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!"

Ahhhh, those long rides

Yesterday, Team Oakland's women's team director, Mel Schultz, led an 80-mile ride. Although I've only been riding my bike once a week (yeah, yeah, I know...bad cyclist), I figured I still had the fitness to do a long ride. I was relatively well rested (had some residual thigh soreness from Thursday's weight training) and enjoyed a good breakfast before the ride.

The proposed route was as follows: Cycle Sports in Oakland, Redwood to Castro Valley, Palomares to Niles Canyon (Sunol), Foothill all the way to Danville, back to Oakland via St. Mary's trail, up North Pinehurst and down Sheperd's Canyon.

It was a small but strong group that showed up for the ride: Mel, Anthony (honorary TO male member), Laura (potential future racer), Amy (strong triathlete), and yours truly. Given that I can put out more power on the flats than on climbs, I was the one trailing on the climbs. I didn't mind though because I knew that I was riding with a strong group of riders and trying to follow them as closely as possible could only make me a stronger rider.

Throughout the ride, I found myself experiencing different physical sensations and mental thoughts. On some parts of the climbs, namely Palomares and Pinehurst, I briefly considered getting off the bike and walking because my legs were so tired (of course I didn't!) There were other parts of the rides where my legs felt fresh and I was really focused on maintaining smooth pedaling strokes. I think it was the combination of being relatively well-rested and constantly refueling that helped me finish the ride. (I did have to ice my knees that night but I still felt well enough to do some minor chores when I got home.) All in all, it was a great day of riding!

Speaking of fuel, here's what I ate and drank throughout the ride:

Castro Valley: Vegan Bar (164 calories) + 1 Gu (100 calories)

Sunol: CA Vegan Suncake (376 calories) + 1 Banana (100 calories)

Danville: Vegan Bar (164 calories) + 1 Small Soy Latte (90 calories according to Peet's Nutritional chart)

Moraga: 1 Gu (100 calories) + 1 Gatorade Propel Fitness Water (30 calories)

Pinehurst: 1 Hammergel (84 calories)

Total Calories Consumed = 1,210 calories

I drank 3 bottles of plain water, 3 bottles of water with Nuun electrolyte tablets, and 1 bottle of Fitness Water; each bottle holds 24 ounces so a total of 168 ounces of water (4.97 liters / 1.31 gallons). Yet, I only peed three times (small amts.) during the ride (Sunol, Danville and Moraga). Guess my body was soaking up those fluids.

11/01/07 Measurements

This week I've been partying more than working on my fitness. Halloween is just too damn fun not to enjoy over the course of a few days. Anyhow, I figure I'll be hitting the gym tomorrow and the road this weekend so I should get back on track with my training.


11/01/07
QUADS: 57 CM (up 1cm from 10/18/07)
CALVES: 36 CM (down 1 cm from 10/18/07)
HELMET: 55-59 CM


--------------------------------

10/18/07
QUADS: 56 CM (back down to 56cm -bleh!)
CALVES: 37 CM
HELMET:55-59 cm
___________________________________

10/11/07
QUADS: 57 CM (Yay, 1 cm growth)
CALVES: 38 CM (1 cm growth)
HELMET:55-59 cm

__________________________________
10/06/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 cm

__________________________________
9/25/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 cm

_________________________________
9/20/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 56 CM
CALVES: 37 CM
HELMET: 55-59 CM

_________________________________
9/13/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 CM

__________________________________
9/06/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 54 CM (damn it, down 2 cm!! arghh!)
CALVES: 37 CM (up 1 cm...hmmm)
HELMET: 55-59 CM

____________________________________
8/29/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 56 CM
HELMET: 55-59 CM: 36 CM

10/18/07 measurements

How is it that my quads barely grow before going back down a cm?!

It doesn't help that I recently tweaked my right knee - all I can do is keep vigilant of my knee while still doing what I can to continue my aerobic and anaerobic training.

10/18/07
QUADS: 56 CM (back down to 56cm -bleh!)
CALVES: 37 CM
HELMET:55-59 cm
___________________________________

10/11/07
QUADS: 57 CM (Yay, 1 cm growth)
CALVES: 38 CM (1 cm growth)
HELMET:55-59 cm

__________________________________
10/06/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 cm

__________________________________
9/25/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 cm

_________________________________
9/20/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 56 CM
CALVES: 37 CM
HELMET: 55-59 CM

_________________________________
9/13/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 CM

__________________________________
9/06/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 54 CM (damn it, down 2 cm!! arghh!)
CALVES: 37 CM (up 1 cm...hmmm)
HELMET: 55-59 CM

____________________________________
8/29/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 56 CM
HELMET: 55-59 CM: 36 CM

Tai Chi and Heart Rate Training

Today I did my first Tai Chi session. Admittedly, it was quite slow for someone who enjoys throwing punches and kicks and breaking out in a serious sweat. However, I did find my limbs getting looser as the class progressed. The instructor said that, if we did the class consistently, we would find ourselves becoming more flexible whenever we took a spill (a definite plus for someone whose already crashed her bike 3 times in 13 months). So, I think I'll continue doing the Friday Tai Chi lunch sessions.

On another note, Wednesday's spin class required that we pick a target heart rate and then drop our heart rates lower and lower after each hr increase segment. My target hr was 170 and I was able to reach it (or surpass it) all 5 times. The first time I was supposed to bring my hr down, it went down to 128 within 2 minutes. However, each time I tried to return to a lower hr after that, I just couldn't do it: 133, 135, 133, and 129. Aaaaghhhhhhhh!!! I hate that I can't recover more quickly. This is something I'm going to have to work on A LOT!

Measurements & Training Notes

I wanted to upload calve & quad pics but the blogger is having "issues" uploading pics. Bleh! Maybe I'll try later.

I'm very happy to say that my quads and my calves grew 1 cm (see below). I attribute this to the fact that I've been hitting the gym more often: pilates, yoga, cardio kickboxing, spin, weights and, as of Tuesday night, ballet core work.

I had a free session with a personal trainer. She asked me what I wanted to focus on and I, of course, said leg strength (for cycling purposes) and upper body strength (for vanity purposes b/c I think defined arms on men or women is so damn hot). Oh yeah, I think I also mentioned that I wanted to get my ass kicked in the weight room. Man, she had no problem kicking my ass all over the friggin' room. We (or, I should say I) did some fun but hard exercises using a ladder laid out on the floor and a fitness ball and some weights.

Thank goodness I bought a foam roller. Looks like I'll be using it every night if this training regiment keeps up.

10/11/07
QUADS: 57 CM (Yay, 1 cm growth)
CALVES: 38 CM (1 cm growth)
HELMET:55-59 cm

__________________________________
10/06/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 cm

__________________________________
9/25/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 cm

_________________________________
9/20/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 56 CM
CALVES: 37 CM
HELMET: 55-59 CM

_________________________________
9/13/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 CM

__________________________________
9/06/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 54 CM (damn it, down 2 cm!! arghh!)
CALVES: 37 CM (up 1 cm...hmmm)
HELMET: 55-59 CM

____________________________________
8/29/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 56 CM
HELMET: 55-59 CM: 36 CM

10/06/07 Quads Check In

10/06/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 cm

I've started doing weights twice a week so hopefully the leg work I'm now doing with weights will help me increase my quads.

__________________________________
9/25/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 cm

_________________________________
9/20/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 56 CM
CALVES: 37 CM
HELMET: 55-59 CM

_________________________________
9/13/07
QUADS: 56 cm
CALVES: 37 cm
HELMET: 55-59 CM

__________________________________
9/06/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 54 CM (damn it, down 2 cm!! arghh!)
CALVES: 37 CM (up 1 cm...hmmm)
HELMET: 55-59 CM

____________________________________
8/29/07: Thursday p.m.
QUADS: 56 CM
HELMET: 55-59 CM: 36 CM