Oct 4th - Fallbrook Loop

This weeks ride had the reputation of being long and hard-- we were going to get a break with the weather, but at 93Miles and 4395 feet of climbing it was going to justify that claim. I studied the route using Google Earth and felt that we would be ok.

On the morning of the ride, Hooter announced a change in route and we would cut off Couser and Rice Canyons. i had mixed feelings about this - in part I wanted to do it -- in other part I knew that would cut down on the suffering. :)

I had recently had the bike serviced, replaced the tires and tubes so I thought I would top off the air in the tires the night before -- mistake!! My pump has a gauge but it is not that accurate - -so I guessed it! -mistake 2!

Well the ride started fine but on the descent down Del Dios, the air must have expanded and it blew out the tire like a gun shot -- I was doing about 30mph and luckily it was the rear tire-- it if had been the front - well let's not think about that one!



I was able to control the bike and stop. Brent, Wain, Cowboy and Diane stopped and we changed out the tire, I checked for glass etc. . but I must have missed damage to the side wall. I was to discover that in a minute. I continued over Del Dios and caught the group up.



We rode through Escondido -- who came up with the idea of putting the cement works in the middle of town ! - and bang the second flat. Now bear in mind it has been years since I double flatted and I had only had one flat in last 3 years -- two in the space of 45 mins was tough. I felt that I was breaking the rhythm of the group and slowing everyone down.. but these guys are great and as Rob M said -- we all get our turn at this.

We had to "boot" the side way of the tire with Adam's "Device" and some Hooter Duct tape. Hooter did a great job in fixing the tire but now I was down to zero tubes and a long way to go. Apparently, it was a bad day for flats and group 3 had 6 !

When we got to SAG 1 - at 38M, we were 3 hrs in and only a third into the ride.. we had to cut it short now -- the rest of the ride was familiar and we ran into Group 2 at the second SAG. A strong wind made the Oceanside bike path hard work and we paced lined along it -- with Hooter pulling for the complete 7 miles.. we were clipping at about 20 mph into the wind and it felt like it .. but it was fun to the GP train -- not quite the postal express but we were cooking!

Back on the familiar coast, Hooter, Julie S, Rob and I were out the front and were moving at a fairly respectable speed. Given I ride the Carlsbad to Solana Beach route a lot, I feel like it is home ground and can judge it pretty well.





We made it back to Solana Beach and the chocolate milk tasted good!

The numbers (so we were about 500 feet of climb less than planned and 14 miles short of the distance) but that is doable to make up.
Distance:
77.66 mi
Elevation Gain:
3,823 ft
Calories:
4,586 C
Avg HR: 144 bpm
Max HR: 179 bpm

It was fun ride, and I changed the tire, reclaimed the boot and will buy a new pump this week!!

One more organized shorter ride next week and we are down the to wire!

Sunday 27th Sept - Change of plan - Oceanside Ranger twist

This week was supposed to be an inland ride of 82 miles with 3368 of climbing, but we were having exceptionally hot weather so at the last minute the route was changed to San Clemente and back.

I had been in Germany the week before, so flew back on the Saturday - which is 23 hrs door to door, which meant that getting up and driving to the start at 5 am was not high on my list -- so I decided to ride and meet the group on the way up the coast for the start of what I thought was the Ranger twist. I soon found out that the ride was through Camp Pendleton - which meant I needed my drivers license -- which of course I didn't have.

I was hoping that as part of a group (all wearing the same outfit) that we could talk to the sentry and get on -- we were able to do that but I was wondering for the next few hours what would happen if I couldn't get back on the return- I knew the only option was to ride I5 on the shoulder - not that was that appealing :-). We had done this ride before and a couple decided to turn around and cut it short. I wanted the miles though and so with a mixture of some of group 3 and 4 we continued North.

On the return, I started to feel the effects of the traveling and week before. Mainly it was dehydration, I just couldn't seem to get enough fluid in me. I really started to fade after about 60 miles and kept going the best I could. I was determined to get 80 miles out of it .. so continued down with Francesca until I felt that I would have the 80 once I did the U turn.

I then headed North on my own and made it home in not the best shape! If you look at the numbers it looks something like this:

80.27 mi
Elevation Gain:
2,886 ft
Calories:
4,823 C
Avg HR: 145 bpm
Max HR: 181 bpm

It's funny, when we started this, an 80 mile ride would have seen enormous -- and if it had not been for the dehydration this would have been fine. It just shows how the training program is working.

Was fun to get to know some of the group 3 riders too

Great Western

This weekend I will miss the ride as I have a work event in Los Angeles. Mixed feelings as it is a great event, but will miss a ride that I normally wouldn't do as it is way out in East County. I will also miss seeing my friends in Gp 4. The ride is supposed to be a tough series of climbs, although only 40 mile in length. Altogether 4K plus of climb and it is forecast to be hot out there this weekend.
I went for a training ride thos morning and included Torrey Pines. Although I never did the "offfical" time trial, I did one of my own before I started this. Today, despite losing my chain at the bottom - which was at least 45 seconds, I shaved over a minute off my prior time without going hard at all. I think if I pushed it I could really take sometime off. Torrey pines is an interesting hill as it is long and relatively steep and somewhat locally reveered.

I added some miles at the end to round out to 40 with about 2K of climb. So not quite what I would have got tomorrow, but enough to keep fitness hopefully. Off to Europe on business next week so no riding, but back for the Oceanside ranger twist, one of 3 remaining training rides. It's getting close!

Back to Back Century's - Solana Beach to Palos Verdes

This was to be a good test of what fitness we have gained or not gained. A ride up the coast to Palos Verdes (Los Angeles) and back -- with an overnight stay. For many a "century" in riding is like a marathon in running - except you get to do it sitting down. More on that later.

We assembled in Solana Beach and I left the car there overnight-- with the window half down. I found out that a certain series of key strokes on my car key leads to a "3/4 drivers window open command" -- only I found it out on my return. It says alot for the town of Solana Beach that NOTHING was taken! Thank you!

I had had my bike serviced the Thursday before and I was eager to ride it as I had had some mechanical issues on the test ride the Friday before --

We headed North up the usual coastal route to Oceanside. Easy pace as we knew we had a long day and even longer weekend. It was nice cool morning and the group had a couple of guest riders from Gp 3- Brian and Alex -- Brian and I later shared our favorite Ali G moments!


In the "house" from Gp 4 was Hooter and Diane, Julie LS, Julie R and Dr Bob, Cowboy, Brent Snr, Wayne new guy, Calloway Rob, Rob M, David L - I don't think I forgot anyone!

Jodi and Efran didnt make it this week and Anne and Shelby were otherwise engaged.

Up through Camp Pendleton and then San Clemente, where we ran into the OCW's Amtrak Century - which I always wanted to do but 100 seemed a lot of miles-- now in the next 24 hrs we were looking a 2x that !

SAG 1 was in the campsite so after quick food, fluid and sunblock we continued North. Again these stops are critical and always staffed by volunteers

The beach cities, Dana Point, Laguana, Huntington, Newport and Seal were challenging just due to traffic and all the stop lights. It is hard to keep building up speed, slowing, stopping, unclipping etc as it becomes more like interval training

I had my new Garmin for turn by turn but haven't really got in the groove for using it yet so I got directions but was off on Heart Rate and distance to go so it was hard to judge was I going to fast etc.

SAG 2 was lunch at the Pier in Huntington Beach and real food tasted really good ! Dave L ran into a guy who just applied for a CAF grant the day before -- he saw our CAF trooper and pulled in as we arrived !!

Long Beach is a part that is less than scenic and by now it was HOT-- refuel stop at a gas station and everyone was just anxious to get the to hotel. David L in his handcycle got a flat - but was behind us with a few of the rest of the group. This is no small feat to change as he is reliant on the hand cycle he is sitting in, the wheel is attached to that and it is a glue on one too-- we waited until we knew it was ok and then headed for the last 13 miles of climb up into Palos Verdes.

Mainly uneventful up the climb, despite one lady driver missing me by inches as she made the left turn on the cell phone-- isn't there a law against that ? :-). Luckily, I was going up hill so not a lot of speed... doesn't bear thinking about had I been descending.

I watched the computer click over to 100! and thought wow I just did my first century. Total mileage for the day was 103 - 5 short of London to Brighton and back!

The hotel was a new resort - which we got an amazing rate at - to my donors - no funds go to this ! -- a strange site watching all these lycra clad, sun blocked, dusty bodies tramp through the lobby with their bikes, pass the wedding party!

After an amazing shower, we had a nice dinner on the patio overlooking the pacific as the sun went down. Original plan was for the family to drive up and meet me and stay over but soccer and life stopped that-- so I had the chance to meet some of the riders from other groups over dinner-- it was cool

I didn't make it up too late and woke up every couple of hours during the night as you do when you have an early flight to catch!

On Sunday am we assembled to leave at 7 am-- It was a nice cool morning and a short steep climb up out of the hotel woke everyone up.

The first part of the ride was out through the rolling hills of Palos Verdes back down to the 7/11 from yesterday -- out through Wilmington where the smell of breakfast burrito's was making us all hungry we continued to Long Beach and to Polly's where they make fresh pastries.

We tracked very much the same route home and other than Rob's spokes breaking we were lucky on mechanical on the way home. The Garmin was sort of working -- I'll figure bugs out this week! and the numbers at the end of the days were:


Sundays Numbers

Time: 07:14:36
Distance: 105.08 mi
Elevation Gain: 4,174 ft
Calories: 6,018 C
Avg Speed: 14.5 mph
Max Speed: 34.2 mph

Avg HR: 118 bpm
Max HR: 156 bpm

What was really nice was we were riding through the campsite and Camp Pendelton late Sunday afternoon and there was very little traffic and it was a beautiful late summers day - can't really describe it -- other than it was really nice.

People were starting to feel the weekend and I know for me the Oceanside to Solana Beach part was very much an "are we there yet" kind of session. A fast ride through Carlsbad and then the welcome faces of Tina and Vikki met us at the cove.

I stopped at Starbucks on the drive home and enjoyed a very cold Strawberry / Banana Vivvano -- and it tasted really good. After cleaning up and putting on fresh clothes I felt human again.

This weekend was a good test of the longer days on the ride and having done it -- I still know that those days will be very challenging but feel that it is not out of the question -- this was a big check mark on the training progress.

Elfin Forest Training Ride

A local favorite, the Elfin Forest ride is a mixture of rolling hills through Harmony Grove and the famous (or infamous ) Del Dios Highway. It was a shorter than normal training ride but none the less both fun and challenging. I decided to ride to the start of the ride in Solana Beach so that - depending on time I could still make my daughters soccer game at 11:30. I left the house at about 6:15 am in the dark and rode the first 13 miles or so hoping cars could see me and that I didn't find a pothole in the dark that I didn't know about. The nice thing about this weekend is that is a little cooler than previous weeks so that was going to help.

I had cheated a little and done the ride the prior day - in the reverse direction and although it was a little less steep the way I did it, it was good to get 50 in the day before so that in essence I was able to do back to back 50's with about 3200 feet of climbing on both days in preparation for the back to back 100's next week -- that have just a little less climbing (2900 ish). That one promises to be an interesting weekend!

The EF ride was nice.. I forgot to eat breakfast but managed to grab a Cliff bar at the Java Depot as it opened so wasn't on "empty". Group 4 was a mixture of some new faces with some "regulars" and it was nice to see Julie back - first time I had rode with her since Palomar, Diane and Hooter -- our fearless leaders were there and Effran, Rob M from the Radio contest, Cowboy, Webby, Brent Senior, Kristine and some "new faces"-- mood was light and jovial as we headed out. No Anne, Shelby or Jodi this week - Jodi recovering from an indepth conversation with the corner wall on the bike path last week. She wasn't too badly hurt, but a little banged up and I heard she is planning to be back for the big weekend.

It is funny how you get into a rhythm with a group and at first we struggled to get the right "running order" as we went east on via de valle-- with a couple of near misses with cars for some of the group. Once we got onto the Rancho Santa Fe track though we all sorted out the spacing etc and got into the 'groove". I chatted with Alex, the Radio contestant from Group 3 who 4 weeks earlier had shoulder surgery for the fall on Palomar. Very brave of him to comeback so soon and I can't help feeling he will be one of the final few in the Radio Contest.

Got to chat with Julie a bit (mainly about the health care debate ::-) ) and spent sometime with Kristine talking about riding "bubbles"

Del Dios was hard but with the cooler temps and being a little fitter -- and knowing what to expect - didn't seem nearly as hard as last time -- I think a large part of that was the temps but it was still pretty humid

After a very quick SAG stop we enjoyed a fast (20mph) roll through Elfin Forest into San Elijo hills. We waited for the back of the group - 2 flats that Diane had to deal with -- Pretty straight forward to the coast and looking at the time I was able to turn north and leave the group to do the part I had done earlier that morning. I rode the 5 or so miles home and rounded out the 50... legs a little sore this am but rode a "recovery" 35 this am to bring the grand F-M total to 170 miles.

Ran into a friend who was riding on the way home so rode the last few miles with him and his friend.

Next week will be the challenge and given I was fighting saddle sores this week, I am going to take it easy this week, get the bike serviced and save some legs for the weekend. I will try to get one spin class and maybe a light ride on Friday in.

Looking forward to the LA trip

Fundraising

At 8/29/09



Target 1 = $5K by 8/31
Target 2 = $10K by 9/20

For many the riding is a challenge, but for everyone - just about - raising the $10, 000 to take part in this is a major challenge -- and I am not that much of an exception. I have come to realize that asking people for donations is as hard as climbing and especially after the first "ask" becomes somewhat a bit embarrassing! - but hey - that is what I signed up for.

For me it is a little compounded as given the nomadic lifestyle - many of my friendships are all over the country and the world - which is a good thing, but is somewhat challenging when it comes to things like raising money as no one is in the same place to hold an "event"

I think - assuming I get the required $$ this year, survive the ride and then sign up for next year - all big "if's!" I will have learned some right ways to do this and some not so right ways

Facebook has been a good way of reaching some people, but it is easy to get lost in the noise and the same goes for email-- it is very easy to get lost in the "in-box" and then start to feel annoying to people to keep spamming them ! - although many times they intend to give but get so many emails that within a few hours you are at the bottom of the "in-box" -- still trying to figure how to deal with that one.

For me having some sponsorship is about have a degree of accountability to people -- so that when on day 3 or 4 of this I am suffering -- I can't quit as people have put faith in me to finish. I am not saying that I plan to quit - more it is about staying true to the cause and the faith people have shown in me-- be it a $10 donation or a $1000 one - it doesn't matter they have placed that faith.

Which leads me to the $10 thing. I started to think what does $10 ( 6 GBP) buy these days --

1) Two pints of beer in London
2) 1lb of Starbucks breakfast blend coffee
3) An e-book on Kindle
4) Almost a whole cheeseburger in New York
5) Two magazines at the newsstand
6) A sandwich on American Airlines



7)Part towards a person rediscovering the joys of sport --- IF 100 of my Face book friends all skipped the cheeseburger, (it was $15,95!) and supported me on the ride - that would be 10% of the amount I have to raise ( 100 Facebook friends is less than 50% of my total FB friends)

Again, many have supported me already - and that I am very grateful for - but I know many more care and haven't seen the post or "ask" :-)

What do you get in return for $10 -- the sense of helping, a pay forward moment, and the gratitude of a fine group of people who happen not to be so lucky as we are -- I know for me that feels good.

Read this for example -- it is quite moving- (btw you can sponsor Rachel rather than me -- I am not proud!!! :) ))

Letter From Rachel in Miami, FL

Dear QDMC riders,

You don’t know me, haven’t met me (yet), but you are riding for me, raising funds so I can ride with you.

Who am I? I could be your sister, your daughter, your niece, or your best friend. I am an athlete, a competitor, a tax payer, and a woman. I am 31 years old, have a PhD, drive a black two door sports car, and live alone several states away from my family. I’m also a quadriplegic. I haven’t walked or been able to tie my shoes since a car wreck 13 years ago. However, my body’s limitations do not define the boundaries of my life; they merely define a few challenges along the way.

My life has been, continues to be an amazing journey, a marvelous adventure. The QDMC ride is just the latest manifestation. I signed up without owning a bike & picked a crazy fundraising goal ($62,000). I’m training on rollers indoors until I find a solution to the many obstacles of training on the road. I’m reaching out, telling my story, asking for funds, asking for help. Slowly, I’m getting there. For me, the most challenging part is the fundraising. I’m great at sucking it up through physical discomfort, but not so great at asking for or gracefully accepting help. But I’m proud to say I’m getting better at it.

My goals for this ride? The competitor in me wants to ride each and every mile, wants to raise every single dollar of my insane goal. However, part of me realizes the journey to the first day of the ride is as wonderful as the ride itself. I’ve learned and continue to learn more about myself, and about the generosity of people, friends, family and strangers. I’m facing down my fears and pushing through uncomfortable moments. And so my ultimate goal is to embrace and enjoy every step of this adventure, no matter what it contains.

When I’m in a tough spot, I fall back on my collection of quotes. Right now I’ve got a card that reads “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” When I ask myself that, the answer is ‘exactly what I’m doing right now’… setting up seemingly impossible challenges, stepping out of my comfort zone, and embracing life in the best way I know how. Maybe I’ll reach $62,000 , maybe not. Maybe I’ll be able to bike all 620 miles, maybe not. Uncertainty is a part of life, a part of the fun. Why wait until success is 100% assured?


All the Best, Rachel

So as you can see -- a great cause-- but one that is too good to pass over :)

Richard

Circle R training ride

Today's ride was a shade over 77 miles of rolling San Diego Hills. It is staying darker in the mornings and I had been tempted to ride to the start as the route on the return came close to my house and I could have dropped off early without the need to drive but I thought better of it.

In total we rode for 5:35 and my average heart rate was 135 for the total ride. According to my computer I burnt just over 4000 calories although we consumed a bit on the way! Group 4 had some new members and Scott and Diane our group leaders intro'd everyone. The was a large turnout in general this morning as vacation season is starting to wrap up. A couple of our riders who had been gone for a few weeks, Jodi and Effran were back.

The ride out was up the familiar coastal route through Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad to Oceanside. It's funny, as we passed the end of my street we had the first flat tire of the day. A few of us took advantage of this to "lose" the pre ride coffee / tea!

The ride out through Oceanside and the bike path was not a big deal and we suddenly had 24 miles down and done as we arrived at the first "sag" spot to refuel. As always, Tina provided a fine range of the goodies - and then we headed out for the serious part of the ride. It is funny, the training is starting to pay off as although it was hard it was not as hard as previous weeks.

That changed a bit with the climb up to West Lilac, and I did this with Francesca and Diane. Francesca is a strong climbing and having a conversation on the way up took the mind of the heat and hill... we jokingly compared heart rates (geek moment!) and I lost that one!!

Resting at the top we enjoyed some fast, winding descents -- unlike the last couple of weeks these were more "sweeping" and allowed good speed without hairpin turns-- which made it a lot of fun.

David was riding with us again and his determination and guts never cease to amaze me... you just have to watch out for him on the descents as he has no fear !!

The next big chunk of the ride was a series of "rollers" which are like interval training and tax the legs and heart, but are great for building fitness fast- -and it seems to be working as the group now is riding at a pace equal to that of Gp 3 ---

We got to cross that amazing bridge that goes across I15 and to see the monument for the marine killed the other year on his bike by a drunk driver -- always a reminder of the risks that can come from doing something as simple as a bike ride.

The Vista twist part of the ride was familiar and soon we were climbing up towards the coast -- and onto familiar coastal roads back to Solana Beach -- altogether a great day and thanks to Hooter and Diane -- the best group leaders out there -- and Hooter -- shout FLAT next time!!

By the way -- congrats to my friend Elle who won her age group yesterday in the triathlon in LV.. must have been all the sea air last week!!

Scripps Parkway - Highland

I had a friend in town this weekend who is a strong age group triathlete. We went for a ride on Saturday morning on the coast and despite a slow start, and all good intentions, we went a little faster then planned when we have a long training ride on Sunday-- but hey it was fun.

Sunday came and I had heard that this was a tough ride, but the last 2 or 3 rides had somehow given me a degree of confidence on the climbing that I had not had before. Climbs on my normal Saturday ride that would have seemed to be long and hard, now seemed to pale compared to Palomar and Kitchen creek with their 13 and 16 mile respective climbs. Now don't get me wrong, any hill on any ride can be the one that you blow up on if you haven't eaten enough, are properly hydrated or don't pay attention to the heart rate-- but going into this I felt good. The ride was planned at 71 miles and just over 4ooo feet of climbing-- which would make it my longest ride to date with that amount of climbing -- we had ridden longer but with less climb and steeper with less miles --

I awoke at 5 am and tried not to wake the rest of the house as I left-- After the usual Starbucks stops I arrived with enough time to put the sunblock on, get all figured out and join group 4. We had a few riders join us who had ridden with Gp 3 over the last couple of weeks, but there was enough of the core Gp 4 to recognize the faces.

We had a slow ride out and I was feeling good, there is an expression of "no chain" and it felt at least for the first part that I had no chain on!! The first climb of the day is always hard and it tends to string the group out -- but we were up it pretty quick. I am slow to wake up and like to be with my own thoughts for the first part of the ride until I feel like I am awake! After the 56 bike part bit we arrived at the base of Scripps Parkway. Quick question why is it that when cars speed up to run a red light they break as soon as they are through it?

After a quick bio break we began the Scripps Parkway bit. Some had been up this before in an earlier training ride - I missed it due to business travel, and the mood was relaxed and resigned as we began the climb. There was a lot of cloud cover which Brent and I were liking at least for the first part of the hill. Well the Parkway is a hill that keeps on giving and was about a 20 minute straight up grind but the SAG stop (food drinks) was at the end of it so that and talking to Annie from CAF made it go fast. She was telling me that a huge benefit of Operation Rebound - that helps returning troops - was not as much about the "parts" that CAF can give , but much more about them finding a common group of people that they can share experiences with that the rest of us can not relate to... we also talked about setting up a UK chapter for CAF -- something I would love to talk my friends who live there into doing -- stay tuned on that one!

After a much needed SAG stop, refill of the water bottles we followed the (busy) road into Ramona which was ok. We had had a couple of flat tires and were a little behind the pace, so the group leaders decided to cut short the 5M loop into Ramona and make the turn on Highland Valley. We saw gp 2 coming out of Ramona so we were doing pretty well pace wise...

Highland Valley was the site of another flat tire -- and after that we began the ride into the back country of San Diego. This is an amazing place with so much diversity in geography in the county and this could be best described as rolling country with ups and downs... these are fun but sap energy if not careful. We had an amazing 9 percent descent down with hairpins and I think I am going to get some private coaching on how to safely descend as that part is the part that challenges me the most.

After crossing the new bridge over the Lake Hodges area, we enjoyed another SAG stop and refueled thanks to Tina. About 17 miles left, the pace picked up a bit and the group started to string out a bit. We rode back through Fairbanks Ranch after another long climb up to Del Mar Heights area - which was steep but not bad, but tired legs didn't help.

On the fund raising side -- I had a good couple of weeks, bringing in nearly $1000 towards the overall goal of $5000 by month end and a total of $10, 000 by the week before the ride. Still a ways to go on that but I am viewing it like another hill... just keep going one turn at a time -- in case you need the link -- here it is :http://mdc2009.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=300012&lis=1&kntae300012=0192EC80E73541D2A81C231B4233DB65&login=t

All in all a good ride, and satisfying to feel that I am getting better - but it is ride by ride and the test will be the day to day, back to back riding down the coast-- stay tuned!!

Kitchen Creek Training ride

Well there is an expression "if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the Kitchen " and as I woke up at 5 am to drive to East San Diego County I was wondering if I was going to live that one! Ran into JW at Starbucks in Solana Beach at 5:30 to the lady unlocking the door with the greeting "you guys are up way too early". Tea and Lemon Loaf for breakfast -- hey I was going to burn a ton of calories today so what is a bit of cake to start the day!

The drive was nice .. San Diego is an amazing place with ocean then 10 miles inland a 100% different landscape. We are lucky to live here. I was feeling a bit nervous as I had heard that this was a quite steep ride, but no shade! It can easily reach over the 100's there at this time of the year and being English, fair skinned and cold blooded I knew that would be a challenge.

The morning air in Pine valley was cool -- and we were soon off at about 7 am. The sun was beginning to warm up. This week group 4 was a little down on the numbers with a couple of riders out of town, a couple sick and we lost Dr Bob on the first decent with mechanical issues. The first climb was 16 miles straight up. It started on a lightly traveled road, then on to a no traffic fire road. This was so nice not to have to worry about cars and allowed 100% focus on the climb, how hot it was and the nagging doubts of will I make it up this thing! Funny, it always takes me a while to get in the groove and for me this is as much a mental challenge as a physical one.

What I was told was right and there was no shade and the ever rising sun started to beat down. This are is very remote and very rugged. The group was climbing at our own paces' with means it can get pretty strung out. I was alone in the middle with the next rider ahead and those behind not in sight. The thought then entered my mind -- "hey wait there are mountain lions out here" -- not normally something a road cyclist worries about but we were definitely in mountain biking country. This somehow energized my legs and I rode up to catch our ride leader Hooter who is about a foot taller than me and would make a far better meal for a family of four lions that I would. We rode together :-)

Later during the forest part we saw a rattle snake warming on the path... Finally made it to the rest area at mile 20.

During that climb though I got to ride a bit with a challenged athlete - who had had a bad motorcycle crash in had ended up in a chair--- he was doing all of this ride in a hand cycle using his arms. Those of you who have ever done bicep/triceps curls in the gym know how easily those muscles get fatigued. Here was a guy propelling himself 57 miles up some of the highest mountains in San Diego by hand.. truly amazing, and humbling in the same breath. We rode and chatted a bit and I was able to put what self-doubt I had and being able to finish this ride behind me watching this amazing example of strengh and pure determination.

The next part of the ride was really nice-- started with another climb, but then turned into fast flat, rolling roads with very light traffic in some amazing parts of the county that most are unaware of or seldom visit. This went on for a couple of hours and we were lucky since the temperatures didn't get too above mid to high 80's.

There were a couple of climbs to finish -- the last one being a grind but at the end of it -- I felt some accomplishment in riding the height gain equivalent of riding up Ben Nevis - Great Britain's highest mountain while riding London to Brighton'ish in miles.

Looking forward to next weeks ride already !!

Palomar Mountain

Palomar mountain was part of the final stage of the Tour De California. It is 13 miles, 5000 feet straight up, turn around and straight down. I was not looking forward to this and in reality psyched myself out.

It started by leaving the house at 5 am to drive out to the start-- no Starbucks open at 5 am in my "hood"! -- I then left my water bottles in the fridge at home - duh! - Vikki from CAF saved me on that one as she had spares!

So we started and I had read ( I should say mis-read) Mari's analysis of the climb and one word came through -- PAIN! -- She divided the climb into 3 sections-- well I missed the start of section 2 and kept thinking this is only going to get worse. The whole group structure fell apart as everyone got strung out on the climb, so there were parts where it was a lone struggle.

The climb was hot -- temps in low 80's by 8 am and there was very little shade on the climb-- great if you are a grape -- but as a fair skinned English man-- it don't get much worse than that .

Heart rate was high a few times so took a few rests and kept grinding my way up. There was a constant parade of motor cyclists who race up there on the weekends and don't give cyclists a lot of room. For my English friends it would have been like cycling round Brand's Hatch while the race was on. I was hating every second of it as some of them would do wheelies past you to try to freak you - -it was working. The irony of last weeks ride where cops in San Clemente were ticketing cyclists for not putting their foot down at a stop sign vs what was going on with those motor cyclists on that mountain - was not lost on me.

We then came around the bend near the top to find one of the radio contestants had done an "end do" after his tyre blew at 35mph on the downhill - one of the dangers of downhill is riding your brakes so much they heat the rim and blow the tyre. We waited with him until the paramedics arrived and then rode on. At this point I was riding with Julie from Gp4 and we were both determined to make the top before the cut off. We were one bend short before the cut off and both opted to take the SAG waggon down. Mentally I was done in by the motor bikes, the heat and the site of the crashed rider -- I can't afford to be off work with that kind of injury.

As we descending in the van, he was on the back board as the paramedics loaded him up. It turns out that he broke his collar bone, separated his shoulder and had a fair degree of "road rash". There was also another hit with one of the guest riders being clipped by a motorbike and having to go to the ER room with a large bruise on his ankle.

One ride I was glad to have been a part of -- as we came down what we had climbed was amazing - but one I was very happy was over without me getting hurt. I was also glad that both of those guys were ok.

Turns out Palomar is a 3.4 classification in terms of TDF and is as steep as one of the TDF climbs this year-- so I didn't feel too bad!

San Clemente training ride

The good news is that the spinning classes had not only helped me stay up with the group, but also had reduced my heart rate to 10-20 bpm lower for the same level of effort as before I did them.

The San Clemente ride was from Del Mar, north on the coast, through the Camp Pendleton Marine base to San Clemente and back. It is a rolling 87 miles, through some amazing land. It was a hot day and the ride was long but fun.

I had been avoiding the whole issue of fund raising as I hate asking friend for money. Always have since the 10 mile sponsored walks in school! I came up with a creative way to raise the money. If I could sell ad space on my shorts - like bench ads - I could focus on asking corporations vs my friends. Well I think this is a great idea, but I don't think I have enough time left to pull it off this year. Maybe next year!

The last hour of this ride was tough, with ALOT of holiday traffic from Oceanside to Solana Beach and I just thought "suck it up and get it done". I rode with Effran a radio contestnat for the last 2 hrs of the ride and we looked out for each other for this strech.

It was Father's day so after finishing I hopped in the car happy to have ridden the longest ride of my life and headed off to our family thing.

It was only later that the reality - that this is one of the shorter days in the actual ride and I would have to do 6 more of these back to back - sank in.... so I pushed that negative voice to the back of my head and looked forward to next week!

Spinning in Germany

So after the first training ride I was off to Germany for business. These are brutal trips with the jet lag and workload making it easy to think I will skip working out.

I was able to get 3 spinning classes in while I was there -- hardly Lance level but it kept me in some form of shape. First, if you have ever done "spinning" you know it is intense and interactive, second, if you have ever done one in a foreign language -- that you don't speak then -- well you know where this is going.

I did one in the amazing SAP gym in Walldorf and that was fun, but the 2 at the gym in Heidelberg (thanks to Elena for making that happen), we hysterical. First the instructor in broken english looked at me and said "this is an advance class" -- ego hurt! - then seeing my heart rate monitor - took pity on me and let me take part. Two things on that 1) Pain is international - it was lactate threshold training - I now know the German words for that! and 2) a smile is international as I smiled at her during one point when we were up at 90% of maximum heart rate.

Altogher alot of fun

This was followed by a trip to Maui straight from Germany and I was able to find a great class at the hotel -- Kate was the instructor - and looked at me and said in perfect English "you know that this is an advanced class" - lesson 3 -- humiliation is international

So in the back row of her class, I watched the regulars at the front crank it out, while I took heart in the younger guy next to me -- who was with his new bride -- she was a "front row'er!" keep asking me-- "how much longer?"! --

I survived that class and returned the following day for part 2 and was not greeted with "this is an advanced class" -- I thought "there is hope!"

Vacation over it was back to CA to resume training with Gp4

The First Training ride

The first training ride was a 60 mile ride up the coast from Solana Beach to Oceanside then inland. A unique part of this was the climb up a part gravel rode which required a delicate balance of power and control not to wash out.

The group I rode with was group 4. There are 4 groups, grouped by speed. The group was a nice mix of professionals who are trying to balance life/work/ family and those who were "re-discovering" riding again. I liked the group right away and it was a fun - challenging ride. In my mind I kept thinking " I just rode London to Brighton!" --

One thing that was new to me was riding later in the day in more traffic then I am used to. This is going to take a bit of getting used to as I am used to riding first thing in the mornings to avoid heavy traffic.

After this ride though I was hooked. Unfortunately, I was just about to board a plane for Germany for 2 weeks, then off to vacation for another so would miss the famous "Anaheim ride" the following week. I wasn't happy about this but "take 1" on the life/ work balance thing!

The Beginning

We had supported the Challenged Athletes Foundation ( http://www.challengedathletes.org/) for a few years now and had recognized the great work that they do. But there was always a feeling of what if I could do more? I heard about the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge -- a 7 days 620 mile ride from San Francisco, CA to San Diego, CA and wondered if I could do it. There were several reasons that would make this a "challenge"

1) Although I rode, I had never ridden more that 60 miles in a "sitting"
2) I had never ridden those kind of rides back to back
3) I had started a new job with a heavy international travel schedule
4) Getting ready would require a lot of time away from the family and given the travel on top of that this was a big commitment from them
5) You have to raise $10K to take part!!!
6) I had to lose 20lbs to get in shape!

But... this is a once in a lifetime chance to help a great group of people and to do something meaningful.

I agonized, sat on the fence, missed the first training ride, but one Sunday I was riding down the Californian Coast and saw the ride pass me in the other direction and thought -- ok I got to do this. Several people were instrumental in getting me off the fence, John W from Swami's, Lisa J, Mari H the ride coach, and Hooter and Diane, with the rest of Group 4 from CAF, and Vickey, Katie and Sarah my family for giving me the encouragement and for listening to my back and forward. Also, my employer SAP has been great about being a little flexible.

So the journey