Sunday, December 9, 2007

Bad Things Do Happen in 3's!!!

Recently inspired with a new sense of determination and a desire to get stronger on the bike, I looked forward to today's 70-mile ride with members from Club One, Left Coast, and the Duros. Yeah, I knew the ride was going to start out chilly (Lafayette was in the 30's when I arrived at the bart station at 8:35 a.m.) but I came prepared! Two base layers, a long sleeved jersey, and a jacket provided me with enough insulation to keep me from chattering my teeth as I rode to the bart station.

When I arrived at Lafayette, I learned that Mark and I would be the only two Club One members that would be doing this ride. Although a bit disappointed at not seeing other Club One peeps show up, I was prepared to get in a good ride. Once Mark got suited up, off we went. Riding though the residential area of Lafayette, I noticed that the chilly air was piercing through my gloves. Numbness started to enter my thumbs. What the hell?!



I tried to think warm thoughts but to no avail. My hands were freezing. Yeah, I know you east coast readers are thinking, "Whimp!" Having been born in a tropical country and grown up in lovely L.A., I will readily admit that I don't handle cold weather very well. I started thinking about upgrading my gloves to pogies.




(In case you're wondering where you can find pogies, check out www.icebike.org.)

BAD INCIDENT #1, albeit a minor one, happened to Mark while we were waiting for a red light. I was talking to him when all of a sudden I see him tilting over before falling on his right side. *scratching my head* "Uh, Mark, what just happened?" Apparently, Mark wanted to walk over and push the light button so we could get a green light faster. Ummm, perhaps, he should have unclipped before trying to walk over to the light? I'm just sayin'. ;-)

Anyhoo, we eventually met up with the Duros and Left Coast Riders at a Shell station. Before we left the station, Mark warned me that these guys can ride pretty fast so I better be on my toes. Sure enough, these guys started picking up the pace and I was hanging in the back trying to keep up. Thank goodness for that red light where we had to turn left to turn into the Livermore hills. Although I didn't expect them to slow down, I at least knew their pace and did my best to stay with them.

We eventually made it to rest stop number two where we refilled our water bottles and consumed some calories. Being the camera-happy person that I am, I whipped out my camera and started snapping pictures as I also tried to gulp down a cup of hot coffee.




All of a sudden, I heard people getting on their bikes and rolling. Damn! I took another gulp of coffee before throwing out the remains, jammed my camera into my jersey pocket, and adjusted my other jersey pockets before I jumped on my bike and started pedaling quickly towards the group. I'm not sure if it was the sudden acceleration but all of a sudden I felt a twinge in my lower right hip/ass area. Damn again! I was a little concerned that the dull pain might develop into a sharper one as the ride progressed but I figured I'd just wait and see what happened.



We had a fair amount of riders in the group and they were pretty good about calling out objects on the road. At one point, I heard someone yell "rock." I immediately saw a mini-crater on the ground and people splitting off to the left and right. I then saw Mark hit the rock before he lost control of his bike. I was behind him so I quickly glanced over my left shoulder to ensure there weren't any cars on the road before I split off to the center of the road. Bam! Down Mark went! We all stopped and checked on Mark. Aside from some aches, Mark appeared well enough to continue riding. His bike was also in tact enough to continue the ride so on we went. That was BAD INCIDENT #2.

As we approached the Pleasanton bart station, we learned that Bonnie had a rear flat tire so we waited for her and Deb to catch up with the group.

The ride continued for a while before the group split off. Eventually, it was Mark, Bonnie and I riding into Lafayette together. Bonnie asked me if I was tired and I said no (although, I still felt that little twinge on my right side.) Mark asked, since I wasn't tired, would I extend my ride by skipping the bart ride and riding home instead, to which I responded, "No. Considering what's happened on this ride already, I'll end up with a flat and I'll have to wait for someone to come along and help me fix my flat." Mark retorted, "You rode home by yourself on our last ride." I replied, "Yeah, but I'm superstitious and I believe that bad things happen in 3's. So, I'll be taking bart today."

As we neared the Lafayette bart station, Bonnie noticed that she had a front wheel flat. She figured that she could make it up the little hill and into the station before she got off her bike to fix the flat. As I turned left into the parking lot on Deer Hill Road, I heard Bonnie yell out. I looked behind me and saw Bonnie on the ground in the middle of the street. I put my bike down and ran over to her and Mark. Bonnie was in serious pain and couldn't get up. BAD INCIDENT #3!



The first driver that stopped to check on Bonnie happened to be an EMT. He asked her various questions and did a mini-physical exam. Although, it appeared that Bonnie might be o.k., she yelled out in pain as she tried to get up. She appeared to be experiencing severe pelvic pain when she tried to sit up. Traffic started building up as various drivers asked if they could help out or call 911. One woman even got out of her car. We let them know that, while we appreciated their offers, we had already called for an ambulance and were waiting for them to appear.

The Lafayette police were the first to appear. They set up their two patrol cars to ensure Bonnie didn't get run over while laying on the ground.



Eventually, the firefighters and paramedics showed up. At this point, Bonnie was freezing and she couldn't get into the ambulance fast enough.




While waiting for the ambulance, I learned the following things:

1. Never give a seriously injured person water or food; it might send them into shock. (Bonnie asked for water but we had to
deny her request per the first EMT's recommendation.)

2. Off-the-clock nurses, paramedics, and cops are more likely than doctors to stop and assist random injured people in
public places. (This is according to the lady cop's personal experience.) What's up with this?!!

3. When you continue to ride with a flat tire, you run the risk of going down. (Perhaps Bonnie's flat, front wheel hit a bot dot
as she attempted to make a left hand turn and the tire gave in, causing her to go down? Bonnie was also tired at this point
so perhaps that was also a factor?)

4. BAD THINGS DO HAPPEN IN 3'S!!!!! (Affirmation of pre-existing knowledge.)

Mark was going to go to the hospital to check on Bonnie. As soon as I get an update from him on Bonnie's status, I'll add it to my blog.

As you can see from some of these pictures, Bonnie remained a trooper and let me snap pictures of the event. If you're interested in seeing the other pictures, you can find them at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7616589@N06/

BONNIE UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Mark and he said Bonnie has a pelvic fracture but she will not require
surgery or rehab. She'll have to endure some pain but her fracture will heal on its' own. Although a fractured pelvis sucks, I'm happy to hear that Bonnie is now on her way to recovery.

Friday, December 7, 2007

my dual blogs and current measurements


I have two blogs: this one and myspace blog. Although I generally try to use this blogger as my "fitness-related" blog, I sometimes find myself blogging about my workouts in my MS blog. Tonight I'll cheat and I'll copy and paste the blog I wrote on MS tonight. (If anyone is bored and curious to see what kind of other stuff I blog about, here's my MS link: http://www.myspace.com/cyclist06)

(Oh yeah, I haven't done measurements in a while so here goes: Quads:56 cm, Calves 38 cm)

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According to Wikipedia, microtrauma occurs to your muscle fibers whenever you engage in weight training or some other strenuous activity. Your body then tries to compensate for this muscle damage by replacing the damaged tissue and adding more muscle tissue (thus, the bigger muscle appearance.)

Fret not, I won't be blogging on the intricacies of weight training. I begin my blog with this tidbit of information because it was this physiological visual that came to mind while I was working out today and going over my physical and mental state this past week.

During the last three days, I was bedridden with extreme fatigue. I felt like I couldn't get enough sleep or enough rest. Mentally, I wanted to shut down. There were moments when I experienced frustration because I wanted to be out doing my regular workout routines but I just couldn't muster the energy.

I'm not sure whether I can attribute this fatigue to a build-up of insufficient sleep or some weird flu. Whatever the reason, I can now look at these past three days as a necessary "breakdown". Maybe I needed this "breakdown" period to re-evaluate my mental outlook; maybe I needed it so I can get enough rest to come back harder to my training.

I feel that I possess a fair amount of mental and physical toughness. However, I have athletic friends who are mentally and physically much stronger than I. I don't envy their toughness as much as I admire it and aspire to match it.

I want to have the grit to ride strong when I'm riding with a stronger group of cyclists.

I want to have the discipline to hit the weights after I'm exhausted from my cardio workouts.

I want to have the fortitude to push myself harder when I want to ease off.

After experiencing a few days of metaphorical microtrauma, I now feel re-energized and with a renewed sense of determination. Here's to a stronger body and a stronger will! Booyah!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

You beautiful yet deceptively never-ending road

When my four alarm clocks went off his morning (TV, CD player, sharper image clock and my cell phone), I was tempted to snuggle deeper into my duvet cover and skip the 70-mile Club One group ride. However, I knew I wouldn't enjoy the rest of my Sunday knowing that I had flaked on the ride so I dragged my ass out of bed and began to get ready.

Skull cap, Craft base layer tank, Craft Pro Zero Crew Base layer, Sheila Moon Base layer, arm warmers, long sleeved jersey, wind vest, Shebeest tech tights, warm socks and full-fingered gloves. I was tempted to wear my new TO jacket but thought it might be too bulky during the ride so I decided to skip it. Once I started pedaling towards the bart station and felt the chilly wind hit my face, I desperately wished I owned a Balaclava. Oh well, I figured I'd be warmed up in an hour or two.

I met my friends at the Lafayette bart station parking lot where it was about 39 degrees. Brrrrrr! It was a small group that showed up - Mark Cutone (Club One ride leader), Angie Karanas (Left Coast cyclist), Rich Fisher (old school cyclist), and yours truly. Mark asked for a group consensus on whether we still wanted to ride Palomares or skip Palomares and just ride through Calaveras to the Fremont station. Angie voted against Palomares, Rich didn't get to vote since he was going to peel off earlier. Hmm, I've ridden Palomares before but I've never ridden Calaveras so I'm reticent to do both: "Ahhh, whatever you guys decide." It looked like Angie had the winning vote - No Palomares for us today.

We finally hit the road and ended up riding with a large group of riders with various kits on. Wendy's sponsors a cycling team??? I didn't know that. It turns out that within that group there were two bad-ass bike mechanics: Tim Parker from Left Coast and his brother Erik. Mark and Angie knew them so we rode with them for a while.

We stopped at a Shell station before reaching Sunol for a pee-break. This bathroom was not only disgustingly dirty, it had no lights! We had to keep the door semi-open to let some light in lest we miss the toilet and end up pissing on ourselves in the dark.

Having taken care of business, we continued on our journey to Sunol. Damn, it was windy. Tim and the rest of the guys were too fast for us so we lost the nice draft we had enjoyed up to that point. Mark, Angie and I braved the winds as a trio.

We enjoyed a brief rest at the Sunol liquor store before we headed towards Calaveras. Having never ridden it before, I didn't know what to expect, I'd just heard that it involved steady climbing and offered a scenic view. Hey, that sounds nice. Sure enough, I soon found myself shifting to my little chain ring and enjoying the beautiful hills to my left. Interestingly enough, I found myself constantly shifting between my little chain ring and my big chain ring. Just when I thought I had reached the final descent, damn it if there wasn't another stretch of climbing up ahead. That road seemed to last forever!! Alas, we reached the final descent. Alright!

The Fremont Bart station was only 15 miles ahead according to Mark. However, if I thought Calaveras felt like a long stretch of road, reaching the Fremont Bart station seemed even longer. And, why the hell didn't someone warn me that I'd have to do more climbing to reach the bart station? My inner voice had to keep reminding me to cut the whining and just ride!

About 2-3 blocks from the Bart station, we stopped to use 24 hour fitness' bathroom (we didn't see any gas stations nearby). As I walked though the gym and observed random, bored-looking people reading their magazines while riding their stationary bikes or using the eliptical machines, I thought to myself, "Damn, am I glad I rode outdoors today!"