Ready, Set, Start Your Garmin... GO!

Today I got an AWESOME present from my hubby. He bought me a Garmin EDGE Touring Plus!!! I'm so excited, I can't wait to use it! I've been eyeing it up for a while and was going to see if anyone would be selling an older Garmin model. I figured that an older one would be better than nothing. Garmin's aren't cheap. But now I have a brand spanking new one! YAY!

Now I will be able to pre-load our routes onto my Garmin and get turn-by-turn directions. Also, I can log ALL of my rides without draining my battery on my cell phone. I will also be able to actually log my ALC ride (there was pretty much no way I was going to be able to do that on my phone). 

I can't wait to get over this cold and get back on my bike. 

Happy New Years! 2013 ended with a good 1393 miles on my bike! Here is to increasing that number in 2014! 

Merry Cycle-mas

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas. Even though I wasn't able to go home for the holidays and celebrate with my family, I had a pretty good Christmas. This was the first year that my husband and I spent Christmas together, just the two of us. We were able to do a Google hangout with my family in the morning and Skype with his family later on in the day. So luckily we got to see everyone in one way or another.

About half of my gifts this year were cycling related. :) It was a nice change of pace. I love all my gifts, but i'm really excited for the new gadgets I got. Here are some of the cycling-related gifts...

A nice gift certificate for Sports Basement from my parents. Maybe I can get myself another pair of cycling shorts or some bibs.

My sister got me some Clif bars. I always carry one or two of these (bars, not boxes) with my when i'm on my bike. They are great for fueling up on longer rides.

Wool socks, from my mother-in-law, to keep my toes nice and warm. These will be great for my winter rides as well as those early mornings on ALC. 

A fun snarky book from my friend Allyn. Should make for a good read. I read a little from Chapter Eleven : A Brief Guide to Etiquette for non-cyclists and it made me laugh. Here is a little excerpt:

     Don't Touch our Bikes or Interview us:

         ...Do you touch strangers? Unless you're reading this from prison, probably not...

         ... Does this mean that you should never talk to a cyclist? Of course not. Just try to use common sense.

          A good rule of thumb is to pretend our bikes are underpants. Think of it this way:

               --You wouldn't ask a stranger what their underpants are made of

               --You wouldn't ask a stranger how much they paid for their underpants

               --Most importantly, you definitely wouldn't try to touch a stranger's underpants

          See? It's simple! 

A nice little LED headlamp from my mother-in-law. I 'm sure you're thinking, how is this cycling related? Well, I will be using when i'm doing ALC. I've been told they make it a lot easier to see when you need to go to the bathroom or do anything at night when in camp on ALC. 

My husband got me a 15000 mAh portable charger. This thing is going to be amazing! I can charge two things at once via USB cables. When the device is completely charged up, I can charge my phone about 6 times. That's pretty awesome. This is going to be so helpful on ALC. Since we camp, we don't always have access to electrical outlets. 

A set of bluetooth headphones from my parents. These aren't exactly cycling related, but more work-out related. While on ALC training rides and during ALC, I can't actually use headphone. But I might see about using them when I'm riding by myself up here. I tested them out and I can have the volume at a level where I can enjoy my music but still hear noises around me. I hate when I pass people on trails and even though I announce myself as I pass, they get startled because they can't hear me since they have headphones on. They also work as a headset for my phone. I tested it out with my husband and the sound quality is very good. 

So, those are my cycling related Christmas gifts. I got some other great gifts this year, but I don't need to go into those here.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Alpine Dam and Mount Tam

Yesterday I did a 37 mile ride up to Mount Tam via Alpine Dam and the Seven Sisters. I've been wanting to do this ride since a fellow Blazer did it a while ago. Also, I've been trying to do some of the big North Bay rides now that I live up here. Luckily, it was a beautiful day out, just perfect for a ride.

As you can see from the elevation chart, it was a crazy climb heavy ride. We climbed 3,810ft. I didn't make it all the way over to the East Peak of Mount Tam, but I got to the West Peak.

We started our ride out of Sausalito/Marin City. After a short stint on the bike path, we headed up Camino Alto, which is the first tiny (relative to Mt Tam) little bump in the elevation chart. I did the climb up this road a few weeks ago when I did a different ALC Marin ride. After that hill, it was pretty smooth sailing to our first rest stop in Fairfax. We stopped at a bakery called the Fat Angel. They had some amazing looking pastries, but I opted for a hot chocolate.

After warming up a little, resting, and refilling our water bottles, we headed out. Shortly after heading out of Fairfax we started our ascent up Bolinas Road. We passed the beautiful Meadow Club. I think I took this photo shortly after that. I just love seeing the landscape up here in the North Bay.

A little over a mile after taking this photo break I started the descent down to Alpine Dam. At the crest of the hill there was a beautiful glimpse of the lake below. During the 4 mile descent I hit a max speed of about 33 mph. Not to shabby since the road have several sharp bends. While at the dam, we took a breather, refilled our water bottles again and fueled up our bodies.

It was also a great time to get a group photo.  

The next 2 miles after the dam to where we turned onto Ridgecrest Blvd. were starting to get to me. My legs were getting tired but I never felt like giving up. I think that was my biggest accomplishment of the day. No matter how tired I was, no matter how much my legs felt like there was no way to keep pushing, I never had the thought of giving up. I don't know what fuelled me through all that climbing, but I was very thankful for whatever it was.

Check out how windy these roads were. Now that's a hair-pin turn!

Right after turning onto Ridgecrest Blvd. I had to stop to get a photo at the Mount Tamalpais sign. It was well deserved after all the climbing I had done. Little did I know how much more climbing was yet to come. Next up, the Seven Sisters (aka Seven Bitches).

The Seven Sisters is a 4 mile stretch that runs along the ridge heading towards the peak of Mt. Tam. It has an average grade of about 2.2% and an elevation gain of 900 feet. I know that that doesn't seem like much, but after you have already ridden about 21 miles and climbed 3,545 feet, that was tough. I averaged about 4 mph on this segment. I'm not to mad about that considering what all I had already accomplished for the day.

The view at the top was worth all of the pain getting there. It was AMAZING up there. I don't even think that my photos do the view justice. It is definitely something you have to experience yourself.

That is Stinson Beach in the background there along the coast. I haven't been there yet, but I think that I will change that very soon. It looks nice from up above, so i'm sure it is beautiful down there as well.

We climbed up another 370 feet over the next mile before we called it quits on the climbing for the day. It was getting late and we were going to start running out of good daylight. We pulled into a turnout along the road and took a little break. As we waited for our lovely SAG car, driven by one of the other riders wife, to come back to met us, I got a couple shots of the view.

San Francisco was way off in the distance. It is a little hard to see, so I tried to zoom in to prove that it was out there. Like I said, the photos don't really do the view justice, but you at least get the idea.

From where we were we could see the Observatory through the trees. Maybe next time I'll get all the way up there and even over to the East Peak.

Well, it was time to begin our descent. About 6 miles into our descent we stopped off to wait up for the rest of our group. Two of the guys had gone on ahead of us and actually made it all the way over to the East Peak. From where we stopped on Panoramic Highway we could see where we had just come from.

The last 5 miles back to the car went so fast. Cruising along at an average speed of 14 mph helped with that, along with gravity as we had a little bit more downhill to go.

It was an awesome ride and a gorgeous day. I'm so glad I decided to join this renegade ride. I didn't know if I was really prepared for this much climbing since I haven't really been on my bike much this past month or two. After doing this ride, I think I am definitely more prepared for ALC than I originally thought. I can't wait for the training season to start up the first weekend of January.

To sum up some things I learned from yesterday's ride:

• I might just have beaten the mental breakdown/give-up attitude I used to get during difficult rides.
• My legs are so much stronger than they were just a year ago.
• I don't hate climbing as much as I used to.
• It is possible to be hot and cold at the same time. 
• I have pretty decent cold weather gear. (well, at least for the mid 50's)

SBB Holiday Party

Last night was the South Bay Blaze holiday party. I had a great time celebrating the upcoming holidays with everyone. My drive down to the bay wasn't too bad. There was an accident that slowed me up a little, but I got to the party a little after it started. Walking into our host's house was like walking into A Christmas Explosion. There were ornaments everywhere!! His Christmas tree was white, upside down and rotating. It was covered in mercury glass ornaments of various themes. There were superheros (you might be able to spot Superman if you look closely), Snow White and Wizard of Oz characters, and a plethora of others.

 The mantel was decked out in Santa Claus figured and ornaments. It was an impressive collection.

This photo shows more of the Christmas Overload! I don't know if I have ever seen that many ornaments in one place.That is karaoke that is set up there in the middle of the living room. At first, only one person was into the idea of taking the mic.

But it didn't take long for the group songs to start. All in all it was pretty entertaining. I got some great videos on my phone, but to spare everyone from the "amazing" voices I'm not going to try to post those. I actually ended up singing one song. I took a look at the clock and reaslized it was already 11pm and I needed to get going, but my friend said that I couldn't leave until I sung one song with him. I went with an older country song. Good old Alan Jackson - Chattahoochee. Thankfully, there is no video or photos of this happening.

Oh and if you are wondering, that is Rudolph's but on that green sweatshirt. :) The front of Rudolph is sewn to the front of her shirt. It was bizzare and amazing at the same time. Everyone was so festive in their Christmas sweaters.  

It was a great party and I had an amazing time. It is always nice to hang out with these guys without bicycles being involved.

One American woman, 54 Italian men and a cycling journey

"Being a cyclist is putting foot to pedal on the road. It doesn't matter if you're thin or fat, fast or slow. It's the fact that you're out there, you're trying. That's what's important" -- Lynne Ashdown. 

The other day a friend and fellow female cyclist posted a link to an article titled "One American woman, 54 Italian men and a cycling journey." The article tells of Lynne's unplanned 10 day, 1,000 mile cycling journey across Northern Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland with her then partner and 53 other Italian men. The trip was originally thought to be a romantic getaway, however, soon after arriving in Italy she learned that her partner had arranged to go on this cycling tour. She explains how cycling in Italy is looked upon as a male sport, and even though she was invited to join, the invitee did not actual want her to join. Lynne decided to go anyway. She was 52 at the time and had begun cycling at age 37 and have only participated in two centuries since then. "I just felt it in my gut that I could do this, and that I was a person who could do this. And this overwhelming desire to do this just took over me," she says. She did complete the tour and has gone on to write a book about the journey and all that she learned about herself through that journey. The book is titled "One American Woman, Fifty Italian Men: A Journey of Cycling, Love and Will."

I think I will be getting her book sometime in the near future. I really would love to read it because just from what I read in the article, I felt even more inspired for my upcoming journey (ALC). Many times during my training, I end up being the only girl in the group of riders that form. I'm not saying that I'm the only girl in the entire group, but once we break off and gang up into groups of riders of the same speed. I don't actually mind; I've always been one of the guys growing up. I find myself actually pushing harder, to keep up with those stronger, faster guys. This, inturn, makes me a better cyclist.


The link to the article:
http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_24666011/one-american-woman-54-italian-men-and-cycling

Her website:
http://lynneashdown.com/

An Early Christmas Gift to Myself

My first ALC jersey arrived in the mail yesterday! I'm so excited! I feel like this makes me more legit. I know that is weird, but this jersey is like a reward for all the hard work I have put in and will put in for this. I feel like it is an honor to wear it. I also hope that when I wear it as I ride around the North Bay, I will be spreading the word and all the good work that ALC does to help SFAF & LAGLC provide life saving services to those with AIDS & HIV.

So... Here it is!!!

The back of it looks very similar to the front. The main difference is what is wrote in the red stripe (as seen below) and the pockets on the bottom have palm trees in a darker red instead of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Chilly Friday Ride

Yesterday I went for a chilly 21.5 mile ride from my apartment up to Cotati and back. When I woke up is was an icy 30 degrees out. I knew I wasn't ready to hop on my bike right now, so I decided to wait a little and give it time to warm up a bit.

By about lunch time is was up to about 45 degrees, so i decided it was time to brave the cold. I donned my cold weather cycling gear, so that I was basically covered from head to toe. I tried out some new wool socks that I got at Performance Bike the other day. 

I felt that it was very fitting that they were called 'the blaze' since my cycling team is called the South Bay Blaze. I've never worn wool cycling socks, but I have some for snowboarding so I figured they would help keep the toes warm. I also put on my Pittsburgh jersey in honor of the cold weather.

With the ride being predominantly flat, I was able to keep up my speed. That helped make my ride go faster, but it also made my ride even colder with the wind. Looking at my Strava, I hit a max of 26.8 and averaged a speed of 15.6 mph. Not too shabby.

The elevation chart is quite deceiving. It looks a lot more hilly than it actually was. That is why you have to look at the height scale of the chart. This is the reason I stopped paying attention to the elevation charts for our ALC training rides. I would see the elevation chart and start to freak out. Then I'd do the ride and realize that the hills were not actually that bad.

Anyway, back to my ride yesterday. As I was on my way back, it started to sprinkle. I just hoped that I would make it back to my apartment before it really started to rain. I've ridden in a little rain before, but when it is 45 degrees out, the last thing I want to deal with is being wet.

There was something I had passed on my way out to Cotati that I figured I would stop and take a photo of on my way back, but  by the time I got there, I could barely feel my toes so I thought that it was more important to get home and warm up and get the photo. It is something that will be there for a while, so I can catch it later. As I pulled into my complex I remembered that there is hot chocolate in the front office. I knew that was a great way to warm up so I parked the bike outside the front door and brewed up a cup. Nothing beats hot cocoa after being out in the cold. It took me back to all the winters my sister and I would go outside and play in the snow when we were kids.

Now that I'm all warm, I feel like it was a good ride. At the time, battling the chill, I might not have agreed.

Goal Accomplished!

Well, today was even more proof that AIDS LifeCycle reached their $1M goal by World Aids Day. I received my commemorative bandana in the mail.  According to facebook, they actual hit $1,011,030. That is an amazing accomplishment, since the money was brought in by only 1,145 participants. That's not even half the number of riders that they had in last years event.

 Here it is, the commemorative bandana. Even though I never wear bandanas, I will treasure this always. It means a lot to me knowing that I was a part of something so amazing and have helped save the lives of many people.

World Aids Day

Today was World Aids Day. What is World Aids Day you ask? According to http://worldaidsday.org, World Aids Day is held on December 1st each year as a way for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died.

Even though I didn't participate in any World Aids Day activities today, I wore my Hike & Bike t-shirt to show my support. Aids LifeCycle had a goal of raising $1 Million dollars by today. They have not said if the goal has been met, but I think that there is a good chance it was since just a couple days ago the grand total was at $951,236. That's pretty good since many participants haven't even begun thinking about starting their fundraising.

If the goal is met, any participant who received a donation by today will receive a commemorative World Aids Day 2013 bandana. So, if the goal has been met, I should be receiving one. I have been doing pretty well with my fundraising. So far, I've raised $600 online, but I have another $640 in cash donations from my ornament sales. Thanks to an amazing friend, most if not all of my cash donations will be doubled. So, factoring in that, I'm over half way to hitting my minimum. I just raised my goal up to $5000 and I'd love to reach that. If you are reading this, please consider making a donation and supporting me in this journey, if you haven't done so already. http://tofighthiv.org/goto/melissareilly