Trek420's Epic Trek

[Adventure Girl]

From June 6-12, 2004, our very own Trek420 (aka Mondonico, aka Dita) will be participating in AIDS/LifeCycle. It's a 7-day, 585-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to make a world of difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. She’s mentioned here before that she was riding it, but suddenly the time has arrived! It starts this weekend!

Good Luck, Dita. I hope you have a great time and that this is a fantastic experience for you (and your new bike)! Five smilies for you!

[MM_QFC!]

Have a great time...it's hard but not as hard as what those we love (and some we've lost) have had to deal with in the awful suffering they endure with this wretched pandemic. From having a number of AIDS rides under my shorts, I wish you tons o' fun, downhills, tailwinds to the max!
Have a safe ride and don't worry, there are always plenty of road angels to help up the hills and through the heat; it'll be great!
Ride on!
Mary

[Irulan]

is this a sponsorship deal? One of my sisters did the Heartland AIDS ride a few summers ago, I was fortunate in that my hubby's co does matching for that one!! she was a biking newbie, too.

penny

[MM_QFC!]

Yep, each rider has a fundraising commitment.
The CA ALC ride came into being as a replacement ride for the previous (for 8-9 years) Calif. AIDS ride by Pallotta Teamworks - similar to the Heartland AIDS ride after the Twin Cities to Chicago AIDS ride went under too. 2 of the previous beneficiaries of the CA AIDS ride had some issues with Pallotta's financial processes and went on their own. Pallotta sued them as they were still coordinating the final CA AIDS ride and using an identical route within a few weeks of the new one. It was a mess for a bit, but seems like the ALC has had success after a tough beginning.

[Trek420]

"....suddenly the time has arrived! It starts this weekend!?"

Wow, what a surprise, thanks for the support all.

We actually have a lot of riders on this board doing some epic rides RAGBRAI etc. let's hear from all of you.

When I signed up for the ride I thought "yeah, no problem, I can train for this". I'd just come off training for my second degree black belt in Aikido so had a running start. I found myself thinking today as I headed to San Francisco for the safety video, I looked at the coastal mountain range I'll ride on sunday and said "what ever made me think I can do this?"

There will be a webcast so you can follow along from aidslifecyle.org. Velogirls bike club has 6 riders, we'll do a group rideout on Monday, day 2. Don't know if we'll get pictured but if you see a short chubby gal wearing pink helmet, bike, armskins and wearing bike tights and ATB shoes that may be me. the only day I know what jersey I'll wear is Monday, the pink Velogirls jersey.

see you when I get back.

[snapdragen]

Good luck to you -- you are going to have the time of your life!!

[Trek420]

"Good luck to you -- you are going to have the time of your life!!"

I'm baaaaack. So much to say, yes it was lots of fun but very hard work. I'll be updating my homepage over the next few weeks right now, sorting my thoughts out about the ride, as well as catching up on huge amount of toxic waste laundry ;-)

I had a goal to do every mile of the ride at least under my own power (cross training was allowed) didn't acheive that. But I rode every mile of day 1, 2, bonked on 3 (hydrate-hydrate-hydrate) back in the swing of things on the "short day", then 5 & 6. Sagged 7 because they rolled up the rug on the back of the pack to get everyone in on time for the closing ceremonies. So I got to do 2 centuries, and an 85 and a 90 mile and that's not bad for someone who previously had only done metrics and would choose ones with few hills. Felt fine on the "short" day with the "evil twins" which I'd dreaded.


Things I learned:
* pack everything you think you'll need-then toss 1/3 out I packed waaay too much
* You can scrimp on a lot of things but not on bike shorts. Can we talk? One day on the "sale shorts" from REI I payed the price in saddle soars for the last 4 days.
* I will never be a "bike snob" again, I've been passed by Huffy's, folks on K-mart bikes with tennis shoes, 76 year olds, one brave rider who showed up with a US Postal edition bike-helmet and NO IDEA how to shift or brake the thing-he'd never ridden a road bike-he completed every mile, a double amputee with a hand bike...and Traci Chapman (she's a good group rider! Fast)

How's everyone else doing?

[Adventure Girl]

Congratulations. Go take a lonnnng rest! You've earned it!

[Susan126]

I just read this post . . . Can't wait to read all about your adventurous 7 days on your home page, Trek420!

I'm with you on one point you made here . . . the "DO NOT SCRIMP" on shorts! They may cost a lot more but "nice" shorts really do help (me at least) a lot! How the heck did you ride with saddle sores for 4 days? Your determination and will are definitely a lot stronger than mine! Kudos to you!

Sue

[Trek420]

"How the heck did you ride with saddle sores for 4 days? Your determination and will are definitely a lot stronger than mine! Kudos to you!"

Nah, the medical staff is amazing, I can't say enough about the entire crew.

I think it was day four i could not find a comfy spot on the bike so I swallowed my pride (your inhibitions just kinda go after the first day of camping with that many people) and went to the medical tent. The nice doctor patched me up with a special kind of gauze patch. They even had a special saddle sore van that cruised the route that you could pop into and they'd fix you up. Didn't hurt at all again till day 7

but ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure...if I do this again...7 pairs brand new Pearl Izumi or greater. Not last years shorts that still seem ok, this years shorts I got on sale....I think it was not the saddle's fault, Avocet OS 2, the bike fit fine, only a little shoulder soreness and one knee feels stiff but other than that I feel ok. Not shabby for 4F (fat, forty eight, female, first time rider)

Day one some laughed at the recumbents, day 7 they looked like the way to go

[aka_kim]

Congratulations, Trek (er Mondonico)! That's a lot of miles (and discomfort) for one week, but the cause is worth it.

You mention wanting 7 pairs of shorts next time -- does that mean there are no facilities to wash out your clothes each day? When I've toured I've used just 2 pairs of shorts and jerseys, which worked out well packing-wise, but in the humidity of Hawaii meant that from day 3 forward I always had very damp shorts -- yuck.

Anyway, great job! Is your picture anywhere on the event web site?

[snapdragen]

Welcome home girl! Congratulations and welcome to the club! (I joined in 2000, did Cal. AIDS Ride) I know what you mean about the toxic laundry, I wanted a full "bunny suit" before I opened my little zippy bags of smelly bike clothes!

akakim - they have wash tubs of sort to wash your clothes, but they don't dry in time for the next day's ride.

Trek - did you see anyone wearing their wet shorts on their helmets? Used to be a regular sight when I did the ride.....

Sounds like you had a great adventure, can't wait to see your website.

Janet

[Trek420]

"You mention wanting 7 pairs of shorts next time -- does that mean there are no facilities to wash out your clothes each day? "

By about day 3 there were tubs. Laundry tubs are traditionaly provided by the co. that provides the showers (abundant hot water, clean, little privacy but who cares and the showers are really pretty nice). You are asked not to do laundry in the sinks that are meant for tooth brushing etc, and not to do laundry in the showers. I overheard camp services manager (who i worked with on CAR4) say that it was the same co. as always but different people and they were being difficult about rigging up extra sinks but by about day 3 that had been resolved.

But you shouldn't count on that; for one thing it can rain and the coastline part is damp although people do put their shorts on their helmet to dry during the day. For the other thing just speaking personaly by the time i completed any days ride all I had energy to do is find my luggage, tent, eat, shower, not necessarily in that order. But for those who have the energy to do laundry ...you go girl! ;-)

"Anyway, great job! Is your picture anywhere on the event web site?"

found one on day 2, there's a picture of 3 cyclists crossing the green bridge. The one on the right with her head down is me. I know because I recognise the other 2 women. I'd just caught up with them, and we rode together chatting (not drafting, not riding side by side, ok everyone?) for a while, it's a long lonely stretch of the ride. I'm looking down because there are headwinds already and a hill starts about 50 yards forward so the photographer caught me checking where I am on the triple (I got a computer put on the bike right before the ride-forgot that Flightdeck is not compatible with Campy--oops) but based on the location, what I'm wearing and the other rifers I'm sure that's me. There may be more but I haven't found 'em, also others are starting to put photo essays online.

[Adventure Girl]

Here she is...

Originally posted by Trek420

on day 2, there's a picture of 3 cyclists crossing the green bridge. The one on the right with her head down is me.

[JanT]

I finally got around to reading this thread, which I'd been bypassing because I thought it related to a question about a bike. I learned that I should read every post, even if the subject header seems irrelevant to me. Your riding adventure is a true epic, and very inspirational. And in the process of challenging yourself, you helped make the world a better place. Awesome!