A humbling and momentous day!

Well, unlike two weeks ago, Mel and I were able to train 5 out of 7 days this week! That's a first for us, especially with work, so we did pretty well in terms of keeping a few hours a day committed to exercise. As Mel blogged earlier, last Saturday, May 12, we had a leisurely, flat ride around Shoreline on the Steven's Creek Trail and then further north to the Palo Alto Baylands. It was a relaxing change of pace. On Sunday, May 13, we went directly from Stanford campus to do a nice loop around Palo Alto, Woodside and ending up in Redwood City!! We went through many new areas and made up the route as we rode along. It was a bit more challenging as compared to the previous ride, and we were rewarded with dinner at Tzielan's house for grilled meats and veggies! Then we played with the kids and Mel happily signed out to Tzielan after a long week on-service.

A HUGE motivating factor for training this week, which pushed me to really work hard, was brought about because I finally sent out my first batch of announcement emails, telling family and friends of the bike event. I had been keeping it quiet for some time, just testing the waters to see if I could carry through with the biking before I decided to really participate in the bike ride. After the committment of buying the bike and the weekend warrior type bike rides that Mel and I were already doing, I finally decided to sign up and register for the California Coast Classic last month. Now, with the emails out there and the fundraising started, it is definitely a reality now, and we have to TRAIN! I received a lot of encouraging and supportive emails from friends and family, which was really heart-warming. :) Thanks everyone! Don't worry, I'll keep at it!

During the work week, we went out for a late afternoon ride on Tuesday, May 15. I left a little bit early (accidently leaving behind some clinical responsibilities in the wind, as I carelessly left the first year fellow alone with a new patient and didn't even bring my pager along...sorry Michal! Must work on this work-life balance thing. Anyways, Michal, our soon-to-be second year fellow, did great without me.) On that day, we had quite an adventure through the streets of Mountain View and Palo Alto as we rode through streets that are familiar to me only by driving! We were in traffic and bike lanes, one with the happy motorists who loved the sight of two slow, timid bikers in their lane during the rush hour commute. It was indeed an experience. It was also the first time I had ridden when it was semi-dark, and I got to use my little headlight! Needless to say, I think I went pretty fast for once when it got dark and I was pedaling home as quick as I could! Mel did a great job leading us through traffic though, and it made me nervous at the thought of future riding with the clipless pedals. I was already making precarious starts and stops in traffic since it was more pressured on the road than when we ride on trails.

We then walked the Stanford Dish on Wednesday, May 16. (I should make it sound more athletic by saying we HIKED the Dish.) It was the first time we went up there and the views were pretty. I did break a sweat a little bit, but it wasn't like the crazy bike rides that we had been doing before, so I was really surprised the next day that I was so sore! And in different places than usual! So, the cross-training is a good thing. Now instead of the thighs hurting, I have shin splints and soreness everywhere from the waist down! The other little kicker here is that Mel had to leave for a vet appointment, so I decided to walk back to the office from the Dish through the lovely Stanford campus. That was not a good idea, since the lovely Stanford campus is quite huge and I walked for another hour just getting back to the medical center. I saw the residential areas of Palo Alto, the frat houses, the dorms, the quad, the law area, until finally the nerdy science area came into view and I was so happy. At the end of the day, I could barely hobble back to my car on my blistered feet and had to use the elevator in the parking garage. I'm not sure if this experience is leaving me feeling physically stronger or what, because I feel like an achy old lady most days.

We went out to the Dish again on Friday, May 18:

Initially, I thought that we should run, or at least, jog to the Dish, but I was lucky I wasn't crawling on my hands and knees! We were both so sore and the downhill steps really hurt! We only made it back to the entrance because it was getting dark, the trail was closing, and we didn't want to be the last people on the hill.

On Saturday, May 19, an exhausted and sleepy Mel picked me up from home and we went off to Woodside, determined to do a little piece of the infamous Old La Honda Road. Everyone who bikes in this area is always talking about Old La Honda...an old windy road that brings you up to Skyline. When Mel and I say that we are beginner cyclists, people keep bringing up this ride: "Have you tried Old La Honda yet?" It has become a goal, an aspiration, an objective that would someday mark the pinnacle, the summit I dare say, of our biking dreams. Mel had pooh-poohed the thought of trying it so early, but we wanted to do something new. After pointing out that we could turn around and go back at any time, she reluctantly agreed. We went out from Woodside through Old Mountain Road to reach Portola and Old La Honda. I would say we were in the granny gear within 10 feet of starting the climb. We were in the easiest gear a quarter into our trip. But we kept going! It was actually very beautiful...peaceful, tall Redwoods, quiet, very woodsy...interrupted by the gasping sounds of painful inhalation and exhalation as we pushed ourselves up. I was drippy with sweat and it was getting in my eyes (gross!). We had initially stated we would go 800 feet up, but we were quite good and made it to 1000 feet, with several stops and a shot of Gu on the way.


We had decided to reach our turnaround point when we saw this thin, wiry man, in his 60s, passing us (of course, we had seen probably 10 other cyclists pass us by already). He shouted out words of encouragement and said we were 2/3 of the way there and that we had completed the hardest part already! We were quite happy and pleased with ourselves since it was our first time on Old La Honda, but decided not to go the entire distance since we were already tired and still have a training ride with Jerry on Sunday.


Of course, the downhill descents are my biggest fear at this point, so I took time to get into the hardest gear with the largest chainring in the front, and off we went! It took 10 minutes to go down what took us 1.5 hours to go up. I was so scared--my legs were shaking uncontrollably, my hands squeezing the brakes were cramping up, and I still felt I could tumble over and fall at any second. I hated it, and could not be happier when we made it to the bottom. I guess I'm not into the speed of going downhill, which seems to be everyone else's favorite thing. When we went downhill, we were elated (first, at being alive and second, of the big accomplishment). I put my head down on the handlebars and hunched over, glad to be alive, and waiting for my legs to stop quivering, when a friendly voice shouts out, "Did you make it to the top?" We look, and its that same guy we met halfway up the mountain, who had already gone all the way up the mountain, across a ways on Skyline and down on 84, making a complete huge loop and then going off again in the opposite direction on Portola! Behind him, we saw another cyclist finishing the loop who we also saw climbing up on Old La Honda. These were people practically twice our age! Not only did we not go all the way to the top, we did our out-and-back so slowly that these two middle aged men were passing us again for the second time that same day! I just couldn't believe it! Mel and I were saying that we need to move to the Midwest or something so we could be the skinny athletic ones there, because people are just way too buff here. Needless to say, our elation of our first trip to Old La Honda quickly turned into awe and disbelief. Mel has the exact numbers, but we only rode around 10 miles, but most of it was climbing. I'm still shaking my head over the thought of that old dude. It was a day of highs...and lows...literally, figuratively, physically, mentally...it made me want to go home and nap under the covers as I should be doing on a Saturday afternoon!!