As if yesterdays Simi/Ojai Century ride wasn't enough, I got up this morning for the Santa Monica Star Map Tours Ride -33 Miles. The ride started in West Hollywood and went through such cities as Beverly Hills, Brentwood and Santa Monica. The ride ended at the Santa Monica Pier. It was a cool and overcast. This ride did have its share of hills. The hardest for me was the hill up Bundy. I was so fatigued from yesterday, that I struggled a bit, but made it up it. The ride from San Vicente to Ocean was amazing. It was amazing to see some of the posh houses on such gorgeous and well groomed streets. It was a blast. I am going away on a business trip to Florida for a week, so no training rides for this coming weekend.
Yup! I decided to do the Simi/ Ojai Century ride on Saturday 4/29/06 and I've lived to tell about it. Many people have told me that this ride is harder than any day on our ride in June. It was filled with hills, hills and more hills. Four large ones (o.k. 2 but we went up and down them on the way there and on the way back). We met at the Simi Regal movie theater parking lot and headed through simi towards Moorpark. The weather was overcast and cool. Everything was going well until I was al
most to the top of Grimmes Canyon, when I noticed I had a flat tire, then another, and another and yet another. Four flat tires within 10 miles. Heather my cycle partner for the day was nice enough to stay back with me and Bob one of our ALC training leaders was amazing. Bob helped me with my tires situation and even knew of a bike shop in Santa Paula which we ended up stopping at to get the tires checked, not to mention new tubes. Then we were back on the path to Ojai.
There were so many breath taking views. Everything was so green and beautiful. The orange groves between Filmore and Santa Paula were gorgeous. We arrived at the Summit a resturant at the top of Ojai Rd before decending into Ojai. Some of the views that we saw coming down into Ojai reminded me of New Zealand's rowling greeen hills. We stopped at a 
park were Team Venture training leaders Mom & Dad had an amazing picnic set up for us in the park. We filled our water bottles and camelbaks and filled our tummies. Mom & Dad were so sweet and a joy to see.
We took off for the ride home back towards Simi. I was doing well until we hit Grimmes Canyon. I "bonked" "hit a wall" and was so exhausted that I walked my bike up most of the way up the hill--two-thirds fr
om the top I was "SAG'd up to the top by one of the cycle leader's wives who had a mini van and picked me up and drove me to the rest stop at the top of the hill. After refuling, eating and having a little rest, we were back on our way towards home. On our way into Moorpark I noticed a a WWI fighter biplane and a WWII fighter plane were circling about our heads. They were flying really low so we got to see them pretty closely. We then went through old town Moorpark on our way back to Simi. We had finally made it back to the car. (photo is of a turn on Grimmes Canyon)
I have to give big props to Bob and Heather. Bob taught both Heather and I about climbing, decending, proper bike fit, etc during our ride. It was like having our own private instructor on the climb. He was so laid back with all the strange t
hings that happened on our ride and was just amazing. Heather, was my cheerleader and constant support. This was my third ALC training ride with her and she was a huge help and a sweetheart.
One thing that I am noticing with each ride, is that everyone is so laid back. Not competitive and very very giving and helpful. If one ALCer is down 5-10 stop to help. Amazing. I am glad to be a part of this group.
A huge thank you to those of you who were on call for me on Saturday. I am very thankful that you were available for me and I am glad that I did not need to call on you to pick me up on my route.
Wow, talk about a wake up call! I survived ALC's "Day of the Ride"; which is a day in the life of what an actual day in June will be like. We rode from Santa Monica to Long Beach and back- 81.6 miles. It was a gorgeous overcast day...and the crew, staff and riders were all so friendly. It definitely felt like a family. I made friends instantly and we formed our own little crew composed of Sonia, Heather, Gwen and myself. We were whooping, cheering and having a blast supporting and cheering each other on. We even made friends with other groups such as Scott & Katie. They were a blast!! The first & last 45 miles were very similar to the last 2 training rides I had done with the Santa Monica Bike Attack team--we went through the same areas. The familiarity was nice. But, can you say hills? For a newbie like me who really hadn't conquered many big hills, it was a large wake-up call. Not to mention I got me first flat tire and found that I was riding on it for a chunk of the ride. The reward from climbing those huge hills paid off when the downhill portion came. I clocked myself on my cycle computer at 42 miles per hour. Wow!! I hit the brakes at that point and slowed down.Our first rest area was at Veteran's Park where we overlooked the ocean. It was an amazing site and the sun was shining. But an even more amazing site was at Point Fermin Park where we stopped for lunch. The cliffs and rocks over looking the ocean were extraordinary. It started to get cold and windy at this point in the ride. It seemed that no matter which direction we were traveling the wind was always blowing towards us. We had 4 rest areas with water, gatorade, and snacks. It was nice to be able to stop about every 20 miles to rehydrate and refuel. The orange slices were amazing.The ride got scary when our team saw one of our members, Sonia, collided with another rider and fell into a traffic lane. Amazingly everyone was fine and the bikes were fine too, but it was a quick reality check of just how easy it is for an accident to happen. We are constantly riding along on streets with traffic and watching out for each other with voice and hand signals, but even with all that things can still happen. The finish line was right back where we started and Bike Attack, a platinum sponsor for the ALC, had a party afterwards with lots of food from California Pizza Kitchen. Needless to say we were all very hungry.I am recovering today. My knees, back, quads and neck hurt, but with the help of ibupofin and Arnica Gel I am doing well. Spent the day running around doing errands and housekeeping. I hardly slept last night--the adrenaline was still running. I did a huge jump from a 23 mile ride to a 40 mile to a 45 mile to a 81.6 mile all within a month and my body is in good condition. Next weekend I am thinking about doing the Simi Century Ride with Team Ventura. The ride is from Simi Valley to Ojai via Grimes Canyon (ouch very long steep windy hills) and back- 100 miles total. After yesterdays ride I am trying to figure out if I will be able to handle it. I am going to play it by ear this week and see...stay tuned to see if I do it.The photo above is me at the first rest area, wearing the Bike Attack jersey. Also, be sure to check out the photo below from my LA Acura Ride (under the "How Have I Been Training" blog). I've updated the picture. It is me at the starting line at 5:00 am...and yes that is my beautiful bike in both photos.
Well, I couldn't resist, I joined the Santa Monica Bike Attack Team again this week (4-15-06). There was a total of 7 of us lead by David Bain (#7969) and Sarah Sypniewski (#7) (photo above). Sarah is my cycle buddy #2 and showed me on my first ride how to change a flat. I hope that I never have to use what she taught me. Our ride was the same as last week but with an extension. We continued on a hill that circled around Palos Verdes Golf Course. The hill was unforgetable and one that I had never experienced. Steep up hill climbs that would turn and bend. The weather w
asn't as enjoyable as last week. We encoutered drizzle but no true rain. But it was a blast! Photo left is from today's ride along the bike path. I believe that is Leo in the photo.Next Saturday (4-22-06) is a mock ALC Day of The Ride and a whopping 78 miles. Tune in next week to see if I survive.
This past week I went to Mammoth. Yay!! Can you believe it I finally learned how to snow ski (thanks to my friend Lisa). It wasn't that hard either. I skiied on Monday- got 12 runs in (on the bunny slopes of course). On Tuesday I snowboarded (6 runs-still on the bunny slopes). This was my second time snowboarding. I had gone once before about 2 years ago. The snow conditions on Tuesday were not as good as we had hoped but we got a few hours in. My favorite part was hitting the little mini jumps/ bumps. There are about 6 of them on the bunny slopes and they were a blast. Can't wait to go again.
Hey, guess what? I finished my first 40 miler today (4-8-06) through the South Bay. There were about 13 of us (I think). We started at Bike Attack, a cycle shop in Santa Monica and a big ALC sponsor, and rode along the beach and some side streets through: Santa Monica, Venice, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach to Palos Verdes (and all those other cities in between). Our mid point and where we took our break was at the base of Palos Verde, in Malaga Cove (see picture). The whole ride was gorgeous! We saw the ocean, surfers, volleyball players, the UCLA rowing team competing, a hang gliding class, tons of sail boats, and the beautiful So Cal coast. The day was sunny and absolutely perfect for a bike ride. The people I rode with were fun, friendly and I saw some familiar faces. For those of you wondering, yes my foot is still attached. It was really hurting me by the end of the ride. (FYI, that is not my bike in the photo.)
