradition (I actually forget the name at the moment) and just ordered drinks and a few appetizers. We wanted to make it quick because we were 8 miles away and I had some school friends waiting for me at the finish line.

When we continued, we rode along the Santa Monica pier (the path was literally paved on the beach with sand on both sides) and we followed Jerry to a different path than the guide so we could skip the final hill. Little did we know skipping this hill would also skip the lovely fans waiting for us at the finish line. We came to the finish line from the opposite direction and started looking earnestly for the friends who were supposed to be there. Suddenly they came running out of nowhere saying they had been lined up the other side of the street where "everyone else had come." Oops.

I was blessed to have about 12 friends from UCLA come and see me at the finish line, and we enjoyed food and the closing ceremony and got medals! Now that I'm at school, I'm putting my bike back in the garage. I think I've biked enough to last me the rest of the year.

Posted by Evelyn at 11:15 PM

Day Seven - The Well Deserved Massage!

Today we rode from Solvang to Ventura. It was a total of 82 miles and 2800 ft. of climbing. It was one of the longer days but an easy ride. The view of the countryside was amazing. We rode on Hwy 101 for about 20 miles. They actually had a bike lane. We rode by Santa Barbara and the choppy ocean as the sun was starting to go down. It was beautiful. It got a little windy when we were putting up our tent. In fact, our tent almost blew away. A biking team from Jamaica noticed our team and decided that they wanted to interview us and hear Christiana’s story. It can be viewed soon at www.c62007.blogspot.com. They have a recording of our interview. When we arrived into Ventura, we ended our day with a wonderful massage

Day Six - Can you say, "Farms"?

We rode 66 miles today averaging 16 miles/hour. While Evelyn was “drafting” today, she fell and got a little bruised. Not too bad though. She did get back up and ride again. Today’s ride was more agricultural, not too coastal. We went through strawberry, cabbage, broccoli, cilantro, rosemary and parsley farms. It smelled real good. The pace was a little slower . We went through a town called Guadalupe (population 200) and stopped in a coffee shop for Chocolate Chai. Doesn’t that sound good? For lunch we went to a countryside store in the middle of nowhere and got some grilled corn (Mmmmm)! They wouldn’t let us use the bathroom at the store though so we had to bike a mile to use one of the porta potties some workers were using. We had to tackle a hill called “the wall”. It shoots straight up and was a mile long. Evelyn beat Dwight on the first hill and Dwight beat Evelyn on the second one. Dr. Balboni rode the whole way today despite her back problems. Dr. Hsu was “drafting” Dwight without even know it. When we finally approached Solvang, we were able to do our laundry. Yes!

Day Five - Hot Springs!

Total mileage today was 63 miles today at an average of 14.1 miles/hr. It was a pretty easy ride. We stopped at a bakery called Lili’s Coffee and they had the best cherry pie ever! We went to downtown San Luis Obispo and visited bubble gum alley. Gum goes all along the wall and down the alley. One of our riders went to Cal Poly in the 80’s and it existed then. We even saw a whale by Cayucos. At mile 55 miles we went swimming at a regular pool then jumped into the hot springs. It was 104 degrees of natural heat. Now we are at Pismo Beach.

Day Four - Hundreds of Sea Lions

Today was clearer than all the other days and hotter. The day started with a 1.7 mile climb from Big Sur. It wasn’t too bad. After 40 miles we approached Twin Peaks which had a 3.7 mile climb. It was followed by a 2 mile down hill then a 2 mile uphill again. The rolling hills and the flat land followed. It was beautiful. After every turn there was a photo opportunity. We came across a beach with hundreds of sea lions lying on top of each other. Today wasn’t as hard as the first day but it was the most climbing, 4600 feet total. We rode a total of 64.2 miles.

We came across a couple on vacations driving a car with the license plate HELVSME The husband asked us what we thought it said. One of us said “hell vs. me”. The husband said, that’s how he read it. The wife said it was supposed to be “he loves me”. So, how did you read it?

Anyway, tonight we are camping out by a beach in San Simeon. We can hear the ocean. Time to snooze and get ready for Pismo Beach tomorrow. Supposedly, hot springs await our arrival!

Day Three - In the Moment

Today was another beautiful day. Mostly clear until we got closer to Big Sur then it got foggy and cool. The Daily Route Guide had us scheduled to ride 37 miles but we did 43. We started in Monterey and detoured through 17 Mile Drive (a scenic route). We saw the most beautiful beach with one big sand dune which went up almost 15 feet high. We passed by Pebble Beach too. The deer and houses looked like a fairy tale. We then went to Carmel. fifteen of us found a coffee shop and took a well deserved break. We mostly rode along the coast. Lots of pictures were taken. There was one long climb and getting to the top made it all worth it. The view of the Pacific Ocean was crystal clear. Then on the way down, the wind was blowing 55 miles/hour on our faces. Today was quite easy and relaxed. Tomorrow, however, is supposed to be one of the hardest days. One guy approached Dwight and thanked him for being so open about Christiana because he lost his daughter 12 years ago and has had a hard time talking about her. Please pray for us.

We wanted to take a moment to share what Dwight and Dr. Balboni talked about at the opening ceremonies on Friday evening. Dr. Balboni gave a brief description of the medical side of things. She explained when Christiana was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and when she was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis. She then mentioned how she had to call us in the middle of the night to tell us that we had to bring her to the hospital immediately. Dwight then talked about how Christiana felt the last time she was able to go outside. After weeks of not being able to go outside due to her time in ICU and overall medical instability, we were finally given the okay to wheel her outside. We wrapped her up in warm blankets and went on our way to the third floor outdoor patio. As we walked out, Christiana commented on how good it smelled. Someone was baking cookies. When we got outside, she closed her eyes and said, “Listen to that!” We couldn’t hear what she heard until a few seconds later and noticed an airplane approaching at a distance. She then said, “Do you see that?” We looked in the distance and saw traffic lights and thought that was what she was talking about. But it wasn’t. She was pointing to Christmas lights in the distance and was just fascinated by them. Shortly after that she said, “Do you feel that?” She closed her eyes and felt the cold breeze brushing up against her cheeks. Our time at the patio was the most incredible ten minutes and without realizing it, Christiana talked about most of her senses. It just shows you how we take life for granted and we must stop to enjoy the moment. Dwight mentioned to the bikers that as they drive from SF to LA, they should take the time to be “in the moment” and appreciate all their surroundings.

Day One and Day Two

Today is the second day of our adventure and what a wonderful time it’s been so far. We found out that Evelyn is the youngest cyclist this year! Go Evelyn! Many cyclists decided they wanted to race through the event, not us! When we started yesterday, we were the last ones to leave (busy taking pictures of the moment) but not the last ones to arrive. Close, but not the last. It was clear and sunny in San Francisco. It was the most beautiful day. There was not a cloud in the sky and the view of the Golden Gate Bridge was spectacular. We rode 85 miles to Santa Cruz and arrived at 5pm. (The first cyclist arrived at 1:30!) We saw over 100 people at a parasailing event and stopped at every vista point to take pictures. Christiana taught us a lot about not taking life for granted so we’re taking the time to enjoy God’s beauty. After we arrived at our destination, we pitched our tents, showered, ate a wonderful prepared meal and then went right to bed!

Today, we detoured a bit here and there to get a better view of the sites. In fact, we rode with 15 others and detoured an extra 15 miles. Our Daily Route Guide had us riding 52 miles to Pacific Grove (near Monterey) but we rode 65 miles. We had a snack at a nice place called The Farm in Aptos. We rode through a strawberry farm and it smelled so good. We had lunch at a place called Phil’s in Moss Landing. Good seafood! We ate dinner at Bubba Gump. The portions were really small so we went searching for Ghirardelli to have some icecream. Unfortunately everything closed by 8pm so we searched high and low for a Baskin Robbins. Found it! Can’t help but think about food after such a long day of biking. When we went back to the campground, the sprinklers came on soaking all our tents. So much adventure!

Counting down the days...

So we have 5 days until the big ride begins. This week will officially be the best week of training ever. We're supposed to be going at an easy pace for no more than 1 hour (basically only 10-11 miles). I've been feeling pretty tired lately on the bike, so hopefully I'll be rested enough before Saturday.

Here's the layout of miles and climbs per day:
Saturday - 82.9 mi and 4,270 ft of climbing
Sunday - 52.6 mi and 1,770 ft
Monday - 38.0 mi and 2,220 ft
Tuesday - 64 mi and 4,530 ft
Wednesday - 55.6 mi and 1,270 ft
Thursday - 63.8 mi and 2,400 ft
Friday - 86.5 mi and 2,410 ft
Saturday - 63.3 mi and 1,430 ft

As you can see, days 1 and 4 are the hardest (day 7 seems pretty tough too). When I say they're tough, I'm speaking relatively because obviously all of the days will be hard. Like one of the doctors who are riding with us says, take it one rest stop at a time (hahha).

Oh! We got our jerseys in the mail... here they are!
The first is the front; the second is the back.

Tour de Tahoe video

Here's a video I put together for the Tour de Tahoe.

So. The Tahoe ride.

We rode 72 miles around Lake Tahoe on Sunday. Needless to say, I was nervous. Weather.com said that in the morning when our ride started it would be a little over 40 degrees (wow). We started the morning off with arm warmers, leg warmers, a jacket and full-fingered gloves. By the first stop (after 13 miles and one of the big climbs) we were ready to strip it all off.

The first 10 miles were flat, and we were probably averaging 17 mph. Hardcore racer people still passed us, and they would comment on the little SpongeBob attached to my bike bag or on the AMGEN jacket I was wearing. Then the climb started, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It zigzagged up, and it was funny to see so many bikers going so slow. At one point a truck went by and there was a guy drafting the truck flying up the hill. Some ambulances passed us about 10 miles in because a lady broke her arm. Mel went into the sag wagon before the first hill because of her back, and we passed her on the way up the hill. At the first rest stop, there were a lot of people. We stayed there for awhile (that's probably how we got to the back of the pack) to relax, get some food, take off our extra clothes, and take pictures.

When we finally got going again, it was about 10 more miles before the next rest stop. It was fairly flat. At the next stop, I saw a little girl (probably 12 or so) who was doing the ride too. That amazed me. She had her little biking gear and muscular legs like she'd been riding for awhile. At that rest stop they had potatoes. Oh. At mile 16 I got stung by a bee. We were going downhill and a bee (wasp?) nearly flew into my mouth. For a split second it was stuck to my mouth until I spit/blew it off. Then, sting! and it was gone. I kept spitting because I felt some remnant in my mouth (a leg or something, gross, I know). And it stung. I've never gotten stung before, so I bit my lip to keep it from stinging and swelling. A couple minutes later when my dad and I pulled over, it was swollen. Mel gave me some medicine at the rest stop (I forget that they're doctors) and it was just sore for the rest of the day.

We kept going. Lunch was at 42 miles. It was a beach, and that's where we started to see the pattern of people leaving when we barely got to the rest stop. We had turkey sandwiches, peanut butter with bananas, powerbars, brownies, etc. It was pretty comforting that we were more than halfway done, except for the fact that there was a 7-mile climb looming ahead.

That climb took FOREVER. It wasn't steep, but it was annoying to be gradually climbing for so long. You'd wind around the corner and still be going uphill. On one of the stops during the hill, we met this group of ladies who made their own jerseys for this ride. They were so sweet! They kept taking a ton of pictures and laughing... since Papi had the same camera, he took pictures of them. They loved it. Then we saw them at every stop after that and we all yayed each other for finishing the next leg of it.

After the loooong climb we got to go downhill for 7 miles and then had rolling hills for the remaining 5 miles. The rolling hills were even hard. Finally we got to the end. (There was even an uphill to the finish line. That was cruel of them.)

THEN we had a pasta buffet. It was awesome. By that time most of the riders had made their rounds through the party because we were probably within the last 50 people. Once we ate, we were stuffed. So we went to the hotel room, watched TV and fell asleep. I was tempted when my dad suggested using a "Buy one get one free" Coldstone coupon, but once I was in bed, I couldn't get up.

It was hard. It was beautiful, but it was hard. I feel a little better about our ability for the CCC.

The Last Two Weeks of August: Just the stats, sort of

I haven't blogged in a while and I have no excuse. Well, except that I lost some of my stats and had to get some data from Jerry to fill in my table for August 18th. Unfortunately that means I don't have my ride time, MPH stats, or max grade for the Pescadaro ride. I recalled the average grade but that was about it! I had two firsts with this ride- first time I made it to the top of Old La Honda and first time riding four days in a row (Aug 15-18). I was supposed to ride the next day with Joyce but I bailed on her after the big Pescadaro ride.

I rode the Pescadaro ride without Joyce because she was on call. We started at Canada Road at 92. Towards the end of Canada I found myself riding by myself. I could see a few riders far off but none of the others. I didn't notice that many had stopped at the bakery on Woodside so I pushed on without a break. As I kept going I thought it was odd that nobody was passing me (which is my usual M.O.). Turns out most people had stopped at the bakery and were waiting for me! Finally, they decided I must have gone on ahead so they took off again. I was suffering through Old La Honda with my music and my thoughts. Taking my time, stopping about every mile. Suddenly I saw some of the CCC green jerseys coming up the hill. I was about 2/3 up when everyone had passed me. That's more like it :) Of course Jerry stayed with me to the top and I was greeted by the rest of the group with lots of congratulations. It is so great to ride with such a supportive group, don't know how I would have made it through the training without them. Also, thank goodness for Weldon who had parked his van in Pescadaro the night before so I didn't have to try and do the whole ride, which is 62 miles with 5200 feet of climbing. Here is a map showing the route, I did the red line (up Old La Honda not Woodside):

Here is a table of my rides for the last two weeks of August.

The training took a hit during the last week because I was on service and busy with my clinical responsibilities. I wanted to try to get out at least once midweek but I was working until after dark each day. Joyce and I had left Pinkie and Tumbles in our office in case we could get away but it didn't happen until Saturday August 25. I think we worked out at the gym one day but can't recall which day.

That Sunday, August 26, we conquered Old La Honda together and we were celebrating our accomplishments. Well, we were celebrating until it turns out Old La Honda had conquered me! I woke up August 27 with a bad back spasm. I have had these before over the years and a couple mild ones since training. However, this one was pretty bad. I decided to get a sports massage that afternoon, which seemed like a good idea, but it turned out to be BAD. I had a 75 minute massage focusing on all the spasm that had taken over my back such that I couldn't stand up straight. It was one of the most painful massages I have ever had but when I got up I could stand up straight and felt less pain. I then had dinner with my friend Jessie who was in town for a few days and when I got up from the booth after dinner I had severe spasm and could hardly move due to the pain! I had to head home and take a muscle relaxant (flexeril) and ibuprofen. I spent the next day in bed essentially in a flexeril coma. When I still had significant pain the next morning I had a novel idea - maybe I should go to my doctor! :)

I knew something wasn't quite right when I couldn't lift my right leg off of the examining table without excruciating pain. For those people not in the medical field, that is not a good sign. So, an MRI was ordered, I got referred to a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist, increased my ibuprofen from 600 mg to 800 mg, and used some heat and rest. Over the week my back improved but never got back to normal. The MRI was done August 30 but I had to wait until September 4th to know the results. In the meantime, we had a big ride scheduled with Jerry for September 1st so Joyce and I decided to do a slow and relatively easy ride Friday August 31st to see if I would even attempt the ride Saturday (Crissy Field, Marin Headlands, Tiburon). The 8/31 ride went ok so we decided to go for it the next day. Of course, that is for another blog since this entry is about August. Can you stand the suspense?

Many new victories...some defeats....

Hey, there's a new video feature to blogger! I'm going to test it out by putting on this little clip of Mel climbing up to the summit of Devil's Slide during our Half Moon Bay bike ride on August 11...

(Good thing the video is so small that you can't really see which finger she is pointing at me!)

Well, we've been busy in the last 3 weeks. I was on service after our Half Moon Bay ride, and Mel was able to go on a Jerry training ride when I was busy working. She successfully climbed up Old La Honda! Then, they went on to ride half of the Pescadero loop that I had done a while back. After I was done on service, then it was Mel's turn on service, so we didn't get out much during that time.

Finally, we were able to get out on August 26, 2007 to really get a great ride in. I wanted to try Old La Honda again since I was green with envy that Mel had reached that milestone without me. We set out from campus, out to Alpine and Portola, which was a good warmup to Old La Honda. Finally, we started climbing. We did stop a few times, took a break, talked on the phone, had some Gu, and slowly but surely, we were inching our way to the top...close to the summit, this is what we saw...
Somebody on Old La Honda has a sense of humor! By car or by bike, Old La Honda is a steep, windy, treacherous road. My favorite part of the ride was seeing a biker dad climb up Old La Honda with his toddler in a bicycle side-carrier, much like a sidecar. Of course, they were able to pass me and Mel (actually twice passing us...once going uphill and once going downhill). Little kids are faster than us!

But, 45 minutes of riding time later (not counting all the stops we had made along the way), we reached the top...a great feeling! We reached Skyline and proceeded on another new route that we had never tried before. Here's Mel in some inspirational-looking biking photos on Skyline...

It was really gorgeous- - a quiet, forested area with little traffic, just lots of trees, the way it should be.

Unfortunately, the victory of climbing up Old La Honda was soon marred by a severe back spasm in Mel that required a variety of prescription drugs, a hobble to her internist and a trip to the MRI scanner. Fortunately, her back muscles did eventually calm down with just some residual twitches and soreness. Good thing, because yesterday, September 1, we had a big ride with Jerry and the gang...
I've posted this map of Marin county before, but this time, not only did we ride around Richardson Bay, Sausalito, Tiburon and (my favorite) Paradise Cove, we also conquered the Marin Headlands! It started off really steep, which really sapped all my climbing confidence, but did eventually get a bit easier. You know it's steep when runners pass us cyclists struggling up the incline. The day was sunnier and clearer than our first time up to Marin, so we were able to see a lot more. Here's the view from the top of the Marin Headlands; you can see the fog shrouded Golden Gate.

The descent from the Headlands was the scariest downhill ride I've ever taken! It was steep and so twisty! One bad turn and off the cliff you go...

After the climbing, we were able to relax and enjoy Marin...we rode through tourist and cyclist packed Sausalito, which was having an art festival that day, so it was even more crowded than usual. We were rounding Richardson Bay, with great views of the water and Angel Island, when I met for the second time, my Right Turn of Shame. The first time I did this turn, I could not turn sharply enough and fell into the hedge bordering the turn. This time, I felt ready--I had the energy surge of finishing the Marin Headlands, it was a gorgeous day, and I hadn't fallen for quite some time now, so I was in really good mental shape. However, as I got closer I did a little wimp-out. I will blame Mel, who was in front of me, for turning too slowly, forcing me to lose momentum, and scrape the wooden rail with my arm, necessitating me to stop and walk the bike through the turn. Yet again, I was defeated by the Right Turn of Shame! At least I didn't fall over into the surrounding hedge, but I do have a little road rash on my arm as a reminder. Next time...I will make it!!

After lunch at Shark's Deli, we rode on my all-time favorite route around Paradise Cove. It was breath-taking...blue green water dotted with lots of sailboats, the view of the Bay and the city beyond. So beautiful! After the eye-candy, my legs, however, started to poop out. My climbing legs were gone, and I was left with legs of jelly. We had two more momentous climbs ahead of us, and I was really worried about my jelly-legs, as well as Mel's back, which was acting up again. Fortunately, Chapman Ave was not as bad as we feared and had remembered (are we making progress somehow??), and then I lost Mel altogether going down from Chapman back to Sausalito! She was swept up, bad back and all, with the faster group of riders! I hung back with the not-as-fast group, barely keeping up with them, back through Sausalito. By early afternoon, it was packed with cars and we actually had to weave around some of them to get through the streets! Mayhem indeed! Well, the last climb was tough, but by then I think I was numb to the pain. We climbed back up to the Golden Gate bridge through Fort Baker, then had to fight the tourist surge crossing the bridge (hazardous!). It was a gorgeous day...really sunny, clear for the most part except for a stubborn cloud on part of the Golden Gate, and just perfect for biking. See?

Today, both Mel and I are tired and sore. We were supposed to go out riding this afternoon, but my achey legs protested, so I am blogging instead. Tomorrow, we will get out for a long ride...I can't believe it is September already! Next week, we have our Tour de Tahoe ride!! Then in 4 weeks starts the CCC! This is it--the last month of training!!!

August 1-15: The Clock is Ticking!

I can't believe that the ride is only 6 weeks away! While both Joyce and I have made lots of progress since we first bought Pinkie and Tumbles in February, I must admit that I am not sure we will make all of the climbs without the help of the SAG wagon. We will certainly try our best and keep on training until the end.

The first half of August was not the most productive for training since I was at camp for several days and was petsitting for Gypsy, the beautiful cockatoo on my shoulder in one of my earlier blogs. Also, I was feeling quite tired from the early mornings, all the activities and watching over 30 campers so I bailed on a ride planned with Joyce August 4th, the day camp ended. We were also supposed to do a pretty tough ride with Jerry on August 5th, but I woke up feeling quite sore and tired. Joyce and I convinced ourselves that we could sleep in and do a ride on our own later that day. It was really cold and foggy so I am lucky Joyce motivated me to ride. As we left for the start site it was raining a bit and I would have rather climbed under the covers and watch a movie or take a nap! In any case, we did ride and I felt better for doing it although the Three Bears Loop is still quite a challenge.

Unfortunately I ran ove some glass and had a slow leak in my rear tire that I noticed when I went to load my bike onto the car rack on August 7. I brought the bike to work with plans to fix the flat and go for a ride later that day. HOWEVER, my super-thick tires that I had put on to resist flats (that didn't work so well) are very tight and I struggled with my tire levers for an hour before getting the tube out. I managed to find the piece of glass burried in the tire and it left a hole that worried me. Given my struggles with the tire, my worries about its integrity, and the fact that it was too late to go for a ride, Joyce and I decided to stop by Chain Reaction (where we bought the bikes) and get some advice. I felt a little better when they agreed that the tire was quite challenging. They also gave us some pointers to make changing flats a bit easier and we were on our way. Since we couldn't ride in the dark, we did the other thing we love to do....EAT! Afterall, we needed to carb-load for the ride we would definitely do the next day!

We did ride the next day but the carb-loading wasn't enough to help us get up the hills that Joyce suggested we ride. Joyce had mapped out a new route for us to try from the top of Alpine. Instead of going back down Alpine after climbing to its end, we turned up this road Joaquin that was incredibly steep. At one point I stopped to take a break and I could not get back on the bike and move forward. I decided that was a good point to walk Pinkie for a little bit! Joyce kept cycling slowly up the hill for a while and then she also decided to walk for a bit. At one point my cyclometer measured the grade at 24%. I think it should be illegal to make such steep hills, who in their right mind would enjoy riding their bike at a 24% grade? We eventually found our way along the route Joyce had mapped out although I did start to wonder if this was part of Joyce's plan to take over my office space (by leaving me where nobody would ever find me). I must say the views were amazing but for the most part I was so short of breath I wasn't looking up very much. Then there was the descent, after all what goes up must come down! That was recorded as 30% grade. Again, who builds these roads? In any case, when we got back to the office Joyce promptly threw the map away. If I never see Joaquin again, it will be too soon.

The next day we did manage to get out for another ride after I was done with clinic. We decided to ride one of our usual loops from campus to Alpine, Portola and Woodside. I convinced Joyce to ride to the end of Canada to increase our miles. We were both pretty tired from the day before but we did it. It was actually a pretty nice ride, lots of deer were out grazing in the meadows as we rushed back for me to make our summer students presentations and award ceremony. I was looking forward to the food and wine offered at the gathering but unfortunately all the food was gone. Needless to say, the wine went straight to my head and I had to hang around the office for a while before I thought I could drive home!

On August 11 we did a ride with the most amount of climbing we have ever done, 3000 feet!! (Jerry measured 2800 but I am sticking with my cyclometer :) It was great to finally have a chance to ride with Dwight and Evelyn, who have been traveling for the last month or so. This ride also gave us a chance to experience Devil's Slide to Half Moon Bay, something we will face on the first day of the CCC. It was pretty nerve-wracking but we made it. At one point I was riding behind Evelyn and a car hit her mirror. My heart was in my throat as I looked on. Fortunately she swerved a little but didn't fall! I don't think I would have been able to stay upright if it were me. After getting to Half Moon Bay we took 92 back to San Mateo. By the end, every little climb was a challenge. The only thing that kept me going was thinking about what I was going to eat when we finished (patty melt, fries, and a diet coke!).

This is the map of the ride:

This ride is about 1/2 the miles and 2/3 the feet of climbing of the first ride! I went home and took a nap, will I be able to nap during the CCC?

Here is the table with all the stats for the rides through August 15:


That's it for now. I have started the table for the 2nd half of August so stay tuned.

Summary of 2nd half of July: Slow but steady

It has been quite some time since I have blogged and I have not been great about keeping track of our miles. I have this habit of writing the stats on little pads of stickies scattered around my house and sometimes I lose them or don't keep the dates straight. If I am not careful I might lose my job as keeper of the stats! Here is a table of our rides from the 2nd half of July. Unfortunately I didn't always record the route and I managed to miss one ride altogether so there are a lot of question marks. (sorry Joyce).

As Joyce mentioned in her blog, we have had lots of adventures throughout the bay and have found some great places to train. We really enjoy riding to the end of Alpine Rd. since it has very little traffic and is great practice going up and down hills. The Three Bears is also quite enjoyable although challenging. My favorite part of the rides is seeing all the wildlife and farm animals, although I have to wonder if the cows hanging out in the pastures staring at us as we ride by think we are crazy (I certainly do!). The Tour of San Francisco including Twin Peaks was quite a challenge. I cannot say I really enjoyed it, especially with the fog and wind, but I was proud of our accomplishment. I can say for a fact that 3 months ago I would not have been able to finish that ride. While I was consistently the last rider up the hill, I made it up every one without having to walk up any part. The last time I rode in San Francisco, I walked almost as much as I rode (that may be a little exageration).

This is a map that outlines the Three Bears Loop (the upper orange highlighted route) as well as the ride we did from Tilden Park on July 15 (lower orange and green loop).



I know Joyce posted some pictures from these rides in her blog, since I don't have any to post I will continue with the animal theme. Here is a picture of one of my cats, Emma (when she was younger and much lighter) hanging out on my shoulder.



You might notice (most people do) that she is a little cross-eyed. Despite this handicap :) she has no problem seeing her food and has grown into a plump kittie who loves to hang out under the blankets when I am not home. I have more to say about our August rides but will save that, and some more animal pictures, for another blog.

Our very first team ride together!! :)

On August 11, our little Stanford Pedi Rheum Zoom Zoom team was finally able to get together and ride! The four of us! And what a ride it was!! It was one of Jerry's training rides, so a group of us went out from San Mateo, north up to the Sawyer Camp Trail, across over on Sharp Park Road to wind up in Pacifica and down Highway 1, where we will be riding soon in 6 weeks time for the CCC! We went from Devil's Slide all the way down to Half Moon Bay on the PCH, before crossing east again on Highway 92 to get back across the ridge to our own neck of the woods on Canada Road. It was our most climbing in feet: 2800-3000 feet, and we rode about 40 miles!

Here's the four of us shortly after getting on Highway 1 for our first pit stop. It was a foggy, cold day, but we were still happy to be by the beach and see the ocean, who will be our companion for 8 days on the CCC. This is right before we started Devil's Slide...(see how happy and innocent we are, unknowing of the upcoming turmoil...)

Here's us with Jerry!
And here's Evelyn and Mel...
So, we climbed up Devil's Slide, which was not too bad of a climb, but precarious because it was on the side of the road with fast-moving cars on our left, and a cliff and the Pacific Ocean on our right! The cars would come in bursts, and there was also some construction in the area, so everyone had to accomodate each other. It's hard enough to concentrate when we are struggling up the hills, but the fear of getting hit by a car at least makes you climb quickly! Here, there were no stops for a quick breath or leisurely climbing. It was get up the hill and do it as quickly as possible, or you will be hit by a car!! Going down was gorgeous...one of the most spectacular sights I've seen since starting to ride my bike...even though a car got close enough to Evelyn's bike that it brushed against her side mirror! Ay! Everything turned out okay, but that sure was scary! Going down Devil's Slide was exhilarating: you could see the waves crashing against the cliffs and rocks down on the beaches below. It was just beautiful! Of course I couldn't take any pictures, but the views made the climb up Devil's Slide definitely worth it!

Devil's Slide really was nothing in comparison to roadbiking on Highway 92 starting from Half Moon Bay. After the Slide, we had nice, flat riding through the agricultural fields of that area...seeing lots of vegetables like Brussel sprouts and artichokes...before arriving in foggy Half Moon Bay. I have never seen HMB sunny before! I think a sunny day in HMB is an event such as a lunar eclipse or the passing of a comet or something, it is so rare. Now, driving in a car on Highway 92 is twisting-turny enough...and I couldn't believe now I was going to do it by bicycle! Lots of cars zooming by close, and the climbing...oy! The climbing seemed to go on forever! I tried not to look up, but there just seemed to be more and more road up ahead of me! However, it was a great, great feeling to reach the top, and pretty fun to reach the bottom of the other side too! I'm getting more comfortable on the downhill descents, still scared, but going a bit faster now. After we reached Canada Road, we turned around back to San Mateo, where we had a satisfying lunch! Here's us after eating lots of food...
Dwight and Evelyn are really good on their bikes, despite being away traveling around for a while. Mel and I were happy to finish the ride in one piece!! All in all, it was a happy day!