While Mel and and the rest of the peds rheum team were away at the CARRA conference in Denver, I was busy on-service, tending the shop. Although everyone had deserted me to go to the conference, they couldn't escape from me, especially since I called them every day with questions. Mel and Dwight were able to get in several gym workouts at the hotel, and Mel went for a great bike ride in Marin with Jerry over Memorial Day while I was back in LA visiting my family. So while Mel was getting buff, unfortunately, I had a week off from training.
After I went off-service, Mel and I were able to walk the Stanford Dish on June 5, and on June 6th, we went for a morning ride leaving from Mountain View to Arastradero, over on Foothill, and back home. At one point, we made a traffic error and were caught in oncoming traffic on El Camino! Mel stuck out her arm with her hand up to stop traffic while we ran across the streeet. Just when I was getting a bit more comfortable...
Then Mel had to go away for an immunology conference in San Diego, so I was left to improvise my training. I worked out in the Stanford gym with all the young ones on June 7, took a day off from exercise June 8, and went on a scheduled ride with Jerry and the gang on June 9. I met up with Jerry early on Saturday at the intersection of 92 and Canada Road. Here's the route we took:
The map is hard to read, but we started where the blue and red lines meet at the top. (Mel and I usually bike the little green loop.) I was just going to do part of the ride, since the entire loop was around 62 miles with 5000+ feet of climbing! However, when I arrived, Jerry enticed me with a proposal...how about riding all the way to Pescadero (where the blue and red lines meet at the bottom), and getting a ride back to the car! That way I only had to do half the loop (plus only half the climbing!). Apparently, another rider had left his van in a Pescadero parking lot the night before in anticipation of biking to Pescadero and driving back- brilliant!! So off we went, the first part being same old, happily familiar Canada Road to Woodside. Then, that's when things turned...we climbed up to Skyline on Woodside, which is the easiest way to get up to Skyline. I stopped several times, mentally willing my way up and up. Just when I thought I could go no further, we reached Skyline! I was thrilled that I had finally made it to the top after our near attempt on Old La Honda weeks before. We took a water and power bar break, and got ready for the downhill part. I put on my new arm warmers, got into the hardest gear and off we went! Luckily, there weren't many switchbacks and that made it definitely more manageable, so I was able to keep up with the group. Just when I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, when all of a sudden, the road beneath me began to change...we were starting to go uphill again! No worries, it was soon followed by some downhill. It was like that for a bit, and I was changing gears from big chainring to granny in the front like crazy, until I realized, there were more and more uphills! We had another climb to do! This one was painful- several times I thought I would have to give up and turn around. What made matters worse was the fact that there was a cycling race on the same route at the same time! Yup! I would be barely moving up the hill, and then there would be a big group of cyclists (or
peloton, I should say
) whizzing past me at an alarming rate! It was really an amazing thing to see and feel up close: several cyclists, close together, pedalling like mad UP AN INCLINE! There would be a lead motorbike before them to announce their approach: "Get out of the way, you silly recreational cyclists, clogging up this road. Here comes the real cyclists..." I would move to the right to let them pass. No doubt they were working hard too- lots of huffing and puffing, but the difference was that they were actually moving fast. Next to me huffing and puffing, I felt like I was barely moving. Then the peloton would pass and the SAG wagon would follow with a rear motorbike at the end. I think they were doing circles or they were staggered somehow, because this happened several times with several pelotons. Some supporters would occasionally think we were also racers and take our picture or hand us water before they realized what a grave error they had made and confusedly look away. Jerry would shout out, "Just passing through!!" because it was OBVIOUS that we were MUCH SLOWER than the racers. Still, they clapped when we crossed the finish line!
After that, I was just pooped out and was nearing the end of all my reserves...but that second and final summit was followed by another nice downhill, which took us through beautiful forested areas. There was very little car traffic, and tons of cyclists. Besides the racers, there were the club cyclists, all wearing the same jersey, passing us in tight formation. Jerry explained to me how the formations worked with everyone taking turns being the lead rider. There were so many cyclists...I had never seen so many! They were a different breed from the leisurely Canada Road cyclists. Many of them were sponsored riders and the pace was much faster. They were kicking butt! They were much more muscular than any other cyclist I had ever seen before, and ate standing up during breaks (no wasting time here).
We finally reached a level terrain through some flatter land, but even with the flat land, I felt like I was still climbing...my legs were so tired and weak! I was really starting to lag behind, but Jerry kept encouraging me to keep going. It's at these moments when the negative thoughts creep in: what am I doing here? I can't keep going. I'm going to pass out. I need to stop soon. This is not fun anymore. These people are crazy. I'm never gonna make it. Sure it's beautiful here, but I'm dying. My legs have never hurt so badly. And so on, and so on for about the last 5 miles.
When the little town of Pescadero appeared, I thought I would kiss the ground, I was so happy. Waves of relief washed through me, plus I really had to pee. I had finished my entire Camelback full of water, had 2 Gu's, 1 Luna bar, and 2 sports drinks. All that, and I still was a bit dizzy at the end. The van group met us, and I gratefully handed the driver my bike to put on the bike rack. A quick bathroom break and a stop at the deli later, and we were off heading back to our cars. Jerry and the 2 other cyclists I had been riding with decided to have lunch and then keep going with the loop (the blue part back towards the 92 freeway)...I'm astounded and dumbfounded! I cannot even imagine cycling any more that day. There were several more climbs to do, as well as 32 more miles!! As for me, I cried uncle and gleefully went into the van. All in all, I did 32.6 miles (my most ever), and did 2230 feet of climbing (also my most ever). So, it was definitely a milestone day for me in terms of miles and feet of climbing, but I was also shown a whole new level of cycling...and it frightened me, quite honestly. I don't know how to feel about these people...I'm impressed, amazed, yet also I think they are totally nuts.
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