Alc 6

[uk elephant]

It is now official! I recieved my information packet yesterday. :D Now I had better get seriously started on the fundraising and training. Any good suggestions will be much appreciated.

I was working on drafting out some letters to send to people yesterday. I also have plans to start selling cookies as work. My chocolate chip cookies always get rave reviews (and even a couple of marriage proposals) so they shouldn't be too hard to sell. I have also included a signature line on both my e-mail accounts with a link to my donation web-page. Hopefully the money will soon start trickling in.

BF is also prooving to be much more supportive than I had anticipated. Last night he was busy typing away at the computer making up a story to send to the local papers/media. He is actually a very good writer and the story is really good. And reading it gave me yet another insight into what he is thinking about all this. He might think I'm mad (but then again, he is mad too in his own way), but he is helping out the best he can.

The problem now will be finding the time for those longer rides. During the week, I do 20 or 40 miles after work (depending on whether I work a half or a full day), but on the week-ends I always end up busy with chores and errands. I may have to sacrifice my lazy Sunday mornings with Country File on BBC and bacon and eggs for breakfast.....hopefully BF won't be too disappointed when I'm not cooking him breakfast every Sunday morning....

[Trek420]

Well, training for a week of riding does eat up your life :)

But you're in for the ride of your life, it's a great week .... provided that you train. If you don't it's kinda he**'ish.

To that end I vowed to do more commutes, errands by bike, an easy way to slip some miles in.

A brief hitch in my plan:the ancient seat of my GT commuter has decided "I need to be replaced now, I'll notify you this way...". Oww oww oww.

My rides last week....kinda painful....if I had a romantic life to be impacted by the bike it'd be sad :rolleyes: Maybe it's good that I don't?

Now I need to get a new saddle and seat post so I'll take the bike in Saturday on the way to a brunch with friends. Chris (wrench) suggests the Terry butterfly which I've never tried. I had a Terry Liberator before, it was ok. Hmmmmm.

Just ride-eat-sleep-shop-repeat, UK. See you in May!

[ACG]

Training for me was a challenge but enjoyable. I did give up the morning breakfast with the family. I rode every Saturday and Sunday and I rode hard those days, even if the ride was short. I also rode during the week at least 3 days. Another thing to remember is to cross train. When the weather was bad or it was too dark I went to the gym. Sometimes my time didn't permit that, I would lift free weights at home for 20 minutes. Why not start out early on Sunday and then when you get home, you can have brunch? Good work, keep it up. See you all soon.

Rider 1132!!!

[liksani]

Training for me was hard to fit in but fun. Did a long ride every Sunday when I could with ALC group in South Bay. Rode some Saturdays, maybe rode during the week like once? I really didn't get the mileage in that I should have, but somehow it worked out? Go figure. :P

[Trek420]

liksani, bet it worked out because you had the basic fitness from the start.

ACG see you on the ride. Are you in Team Amica Veloci yet? I suppose I could check that myself. :cool:

[ACG]

Ok, I just e-mailed my cycle buddy. I am on the team! It will be great to ride with all you gals, or should I say my TE family.

Today I couldn't ride, too dark and it is getting cold. I ride early a.m. before work. Guess it is time to hit the gym or use my bike on a trainer.

[Trek420]

Yeah! I see UK's on the AV team so far....I'll post the link when you're on board too. "Bradley" my commuter's in the shop :( but I plan to get a ride or more in this weekend and have been popping into spin at lunch.

[Kallisti]

After being a roadie (bike mechanic) last year, and experiencing the magic and inspiration, I've decided to ride in ALC 6!
I'm very excited to be involved in such a great effort again.
I'll be blogging my experiences on my webpage, along with tips and advice from my experiences as a bike shop employee, mechanic, and long-time cyclist.
My first entry is on the basics of lycra shorts. Maybe this info will help someone out there.

www.aidslifecycle.org/1713

[Trek420]

Kallisti, welcome to TE!

This year will be my third ride and if you count the year I crewed (and we both know that's harder than riding) and the year I just lead training rides my 5th time participating.

we have a TE team you're welcome to join too.

[KnottedYet]

I would really like to crew for ALC. Could put my medical skills to work. I'm not allowed to diagnose or evaluate, but I can fill an ice bag and tape knees and ankles!

Edit: Yeah, baby! There is a special Roadie team just for ME!!! Sports Medicine!

(now I just gotta find the contact person, and I'm not having much success at the moment. Trek? Help?)

[Trek420]

the medical crew could be hard to get into because I think they are all from SF general. If you have massage certification you could get into massage crew or on another medical crew.

I think crewing's harder than riding :o

[KnottedYet]

There's Medical crew, and there's also Sports Medicine crew. Also a Massage crew. Different critters entirely. I found a contact for "SF Roadie Manager", is that who I wanna write to?

[Trek420]

Yes. and there's Chiropratic crew and serving gatorade while dressed in tutus dancing Swan lake crew and....

[KnottedYet]

can I do massages while dressed in a tutu?

I'm all over that...

[Trek420]

yes, you can wear whatever you want :p

[Kitsune06]

...*must fight mental image of masseuses in tutus...*

I wish there were more charity rides going on up here now...

[KnottedYet]

Kit, you and I could crew ALC together. Carpool to SF! We could be Team Amici Veloci's personal roadies at the end of the day.

[Kitsune06]

Sounds like a good idea! I wish I had more time off work here, though. I'm assuming it's not on a weekend? :rolleyes:

[Trek420]

hardly :o it's a week long ride :D

[liksani]

man.. all this talk of alc makes me wanna do it again...:P

[Trek420]

good, see you in June :cool:

[liksani]

haha what.... i'm not even sure if i can be in the correct state at that point. :P

[Kallisti]

This is the Los Angeles ride, that starts in Griffith Park.
I'll be doing the advanced ride, which is 36 miles. I was going to do it on my single speed (because it's the only road bike I have right now), but I had the great fortune to hook up with Tonya Bray, who drives the Feminine Demo Truck for Cannondale, so I'll be riding a demo WSD Cannondale Carbon Synapse instead. Woohoo!
I'll do a review of the bike on my blog.

[ACG]

I will be there Saturday. My rider number is 1132. I am bringing a friend with me, he was one of my biggest supporters both mentally and monetarily. I ride a black/orange Giant OCR. Last year this training ride was the longest ride I had ever done, when I saw La Tuna Canyon I almost turned around. I had a blast! I'll look for you.

[Trek420]

pictures, we want pictures. Also Kalisti and ACG if you're not already on a team, let your rider rep know that you want to be on Amici Veloci.

[KnottedYet]

I haven't written to the roadie crew contact yet. I better get on the stick!

<hits "apple" "N" to open new window to write to L. Smith>

Edit: ok, I wrote. Now, if I get onto a Sports Med crew, do I get to hang out with Amici Veloci in the evening? (I'll be your personal masseusse, but I probably won't wear a tutu. sorry.)

[Trek420]

Hi Knott,

You'd be able to hang out with whoever you want but...you'll be too busy patching people up to be anyones personal mechanic, masseuse, lentil chef...anything. Crewing is hard work ... but very rewarding in its own way. :)

[KnottedYet]

Pbththtbth! You didn't manage to talk me out of it. I've got 5 contacts now at ALC, and the 3 Sports Med crew captains are supposed to be writing to me soon about getting on a physical therapy crew.

[Trek420]

phbpht! I wasn't trying to talk you out of it, actually I was looking for the inside scoop on getting a massage appt on the ride :cool: "Hey! I know someone!"

[Trek420]

Adding up the miles posted under "campsites" on ALC website the daily mileages is as followed:

day 1 79.3
day 2 105.4 whoo hoo, a century!
day 3 75.2 with Quadbuster
day 4 98.7 with Evil Twins I think
day 5 43.5 short day but...in a red dress? :o
day 6 84.1
day 7 60.8
---------------------
Total 547 miles

even though shorter than before :eek: I better train. Back on the Cycleops gals.

[KnottedYet]

the sports med crew leaders haven't gotten to me yet. I'd better pick one and send off an email.

[Duck on Wheels]

:D :D It's official. I'm on the Day 0 "team". See you gals at registration! Then I'll be driving with the family cheer squad, visiting friends on our own route south so we can watch you all bike in to the closing ceremonies.

[Trek420]

wow, that was fast. Last year I didn't get into Day 0 team till the last minute.

See you there :p

[Duck on Wheels]

I'll be on the noon-to-six shift (rather than battle rush hour traffic into the city from Sonoma), but I said I'd try to come early. Don't know where in the alphabet I'll be, but I'll wear something distinctive so you can all come by and receive "The Blessing from The Duck" for your ride. (Oh dear, now I have to come up with a blessing. Any ideas?)

[Trek420]

Duck on Wheels

you could say just about anything in Norwegian and it'd be cool.

[Duck on Wheels]

OK. Then the blessing is: Kjør forsiktig og ha det artig!

[lph]

Heh - nice, Duck :)

[carolp]

My husband and I are doing the ride on a tandem. I'm 54 and had knee replacement in May, so I look at this as a challenge, but definitely a good one! We rode today and yesterday and since we have tomorrow off, we're riding again tomorrow.
I'm blogging on my site: www.aidslifecycle.org/6009

Also, during the ride I'll be blogging for UCSF because that's where I work-- in the news office and UCSF has a lot of riders and roadies.
I can't wait!