On Sunday we welcomed Oct with a 63 mile ride…the first 26 miles of the first days ride of the upcoming Young Survival Coalition's Tour de Pink with a side ride into the northern Santa Monica Mountains. Some good climbs on the route and a harder climb into the SMM's. After a great descent to the Oxnard valley floor (knowing we needed to ride back up it took some of the fun away) we stopped at the CSU Channel Islands campus in Oxnard, where i do some grant work in bioinformatics with a few grad students, to take a nutrition break and stretch. A good ride and I now have a good feel for the hardest part of the first days ride. Some short rides with just moderate climbs left in my training plan and I’ll be ready for the tour. Looking forward to the hopefully full 3 days of riding and being with kindred spirits wanting to help fund services for young women going through breast cancer. The thought of doing this ride really helped in my working through my journey this year...glad it's finally almost here and i that i feel good enough to participate!!!!!