Cross it off the Bucket List!!

Riding 17 Mile Drive...



Me and Jules at Spanish Beach (Pardon my Helmet Hair)

Who's that hot chick in the pink jacket?

   For some time now, I've been wanting to tour 17 Mile Dr. on a bike. We did it! We rode from the Pacific Grove gate to the Hwy 1 gate and back. We actually started off from our hotel located on Reservation Rd. in Marina, CA. All told we rode 47.7 miles and 4.5 hours out and back. I started the day with a high carb breakfast of bagels, waffles, cereal, and a cinnamon roll. Julie had a bagel and a banana I think and coffee. We were originally going to just do a late check out so I could leave the mountain bike in the room until we got back. We decided that it would be to our advantage to just break down the bike and put it inside the car along with the luggage and check out early. That way we didn't have to rush our bike ride and just enjoy it. There is just something about the vastness of the ocean that amazes me every time I see it. Listening to the waves crashing on the beach is so soothing. I can feel all of my cares and woes just melt away. On one hand, I'd love to live here and be close to the ocean all the time. On the other hand, being around it all the time might make it lose it's magic. I'll just settle for visiting from time to time. Back to the ride. After we stopped at Spanish Beach for a quick photo op, we continued on winding around the loop. We stopped in at a little deli at Pebble Beach for a light lunch. We had a couple of club sandwiches (at 10 bucks a pop! Yikes!) and coleslaw (BTW, best coleslaw I've had in a while!) Julie was at that point of "I don't care how much it costs, I'm friggin' hungry!" After our lunch, we continued on "The Drive" when it started going uphill fast! Dang it! I knew there would be some climbing involved but, Damn!! I started having flashbacks from the previous days journey up the mountains in my race. The difference being that I was on my road bike this time and a paved road. I could maintain a slower speed without falling over and overheating. I still had to rest a few times going up, but nothing like the day before. it took us a while to get over to the Hwy 1 Gate, but once there, we had to figure out how to get back to where we came in at. As I'm looking at the map, I see the way back, and Julie says "Yeah that'll get us back, but its probably all hills we'll have wind around to get there!" "Let's just go back the way we came!" I said " Let's just see where it goes. If it gets too tough then we can go back." As we started up the road I started thinking "Damn it! I hate when she's right!" Because the first thing we had to do was climb some more. As we get a little closer to the top, I see a sign that says "Crest Rd." I start to think out loud "Does that mean we finally at the top? or is it just a name?"  Low and behold it was the top of the hill, and boy did it start dropping fast!! All of that climbing finally paid off. Jules and I coasted almost all of the 4-5 miles back to the Pacific Grove gate. Julie was partially right, we did have to wind around the hills, but at least we didn't have to climb them!!! Once we got there, it was a pretty "easy" ride back to the hotel. We took the "Coastal Bike Trail" or as I like to call it the "Bike Highway" When I get out on that path I keep feeling like a car is going to pass me at any minute. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by Jessica's (oldest daughter) School and said our goodbyes before we headed home.  All in all it was good trip. we had some fun had a few laughs, saw the sights, spent quality time with one another. A great weekend indeed!!


Fisherman's Wharf

Sea Otter Recap....

Pre-race "Happy" picture.

On the Grid!! Ready to Go!!

And now, the real work begins...

Well, let's just say that I have a lot of work to do before next years race! It was a pretty abysmal finish to what I though was going to be a much better race than last time. Although I was NOT dead last, it wasn't far behind me. I finished with a time of 3:57:37. Yep you read that right, almost 4 hours to go 16 miles. But out of that 4 hours was about an hour and a half of rest stops.  My actual moving time was 2:39:49. If that would have been my race time, I'd have been ecstatic!! There were, however, 2 other guys that finished behind me at just over 4 hours each.  I didn't fail to finish, I just had my expectations a little too high. I'm still struggling with my hill climbing on the dirt. I can't seem to find a cadence and speed that gets me to the top of the hill that won't burn out my lungs and legs. I have to maintain a minimum of at least 7 mph or I fall over. But the best speed I can maintain for the distance and elevation is 5 mph. See the problem? I think where I need to start, is learning how to ride sloooooowwwww. I need to build up my core so I have the balance to stay up at lower speeds. I have plenty of gear left on the bike, just not enough leg or lungs to maintain a higher cadence. The trail itself was not overly technical, no big ass boulders to climb over, no tree roots to avoid. it did have some really tight single track sections and a couple of really scary descents, with a few jaw dropping cliff-side trails that one wrong move would definitely ruin your weekend. But the hill climbing is what took it's toll on me. Every race is a learning experience, the lesson here is climb slow to climb fast and don't underestimate the trail!! What I'm taking with me from this experience is that I didn't die, didn't get seriously injured (although I took a little spill near the end of the race.), the bike came home in one piece and I did have some fun!! I WILL be back!! Hopefully a little stronger, better trained, and hungry!!

"Charging" to the finish!!

Post-race "Happy it's over" picture.

Off To Monterrey!!!

Sea Otter Classic or Bust!

The day is finally here! In just a few short hours, Julie and I will be heading off on our latest adventure. I'm not gonna lie, the butterflies in my stomach are growing in number and size!! At this moment, Julie is out doing her long run for the week (9 miles!) You go girl!!! I'm trying to make breakfast and locate all of my gear for the weekend, wash my riding clothes, etc. I feel pretty confident that I'm going to have fun, but at the same time I'm worried that I didn't train hard enough to make it through the course. I'm just gonna have to wing it I guess. I'm starting to have flashbacks from my last race I guess. But I've had 3 months since that race to train, and this course doesn't seem as technical as the last one. I WILL finish no matter what!! Even If I have to walk it over the line!!

 

We've decided to take the road bikes too for a little ride up the coast after the race. I think I'm looking forward to that most of all, because I get to spend some quality time with Jule's and you get to see things that kinda whizz by when you're in a car. Well I guess I better finish packing and hit the road. Wish me luck!!

 

Running Raceday Recap!!

Zoo Zoom at Sacramento Zoo

Today was a beautiful day for a run! The sun was shining, temperature was perfect, no wind, great company too!! This time we headed out to Sacramento for the Sacramento Zoo Zoom run. The schedule for the day was a little different than usual with the 5K starting first. Usually Julie's race starts before mine so we end up finishing pretty close to the same time. But this time it was my turn to go first, which was great because Julie was able to snap a few pics as I went out and when I got back. Every race I do I seem to learn more. Todays lesson was: Know your race pace, and position yourself ahead of the group you "think" you should be in at the start. That way you don't have to weave your way around all of the really slow runners/walkers. For the first mile, I spent most of it bobbing and weaving in and out of people that couldn't get out of their own way, let alone mine. As I'm running along my music is pumping in time with my strides, and my Runkeeper chimes in at the 1 mile mark and gives me the lowdown on my run. At the 1 mile mark, I ran a 9:32 min/mile. I'm like, crap!! I need to slow down or I'm gonna burn out before the 2nd mile. I was thinking maybe my speed was up due to the Sports Beans I downed right before the race or maybe it was taking the day off before the race. Whatever it was, it was working. Because when I got to mile 2, my speed hadn't gone down that much. I had just ran another sub-10 minute mile. All of  a sudden I started thinking. I could theoretically finish this race under 30 minutes if I can maintain this pace. Unfortunately that damn 2.5 mile jinx crept in and knocked the shit out of me. At mile 2.5 my lungs felt like they were on fire and I had to really slow it down. I need to start carrying an inhaler with me on my runs to keep this from happening. At mile 2.9 they just gave out and I had to walk for second to catch my breath. Damn It!! I was within sight of the finish line and I had to walk. I couldn't make the whole run without stopping. I only walked for about 20 yards counting the other runners that were passing me. At mile 3, I sucked it up and sprinted out the last 1/8 mile, passing all but 2 of the people that passed me while I was walking. My official time was 31:42 which is to date my best time so far!! All in all it was a great day of racing.

Sprinting to the finish!! (and yes, I passed that group!!)

Onward and Upward!!

Next Sunday I will be running in my 3rd 5K race at the Sacramento Zoo Zoom. It looks to be a pretty flat course, so hopefully I can make it the whole way without stopping. What's weird is, my race, starts before Julie's. But it's cool at the same time. She might actually get some pics of me crossing the finish line (or staggering over it haha.) Last month I started Active.com's 5K-10K running workout. So far it hasn't been too bad, but I'm still pretty early into it. If nothing else, I'm hoping it'll help me with my 5K's.

 

The next couple of months are going to be pretty busy. Later this month is the Sea Otter Classic. In May I'm running the 5K in the Avenue of the Vines race in Lodi. This will be Julies first half-marathon. I'm so proud of her and what she's accomplished in just a little over a year.

 

For June, we will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary by doing a 60+ mile bike ride through the forests of Mendocino county called the Mendocino Monster. This is going to be a real test of both of our fitness levels. The ride not only consists of long miles, but has some pretty tough climbing and descents. Julie wanted to do the little 28 miler, but my thinking was "what the hell? we've got all day! what else do we have to do?" Besides it's not like it's tomorrow. We've got 2 months to train for it. It's also pretty well supported along the way. According to their website they have fully stocked rest areas about every 20 miles, which if you think about it, it'll be like riding three 20 mile rides in one day. We'll just take our time, take in the sights, and have some fun with it. See you on the road!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Countdown to Sea Otter Classic!!

Damn! this year is going by quick. It's already April!! Only 2 weeks left to train for the big race. I've been racking up the miles this week trying to get my body conditioned good enough to ride for 2 hours straight without collapsing. I'm currently at a 6 day total 136 miles for my 500 mile goal for the month. Today I decided to do some hill training, so Julie and I took on the Patterson Pass challenge. I remember making this ride when I was a lot younger, and it seemed a little tougher today than what I remember. Of course, I was 25 years younger and about 60 lbs. lighter than I am now. We both did pretty well for most of the ride up the hill. We stopped and took breaks about every mile to mile and a half. Sadly though, we had to walk the last couple hundred feet. as the climb got so steep that we I couldn't keep pedaling. But in the end we made it to the top.

A View From The Top!!

 

On the way to the Summit!!

On our way over, what we used to call as kids "The Top of the World" there was appeared to be an all women's bike race. I was so wishing that I would have gone the other way over the hill. Some of the speeds they were hitting looked incredible. But no, I had to take the hard way over going west. It all worked out though, we took a little break at the top and took some pictures drank a little water and started down the other side. Once we got into Livermore, Julie was in need of a ladies room, so we stopped into the local Subway took care of business and had some lunch. After lunch we headed into downtown Livermore. The wind was starting to pick up so we didn't do much riding around town. We turned east and headed back. We took Altamont Pass Rd. for the return trip. Man I love that ride!! I started off fast and just kept rolling. I did have to slow up a little to let Jules catch up some, but once we got to the bottom, she pulled up and I asked her "was that fun?" Her reply, "That was Freaking Awesome!!" But now came the last big challenge of the day, Midway Rd. On my last two attempts, I failed miserably to climb that friggin' hill. I just couldn't get my legs to carry me over that hill. As soon as I get within sight of the top my legs just shut down. But, NOT TODAY!! those word are what drove me to make it to the top. Go Me!!  We finally made it back to the car 36 miles and just over 3 hours later.