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!

More adventures all over the Bay area!

Well, since my last post, things have continued to be very busy, with lots of very good training rides. On July 20, Mel and I were able to climb up on highway 84/ Woodside Road all the windy way up to reach Skyline Blvd! It did seem to go uphill forever, and I had forgotten how long it was, but we kept going up and finally reached the summit at Skyline with our bikes! It definitely felt good (after the climb, not during).

Then, on July 26, Mel and I were just cycling along our usual, familiar loop from the Stanford campus, including Junipero Serra, then to Alpine Road. We usually turn on to Portola, but we had heard that Alpine does continue on for a little bit before the road ends. So, we decided to get a little more climbing in since that part of Alpine looked steep, and we continued on straight on Alpine. After the steep part, came a nice little downhill, and we passed many hiking trails as well as Willowbrook Road, which is a road I knew previously from another ride with Jerry. However, instead of turning back on to Willowbrook, Mel and I saw that Alpine turned into a narrower road that curved enticingly into the distance. So we kept going...we were able to ride a few more miles at a nice steady incline. It was a great road, with practically no cars, alongside a forested bubbly brook. We didn't know where we would end up, but we saw several cyclists on mountain bikes (passing us by, of course), so we knew there would be a popular mountain bike trail somewhere. We finally reached Joaquin road, which was pretty far down from where we thought Alpine would end. Alpine did eventually end into a dirt route where people do lots of scary mountain biking. What I love most about biking are the new routes and scenery we discover along the way...roads that I thought were familiar to me suddenly becoming a completely new ride with extensions, loops, and outreaches beyond the usual. New little discoveries in a place I thought I knew. Or roads that I usually zoom along on in the car that suddenly look completely different and foreign to me once I'm on the bike. Definitely get to see more on a bike and at a different pace. Love the different pace. Beyond all that, there's the fact that just biking on these new trails exposes me to lots of new places all around the Bay area that I've never been to, especially roads around the East Bay.

Anyways, here's the two of us on the backroads of Alpine...



It has become one of my favorite rides and I'm looking forward to doing it again. However, as Mel puts it, it's a fine line between a ride that is my favorite and a ride that is my nemesis (#1: Arastadero, #2: Sand Hill, and of course, the Mountain of Shame, Pinehurst, which stands alone with no rank).

On Saturday, July 28, we went on another training ride with Jerry and the rest of the CCC gang. It was a tour of San Francisco, riding from Lake Merced, along the Great Highway, into Golden Gate park, across the Golden Gate bridge, then up to Twin Peaks and finally San Bruno Mountain. It was a pretty foggy day, however, so we didn't see many views...

Here's Mel and me on top of Twin Peaks. (ooh, I have some bad helmet hair here in the photo!)
We brought our new first year fellow, Reuven, along for the ride too. Unfortunately, besides the foggy weather, our group also suffered two flat tires, which caused us some delay, so we didn't have enough time to go to the summit of San Bruno mountain (good thing too, because I was pretty wiped out after Twin Peaks). It was a good ride for the climbing and the practice of riding in the city traffic.

The next day, Sunday, July 29, Mel and I were in the East Bay, so we checked out a route called the 3 Bears near Orinda, on the other side of the peak from Berkeley. This time we drove through Tilden Park to get to the other side and started out on San Pablo Dam Road, turning on Castro Ranch, staying on Alhambra and then turning on to Bear Creek Road, where we were to meet Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear. Here's Mel biking up to the summit of Mama Bear...

...and here she is eating at the summit of Mama.
After Mama Bear, the road did a little down and up, and we were wondering if the up part was Papa Bear. However, it became obvious that it definitely was not, because when we reached the actual Papa, it was totally clear that we were riding up a Papa Bear hill! No question compared to Mama! We passed by horse stables and ranches, riding around San Pablo Reservoir and Briones Reservoir. Baby Bear came up and when I thought I could not climb any longer, we saw the car waiting for us at the top of Baby Bear! Such a happy moment! Going down Papa before Baby was quite a scary experience though, as it was rather windy and a steep downhill. All in all, a great ride (another favorite) and one that I'll do again!

That's it for the riding thus far. This week is a quiet week as Mel, our nurse Jeanette, and some of our fellows are off at Valley of the Moon for this year's Arthritis Camp. While they are out there chasing the kids around, I'm supposed to be productive working on writing my paper. Of course, I'm writing the blog instead, but it is still writing! Mel thinks that I will go the gym to cross train, but I haven't been going. At least I've had lots of cross training with sitting in front of the computer trying to write! We'll do more riding this weekend after camp is over.

Introducing Tumbles!

Hello again! I can't believe how long it has been since I've last updated the blog! There has been a lot of biking activity going on, so it's not like we haven't been training. In the past month, I have finally named my gray Trek 5200 bike...his name is Tumbles and he is friends with Mel's bike Pinkie (or Pepto). Anyways, all of us, Mel, Pinkie, Tumbles and I, have been working very hard at getting in lots of riding this past month.

Here are the various poses of Mel and Pinkie during our adventures:

Here's Mel recovering after a bad fall on to a rock in Huddart Park, Woodside. This is when the stranger with the dog put a bandage on Mel's leg. Despite the fall, we were still able to climb up to the entrance of Huddart Park and feel pretty good about it too.

Ahh...here's another typical pose of Mel and Pinkie...at a food stop in front of Robert's Market in Woodside. We have lunch, refuel with another bottle of Gatorade, and re-apply sunblock during these pit stops.

Although it may look like all we are doing is sitting and lounging around, this is actually the only time that Mel will let me take pictures while we are outside riding. Especially since I haven't mastered the skill of one-handed riding yet (both hands must still be firmly affixed to the handlebars at all times!), I'm not able to capture a lot of action photos. There have been many scenic overlooks and pretty views during our climbs, but I am usually trying to oxygenate heavily during those moments, and so, I cannot take pictures. This particular day (where we are both wearing short sleeves) came after a brutally hot day on the 4th of July, when we were just drenched completely in sweat. So, we thought we would be wise and wear short sleeves on July 7th. Although it turned out to be cold and misty, that day was a momentous day because we were able to ride 50 miles, our most ever in terms of mileage!! It was from Mountain View to Foothill, to Arastradero, to Woodside, Canada Road and back...our biggest loop ever!

Here's me at the turnaround point:

And here's Mel at the turnaround point...
After that 50 miler, the next weekend we tried to do two consecutive days of hard riding...in an effort to see what back-to-back days of being in the saddle would be like (after all, during the CCC, we'll have 8 continuous days on our bikes). The first day, July 14, we were in the East Bay at Niles Canyon in the Fremont area. We took Calaveras Road and rode all the way down to Milpitas. That was a gorgeous ride (unfortuately, no pictures), with a very decent climb. I felt rather good about it, was able to complete the climbing, and didn't feel too badly afterwards. We were able to complete 38 miles of riding, with about 2200 feet of climbing.

However, the next day, July 15, we met up with Jerry, Eileen, Greg and several other women in Tilden Park at Inspiration Point. We rode downhill Wildcat Canyon, wound up in Orinda. We went through the area surrounding Redwood Regional Park, which was really cool and beautiful...

However, after this beautiful stop, I met my Mountain of Shame on Pinehurst...I really hit a wall climbing up that hill, and felt so discouraged. I actually had to get off of the bike and walk up the rest of the climb, because I felt there was no way I could get to the summit otherwise. My legs were already tired from the ride before and I was just pooped out! I felt mentally drained as well, and as we were riding back "undulating hills" around Grizzly Peak after Pinehurst back to Inspiration Point, every single incline was a major challenge. All I was concentrating on was each stroke of the pedal that would bring me closer back to the car. In my head, I felt there was no way I could survive the CCC, given that on those two days, we had done the same amount of climbing and with fewer miles than the FIRST DAY of the CCC! That Sunday, we did 28 miles of riding with 2200 feet of climbing. (The first day of the CCC is 85 miles with 4000 feet of climbing.) I really was feeling down and at odds with my bike that afternoon after getting back to Inspiration Point...
That's Mel and me after the ride at Inspiration Point in Tilden. That was the day I named my Trek bike Tumbles, and was really quite upset at him for letting me down. In fact, he stayed over at Mel's place for the next week because we were not on speaking terms after that East Bay ride. He finally made it back home this weekend, and we are becoming better friends again, but it is still a tenuous relationship, especially after I fell into a prickly bush at Mel's place after failing to make a sharp left turn. We're going day by day at this point.

So, we have been getting in several rides (as documented in Mel's tables), and getting in some back-to-back days of climbing and some miles in. There's still, obviously, much more work to get done, and I need to get over last week's feelings of discouragement with Tumbles and my progress. Right now, I have to stop thinking about how daunting the first day of the CCC is, and just try to increase the miles and climbing. Mel and I have been working out at the gym, using the quad machines to improve our strength in our legs...I hope it helps! I weighed myself yesterday, and since February when I started my training, I have lost a grand total of ONE POUND!! After that, Mel and I went to McDonald's to celebrate my achievement (plus to get a Hello Kitty Happy Meal). We'll keep at it...

First Two Weeks of July-Making Progress

Hi there, I am trying to be better about blogging our rides so I am multitasking (hopefully my colleagues won't notice that I am blogging while sitting through our Tuesday meeting :)

We definitely have logged more miles for the first two weeks of July compared to June and we are improving but it has been slow. Both Joyce and I were a bit discouraged with Sunday July 15's ride. We were tired and sore from the day before and struggled with the climbs. We both had to walk up part of a steep hill, but we did it!!!!! Here is a table of our rides so far this month.

As we increase our miles and have come into the heat of the summer I am beginning to appreciate the early morning rides. I think both Joyce and I got a little over heated on July Fourth after starting our ride at 9 AM. It was almost 100 degrees out by the end of our ride. The next ride (July 7) we motivated a bit earlier and it was much more pleasant, AND WE RODE THE MOST MILES EVER IN ONE RIDE----50 MILES!!!!! See, we are making progress.

Hopefully Joyce will blog soon because she has some pictures from several of our rides. One of my nieces complained that our blog was boring so I am going to throw in a few pictures even though they have nothing to do with our ride!

Summary of Mel's June Rides

Hello everyone. It has been quite some time since I last posted anything. Talk about disorganization, I had been writing the stats down after each ride on scraps of paper but didn't always date them. Needless to say when I went to write them in my training calendar and get ready to blog, there was a ride I didn't know exactly when or where it took place so I had to guess based on miles and climbing. Also, I must admit I am still having issues with the cyclometer, the altitudes are definitely off compared toGreg's GPS readings and Jerry's cyclometer. For the rides over 2000 feet I am off at least 200-300 feet. I have asked Chain Reaction about this but they haven't gotten back to me. Also, a couple of times the max MPH is off, likely due to interference from something. I decided to put all of June's rides (doesn't include rides Joyce did without me) in a table for ease of reading. This is not as easy as I thought it would be. I tried converting the table into jpg, gif, bmp, and png files (the only types of files you can import into the blog) but the resolution was horrible and the table was blurry. I spent way too much time trying to improve the resolution without success. Then I tried to cut and paste the tables directly, again without success. Finally, I printed the table, scanned it in on someone else's computer and emailed it to myself. I hope that worked- lets see:

UUGGHH, it still isn't readable!!! But if you click on the table it is fine. So please, click on the table to see how hard we worked in June. FYI the exclamation marks in the max MPH row indicate the reading was off (not that you would believe we could reach 143 MPH!). Also, I am not certain which day I actually rode for the ride listed June 18. For the max grade, the ones without a +/- are positive.

I think Joyce may have some pictures from these rides and I don't have too much else to say except that I was very excited to change my cassette to a 12-27 (whatever that means). I did this on June 16 (the same day Joyce got her clipless pedals). The next couple of rides my chain was making strange noises and on June 23 my chain fell off, my pedals got stuck and I fell. We were riding up to Huddard Park and I fell over onto some brush and ROCKS!! It wouldn't have been a big deal if my knee and elbow hadn't been impailed by the rocks. I sat there in severe pain for a few minutes before getting up to inspect the damage. My bike was fine, my knee not so much. I had a large abrasion with dirt ground into it and blood dripping down my leg. Joyce proceeded to rinse my wounds with water and I was using a not-so wet "wet-wipe" when a man in a truck stopped to ask if we needed help. He offered to bring us a bandage and we wondered if he was really some psycho about to throw us in his truck and keep us captive for life. Then Joyce realized he had a dog with him so he must be ok :) He brought back some bandage and tape, and we were back on our way. We continued our ride up Huddard and while it was tough, it was easier than the last time. In fact, we got to the entrance of the park and were surprised to be done already. My knee was quite swollen and I couldn't ride for a few days (I could barely walk the next day). Then I got poison oak again! What is it with me and poison oak? I even looked when I fell and didn't notice any. Oh well, at least it wasn't as bad as the last time, although I still took some prednisone for a few days. It turns out part of the knee wound was pretty deep and will likely leave an ugly scar. It continued to ooze for more than a week and took a couple of weeks to stop being painful to touch. Now it is just itchy! Fortunately I had a flesh-colored bandaid to cover it for my nephew's wedding on June 30.

The month of June was tough for training because I was gone 14 days and my niece was here for 3 days. I tried to get some cross-training in, mostly using the elliptical at hotel gyms. There was a fire at the Stanford Dish and it has been closed since then so we can't walk the dish for now. Hopefully July will be a better month for rides. I promise more stats for our July rides soon.