ALC6 Day On The Ride81 miles...I Survived!

Well, I survived the 81 miles from ALC6’s Day On The Ride, but it wasn’t compeltely easly.

With my busy schedule & new job (including a business trip), I have gotten a bit worn down and woke up on Friday with a cold. Today, when I woke up at 5:30am, the thought of riding my bike was painful. But I went ahead and did it anyway. Full of cold medication I loaded the car and headed to Santa Monica. I felt so crappie, my head was in the clouds, my body and head ached, my throat was so soar and I was cold. I had a nice thick jacket on and a Thermal Care heating pad on my shoulders and full tights covered my legs. I was going to do this ride, even though my body and mind weren’t up for it, but my heart was. I met my friend Heather and stuck pretty close to her, not feeling very social with the rest of the group. I can’t tell you though seeing the ALC staff and interacting with them always gives me that extra boost of energy and boy was I needing it. They are awesome!

We rolled out at about 7:30am. I noticed that my computer was not working. I was concerned that if I got separated from Heather that I would have a difficult time finding my way without the mileage. I also depend so much on my computer to keep me motivated by my speed and knowing how many miles I needed to go/ have gone ect. So, I was a bit bummed when I didn’t feel well and my main motivational source was not working. I didn’t have a good feeling about this ride…plus it was cold & windy and many miles were ahead of me.

Funny thing when I compare today’s ride to the Day On The Ride last year I saw many improvements despite my health and technical difficulties. I was able to climb the hills with out stopping or cross training, plus I finished it much earlier than last year. Go figure. All in all today was a huge accomplishment, both in my training for The Ride itself, and mentally and physically as well. I do need to work on those darn headwinds. I am not a fan and struggled with them today as well. This ride has also motivated me to do more rides to work and at lunch time as well. Next weekend I am scheduled to help my friend Beth with her 55 miles training ride. Wish me luck!! Check back to see how it goes.

Earth Day/ Ride Life- Ride Your Bike To Work Day

I never thought that I would work for a company that rewards their employees for riding to work. Wednesday was my first Ride Life- Ride Your Bike To Work Day at Giant. Since it was Earth Day, my company decided to create one. We get points for commuting, riding at lunch and riding at night. At the end of the year they hand out awards. We are also all on teams compiles of employees from different departments. I am on the team called Blazing Saddles. I don’t know anyone on the team yet, but hopefully that will soon change. Check out our company's Ride Life Web Site at www.ridelife.net. You can read about our athletes.

How was my ride, you ask? Well instead of riding the 30 miles, leaving the house at 4 am to ride into work to be there at 7am (my normal starting time), I drove to Simi Valley. I parked at my friend’s house and road 16 miles into work. When I left the house it was pitch dark, and my body was asking me “What the Hell are you doing to me, it is early in the morning on a week day, it is cold, windy and the sun hasn’t even risen yet. I fought the urge to give up and continued into work. I hadn’t ridden the route before so, wasn’t quite sure what I was in for, a little more climbing than I had expected, but it was all good. My computer didn’t work on my way into work, so I hadn’t a clue how many miles or how fast I was riding. My trip back explained a lot.

I also road with a group of co-workers at lunch; we did a 9 mile loop with some hill climbing as well. My co-workers are a lot of fun and challenge me which I need. A few of us are doing Cruisin the Conejo, a ride that our company is helping to sponsor. So far I am the only one signed up for the Century (103 miles). I hope that I can do it, plus it will help me with my training for ALC6. It is suppose to be very challenging. I’ll let you know it is May 12th.

I am off to bed, I have to rest up. Saturday, I am doing ALCs A Day On The Ride the 80 miles option. Wish me luck! I am going to need it. I am exhausted!

Sea Otter Classic

I attended my first Sea Otter Classic with Giant. It was a lot of fun, but it was a busy schedule for us as well. It was fun to see what our competition was doing and my first taste at the cycling industry. Giant was nominated for 4 Editors Choice Awards from Bicycling Magazine—so it was cool to attend the award ceremony. It was cool to see my co-workers work with the media. They were definitely in there element and did us proud.

One of my favorite parts was cheering for our Mountain Bike Team during their competitions. I also got a pleasant surprise. My cousin Jon was there competition also and won too. I was so excited to see him. Unfortunately I was working and didn’t get to see his races, but it was cool knowing that he was there. We ended up missing each other and didn’t get to give a proper goodbye. I was proud to see that he was riding a Giant. Keeping it in the Fam!! Sweet!

Giant Leap

Guess what? I have a new job. After 14 years at IMC, I have ventured off to a new beginning at Giant Bicycle, Inc. Check it out at www.giantbicycle.com. Yup, you read correctly. My passion for cycling has lead me to a job in the cycling industry. I have already completed my second day there and am very excited on the projects and opportunities. I will also be joining the team at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA (www.seaotterclassic.com) this weekend. We will have a booth, both for men’s & women’s specific bicycles, bike demos and our Mountain Bike Team will be competing as well. If you are attending, come by and say hi!

60

I had the honor and privilege of riding 60 miles with my Cycle Buddy, Sarah, plus Josie, and Leslie who all 3 road from SF to LA. Heather, Alain (joined them for 2 days) and I joined them on the last day of their incredible journey. It was very humbling, yet exciting.

Cycle Buddy Sarah Rides from SF to LA

Want some inspiration? Check out my Cycle Buddy, Sarah's blog. She is currently riding down the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles on her bicycle. She had always wanted to do the ALC ride, but never got the opportunity until now. Follow here amazing experience via her blog site as she peddles with just two other people and 2 support staff (this is the same ride I will be doing in June, but with 2500 other people and a full support staff). I plan on riding with her, during her last leg from Ventura to Brentwood on Easter Sunday with a couple other peeps.

Here is the link to her blog site: www.aidslifecycle.org/7

Enjoy!

My First Half Century of the Season

I had a wonderfully lovely day on Sunday 4/1. Heather, who will be my tent mate this year, and I rode all around. We trained together last year and rode a few days on the ride together as well. Again perfect weather was gleaming down on us!! We started at her place in West Hollywood and right off the bat climbed Nichols Canyon. Lovely! Then we coasted down hill into Griffith Park did a loop around and saw some fellow ALCers. We then road further into the Valley and did a little more hill climbing, stopped off at Whole Foods in Sherman Oaks and then it was up and over Sepulveda through the VA. Heather and I had already done a couple hills and figured why not do another, so we climbed Bundy to Mt St Mary’s up top. I was remembering that last year when I climbed Bundy, I ended up walking my bike (cross training) for a portion of it. It was a very pleasant surprise that I was able to climb it after climbing 2 other hills with out a problem. Yay!! We flew down San Vicente and turned around at Ocean, then headed back to West Hollywood via many stop signs and a few rolling hills. I had completed my first half century this season. YAY!! Heather and I spent the day peddling down memory lane, reflecting on last years ride & training. We celebrated by eating a late lunch… it was delish!

From The Valley to The Sea 3/31-Success

Wow!! I led my first "big" training ride on Saturday 3/31, a 43 miler from Lake Balboa in Van Nuys to the Santa Monica Pier and back. There were 14 of us total. I actually had 20 RSVPs. It was the biggest group I’ve had yet! It was exciting. The weather was perfect! The people were a pleasure and there were no mishaps! Amazing!!! It was so much fun to see familiar faces, Katie and Scott were there. I trained and road with them during the ride last year. We had a lot of fun. I can't wait to get out there and do another training ride. It was an awesome group!