Saturday in Oakland

Me and my friend/sis-in-law JT went out to Oakland to join an official ALC training ride on Saturday. Since I don't drive and I'm not all that familiar with Oakland, I'm having some trouble even with the ride sheet and Google Earth building the route map on the real map to post. JT had a hair appointment mid-afternoon. We got squeezed due to the ride starting a little late, some mechanical problems only about a mile into the ride from some other riders and some rather lengthy re-group stops. So we cut out before we got to Alameda and came back across to the lake and our starting point. The ride ended up being 21 rather than 35 miles, but we had the time to procure delicious sammies from the gorgeous new Whole Foods in Oakland and beat weekend Bay Bridge traffic such that JT was able to get back in time to get her hair cut. And her hair is awfully cute, so - all for a great cause. :)

Day - Saturday, 11/17
Ride Type - On-Road Training
Ride Distance - 21.1 miles
Ride Length - 2:05:22
Avg Speed - 10.1 mph
Avg Cadence - 70
Avg Heart Rate - 132
Time in zone - 1:23:11
Calories burned - 1453
Total Training Distance To-Date: 224.6 miles

Motivated Thursday!

I rode Clyde pretty hard. And I was up pretty damned early. But I feel great. It's just the burn-out I'll feel at around 9am that sucks. I gotta figure out the optimum food/fuel situation on these early morning training days - I think that's all it is - a "power rut". Learned I missed a damned nutrition seminar at Sports Basement last night. DAMN!


Day - Thursday, 11/15
Ride Type - In-Home Training
Ride Distance - 13.5 miles
Ride Time - 60 minutes
Commute Distance - n/a
Total Distance Today - 13.5 miles
Total Training Distance To-Date: 203.5 miles

Tuesday Training

I gotta get on the Clyde more often. So in that vein, I suited up and rode this a.m. WOO HOO!

Day - Tuesday, 11/13
Ride Type - In-Home Training
Ride Distance - 9.3 miles
Ride Time - 45 minutes
Commute Distance - n/a
Total Distance Today - 9.3 miles
Total Training Distance To-Date: 190.0 miles

Everyone? Clyde. Clyde? Everyone.

One of my brothers has been asking for pictures of Clyde and I have been remiss. So without further ado, to #1 brother and for anyone else who cares - meet Clyde:

Here's a full shot:
Another full shot:
This one came out whonky but it's the rear wheel secured in the Blackburn UltraTrak Stand:
A shot of my hot-ass shoes, cleats and X-1 SpeedPlay "lollipops"
Here's some branding on the rear-wheel stabilizers/struts:
Here's the big gear wheel and Gossamer crank shaft:
And now here are a few more, slightly more interesting photos. I like the curve of the cabling:



And now, I'm all suited up and going to ride this badboy this a.m. while I catch up on last night's episode of Heroes!! Sadly, as my speedometer/odometer sensor is on the front wheel and the front wheel is stationary during indoor training, I won't have as many fancy stats as from Sunday's ride. WAH! Ok Clyde - LET'S RIDE! :)

Ocean Beach and Lake Merced

Today I went on a ride with my new friend and cycling buddy Liz. She's a nurse/midwife and all-around cool chick that I met through my friends/sis-in-laws EPL and JT. She took me on a nice loop from our house (we live in the same 'hood, conveniently enough!), through the panhandle, through Golden Gate Park, up to Ocean Beach and along the ocean, around the Lake Merced Loop and then doubling back home exactly the same way we came. It was awesome. Below are my stats (compliments of my sweet new cyclometer (details in my gear info on the right side over there) and then a couple of pics I took. All in all - a GREAT morning. THANKS LIZ!!!!!

Day - Sunday, 11/11
Ride Type - On-Road Training
Ride Distance - 21.0 miles
Ride Length - 1:45:54
Avg Speed - 11.9 mph
Avg Cadence - 76
Avg Heart Rate - 138
Time in zone - 1:10:23
Calories burned - 1339
Total Training Distance To-Date: 180.7 miles

Thanks to GoogleEarth and powerpoint, here's a look at mine and Liz's route today:

A Waterfall in Golden Gate Park

Another view of the same waterfall...

A statue at Lake Merced

South on Sunday

Ok - the weather here is CRAZY good, especially considering it's freaking NOVEMBER. I hear people talk about 48 degree weather in NJ/NY and then I'm outside in shorts and a bike jersey in the 80 degree weather on my bike all morning. Some things just aren't fair! :)

But I got out and rode today. This ride kicked my ASS. Last weekend I did 34 miles, yet I did 7 then was off my bike for about an hour, then I did 20, off my bike for about an hour and then did 7 more. Today was less than that however it was all in one shot, only very short breaks for water and energy snacks. We started out on Canada Road (pronounced cahn-YAH-dah), went through Woodside, Portola Valley, Palo Alto and then back up through Woodside.

Day - Sunday, 11/04
Event - On-Road Training
Event Distance - 30.1 miles
Event Length - 2 hours, 17 minutes
Commute Distance - n/a
Total Distance Today - 30.1 miles
Total Training Distance To-Date: 159.7 miles

I love my Blackburn!

A few weeks ago, I purchased a Blackburn Ultra Track Stand.
It allows me to train indoors and will be a perfect solution when the weather turns grey and rainy (read: already is somewhat grey and rainy). I've already been on it a few times and really like it. This morning I got up bright and early (5:30 am), stretched, popped in a NetFlix DVD and hopped on and rode to no where!

Day - Thursday, 11/01
Event - In-Home Training
Event Distance - 9.0 miles
Event Length - 45 minutes
Commute Distance - n/a
Total Distance Today - 9.0 miles
Total Training Distance To-Date: 129.6 miles