On the road to recovery

I woke up this morning feeling quite sore and stiff. Especially my neck, back and ribs, but basically everything hurts. The scrapes and scratches don't look too bad and no blisters yet. Maybe I will avoid the poison oak. I am struggling a bit to get my work done, I am a bit distracted and tired but I am thankful that I wasn't seriously hurt.

Mel & Pinkie's Weekend Adventure. AKA how the Chaparral Bush saved my life!

So, you can probably guess from the title that I had a little mishap this weekend. I was in the east bay this weekend visiting David and Gypsy. We had planned a bike ride for Saturday but instead did some crosstraining. Peter, Casey and Callie came over and we went for a hike in Tilden Regional Park. It was pretty warm but much of the hike was in the shade so it wasn't too bad. Callie enjoyed getting into water every chance she got. We hiked about two hours and then went back to David's for some refreshments. We chilled out for the afternoon enjoying David's famous mojitos and chips and salsa. Then I enjoyed a nice nap. Needless to say, the abstract didn't get worked on.

Sunday we went for our planned ride at the Carquinez Strait Loop in Martinez and Crockett. This is a two waterbottle ride that is 18.5 miles with 1200 feet elevation gain according to the book. We parked at the Bull Valley Staging Area and took off for our ride. It was a bit windy and cool but the scenery was nice. We rode along the Carquinez Strait on Carquinez Scenic Drive. Part of this road is closed to car traffic due to damage from slides or something. There are barricades you have to go around at 3 spots, and one side of the road is basically a cliff. We came upon the 2nd barricade at mile 4 and I thought I could ride around it rather than get off the bike (mistake number one). As I tried to maneuver around the barricade on the cliff side (mistake number two) I realized I wasn't going to make the turn and my shoes were stuck in my clips. I fell over my handlebars into some shrubs. I fell about 8 feet and was just lying there on my back practically upside down. I was holding on to the branches of the bush to avoid sliding further down. I didn't have a camera but googled an image of the plant that broke my fall and kept me from falling further down the cliff

Unfortunately, it was cohabitating with this plant

In a flash David was there to see if I was ok. I told him I was, and to get the bike first and then help me. The bike was stuck in the bush so he had to yank it out and then came to help me. It was pretty steep and my shoes didn't give me any traction. Fortunately David was able to reach down, grab my hand and pull me up (despite his reluctance to touch my poison oak-covered body :)

Amazingly I came through the fall with a few scrapes on my legs, a sore neck and back, and a slight headache. I will have to wait to see how much I react to the poison oak! I had to pull pieces of it out of my chain and handle bars. Later, when I showered , I had plant material in my clothing as well.

After a few sips of water and checking out my bike to be sure it was ok, we got back to the ride. It was a bit tough as I seemed to get more sore as we rode and even felt a bit sick to my stomach for a while. I am not sure if it was the fall or the climb! Overall, we rode 18.5 miles, average 10.4, max 34.8 mph (that was fun but a bit scary after the fall). The altitude readings were +1578, -1497. The maximum grade was +11%, average 1%. That is the most climbing I have done to date.

As the day went on it really hit me that I was very lucky, and if it weren't for that bush breaking my fall I could have tumbled to my death or been seriously injured. Needless to say I won't try to ride around difficult obstacles again!

I will let you know how I feel in the morning.

Arthritis Foundation

Hello again! Unfortunately, I have not much in regards to biking to report. I've been busy trying to get together two abstracts for the American College of Rheumatology meeting later this year, and then will have to write a paper. I will keep up the training with some indoor biking on the trainer, so hopefully I won't get too far behind. I had about an hour of training last week in the garage and will do some more this weekend.

Anyways, I wanted to show a picture from Juvenile Arthritis Day last week:

Good job Peter! This photo shows our little pediatric rheum group.

Our rheum division also finally signed up for the Arthritis Walk 2007 in San Jose. We'll save our big fundraising for the bike tour itself, but some of us will walk the 5K next weekend in support of Arthritis Foundation and our patients. Since we are such creative, artistic people, our team name for the walk is...Stanford Pedi Rheum Zoom Zoom! Yup, exactly the same name for the walk and bike tour.
Click here for the link.

This link goes to the Arthritis Walk San Jose, then follow the teams to our team's group webpage.

I know this is our biking blog, but since there was not much biking going on for me, I thought I turn it into a general Arthritis Foundation events blog, leading up to the ultimate CA Coast Classic event!!

Philosophy 101

I know this is a blog about our training and bike tour down the California coast, but as I was thinking about this entry I realized that life is all about the choices we make and I thought I would ramble a little about the choices I was faced with today.

First, I left work early today for an appointment with my endodontist to follow up on my root canal done last summer. While there I asked him about this other tooth that had had a root canal over 4 years ago and still causes me pain, especially when riding my bike on particularly bumpy roads. Apparently I have three choices: exploratory surgery to see if they can find the source of the problem, remove the tooth and have an implant put in, or live with the pain. For now, I guess I will just live with it.

As I headed home from appointment I was planning on getting on my bike and going for a nice long ride since I had a few hours of daylight left. However, when I sat on the couch and Li'l Bit jumped on my lap, I realized I could spend some "quality time" with Bit while she is still around, or ride my bike. So, we took a nap :)

When I woke up I was faced with another choice. Get out on the bike for a ride before dark or start working on my abstract for a meeting that is due next week. I guess another option would have been to roll over and go back to sleep but I excluded that immediately. I went for the lesser of two evils and headed out for a ride.

The ride was pretty mellow and the weather was perfect. I rode to Shoreline Park, up to the Palo Alto Baylands, and back. I saw lots of red-winged blackbirds, ducks, herons, and other shore birds. Then it got dark and I had to use my lights, safety first :) Here are the stats: 20 miles over 1 hour 30 minutes, average speed 13.4 mph, max 22.4. Not bad, that is probably the fastest average I have ever had. However, I must reveal the rest of the stats (it was a very flat ride!) trip altitude +185, -95, max -42 (not sure what that actually represents) and total climb to date 3118. Also, maximum grade +4%, average 0.

Finally, after returning home I was faced with the choice of blogging or working on the abstract (the pesky thing just won't write itself). Obviously, I decided to blog because Joyce complains when we don't blog enough :) Then my blogging got delayed due to a phone call and before I knew it my evening had turned into night.

It is 11 PM and I have clinic in the morning. I could go to bed or work on the abstract. Can you guess what my next choice will be?

Update from Mel, AKA Dr. Gadget

Well, I know it is a little over due but as I promised Joyce here are the stats from some of our recent rides.

April 7, 2007: rode 22 miles over 1 hr 53 minutes with an average speed of 11.8 mph and max of 102.7 mph (I guess the wireless thing is still getting its signals crossed!). The trip altitudes +1187, -1169, max 2296.

April 8, 2007: rode 13 miles over 1 hour 10 minutes, avg speed 10.9, max 24.6. Trip altitudes +529, -529, max 554, total climb to date 1717 feet. Please note this ride should have been worth more because it followed the ride on April 7, which practically killed us!

April 15, 2007: rode 21.6 miles, 1 hr 51 minutes, average 11.6 mph and max 29.7. Trip altitudes +1212, -1158, max 529, total climb to date 2929.

Since then we have both been lame although I did go for a short ride last friday (april 20) while away at my Arthritis Foundation Research Meeting. We were at Stone Mountain, outside of Atlanta, at this conference center. Turns out they had some mountain bikes you could sign a waver to ride. They are smart to have you sign a waver because those bikes were pretty shabby. I certainly got a new appreciation of Pinkie! These bikes were rusty and has issues with shifting. Plus my bike squeeked continuously with peddling! After a few minutes I was able to stop laughing at the squeek, then I thought I would die when I was stuck in an easy gear and all I could do was spin! The park was beautiful although we only rode for about 20 or 25 minutes before heading to the resorts gym where I finished off my workout with about 25 minutes on the eliptical!

Everyone said we should cross train and I tried to hike up stone mountain the next day but the Tour de Georgia bike race was going on and we would have missed the afternoon session if we had gone for the hike so instead we took a leisurely walk around the park. I did get to see lots of cyclists, including someone with a pink Trek just like mine!

So, what is my excuse for not riding since returning? Well, I was a bit "jet lagged" yesterday and today would have been perfect if my poor kitty Li'l Bit didn't go into cardiac arrest while getting anesthesia for her surgery. Fortunately the CPR was successful so she is home resting comfortably today but I didn't want to leave her so I took a nap instead of riding my bike. Tomorrow I promise......

Seriously, I have to pick up the training pace, especially since I solicited lots of donations at the AF meeting. I can't let everyone down!

Not much progress this week...

Well, since my two fellow bloggers are recovering from last minute income tax preparations (thanks for doing mine, Mom!), I will pitch in and cover our latest tales of cycling. Last Sunday, April 15, Dwight, Mel and I were able to meet up with Jerry and another CCC cyclist, Leticia. We went from Canada Road in Woodside to Mountain Hill, Alpine Road and Sand Hill Road...basically the opposite loop of what we had done last week with Jerry. It was a busy work week, so Mel did not have any chance at all to bike, and all I did was a short hour session on the bike trainer indoors in the garage while reading a magazine. Obviously, it was not enough, because Mel and I were begging for mercy at the end of the ride. The crazy thing is that Jerry had just done a century (a 100-mile ride!) the day before!!! It's unbelievable! (what's unbelievable? how strong Jerry is? or how wimpy Mel and I are?) Anyways, we had some uphill stretches and some more practice riding with traffic in the middle of the road. I don't know how I will ever handle the little clippy bike shoe pedal things, because I can barely start and stop now with regular pedals! I had one little fall while attempting to dismount, but nothing major. All in all, we were able to bike 21.3 miles and had 1000 feet of climbing. It was good just getting out there on the sunny day in pretty Woodside and nice to see Dwight again. Dwight did great! However, I could definitely feel the difference of not training midweek because I felt rather tired and sore afterwards. I'll have to try to get some more workouts in in the middle of the week, even if it is just indoors on the trainer- it'll be better than nothing. Baby steps. Baby steps.

Mel's leaving for a scientific meeting for the Arthritis Foundation tomorrow, so she'll have no biking in this weekend. This Saturday morning, we have our Juvenile Arthritis Day at the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose, so no biking for me either. I need to work on a paper, so things will be tight, but I'll try to get some indoor cycling in at least.

It's official!!

Eeeks! I just signed up for the California Coast Classic under our team name, Stanford Pedi Rheum Zoom Zoom! Now, I really have to do it! It's official, no turning back now....

achy legs, sore thumbs, and a sweaty camelbak

Well, this week we have been tackling more hills. I will never look at an incline, a slope, a hill, a bump, even a driveway, the same way again. Last Sunday (April Fools), we had a good introduction to hill climbing with Jerry, our CCC coach. We were able to make it partway up the hill in Huddart Park, Woodside. It was curvy, steep, and not too long, but we were still in agony. We did 1000 feet of climbing from Canada Road to Huddart Park. So, what do we do on our midweek ride? The same thing! We went back to the scene of the crime and got even further up the hill in Huddart Park, which made us happy and sore. My problem and new fear are actually the downhill descents. I can't seem to be able to control my speed and am deathly afraid for my life and others who may be passing by in a car. I've done some reading and have a few new ideas on how to tackle this. Today, I tried the largest chainring in the front, which slowed things down a bit. I can also sit more upright (causes more air resistance, less aerodynamic), scoot my tush to the back more, and grip the drops of the handlebars to brake (makes it easier to squeeze). I need to be careful not to squeeze the brakes the entire way down, which is essentially what I was doing, because the tires could blow! Eeks! My life was hanging on to the teensy strength of my thumbs, which had to squeeze the brakes or die!

This new foray into hill climbing reminded me of the time Mel and I were studying for our pediatric rheumatology boards and confused ourselves silly with the whole red muscle fiber vs. white muscle fiber, anaerobic vs. aerobic, glycolysis vs. oxygen transport, endurance vs sprinting myofibers, lots vs. little mitochondria. Remember Mel? It's really not too difficult and I should look it up again.....once I can pull myself up with my legs, I'll get up and look it up in the text.

Yesterday, April 7, 2007, we went with Jerry again and did a Canada Road, Sand Hill, Alpine Road, Portola Valley loop. It was about 24 miles around the Woodside/ Palo Alto area. It included some gradual, longish, uphill inclines, which gave us a different experience from the Huddart Park hill. This time, it wasn't as steep, but it seemed to go on forever! It wasn't like you could muscle yourself up a little steep hill because you could see the top. It was more like a long ramp up that wasn't particularly steep if you looked at it, but just constantly going up. I also had my first experience riding with moderate traffic. I'm getting better at using my little side mirror, but still depend on Jerry and Mel to guide me through traffic and yelling out "Car front," "Rider back," as well as pointing out potholes and such to avoid. It was also my first day with my new camelbak, which caused me great achiness in my back and shoulders, but at least I was well hydrated! I definitely need more practice with all of this!

We had lunch at the Woodside Bakery Cafe at the bottom of Canada Road after our ride and then decided to check out more uphill climbs that Jerry had casually mentioned to us, including 84 to Skyline, Kings Mtn to Skyline, Old La Honda to Skyline and Page Mill to Skyline, with 84 being the easiest climb up and Page Mill the most challenging. Well, that really stunned and terrified me, because going up 84 to Skyline and downhill on Page Mill IN THE CAR was really really scary! I can't imagine ever being able to ride A BIKE up those windy, curvy, narrow, steep, long inclines! It was both steep and went up for miles! There's no way, NO WAY!!, I kept thinking, but we did indeed see bicyclists huffing and puffing up the road. Maybe in another life, in another body...

Today, I felt rather wimpy. We went out again to Hillsborough to one of our first rides, the Sawyer Camp Trail. There were still some people around, but not too crowded, and we practiced up the hill again. It's a respectable hill. We definitely did better than the first time- we were faster and stopped less. So that's a good sign. It was only 12 miles, but any time there was a bit of uphill, my legs were burning, so we took it easy today and didn't push the mileage. It was a beautiful day, so I finally whipped out the camera again and got some action shots of Mel:




This upcoming week is a bit busy work-wise for both of us (can you tell I'm totally procrastinating right now writing this lengthy, wordy blog?). It's also going to rain, so we might have to workout indoors in the gym on the trainers again. Tomorrow is a day of rest.

The Little Engine That Could: April 4, 2007

This post is a little overdue but I wanted to get it in before blogging about more recent rides.

On Wednesday April 4th Joyce and I left work early (~4:15 PM) to try the climb we did with Jerry on April 1st. We parked at Canada and Edgewood and rode our bikes down Canada to Woodside. We then ventured up to Huddart Park. We managed not to get lost and found our way along the same route Jerry had taken us.

Sadly my legs were feeling tired even before we started the real climb! We stopped for a nutrition bar and a swig of Cytomax and then went for it. It was torture but Joyce gave me lots of encouragement and after several stops along the way and lots of huffing and puffing, I made it to the top. Well, not the actual top, but the entrance of Huddart Park. Apparently from there you can go another 2 miles of steep climbing. WHO WOULD DO THAT?

And of course, what goes up must go down! That was another adventure. We didn't go back the way we came because a cyclist at the top said it was steep and the better way to go was down a different road (Kings Mountain Rd. I think). So we did. I managed to almost break the speed limit, reaching 29.7 MPH, and that was with braking. The rode was pretty winding and there was no bike lane so it was a little scary. Joyce said her legs were shaking at the bottom. She also learned later that it is not a good idea to ride your brakes down a steep hill because you can heat up the tire and get a blow out! Phew, glad that didn't happen.

After all of that we only logged 13 miles for this ride. But we made it to the top, something we couldn't do 3 days before. All it takes is willpower: "I think I can, I think I can". Although while I was doing it I was more likely thinking "there is no way I can go any further"

After the ride I brought Pinkie to the bike shop for an upgrade. I replaced my defective cyclometer with one that has an altimeter (plus cadance and heart rate monitor). Now we will be keeping track of our climbs. We'll see if it has issues with picking up random signals like the old one did.

April Fools Day!

Well, the CCC is no joke and today was a reminder of that. We had our first training ride with Jerry Kruse and we learned just how far we have to go. We rode ~20 miles along Canada Road and into Huddart Park. Our average speed was 10 MPH with a max of 29.8. Like yesterday, it was quite breezy today. At first we were riding along leisurely, getting some pointers from Jerry. After riding on Canada from Edgewood Rd. to Route 92 and back, we headed down to Woodside Rd. and tried a little climb in Huddart Park. It was a beautiful place to ride but I was struggling. We didn't make it all the way to the point Jerry had planned to go because I was begging for mercy! Needless to say I was humbled. I cannot imagine 4000 plus feet of climbing, what have we gotten into? Oh well, as Jerry said, now we have a reference point. To total climb for today's ride was 1000 feet. I really want a new computer with an altimeter, I think that will help us in our training. Joyce did great keeping up going up hill and would lag behind going down because she would ride her brakes. I think we will even out on the CCC. She will pass me going up the hill and I will zip by her going down the hill :) This week we will try the climb again and hopefully get a little farther (if we don't get lost trying to find the route).

After our torture, I mean, lovely tour through the beautiful countryside, Joyce and I did something we don't need to train for- we ate. I was craving Korean BBQ and we had it at a Korean BBQ Buffet in Sunnyvale. It tasted great, especially the short ribs. I might have eaten just a little more than I should have ;) No more buffets this week, right Joyce? We also stopped at the bike shop and bought some Cliff Shot energy gel and Cytomax powder to mix in our water. Now I am sure we will do those climbs without breaking a sweat :)

Now for a quick note on my other rides over the week. On Thursday March 29 I rode 20 miles along the Stevens Creek Trail/Shoreline/Baylands. My average speed was 11.6 MPH, the max got messed up by interference, it read >30 but I didn't go down any hills so I know it can't be right (another justification for a new computer with an altimeter). As Joyce mentioned, we also rode Saturday March 31. She rode ~20 miles and I rode 22 miles with an average of 11.6 MPH. The breeze was quite challenging, and we obviously need to work on our cycling maneuvers & etiquette (see Joyce's entry).

In addition to working on climbs we also have to work on building the miles each week. For the week of March 25-31 I rode 72 miles. Let's see what this week holds (got 20 in today). I definitely need a break tomorrow but hope to get some rides in later this week.

Enough rambling for now, check back later this week for an update.