Training for ACL5

I am riding the ACL5 with a group, they are not regular cyclists, they just want to participate so riding isn't their focus. I think I am just weird or something, you tell me. One of the gals rides her bike once every few days, no more than 5 or 6 miles. Recently she went with another group, I couldn't go I was really sick. She never made it over 9 miles per hour. She also would pedal a little, then coast, then pedal then coast. The ride leader tried to coach her and told her that if she was going to try to ride 585 miles, she needed to at least break a sweat. She would just nod and then coast, pedal, smile, nod, coast. Now maybe I shouldn't care, but if I were walking around telling people to help me raise money cuz I was riding 585 miles, I'd feel bad knowing I plan to ride only partially each day then get picked up by a relief truck. I just feel like they should try a little.

I don't think you're weird at all - I wouldn't attempt to do a ride like that without training for it!

I'd be careful about committing to ride ACL5 with people who have no intention of training for it though. Your expectations of riding the distance nicely may very well clash with their style...

I had an experience on an MS ride many years ago (back in the days when I still did large group rides...) - not the same, but one where the other individual expected something that I couldn't deliver. I am not a fast rider but I am consistent, and I can keep going forever. I had a co-worker ask if we could ride together on this 2-day MS ride. My response was yes, but! I told her my average speed, knowing that hers was quite a bit faster than mine. I suggested that we share a room but explained about our distance in speed & told her that I wouldn't be able to keep up with her pace. She said that she would ride my pace. OK, ride starts, and she clearly wanted to ride faster. I reminded her that I was fine with her taking off if she wanted to. We encountered some faster riders, and she decided to head out with them. No problem from my standpoint. The problem? I ended up finishing the day's ride a good 2 1/2 hours before she did. She and her group rode fast, then stopped and lounged at every food stop. I rode my slower pace, stopped for food, water, and bathroom breaks - then got back on my bike. And at the end of the day, she was totally pissed (at me!) that I finished earlier than she did! All I could do was laugh...

Long story, I know - just don't want to see you end up in a situation like that!

--- Denise

I feel like you do. I do not ride fast, but have good endurance. So I often finish with everyone else, but am less tired, etc. I guess what bugs me is that they seem to not even want to try a little. It also bugs me that they are touting the miles to people without the intention of even doing the miles. Additionally they keep asking me to help them train and then don't follow thru on their own. One time it took us 6 hours to ride 38 miles, I was exasperated. I wanted to train and wound up baby sitting, cuz they kept stoppping and they didn't want to pedal. There were times were this one gal would not even try to pedal up a very small 50 foot hill, very small I might add. She got off her bike and walked up.

AGC and all the TE riders,

First off congratulations on your commitment to doing this thing, it's a great cause and you're all in for a wonderful experience.

As for your ride buddies, while i don't suggest that you ditch them friendship wise or emotionaly or encouragement wise but you have to do what's safe and right for you as a rider.

While anything could happen to prevent you from logging every mile, kamikaze squirels, you name it, stuff happens but you should train, equip, maintain your bike and body with the goal of doing the full ride.

It's a ride not a race so what Denise said: manage your time at rest stops (if you stop and looligag you'll get cold and that'll be it for your day) and set a pace you can maintain the whole day, the whole ride.

Listen to the TE gals and you will do fine!!

Get yourself onto "official" ALC training rides, ride with a local bike club, lift and cross train. Talk to BG she did a great training program and was one of the first in each day. My goal last year was to train well *over* 3 times the distance and altitude gain of ALC and then treat the ride itself like a 7 day recovery ride.

Your friends will be fine, plenty of people at the back of the pack (like me) ride your own ride.

Then on Day 1 you'll have done the hard part, rigorous training and fundraising which is especially hard this year due to the tragedy in the Katrina states and other needs. Anyway on the ride I watched the HRM, ate everything and anything they put in front of me, hydrated and rode all but 10 miles. I think if you add in distance in and outa rest stops...I was there.

But you gotta do the work first.

It's a hard ride, if you're not ready for it this becomes a safety issue for you, the crew and other riders. If you're that tired you could become innatentive or worse.

The crew and support are incredible, best I've ever seen, I've crewed and know how hard they work. Rideing to LA is easier, trus me, thank them every chance you get. I decided is the best thing I could do to help them is to not need them!

I'm not saying this to alarm you in any way, but the crew will pull the ride if their resources are stretched to the point they can't assure the safety of all. I told my sponsors "last year i bonked on day 3 this year i will ride every mile" so part of it is personal commitment, I don't set a goal to fall short, I set goals to acheive them.

No one will fault your friend, you or anyone for sagging the ride, fact is knowng your limits sometimes is the halmark of a good athlete. If you try your best and don't finish every mile you've still accomplished so much.

But stop at the first pit each day and you'll miss rest stop 4, and I wanna hear from all of you what they do each day this year! And you'll miss the kids that come out and the disco in the streets and you'll miss either being one of the first into camp and cheering the others as they arrive or what's better the ride into camp at Ventura where you literally ride through the camp. On ALC 3 i was the 2nd to the last in that day, 2 flats yeah right, I'm just slow. And I regret that I did not hang back with Sharon the last rider to come in together (sharon? you lurking? good job).

PS: I was planning on dropping in on the 17 mile SF ride this weekend, gotta work 8-( SF TE gals I'll try to be out there on a training ride soon. And I plan to see you all on Day 0.

Hey ACG - that situation sounds frustrating - I guess my advice would be along the lines of what everyone else is saying, but also, mentally, I think what is helping me is to have been riding with people who have a lot of enthusaism for the ride (and for me signing up for and doing the ride!) and I think the shared enthusiasm and sense a personal "stretch" is really helpful to me. From what have heard from friends who have done it year after year is that, of course, physical training is a huge part of a "successful" ride (whatever success means with respect to each person's goals) but that so much of it is mental and emotional. I hope you can find a group to train with that shares your enthusiam and commitment, as well as compatible riding styles. Good luck!

ACG- Everything that TREK says about the ride is absolutely true! Send me an email and I"ll send you Cat's email. She is the interpreter for the deaf on the ride and lives in So Cal. I"m sure she can give you some suggestions as to who you can train with down there.

Also, do as many organized rides as you can. This means starting as soon as you can- perhaps the ride in Palm Springs (I think that's in Jan or Feb) as a good beginner as it is flat and there are a few options on the distance.

Work up to metric centuries and then century rides as these are distances you will be covering on the actual ride. You need to build your endurance. The only way to build endurance is to ride long rides. There just isn't any other option. I did weight training as well (for upper body strength)and I rode at least 4 and sometimes 5 times a week.

Riding for 7 days is hard work no matter how you look at it. Although the rest stops are fun and keep the daily ride interesting, you have to have the mental stamina to do this ride successfully.

How is your fund raising going? If you can get your minimum of $2500. done sooner than later, you can then concentrate on training. I trained AND raised money all the time. When I reached $2500, I raised my goal as I wanted to include as many people on my sponsoring team as I could. Please feel free to contact me for support. Of course, this goes for anyone on this site who is participating.

ACG and all, everything that Bike Goddess says about the ride is absolutely true! Especially:

"Riding for 7 days is hard work no matter how you look at it. Although the rest stops are fun and keep the daily ride interesting, you have to have the mental stamina to do this ride successfully."

I find it's not so much the miles, well it IS the miles, but it's the back to back to back'ness of it all. My cousin and his DP do double centuries often and he scoffs at the idea of this ride. Not scoffs really, just "too easy" for us, we do doubles".

Alrighty then what do you do the day after?

"Sleep"

OK ;-)

On ALC or any multi day tour you'll get up and do it again and again.... So work on recovery, stay fed, hydrated and comfy.

I don't know if this is correct but last year Spazzdog had me do hill repeats or jumps once a week *the last 3 months before the ride* (not yet, I'd stay with the subliminal hint unless you're already doing this).

I credit her tip with better ability to recover.

What BG says, the rest stops are fun but you'll get in and outa them, maybe 15 minutes at rest and water stops and 1/2 hour at lunch, tops. If you spend more time you'll get cold, stiff.

THANKS! to all. I am frustrated with this group, especially the one gal. (She recently told our Xerox rep that she trains all the time) Yet I've come to realize that is her problem. I am training with a group that is not riding ACL5 but wants ME to do well. They have been really encouraging, even trying new routes that they hope will help me improve my skills. The other group, I'll participate in fundraisers, etc. but am going to limit my training rides with them. Selfishly, if I have 6 hours blocked for training, I'm training, not coaching people who don't really want to ride.

Everyone has told me to pace myself, and not worry about other people. I've also taken a few other steps, bought a new bike, am collecting lots of clothing, gear, cross train, etc. I don't want to finish first, I just want to finish. And I've already raised $825.00. The gals of TE are the best encouragement, thanks to all!!!!!!

This was my first organized ride of the year.

It was cold when I set out from home, cold enough to have 2nd thoughts (did I mention I hate cold?). But I'd told myself I'd get to some ALC training rides and with one starting 1 BART station down I had to do that.

By the time I arrived it was turning into a beautiful day. We had 18 riders including a few newbies.

After the obligatory safety speech we set out.

There was an odd kid, with his mountain bike, not an ALC rider, no helmet who watched us gather and decided to ride with us. One thing odd about this kid is that his face had this palor, grey almost. We were a diverse group of men, women all different ages but we all had that "glow of health". He just wanted to ride with and his frequent cheery "I'm keeping up with you!" were amusing.

He was doing the frustrating and unnerving "ride his pace and then whenver a women passed him struggle and pedal wildly to pass or keep up" thing.

What was not amusing was when I passed him on a hill on Coyote Hills park, called out started to pass and he looked back at me (can't hold a line) and started to move to his left right smack into me.

I like to think I'm an extremely polite and calm cyclist...he's probably off somewhere trying to recover his hearing in his left ear now. :rolleyes: :cool:

At the coffee/regroup stop I talked to a couple gals about TE board (yes, we recruit on TE). If you're lurking, howdy!

There was some confusion about the route as we left and uhm some people took a wrong turn and another group of 3 slower or just more relaxed men got off route so we were split in 3 groups.

I stayed with Russ the leader and we got back the rest were not far behind us.

ACG, Bikerz, Hill Slug, liksani, Shadon, how's the training goin'?

Haha. Just started training, I was one of the newbies on the ALC ride that was with the people who took a wrong turn. ;) Was lots of fun tho. :p

OMG this is too funny. OK, so you weren't either one of the gals I talked to about TE or you probably would have said "I'm already there"....and you weren't Red or was it Orange mtb and Sidi's gal, the one who made the "T'Cells on the move" stickers because she was on the ride last year (notice how on this board we can't remember names but we remember what bike shoes you are wearing...oh that's just me?)

ok, I'm the short, chubby gal, dark hair, glasses, silver/plum Mondonico road bike, dressed like it's the arctic, grey tights, Lifecycle vest, pink arm warmers, pink helmet, Impeach Bush bike socks.

I'm really really bad with names were you the gal who stopped in Coyote Hills park, you were having some trouble with your shifting? Silver Specialized (?) with rack on the back?

You done real good!! I hear your variation of the route included a hill?

Yeah I was the girl who stopped in Coyote Hills Park cuz I was having trouble with shifting. Black Specialized w/rack. So you probably already have an idea of who I am vaguely. ;) I'm short and asian and female, I think that should narrow it all totally down.

And yeah we went up a hill with a headwind. :(

liksani "we went up a hill with a headwind. :("

on your first organised ride? that was billed as "flat and easy"? with no toe-clips or clipless that I could see?

After Helga gets done with it...the Princess She-Ra tiara goes to....liksani

ya' done good.

where'd I see that, ah, click here for info on chain, shifting problems http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...operator+error

when's your next planned training ride? Maybe have you TE gals get together?

haha.. yeah it was probably the first time i biked any sort of distance. i don't really bike. ;) was gonna possibly go snowboarding again this weekend, but i think that's a no go. so sort of debating between the alc ride in palo alto on sat, a south bay velo girls ride, or the alc ride in sunnyvale on sun. :O

just trying to figure out if i'll be able to go to practice sat night if i bike on sat morning. :p tho i do think i should probably get bike shorts at least. :D

liksani wrote "yeah it was probably the first time i biked any sort of distance. i don't really bike. ;)"

but ya do now ;-) welcome to the tribe, resistance is futile bwah hah hah ;) ;) ;)

how do you feel today?

"just trying to figure out if i'll be able to go to practice sat night ..."

Practice? From the stretches you were doing after the ride I'm guessing some kind of martial art?

"....debating between the alc ride in palo alto on sat, a south bay velo girls ride, or the alc ride in sunnyvale on sun. :O"

let us know, maybe some of the gals here will join you.

"...i do think i should probably get bike shorts at least. :D"

oh yeah, get the best bike shorts you can afford. are you going to get bike shoes? even if you don't go clipless, they really help.

oh i feel fine today. just a little sore more from sitting on saddle but not actual muscle soreness. and my right wrist hurts a little when i rotate it, but that's sort of my gimp wrist that i've injured before and acts up from time to time when i use a mouse.

yeah, i do wushu. :) hmm dunno if i'm gonna get bike shoes or not. i actually have toe clips for my bike, but i wasn't that comfortable on a bike to begin with so the LBS just took them off for me and said i could put them back on whenever i got more comfortable.

liksani

"yeah, i do wushu. :)"
oh right, I do Aikido. gals, liksani is flexible. My knees can't do those low stances anymore :(

"hmm dunno if i'm gonna get bike shoes or not."
I highly reccomend them, ask the gals here for reccomendations. You're on a looooooong ride, your feet will thank you for the support. Plus you get more power into the bike.

"i actually have toe clips for my bike, but i wasn't that comfortable on a bike to begin with so the LBS just took them off for me and said i could put them back on whenever i got more comfortable."
uncomfy how? :confused:

oh just uncomfy in the general sense of not being on a bike since elementary school? and i wasn't used to having the seat set where it was since my vague memories of a bike in elementary school was with a lower seat. ;) tho that could be my crappy faulty memory too. yeah i somewhat abuse my feet... poor feet, they're happy i stopped doing long distance runs tho they'll be sad when i start up again.

Think I'm going on the velogirls south bay ride on Sat and the ALC CAT2 ride in Sunnyvale on Sunday. Any of you guys going to either? :)

after to much rain, I got back on the bike and rode Canada road, with some of my fundraising teammates, week before last, and the Tiburon mini loop last Sunday. The Camino Alto hill was a challange and comming down the other side was hard.

I"m at the gym twice a week and doing cardio three times a week.

Amidst all this, I'm battling the inability to sleep all night, and signifigant job stress, but may have turned the corner on that thanks to the pharmaceutical industry. I wish I could be unemployed for six months!

Ride On!

liksani, sounds like you're getting more comfy on the bike?

"...i wasn't used to having the seat set where it was since my vague memories of a bike in elementary school was with a lower seat. ;)"

Sounds counterintuitive but you're often more comfy with the seat higher.

I imagine in Wushu as in Aikido you move from the balls of your feet, right? You don't turn kinda rocked back on your heels. That's so your feet are aligned with your knees are aligned with your hips are...also gives you more power at least I think it does plus it protects your knees.

Same thing on a bike.

You pedal from the balls of your feet for the alignment and to get all the power available from your legs. At least that's the way it feels to me.

Sometimes to do that you have to raise the seat a bit.

What you want to see is at the bottom of your pedal stroke (6 o'clock) your knee should be straight but not locked with the pedal at the ball of your foot. If at 6 o'clock your knee is bent...you may want to raise the seat a bit to "take the slack outa your leg".

Does that make any sense? So if you're feeling like the seat is low, next time you ride watch or have someone check for you at that 6 o'clock position is your knee bent? Are you pedaling from the ball of your foot? If not, may want to play with some small adjustments to the seat.

One of the many good things about clipless or toe clips is they keep your foot in that position.

"...yeah i somewhat abuse my feet... poor feet, they're happy i stopped doing long distance runs tho they'll be sad when i start up again."

but they'll be happy with the rest and with the strength for your "cycling muscles" so keep ridin' :)

I have to work Saturday :( So i won't make the Cindy ride :( I will look into the South Bay Sunday ride.

Shadon, sorry to hear that work sucks. That's why I'm glad for the day off today. But trust me, I wouldn't wish unemployment on anyone. Hope it gets better soon.

: Hill Slug slimes into the forum :

It's been kinda quiet on my end. I changed jobs which was a good thing. I kinda stopped riding, which is a bad thing. I started back up this week, good thing. I had some conflicting calendar issues with the ALC ride, so I had to withdraw, bad thing. I am able to to the NorCal AIDS Challenge, good thing. So now I'm slowly getting back into the groove. I do plan on riding the Cinderella, and may even have a couple other friends ride it too. Since I'm now a corporate citizen, I won't be able to come up too early on Friday before the ride, so I probably won't be able to meet up for dinner.

It's good to be back....:)

: HS returns to work :

Hill Slug, howdy stranger! Let's see if I can keep track we have a good thing, bad thing, good thing, bad thing, good thing, bad thing lastly good thing, right? oh I'm lost....well be that way, make me change my footer.

Welcome back, now get back to work.

HS- Wondered where you were all this time. Sorry to hear about ALC5-, but maybe next year!

Liksani- Now some tips for you. When you are pedaling uphill (and in general) practice pedaling with your heel DOWN as far as you can get it. It will feel strange at first, BUT this is the way to get the most power from your legs.

I learned this trick from my dear bike club buddies, and believe me, they aint no guys in a diner. Most of them have been riding 20-30 years and ride both here in the USA and in Europe.

It took me awhile to learn this stroke, but I am a stronger rider for it. Like I say, practice, practice, practice! Hills will get easier for you, I PROMISE!:) :)

Bike Goddess "Hills will get easier for you, I PROMISE!:) :)" yeah promises promises ;) :cool:

Seriously liksani, what BG sez.

The ride's not a race but BG rode every mile and was amoung the first to get in each day. I literally had to remind her to sloooow down, enjoy the ride, stop and watch the puppet show at rest stop 4.

I wanna be BG when i grow up :p

TREK- Get your heels down, and ye shall grow up! :p :p :p :p :p :p :p

For those of you who have done the AIDS ride and know David McDevitt's two-day Russian River ride, you'll be pleased that the event is returning this year. Positive Pedalers will be sponsoring this event as a replacement for the Jonathan Pon Century; in fact, it will be called the Jonathan Pon Russian River Ride.

The dates are May 13 and 14. I am not sure of the exact start location yet, though it will likely be in Sausalito. The destination will be Cassini Ranch in Monte Rio. Day two will likely be short ride to the mouth of the Russian River, hang a left and whoopeee! Ride down the coast, into Point Reyes Station, may include the Marin Headlands.

Pre-registration will be required, there will be a maximum number of participants (about 150), a registration cut-off date, and a fee to cover the cost of support, gear, two meals and camp rental. Riders will need to furnish their own tents.

It's a beautiful route and nice 2 day tour. I do not know yet if it's limited to ALC riders only, although my hunch is if it does not fill up others can ride. Check the ALC site or with one of your TE gals if you wanna go.

Last time I did this ride i got lost :cool: ;) so I hope to do it again just not the getting lost part. the take home lesson was "just because you see a rider ahead and they turn right, does not mean that I turn right"

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ian+river+ride

::surfs off to try to arrange overnight dog-care for Mae::

I helped lead a 30 mile training ride for the AIDS ride yesterday, I don't know my exact mileage, adding to and from BART and since I swept at the end I had to double back a couple of times it was probably 40.

Great ride, decent route and a great group. it was nice to take advantage of a brief window of good weather here.

Tut tut, looks like rain today and for the next few days. Good excuse for a rest day. Maybe get my taxes done. I have a massage appointment and will drop by and see Spazzdog too.

As I took BART out yesterday I thought "the hills are looking very green. Oh hills, we're in the hills, OY, gonna ride hills".

We had about a dozen riders and 5 ride leaders. We warmed up, I did the obligitory safety speach and we headed out.

The ride starts with a long but gentle hill, y'all know I'm not fast or good at hills but was complimenting myself that on my first long group ride of the season I'm "keeping up with the guys" then I look down.

Oh, I'm in my small chainring, usually on a hill like that I'd be in the middle on a low gear in rear deraileur. This is NOT a granny gear hill for me. Alrighty then, doing pretty good. Without really thinking about it I've geared down to stay behind the group. Could easily be with the faster pack.

Well, it is a Cat 1 ride after all.

One guy was clearly struggling so I hung back with him. He's got some serious structural issues with his knee, not just the brace he wears but each time he got off the bike I feared his ankle would roll, the muscles around his ankle are very weak and they are supporting one big big guy, well over 6 foot. So his right side is compensating and his right leg cramps up frequently....OY.

We talked about some things he can do about the ankle. bike fit of course but also....

I wear a knee brace that's a marvel of modern engineering, not on the bike but in Aikido. I made some suggestions to "prop up" the ankle, hung back behind him and gently reminded him to spin up hills not push a big gear to flush out the lactic acid that's cramping him up.

He's got two water bottles but no electrolyte, that's not helping either.

He said spinning helps. Ultimately he wisely accepted a ride back in about 6 miles from the end. Since I was sweeping I rode the last hill in alone and got a well deserved downhill into Orinda.

Another thing for the new riders is diet. You can't expect to skip breakfast or eat very little and go out and ride or train hard. At a rest stop we'd talked and seveal of the riders had either not had breakfast or "yeah, I ate a lot, I had a banana and coffee".

Well, no wonder you struggle hills ;-)

Haha, I swear I eat a ton. So that's not why I struggle up the hills. :D

liksani "Haha, I swear I eat a ton. So that's not why I struggle up the hills. :D"

it's all fuel :D

I was wondering how many miles/hours you are training at this point? I'm trying to ride almost everyday much as I can, but sometimes feel exhausted by Saturday, which is one of the 2 days I can put in a lot of miles. I am thinking I should not be riding 7 days a week. What do you think?

How long is the ride, when is it, and what is your comfortable long distance right now?

Nanci

ACG- Coming from experience, You are riding too much, my dear!!!!!!!! You can do this ride on 5 days a week. Given we are in the middle of March, I'd say you should be doing a long ride on say Saturday followed by a recovery ride on Sunday. What is the longest ride you are doing right now and what distances are you doing during the week? Are you doing any of the AIDS training rides?

I successfully completed this ride last year, so I'm happy to give you suggestions,(see what I said at the beginning of this thread) but we need more info!

I can only ride in the a.m. and because it is dark at 5 and cold. I ride on a trainer for one hour. I start off in an easy gear working towards harder gears, then spend 5 minutes on easy gears. I've only been able to go to the gym once a week for weight training. Every other week (wednesday) I'm skipping work and riding 35-45, hilly routes. Saturdays wind up being 50-60 (with lots of hills), Sundays wind up being 35-45. Trying to ride a century a month somewhere in all this too.

I think I'm not eating correctly either, but have recently made some changes that seem to help. Have missed some of the ALC training rides. But that is cuz the group I'm with seems to care more about the social aspects of fundraising that the training. I keep saying -balance ladies.

Now that I've reached my goal, I may cut back on the group fundraising. Maybe not the nicest thing to do. But maybe I should spend a few more days at the gym? Less on the trainer?

what Bike Goddess sez, to say she "successfully completed this ride last year" is an understatement. It's a ride not a race but BG was one of the first ones in each day.

If you're doing the rough equivelant of back to back metric centuries now, you are doing fine!! If the ride started tomorrow, you could do this.

Listen to your body, get enough rest, nutrition, do some things for range of motion, yoga, stretching.

Nanci, the ride is 7 days, 585 miles and in June.

So less than 100 miles a day. If it were me, I'd probably be doing something like a long ride Saturday, working up to the 60-80 range, and about half that Sunday, rest Monday, short 15-30's on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, (maybe one day a week of springing/speed work) rest Friday. I would gradually increase my Saturday long ride up to 115-125, if possible (I know that's a long day riding) just because it feels so good to have extra gas in the tank, so to speak. But only do that really long distance a couple times, with maybe three weeks in between. Then I wouldn't do that much of a taper, because like Tour de France, or anything, you don't want your body to get out of daily-riding mode, but I would cut back the long ride the weekend before to something like 60 or even 40.

Nanci

wow you're so good. makes me feel I should get that way. Been waiting for the rain to clear up before I can try commuting to work by bike and use that for mileage. Right now, I only do really one or two rides a week, usually a short 20-30 mile ride on Sat and a longer ALC training ride I do on Sundays that was up to 55ish miles as of this past Sunday. And I say boo for hills, boo. That's about all I do.. so I should probably bike more but I also do martial arts twice a week and run about twice a week. :cool:

liksani, you are doing great!

Keep doing the MA, running's fine too. When it comes to training for this thing I say "do as I say not as I did" :)

On ALC 3-4 I tried to get 1 1/2 of training 6 days a week, not enough of that was on the bike but found ways to sneak time in.

Wushu is great, helps your range of motion so keep that up. Have you thought about doing a demo on talent night? Commute is a wonderful way to get miles in. I'd add a midweek killer spin class, hill repeats or jumps to build for those *&^% hills.

I'd stick with once a week for the climbing drills and keep up the long rides on the weekends.

What do y'all gals think? Is this a great group of riders or what? :p

hehe so bad, haven't been doing long rides. pesky rain. :( finally biked to work again since it wasn't raining today but it figures i would flat out. :P *grumble* i'm not sure how much biking i can get in during the week besides commuting on some days since i'm starting marathon training again... :D and now i know to carry a whole ton of CO2 cartridges or also bring along a small frame pump.. I'm quite thankful to the people who stopped to help me cuz they had pumps. :)

I'd made a personal commitment to lead (or sweep or kinda in the middle) an ALC training ride each month.

So yesterday I went on a Cat 1 ride, the 9th in a series.

We had I think 9 riders, not bad for a ride just announced the night before.

We met at Orinda Bart station we took Camino Pablo to Moraga Road to Mt. Diablo Blvd, right on Pleasant Hill Rd, left on Olympic to Tice Valley which had a nice climb if I'm recalling right, onto Crest Ave, Hillgrade Ave to Danville Blvd onto Railroad Street then a stop at the Cafe Francais for a regroup.

We crossed and and recrossed and shared the route with the MS Top Hat. It was great to see the riders out there, any TE gals?

After a banana muffin at the cafe, back on Railroad to San Ramon Valley Road where I missed the turn to Dublin Canyon, lucky that Mary the ride leader was near me, yelled and I turned around or I'd still be out there somewhere.

We pulled a u-turn and climbed Dublin Canyon Road.

If you're in the Bay Area this is a road you see from 580 fwy. and I'd always thought to myself "self? other than the view of the freeway looks like a nice yet gentle climb"

But that's from a car.

It kicked my happy b*tt.

I felt slow, this is a chalenging climb but one I should be able to do at a half decent clip. After a well deserved zip down E Castro Valley blvd we regrouped at Safeway. At that point the planned route went up Redwood Road to Pinehurst, Canyon Road, Moraga Way back to BART.

I decided things were not going to get better for me on Pinehurst and since I'd taken BART to the ride it wasn't as if my car was there. Everyone was doing fine and I would be holding them way up. So after a banana, Luna bar and hydration bev of choice I headed home. I had a choice of getting back on BART and then the normal 2 miles from BART but thought might as well ride all the way to tack on 10 more miles.