Strawberry Fields Forever [metric] Century

I had so much fun on last year's SFFC that I had to go again. I had planned to ride the century (as in the real century), but because I had asked Nahoko to join me, we did the metric century instead. Course I should be riding as many centuries as possible before the DR in oh, less than 2 months, but I enjoyed riding with her :). It was really exciting to see how well she did! Way to go dear!!!

Let's start off by saying it was a bit chilly on Sunday (the 18th) morning and seeing the fog, including driving through it, as we made our way to Watsonville was a bit discouraging considering neither of us really brought that much extra clothing. Granted I had knee warmers and arm warmers, without long finger clothes I'd have been numb. We both had long sleeves on (well I had arm warmers on) for the first stretch to the rest stop, but after that it was down to short sleeve jersey's (we had skipped the leg warmers and/or tights when we left the car so shorts was all we had on the bottom half).

The first "climb" of the day as we made our way out was fun. I tried to get a bit more out of it so I upshifted and then alternated between standing and sitting. I have found that forcing myself to stand has really increased my endurance for doing so. While I still tire relatively quickly compared to some, I notice a significant improvement over last year (thank god because that was embarrassing at last year's DR when even standing up, I couldn't make the bike move any more trying to go up the 3rd pass).

First rest stop was a bit busy, and the coffee line was long (but I wasn't going to miss my coffee). Nahoko didn't want to wait for me :(, so she took off, with the expectation of me to catch up at some point. What I thought was only about 15 minutes of lead time for her, must have been more like 30 because it took me just under an hour to catch her and I was moving a lot faster than she was (not that she was moving slow I just was working it hard to try to catch up) and she even stopped a few times to take pictures. I was glad I caught her because Tustin Rd was coming up soon ;).

As we got to the bottom of the hill on Tustin Rd I told her to take it slow and not to push anymore than she could do. With that I took off and road to the top (amongst all those pushing their bikes up..yes it's that steep). The only relief in climbing that (I'm still weak, that climb hurts) is that it's very short, but someone said it peaks somewhere around 18% (don't have a way to verify that though). As I neared the top, there was LOTS of people catching their breath and I'm sure a good portion had walked and still had to catch their respective breaths.

Then as I was waiting for Nahoko on the top, I saw something amazing! Nahoko was riding! And getting close! As I watched her struggle up the hill, I started thinking to myself, oh please don't tip over. I don't know how fast she was going, but it wasn't that fast....who cares she was still pedaling! With that she finished and made it to the top! So proud of her :)...

The day continued on with a nice lunch (not before another hill though that everyone was saying "oh, I forgot about this one" (I was one of them), and head wind into the next rest stop and finish. Nahoko finished her first 100km ride! Way to go!!!

Allergies

This year is turning out to be a particularly bad year for allergies for me. I find it amusing (somewhat anyway) that I never had allergies as a kid, however, after attending CSU Chico (aka Chico State; as it says on the back of my Tacoma) I now have your typical seasonal allergies like so many others :(.

I will never forget during orientation at Chico when the guide was mentioning the great diversity of plant life on the campus. He said, "if you don't have allergies, you will ;)." He wasn't kidding as I soon found out during my first spring. Fortunately that first spring wasn't terrible, but what I found was that now regardless of where I went (Chico or elsewhere such as home), I had seasonal allergies!

Last year with the lack of rain I had no problems...it was wonderful! Though I would have preferred more water/snow it was nice not to have the allergies for the year. This year is turning into a real annoyance. Yesterday at work was a very long day...sniffling, sneezing, headache, etc, etc...it seemed like it would never end. I finally was able to get some work done, but ended up working till shortly after 10 pm in order to get more done.

With the Strawberry Fields Forever century tomorrow, I'm a tad bit worried. Might have more than sweat running off my chin ;). Lol, I know.....ewwwwwwwwwwwww!! That's what I'm saying :P.

Bike to Work Day 2008

This week has been bike to work week (actually I think the whole month is supposed to be bike to work month though not sure why May, but who cares), but today was the "official" (if there is such a thing) "Bike to Work Day". I started riding in on this day 3 years ago and that was part of what got me interested in getting a nice road bike. I remember that first BTWD on my mtn bike and it was miserable ;). Now it feels like nothing, which of course is a good thing.

Today was different because I was riding with my girlfriend. We both work in Menlo Park within a few miles of each other and so our routes are the same. Though we generally don't ride to work together because I um, don't need to get in as early as she does (also known as lazy from her interpretation). We made a point of stopping at as many Energizer stations as we could this morning to get some free goodies (the coffee cake was really good, I should have gotten more). A couple of free bags, some munchies, water (for the ride home since we both already had filled water bottles), and of course coupons! Now for a trip to Sports Basement with our 20% off coupon.

What made today even more fun, was the heat. Today was officially a Spare the Air Day here in California and so one or another we shouldn't drive, but riding was a bit hot. At 7 am it was already in the mid 70's and climbing. By the time we got to work, it was HOT! The ride home was going to be fun so I decided to stick around and keep working (Nahoko headed back to San Mateo on her own while I was going back home to Sunnyvale). Despite leaving at 6:45 with the temperature greatly reduced I got cooked on the ride home and walking in the front door I looked/felt like someone had sprayed me with a hose.

This weekend should be fun...we're both riding the Strawberry Fields Forever century (well metric century anyway) on Sunday. I did it last year and it was one of those rides where you might gain weight as opposed to lose it while riding ;). The chocolate covered strawberries (with whip cream) are the main draw. Can't wait...!

To the coast!

I've ridden to the coast several times this year already, but yesterday's ride was a bit different. I hadn't been feeling well most of the week, however, still decided to go riding yesterday with Nahoko. The original plan was to ride out from Sunnyvale, up Old La Honda, and finish out around the Portola loop. Instead I talked her into riding to the coast via Old La Honda and San Gregorio. This of course meant riding back Tunitas Creek ;).



Our time up Old La Honda (44 minutes) was a little slower than the previous time (42 minutes), but still ok. I usually do about 32 minutes (give or take a minute), but it's nice to slow it down a bit. Instead I just lower my gear selection and make it a bit tougher to pedal (hopefully giving me a bit more practice for upcoming challenges). Once reaching Skyline we didn't bother to stop and instead just made our way down the west side.

It took quite a while to get to San Gregorio because of the wind and because we just weren't riding that fast downhill. Only a short stopover in SG to get something to eat (most of the sandwiches, actually all but one, were already gone) and drink. Going up that short stretch of Stage Rd was a pain in the ass with the wind in our faces. It was clearly having an affect.

On Tunitas though, the wind was nonexistent (excluding the occasional gust in the lower portion of the road). Once reaching the trees, there was no wind, but it was chilly. One fun thing we saw on the way up, was near the bottom there were some tadpoles in a small pool of water. Thought about bringing a few back with us in an empty water bottle...though we decided against it ;). We took our time and eventually made it. Nahoko made it up without stopping. We only took a rest at key points like the wood bridge and the crest of that fun 1.9 mile stretch.

Nahoko's shoulder was hurting quite a lot by the top of Tunitas and so even riding downhill on King's Mtn Rd was going to be a bit painful, but fortunately it wouldn't require much effort to get back to the truck.

Bacon sweets?

I'm all about good sweets (even though I know I shouldn't have them), but today I saw something that was a bit disturbing. Even more so was what my sister forwarded me.

Bacon maple bars and bacon cookies (with pieces of bacon actually in the cookies)! Now in all fairness, I gotta admit, I want to try them ;).

The maple bar, courtesy of Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, Ore is a bit overwhelming. I wouldn't know what to do with that big piece of bacon on there! Oh yeah...EAT IT!

Recipe for making bacon cookies...thanks to Muffin. If you like cookies and bacon (presumably only considered separately enjoyable), you seriously need to check this out!

I can't say I'll be running to to do this today, but someday...

rice burgers?

So I'm here in the car heading south to go camping and fishing with nahoko and we're talking about fast food. She saying that when I go to japan (now that I have my passport...yes Don I have my passport finally) that I have to try mcdonalds rice burgers! WTF? Rice burgers? Can we at least flavor it with some dead animal ;)? Kidding dear :*...I can't wait to try one.

Hmmm....she's singing now. And wondering what I'm doing on my phone. No I'm not driving obviously :P.


Here we come fish!!!