Listen to D Gab

Click here to listen to me gab about my ride. I will try and leave updates via cell phone when I can. Enjoy!

Giant Training

Well, I am just about all packed and ready to leave for my ride. I did my last training ride today, a quick 15 miler. I have cleaned and oiled my chain and thanks to Lance (one of my co-workers) my bicycle has passed a saftey check. I have fine tuned and am ready to go. The photo attached is of Patrick & Jean two of a few whom I train with at lunch. I can't believe that the ride is already here...

I will leave to a friends house, Beth Parks, on Thursday and will head up to SF on Friday at 5:30am. Saturday is (June 2nd) is Orientation Day and Sunday we ride out early in the morning...I mean early morning. Call time is 5:00 am for Opening Ceremonies. I hope that the alarm goes off this year. Last year my alarm never went off and when I awoke I had 15 minutes to get ready, checked out and over to the Cow Palace. Some how I made it in time. I wish for things to go more smoothly this year. My mom will probably be leaving nightly updates of my daily adventures so be sure to tune in...

My itinerary for AIDS/ LifeCycle 6

Here is my itinerary for AIDS/ LifeCycle 6

June 2 -- Orientation Day: The Cow Palace
Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave, Daly City CA 94014

June 3 -- Opening Ceremonies: The Cow Palace
Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave Daly City CA 94014 --
DAY ONE Mileage: 89.9

June 3 -- Camp 1: Harvey West Park, Santa Cruz
Harvey West Park, 326 Evergreen Street, Santa Cruz CA 95060

June 4 -- Camp 2: San Lorenzo County Park, King City --
DAY TWO Mileage: 105.4
San Lorenzo County Park, 1160 Broadway, King City CA 93930

June 5 -- Camp 3: Mid State Fairgrounds, Paso Robles --
DAY THREE Mileage: 77.3
Mid State Fairgrounds, 2198 Riverside Ave, Paso Robles CA 93447

June 6 -- Camp 4: Preisker Park, Santa Maria --
DAY FOUR Mileage: 94.7
Preisker Park, 2301 Preisker Ln, Santa Maria CA 93458

June 7 -- Camp 5: River Park, Lompoc --
DAY FIVE Mileage: 45.2
Sweeney Rd & Hwy 246 Lompoc, CA 93436

June 8 -- Camp 6: San Buenaventura State Beach, Ventura
DAY SIX Mileage: 85.5
San Buenaventura State Beach, 901 San Pedro St, Ventura, CA 93001

June 9 -- Closing Ceremonies: VA Center, Los Angeles (near Brentwood)VA Center, 11301 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90025 --
DAY SEVEN Mileage: 61.5

*All sites subject to change.* Total Mileage: 556.8

Cruisn the Conejo Century & 6,000 ft of Climbing

Call me crazy, but I survived the 6,000 ft of climbing of the Cuisin the Conejo Century on Saturday May 12th. It was difficult and a mind challenging. After the 45 mile I was pretty much on my own. I gave Larry with Team Ventura the go ahead to go on without me. I didn't want to hold him back. I actually did 104 because I rode to the start line from my grandmother's house and back. I saw some amazing parts of Ventura county. Lake Sherwood and Hidden Valley were so beautiful. The head winds came out in the afternoon and were a little tough in Camarillo & Simi. But what a great feeling when I finsihed. I started at about 7:30am and finished about 4:45pm. Mullholland was very hilly, but beautiful and 60% of the climbing was in the beginning of the day, so that was good. Some of the descents were so steep that my shoulders and hands began to hurt from pushing back on the handle bars. During the end of the ride my left knee and quads were hurting so bad that I had to pull over and stretch them every once in a while. I didn't want to do an damage with ALC6 only a couple weeks away. But all is good. It was actually fun and a huge accomplishment too. I only had a small derailleur issue at mile 75, and was able to make the adjustment on my own :) One of the guys at work showed me how. The boy scouts who supported the ride had some yummy treats (cheese sandwiches, PB&J, strawberries, oranges, a variety of breads, cookies, etc) and held our bikes for us as we got our munchies, filled out water bottles and ran to the rest room. I even saw Thomas Beer (the CEO from IMC--the company I used to work for) as I came out of one of the porta potties on rest stop 2. We chatted a bit. I guess he was doing the 62 miler. It was a pleasant suprise and a joy to see another person who has caught the passion to cycle.

I am off my bike for 2 days then tues-fri I will be riding to work form Jaclyn's house. We have competitions at work for riding to work and my team (Blazing Saddles) is in 3rd place. We were in 5th and last place when I started there. I hope to gain enough points to help bring us up in the standings, plus I get individual points too. I hope that my legs have enough in them for the rest of the week. I have to commute 16 miles each way with a nice climb early on.















Tune in again to see how my week went and as I finalize my things for ALC6. (Click on map of route above to enlarge)