Summer Riding Provides Bike Variety

More Bruce rides, WNY work rides and a local club Time Trial Series provides plenty of opportunity for riding. So the Lemond and Y-Foil are getting out and seeing some action. Yet untapped are club mountain bike rides, but that should be happening soon.

I was still hurting from the Whiteface UPhill race when I rode with Bruce and a crew of six the following week. That did not help me go up the very steep and too long Glens Falls Mountain Road just before the half-way point of the 55 mile quick ride. Bruce had to wait for me at the top, but as always, the reward is in the descent and we cruised to the Stewart's for a well-deserved break. The second half of the ride was much better as the climbing up West Mountain Road was less steep and at the beginning after the rest. The rollers going back to Skidmore were fun and the ride left a satisfying drained feeling.

Stewart Dam Crossing ----->

My work now takes me to WNY for more time to be with new people I have hired and to keep close to our customers there. I have begun packing up the Lemond with both wheels off in the back of the Subaru on my road trips. It saves the Cannondale from getting dinged and makes it possible to go on trails if needed. Also, the bike is heavier, so the rides I do will be better for training. I was able to get away for part of an early afternoon at Letchworth State Park in Mt. Morris, NY. If you have not been there, you should go. It is described as the Grand Canyon of NY. That is a lot to live up to and it does not compare to the western version, but it is a beautiful cut valley from the Gennese River flowing north through the Glacial till of western NY.

I started at the Mt. Morris entry near the dam and rode the length of the road south through the park to the other entrance at Portageville. It is 17 miles one way, so a 35-mile ride altogether. The ride south is uphill all the way with many dips and steep, short climbs mixed in. At first I thought my brakes were dragging on the flats, but I soon realized I was going upriver, so the flats were false ones. I stopped several times to rest my still weary legs and take some pictures of the river that at times was almost 600 feet below my vantage point. The road was smooth, but the air was awful as the local customers were spreading their manure and it was sinking down into the valley. No wind, but plenty of foul air. The return trip was a blast as now the false flats were leaning downhill and the down hills carried you over most of the uphill climbs. I now realized my legs were not as bad off as I thought.

I did get the Epic out for a short stroll one night with Donna walking Harry through our trails. It will be good to get back on the mountain bikes for some real single trail riding soon. The ankle is getting to the point that it will be ok.

I have wanted to do the Glens Falls local club Tuesday Time Trial on West River Road near Ft. Edward ever since they started doing them two years ago. But, Tuesdays have been tough for me to be home for in the summer, and every time I was, I was too tired or there was a thunderstorm. This time I was tired, but decided to go anyway. I was glad I did. There were 26 riders in all, and of all levels of ability and with all kinds of bikes. The Cambridge club riders make up the majority, but riders come from all over. The bikes ranged from state of the art TT bikes with aerobars and disc wheels to regular tour bikes.

I knew the road well from traveling with Donna as she rides to work and back. In fact Donna rode into work this beautiful day and I met her with the car as she was returning. I got to the parking lot about 45 minutes before the start, enough time to ride the five mile out, five mile back course for warm up. A donation of $5, signing the release and getting the number were all I needed to do. We lined up and started 30 seconds apart. My speedometer was not working, and I was almost glad. I know that a good time would be less than 25 minutes, so I just used the clock on my computer.

I hit it hard from the start and judged that I was pushing along at about 165 beats per minute (my heart rate monitor is also not working) by the level of breathing I was doing. I thought I could keep this pace for 25 minutes, so just kept at it. When my legs started to resist, I click up a gear for relief. At the turn around I was about 12 minutes into the ride, so felt I was doing a good ride. I passed two riders on the way out, and nobody else and no one passed me. On the way back I moved to a lighter gear a couple of times to get relief, but kept near the same pace. As I approached the rail road sign, which is near the finish, I pushed hard and had about 12 minutes more on the clock.

As it turned out my time was a little over 25 minutes, or 23.7 MPH, which was good enough for sixth place. I was happy with that! I would love to do it again and think I could improve by pushing bigger gears. The Y-Foil is really fun to ride and I was glad I rode it Monday morning for a 35 mile ride to get used to the positioning of the aerobars. I felt very comfortable with my position on the bike.

Next post should be about getting the Epic and/or Yeti out in the woods.

Whiteface Uphill Bike Race - Five Minutes Apart, One Second Togther

Hot and humid weather at the start turned to fog and mist at the finish; the ride down was in a pouring rain with thunder and lightning, but the Whiteface Race was a good day for both of us.

Donna and I did a lot of training together for this race. We did our hill intervals on Willard and Summit climbs. I would always pull ahead of Donna and circle back to cheer her on. My training was impaired by the ankle and my work schedule and Donna's by her hectic schedule. I noticed that she was getting closer and closer to matching my efforts as we got closer to race day.

Day of the race was very hot and humid with chance of severe thunderstorms late in the day. The race starts at 5:30 with waves going off in five-minute intervals. Close to 300 racers were gathered at the start. We warmed up for about 15 miles and then waited for all the preceding waves to go off. Donna's wave was five minutes before my "old men's" wave, the last one. I cheered as she started off in the bright hot sun.

The five-minute wait seems to last longer. Eventually the gun goes off and you have to start. The effort is pretty evenly distributed the whole 8-mile trip up the 8% on average slope mountain road. Which means, you have to start right off the bat by pushing it. The wait to start works against me every time because it is tough to turn it on right at the get go. I have a 25 sprocket on the back with the 39 low crank, so had to go there right away and only once or twice can i click it up one or two gears. My splits the first couple of miles are pretty good, so I was feeling encouraged. This is my fourth time doing the race, so I should learn that the early good news means bad news later. Mile 4 was a good split too, so I look at the heart rate monitor and I am staying around 168 most of the time.

By mile 6 I start receiving the bad news from my quads, back and ribs. Heart rate is still up there in the 165 range, but I am losing ground on the splits. I was heading for a 1:10 time, but that is slipping away. You can start to hear the announcer and the cheers from the finish at this point, yet there is much more work to do. I pass a couple of women and wonder how Donna is doing. I thought I might of seen her a couple of times when you can see far enough ahead.

Final push for the end and the fog is thick and air much cooler with some wind. The rain starts coming down hard the final 200 meters and the finish crew is scrambling for cover. I was unsure exactly where the finish line was in the confusion. But, finally it was over as there was no more up to go. I gasped and struggled to regain some dignity wiping foam and sweat from my face. I kept pedaling through the tunnel of the monument and there was Donna sitting huddled frozen Georgia mountain style. I asked what her time was and she says 1:15:09. I had my time at 1:15:48, but was not sure if I had it right in the confusion at the end.

Times were less important right now, getting off the mountain was paramount. Because, the sky lit up with lightning and thunder sent everyone scrambling and the wind and rain started to unload. After getting some food and Gatorade I tried to convince Donna we needed to start riding down. She thought we were not yet allowed, but from previous experience, I knew we were allowed to go. Finally we started, but this time we were not allowed to pass the traffic jam of cars and bikes that were going as slow as their brakes would allow. The road was flooded with runoff and the visibility was near zero. The ride down was almost as painful as the ride up. Our shoes were water logged as was the rest of our bodies. Forearms and hands grew numb with the effort of holding the breaks so the bikes would stay slow enough against the pull of gravity to stay in place behind cars and bikes.

Finally, we were off the mountain and at the car changing out of our wet heavy clothes. We made our way over to the picnic and consumed the food in large gulps under the cover of tents in the pouring rain. The Stewart's ice cream topped off the meal. We were soon on our way home with another exhilarating mountain cycling experience.

Later that week I was off in western NY and checking email, but decided to see if the results of the race were posted yet. I opened up the overall results of the 240 riders and found my name, and Donna's right next to each other:

171 Paul Mang            Toronto        ON  46 M  170 1:25:14  171 1:15:14   
172 Kevin McNamara       Barre          VT  45 M  171 1:25:21  172 1:15:21   
173 Kurt Ruppel          Greenwich      NY  55 M  194 1:30:28  173 1:15:28         
174 Donna M Ruppel       Greenwich      NY  44 F  173 1:25:29  174 1:15:29   
175 Gaetan Duperron      Montreal       PQ  37 M  135 1:20:54  175 1:15:54   
176 Joseph Whiteley      Pleasant Valle NY  49 M  176 1:26:14  176 1:16:14

Even though we started in waves five minutes apart and never even saw each other during the race, we completed the course in ALMOST exactly the same time -- only one second apart!! I burst out in laughter and sent the results to Donna in an email. She looked at the email and results after I left a voice mail. You can tell we trained together for the race. People not knowing we were in different waves would think we rode together and then I jumped at the finish line to just nip her, male pride intact. Donna's theory is that we had the same time exactly and they had to separate us by one second, because the system is not designed to take a tie. This is obviously female folly. In any case we make a great team and it shows in the results.

Ready to MTB and Race

Ankle continues to improve, getting stronger with greater range of motion. So, I ventured out on the mountain bike and Donna and I both signed-up for the Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race, coming up shortly on June 14.

I have purposefully stayed off the trails until the ankle was in better condition. No sense in cutting my recovery short when I can ride on the road and the trails were muddy and full of turkey hunters. But the trails are drying out, and turkey season is now over, so to move things along I went out on our home trails for a good ride.

Our home trails are one reason we have not moved from our present location. A half-mile down our road begins a 6-mile network of trails that are a result of years of 2- and 4-wheeler, snowmobile, and motocross activity. They include a short stretch of recently added single-track, some rocks and roots (but not much compared to other sites), a few short, step climbs - but mostly flat, a challenging motocross racing track, a heart-pounding G-drop, long open field runs and plenty of fast twisty trails through the mostly pine woods. When I go "end-to-end and back again" it is a 12-mile, ~1:20 workout/ride.

Depending on what I want to accomplish, I can go slow and steady (usually doesn't happen), spend time doing intervals on the motocross course, which I run backwards (to the direction the motocross bikes run) , and is a great way to get the heart rate up, or just cruise it as fast as I can go- which is usually what I do, and what I did this time. Result of this ride on the home trails was a new eagerness to go on some group mountain bike rides, and assurance that the ankle will withstand the jolting of some rougher trails.

At the same time, Donna and I have been talking about doing the Whiteface race together. I have encouraged her to do the race, knowing she would enjoy the challenge and do well. Last year I did the race and she did a hike and then we stayed at a B+B in Keene Valley. This year we are both registered for the race and we are looking for a place to stay. I have begun (way too late) to get some good climbing rides in. Friday morning of this week I awoke to 65 degree temperature with sunny weather and the prospect of rain and hot weather later, as well as an appointment with Donato and varied work commitments filling up my day. It was a no-brainer -- I was on the bike rolling out of the driveway at 7:45 am. My goal was to get some climbing in on Willard Mountain, which is home to a local Ski Mountain only 8 miles from our door. My usual "Willard ride" is to go into Greenwich, then up a small climb on Burton Rd. to warm up, then the big climb up Interval Road, which is about 400 feet of elevation gain in about a mile of riding. I then go down on Vly Summit Rd. to Rt. 40 in North Easton, and climb back up the other way. Then repeat. And repeat again, and again, if the legs can handle it. Then it is a 8 mile ride back by way of town to warm down.

Looking for a new version to spice up the ride, I decided to get to the top, go down to Route 40, but then climb past the turn for the Ski area, all the way to another high spot on Vly Summit Road (550 feet over 2 miles). Then go down to Rt. 74, and go over to Herrington Hill Road, which is a steep, long climb (550 feet over 1 1/2 miles) on a well-packed dirt road that takes you back to the ski area a different way. My legs and time only allowed for one set of each climbs, but it was enough to get in 30 miles and about 2200 feet of climbing, before a late breakfast.

The climbing I just started doing should have been done three weeks ago to properly prepare for the Whiteface Race, but that will have to do. Donna and I will have fun challenging ourselves on the 8 mile, 8% slope race in less than 2 weeks!

Ankle Allows Road Cycling, But Little Else

What else do I need? Well, I first needed to overcome a pneumonia I caught while laid-up with the injured joint. Then I needed to get back condition I had before I wrenched the thing. The good news is, road cycling is not very stressful to an ankle. So, as I got over the lung infection, and when the weather allowed, I started rebuilding the base of fitness I had lost by riding on the road. However, it was like losing two to three months of training and starting over from that point.

Base miles without intervals were done on the Lemond cyclocross bike at first. With Donna and solo, I did rides of 20 to 30 miles. Due to work commitments, much (too much) of the riding had to come on weekends. So, at first a 50-mile weekend, followed by a 65-mile weekend, etc. I did manage to get in a least one ride of 20 to 40 miles in the middle of the weeks.

Riders passing horse farms in Saratoga Springs, NY. McMahon's is the birthplace of Funnycide and a good Cargill customer.

With early season racing out of the question, I focused on training for my annual Team Guerrilla Road Ride Alternate Plan B (TGRRAPB) ride, which occurs every Memorial Weekend Saturday. Eventually I worked into longer rides and did some interval training on hills and long tempo runs. A 53-mile, 3500 feet of elevation gain Bruce Ride, "Balloon Festival Preview," was a good warm-up the weekend before. There were a dozen riders and I was one of the slowest, especially on the climbs. My ankle swelled up the last half of the ride, so much so, that Art and Bruce noticed it readily.

Copious icing and continued therapy with Keith Donato resulted in a good recovery. In fact, I think the stress it was placed under force greater progress. I did one good 30-miler during the week out in Cazanovia Lake, which included a great 9 mile climb from Cheenego to Cazanovia on little-traveled Route 13. The short stretch past the Falls is steep. I am packing the Lemond in the back of the Subaru as a travel bike these days to save my Cannondale from getting dinged and it makes a better training ride on the heavier bike. Since I have put the Cane Creek wheels on the Lemond, it is great fun to ride on the road.

Saturday of the big ride and I felt ready to not be too embarrassed. It was a glorious Adirondack day with temperatures in the high 50's, some clouds and a good 15 MPH breeze from the north, which would provide a tailwind on the last half of the 65-mile, 5000-foot ride. Twenty people showed up and we were off to do the most serious climbs, which come in the first third of the ride. Before the first real climb comes the screaming descent down to Diamond Point on Lake George. I hit 51 MPH and passed nearly all the riders that dropped me on the first little climb. I think I passed Bruce going 20 to 30 MPH faster than he was going.

I was not totally embarrassed on the big climbs, but was definitely towards the back of the pack. It was fun to get into the rhythm of the climbs that I now know so well. After the long and fast decent down to Schroon River (50 MPH), it was paceline time on the flat section along the river. I kept into the line-up for most of the long paceline, coming to the front towards the junction of Rt. 8. After the rollers and the stop at Adirondack, it was an easy ride toward the back of the group the rest of the way home. The tailwind helped and my base building paid off. No cramps or fatigue and my ankle held up very well.

Little to no swelling of the ankle and a rapid recovery of the legs were signs that I am ready to start riding like I want to now. Bruce is leading a Tour-paced ride the next day and Donna and I decide to do it. This is a joint club ride with a group from Long Island that Bruce does every year. We will have the option of going slower if needed, since the LI riders are more used to flat lands and a slower 16 MPH pace. Turned out we did not need to have the company of the slow riders. We felt good enough to go faster and there were enough local riders that usually go with Bruce and keep the pace at 18 to 19 MPH to keep us company. The ride was from Saratoga Springs to the Battlefield - one loop of the Battlefield (10.5 miles) and then back. I paced a group back from the Battlefield and it was fun to pick off riders that started ahead of us, or took short cuts around the climbs. My paceline always had Donna on my wheel and we picked up and dropped riders as we made our way back past the scenic, rolling horse and dairy farm scenes that make Saratoga the destination it is.

The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend found us ready to take an easy day. So, we drove up to Newcomb in the Adirondacks and rode the mountain bikes into Camp Santanoni. It was a short 5 mile ride into the Camp on a dirt road. The Great Camp is being restored and is on a beautiful setting next to the lake. We were chased out by some rain and took a nap at a Tauhus trailhead on the way home.

Long post, but it has been awhile since I felt like writing. The ankle still hampers walking and hiking. Too much time has been spent on the recliner with ice on my ankle, but now I am ready to get into better shape and do the riding I love to do.

Someone Turned Off Winter and Summer Started

An abrupt change from freezing rain and snow to bright, sunny warm weather brings road cycling to life. Ankle is recovering fast, and biking is once again the right physical therapy for my injury.

After three weeks of painful swollen isolation and immobility, the ankle was seen first by an Orthopedic PA. He recommended continued cast and future of more immobilization in cast after three more weeks. The next day my ART Chiropractor told me to throw the cast away and start using it. Guess whose advise I followed!

From that point on I started to ride the bike without the cast. After riding the mountain bike with the cast, it was a pleasure to bike without it. Icing afterwards reduces any pain and swelling and the mobility of the joint is greater each day. Twice a week ART sessions are loosening up pulled muscles up into the calf and direct manipulation of the tendons in the ankle are providing greater and greater use of the joint.

With the beautiful weather Donna and I have been getting in 20 to 22 mile rides in every day. It is just the right amount of work to get a base to start getting back into shape. My Cannondale needed a bottom bracket service, so I put the Cane Creek Aerohead wheelset on the Lemond Cross bike and it rides beautifully on the road. We enjoyed rides from Salem back to home after watching the Tour of Battenkill road race and other rides around Greenwich.

With both my schedule and the weather cooperating, my injured ankle is healing enough to get me out and riding again.

Ankle Becomes Anchor

Ankle is not recovering as quickly as anticipated. Great weather and opportunities for riding and racing are passing by while I am immobilized.

Pictures in the previous blog entry show the ankle the day after the event. One week later and it still looked and felt the same. The week following the injury I drove Donna's car across NY doing customer meetings until returning on Friday. I sat down in front of most audiences, so I minimized the swelling as much as possible. But, it was not looking good at the end of the week. On the weekend I had it elevated and iced both days. By Sunday night it was still looking pretty much as it was the day after. I decided to cancel a scheduled trip to Maine. The 6+ hour ride in the car each way, plus doing the meetings on a farm, was not going to help.

I got an appointment with a orthopedic PA and after his exam and more X-Rays, I was in a removable walking cast. He said it would take about six weeks to get the significant soft tissue (ligaments, tendons, muscle) to heal properly. With the cast I can walk (gimp) around without doing more damage. I still need to elevate and ice as much as possible. So, I sent out notice that I will not be going to farms and traveling as little as possible to do meetings and then only in hotel meeting rooms.

Around this same time I got an eMail from the organizers of the Tour of Battenkill race. My waiting list status for the Cat 5 +45 division has been elevated, so I can now register for the race. Great! Just as I became eligible to ride in the largest bicycle race in the US, held right outside my door in just a few weeks, I became UNABLE to ride! Also, the weather has been clear and sunny and warmer so both the snowboarding conditions on Killington and the road riding conditions at home have become spectacular.

Training for, and riding in, California in February was supposed to get and keep me fitter over the winter, along with regular spinning and snowboarding. It worked, I am in good shape. But now the challenge is to maintain the condition I have as best I can. I have been doing callistetics, weights and even rode on the mountain bike while Donna ran. It will not be ideal, but I will work at it so when the anchor comes off, I will be ready to set sail and ride.

Easter Sunday Snowboard Session Turns Ugly

With family away for the Holiday, Easter was a day Donna and I could enjoy snowboarding together at Killington and take advantage of my Season Pass reduced price for her ticket. Besides, it was a wintery beautiful day - cold but bright sunshine and no wind, so what better way to have fun? We packed early and suited up for a cold day on the mountain. The temperature at the top of Killington, after the ride up K-1 Gondola, was 9 above, but absolutely no wind. The snow conditions were hard-packed and fast, some ice, but not where they had groomed -- and they had groomed over 80 trails the night before.

I guided us over to Bear Mountain where the morning sun would be softening up the hard-packed, groomed trails. We followed Great Eastern over which was a good way to warm up and then headed down some blue trails towards the lodge. The crowds were thin, the snow and weather good - it was going to be a great day. We rode the chair up to the top of Skye and started down. I got into making hard, on-my-edge turns and was loving it. Donna was a little nervous about going down this one as it was steeper at the top. So, I started to think about coming to a stop to check on her and all of a sudden - as I transitioned from a heel-side turn to a toe-side turn, the back of my board hit a bump I did not see. I tipped forward as I was coming down on my toe side edge. I did not think it was going to be a big deal, but my front foot and ankle was being jammed forward inside my snug boots with unbelievable pressure. I felt pain on both sides of my ankle and heard crunching noises coming out of my front boot! I rolled over to take the pressure off my ankle and came to a sliding stop on the hill.

Donna rode by me and slowed down. She saw me fall, but it didn't look like anything. I took a few minutes to gather myself, then stood and tested the front foot. Not good. I knew it was going to be bad. I was still in disbelief, though. I made my way down the rest of the run going very carefully, especially on the toe side turns. I didn't say anything to Donna, so we rode back up to the top of Skye. I knew I had to get back over to the car at the base of Killington. We were both cold already, so I said let's go back to the Killington Lodge. We took the runs that got us there, and I was hurting more and more. We went down an icy, ungroomed trail and got to the lodge.

As we walked into the Lodge, I said to Donna - here's the deal: I am done! I explained briefly my problem and she went outside to bring back a baggy of snow and I started to take my boots off. Once the boot was off - which was the most pain I have felt in awhile, I propped the foot up and iced it down while Donna went to get the car. I hobbled into the car and we went straight to the Emergency Room at Rutland Hospital. They are experienced in this sort of thing, and even on Easter Sunday, had my under an X-Ray in about 30 minutes. Nothing broken, so home I went with an Ace Bandage, Ibuprofen and ice.

Did I mention, Ugly! --->

Monday I had to take off for a week of doing talks across the state that would end on Friday near Niagara Falls. Needless to say, it was not easy to keep it Rested Iced Compressed and Elevated. But I did the best I could. Donna and I switched vehicles since I could not depress the clutch of the Subaru.

Today I am making up for the mistreatment of the week and heating and icing as well as resting and elevating. Hopefully, I can get it recovered and still get in another day or two of snowboarding and also get a good start to the biking season. It is killing me today, as conditions up on the mountain are ideal again. We had 8 inches of snow! Also, the conditioning I had gained by training for and riding in California in February will whither away as I recover. Part of the price of getting out there and pushing the limits is having to spend some time recovering.

Deep Snow on Both Coasts

After the bike riding ended on the sunny, but windblown and rainy Big Sur, CA coast, I switched gears and headed for the snow-choked Sierras and returned home to spectacular snowy conditions at Killington.

It has been some time between posts due to hectic riding and working schedules. Friday morning Barry and I dropped off the rental Trek 1600's at the Folsum, CA bike store. He caught a cab to the airport and I headed up I-80 into the Sierras. The forcast was for heavy snow and chains were required for all vehicles except 4-wheel drive with snow tires. I had 4-wheel, but no snow tires or intentions of putting on chains. Off I went to see how far up into the mountains I could go. At about 6000 feet they were pulling people off the road and ticketing those that did not have chains. I-80 was basically hard-packed snow and ice. I decided I had chanced this long enough and got off at the next exit - Soda Springs, CA. I pulled into the first rental shop I saw and could not believe the amount of snow piled along the roads and builings! I asked if there was a good place to snowboard and they directed me just a couple of miles south to Sugar Bowl. Within minutes I was in the parking lot suiting up and buying a lift ticket. I later found out Sugar Bowl averages 41 feet of snow per season! And this was an above average year.

Up the lift I went and down the first run; I could not believe how deep the snow was. Not the light powder snow of the west we dream about, but heavy snot snow. I decided to go into the huge Douglas Fir trees and looked in awe at the 12-foot deep hole in the snow by each tree. These are the holes that have killed Sonny Bono and Kennedy clan skiers. I was looking so intently at them, I lost concentration and fell. The snow was so deep I could not get back up on my board. When you pushed off the snow with your arm, it just sank up to your shoulder. I took my back boot out of the binding, and tried to stand up, but my leg sank down to my hip. The loose, heavy snow was neck high! Finally I took out both feet, got on my board like a sled and paddled my way over to a run where the snow was beaten down by skiers and riders and I could finally get upright enough to get back on the board. Once I stayed on the well-traveled runs, the fun really began.

There were many options on this set of mountains. I had a blast carving in the deep, heavy snow on blue and black diamond trails. I tried a few double diamond chutes that were steep yet easily done with all the snow to use to check your speed. The snow kept coming down hard and visiblity was limited. I went at it until late in the afternoon - starting at 10 am, so I was exhausted. As I headed over to the mountain where my car was parked I took a trail marked to take me that way. I soon found out I made an error and was in a double diamond tree area. As I concentrated on missing trees and snow holes I heard someone yell as I went by. He had gotten himself in one of those 12-foot holes and was having trouble getting out and was not sure what to do and where to go even if he could. Well by the time I slowed to comprehend all this, I was now not upright any more and in the same predicament he was in. I had learned what I needed to do from my first run experinece and quickly sat on my board and 'sled paddled' down the hill. He saw what I was doing and where I was going and followed suit. We were both concerned about getting out as it was getting dark, the snow was coming down heavier, this was not a well-traveled area, and we were not sure where we needed to go. If you go off the wrong side of one of these ridges, you can be out there for the night or days, as I saw on an episode of "I Shouldn't Be Alive."

Well we both got out fine, and I headed for the car. As I was putting away the board I noticed I had broken one of my bindings. Also, the snow was piled up about 12 -15 inches on my car and on the roads. I decided to head back to Sacramento and do lanudry, rest, get my bindings fixed and get ready for my week of work in California. Predictions were for 3 to 5 feet of snow on Saturday night, so I did not want to get stuck up in the mountains when I was supposed to be down in the central valley working. It is bad enough that I have spent 7 out of 12 days playing out here when Cargill paid for the plane fare.

The week of farm visits and talks to customers and prospects went very well. After four days, I was getting back on the plane for the east coast. After a day of recovery at home Donna and I made a trip to Killington. While I was out west, the snow had melted, froze, melted and it had snowed all over again back east. Conditions were very good. We had a great time. Donna has not had the opportunity to snowboard at all this year up to now, so needed time to get back into it. The conditions in the woods were ideal. I played most of the time in Squeeze Play, the blue sqyuare set of woods on Ramshead Mountain. It was great!

Until the weather warms up and the roads dry out, our riding is limited to the routine of Spinning Saturdays together. Sundays Donna plays hockey and I snowboard at Killington. Looking forward to a good spring riding season - I am ready whether it is on the snow or the roads.

Soggy Start in Seaside, CA

Rain returns with a downpour as we watch the teams set up in Seaside, CA for the start of Thursday's stage down the Pacific Coast Highway. Donna asked me to get a picture of George Hincapie and Barry's favorite rider is Jens Voight. As if on cue, as Barry and I stood by the Team High Road bus, George just about runs into Barry as he rides up and dismounts his bike! Then we walk a few feet away to the CSC bus and there is Jens sitting in the passenger seat - Barry walks up next to the window and I snap the classic tourists photo. We were able to get close to and see Levi Leiphiemer, Chris Horner, Tom Boonen, Paulo Bettini, Fabian Cansellera, Bobby Julich and many others. The rain really came down at the start, and we were soaked, but not nearly as bad as the riders as they set off for their 130-mile race down the wind-blown coastal highway.

Barry and I drove around some of Monterey and then headed down Highway 1 to find the Bixby Bridge. We crossed over and pulled over to look at an amazing double rainbow over the bridge. For Barry this was the highlight of the trip - he has had the photo of the peleton crossing the bridge up on his office wall since last November. We drove back six miles and geared up for a short, but cold, windy, scenic, strenuous and memorable 12-mile ride.

As we approached the bays that cut into the coast the off-shore wind comes at you after being whipped around the back of the river canyon that made the bay. The result is an amplified wind and rain mix that can come at you in any direction. Combined with the descent coming into these bays and the climb coming out, both of which could have you in a low gear and standing and holding onto the bars for dear life just to keep forward progress, made for a calorie depleting ride.

Finally we get to the Bixby Bridge. The ride over the span was amazingly wind free. The climb up to the rest area was a wind tunnel experience. We returned with the help of the wind we just pushed so hard against. It was nice to have the propulsion, but it was erratic and you still had to struggle to keep the bike upright.

We took photos at the bridge and then continued back to the car. Fifty-five minutes of riding that seemed like a full day. We did a total of 1900 feet of climbing in just 12 miles! Immagine how much climbing and how hard to battle the wind, rain and cold for 130 miles of racing (not riding). A new respect and awe was created today for the racers we have been watching.

Mules Make for Great Climbing

Day two of the Tour of California turned out to be a rainy day. Barry and I decided from the weather report to sleep in and go to Santa Rosa for the start, and then see if it cleared off for a ride later in the day. We slept in too long and missed the start, and it never cleared off, or warmed up, enough to entice us to ride. We instead drove around the Napa Valley and scouted some roads up and down the mountains. One road we took, Los Alamos Rd., was amazing in its steep switchbacks and views, but it turned out to dead end at a State Park. We drove up and over Trinity Pass and then stopped at a bike store in Santa Rosa. It so happened the biker out on a break in today's stage, taking enough mountain points to get (and keep) the King of the Mountains jersey, Scott Nydam, lived a couple of blocks from the store. The store was full of people watching and cheering him on.

Day Three of our race to follow the race started with a two-hour drive from Sebastipol to near San Jose. We parked our car about two miles up Calaveras Road near a golf course and geared up for the long day ahead. We warmed up with a descent down to the valley and then found our way over to Rt 130 which climbs up to the top of Mt. Hamilton. It is about a 4000 foot elevation change from the valley floor to the top. Turned out to be about a 20 degree change in temperature, too. The climb from the start of Rt. 130 is about 18 miles long. From my reading I knew that in order to bring up all the materials to build the original observatory at the top, they used mules. So, the road was built to accommodate the climbing ability of mules. Mules can not haul much if the slope is greater than 6 to 8%. So, the road at 6 to 8% has to be long, but not steep. Long it is! Most climbing I have done is 8 to 12 miles of hard effort, so it was difficult to judge how hard to go without blowing up before the end. I got into a good rhythm at about a heart rate of 150 and decided I could hold that pace -- about 9 miles per hour, so it would take two hours to do the climb to the top. All these calculations made in the first couple of miles held true.

It was great fun to pass and be passed by other riders. Some would pass and then fall back, others I would pass and then they would whirl by, others kept about the same gap behind our ahead of you. No cheering crowds on the mountain today, we were climbing what would be the descent of today's race. We needed to get to the top before they closed the road and made us wait on the side. It was close, I got to the Lick Observatory and a large cop standing in the middle of the road said in a deep, calm voice, "your ride is over." I hit my stop watch and it just turned 2 hours! There were a couple dozen other riders off to the side filling their water bottles and now the pressing issues were: keeping warm, when would the racers come.

First keeping warm. I saw a road to the right and going up further. It lead up to the very top and was the Lick Observatory. The building was open, heated and had a bathroom. Also, it had a great view of the twisting snake of a road we had just climbed. I spotted Barry making one of the final few hairpin turns, so knew he would be along shortly. I went in and warmed up, filled the water bottle and then someone said the race is five minutes from going through.



Unkown rider keeping warm by laying across the hood of running Forest Ranger truck as Donna and I did at Tour of Georgia several years ago -------->


We were just a couple hundred yards on the descent side of the KOM mark. It was about 10 minutes until the caravan started to come through. Then we spotted three riders, but no motorcycles. It was Tyler Hamilton and two other Rock Racing riders. They were barred from racing due to doping allegations, but were riding the whole Tour race course for training. The crowd cheered and hooted as they recognized Tyler who wore no helmet and was putting on his wind jacket as he went by. Now the race leaders were coming through with the usual gang of motorcycles and team cars - there was enough of a gap on the main peleton to have some team cars up there. When the main group went through it was crazy - they were battling for position on the descent, putting on their jackets and the team cars were passing each other right in front of us taking up more than the width of the road. The last riders huffed and puffed through in the next 15 to 20 minutes as we all got colder and colder.

Now the first priority was to warm up before the long descent. Still no sign of Barry - he had to be up here somewhere. I went back up to the Lick Observatory and you could still see the riders descending down the twisty road. Back into the heated area -- and a bonus, they opened up the other building which had a few radiators pumping out heat like crazy! Off came my shoes and socks to warm and dry. Sitting on the radiator we all talked about what we just watched and how cold the 40 degree air was going to feel screaming down the road at 30 to 40 miles an hour for the first 10 miles. One by one we each left as now it was also a balance of having enough food in you to last until getting back to the car.

One more last look for Barry, but not too long as I wanted to keep the warmth I had accumulated to shield against the cold that was coming. I figured he got stopped just short of the top and now was going down, not having the benefit of the heated buildings. The descent was great and it was not long until the air warmed up. You could get up to 40 MPH but all the turns made it more like 20 to 35 most of the way. Not having my own trusty CAAD 4 bike and wheels, I was cautious taking the turns at high speed. The brakes and tires seemed to hold, as long as my arms could be held steady against the need to shiver. As I warmed up and learned the limits of the Trek 1600, it became easier to take turns at higher speeds. It is not often you can spend an hour on a bike, going 20 to 40 MPH and not have to peddle - only steer and break. There was more time to see the views as we climbed as opposed to negotiaing the curves on the way down. But on the way up I did not want to stop in order to keep a good rhythm and pace going. So I stopped on the descent several times to take photos and take off the jacket on the last third of the descent.

View from Mt Hamilton Road about 1/4 way up looking towards San Jose ---->

Finally, at the base of Rt. 130 I spotted Barry waiting for me. We high-fived and chatted about what we just did and witnessed. It was a fun flat ride over to Calaveras Road, but not before we had to stop and watch the last rider come through the finish circuit. The two-mile climb back to the car was a reminder of what we had done for 18 miles earlier in the day. The day's total was 50 miles and 5500 feet of climbing, and many good memories.

Tour of California - Riding to the Pacific

For the second time in three years I am off to ride parts of the Tour of California professional bike race and be part of the cheering crowds at the tops of the peaks and starting lines. This time I have a partner - Barry, who I met at a Cargill meeting in Minnesota. We found out we shared a passion for both riding and following professional cycling. When I told him about the trip I did in 2006, and my plans for 2008, he wanted in. Since Donna will not leave Alix and the dogs to others, it is great to have someone to share the experience with.

The first day we met up at the Sacramento airport, rented a Rav 4 and loaded our gear. I brought my snowboard stuff so I can perhaps make a trip to the Sierras at the end of the week, before I start working for Cargill out here. We found a good, inexpensive motel near Folsum where we rented our Trek 1600 bikes and then set off for Sausillito. The day was to get the bikes checked out and to get our bodies somewhat used to riding after our long winter hiatas from riding on the roads. We repeated a trip I have done twice before, last time with Russ back in April. Parked the car and took the bike path to the Golden Gate, then over to Fisherman's Wharf and back across again. This time we made a left and took the nice two-mile, 800-foot climb to the top of the road that overlooks the bridge and the city. The climbing legs woke up and Norm and Dan's spin classes apparently paid some dividends.

After spending the night in Sebastipol, we set off to get a first look at the race. From my scouting here two years ago I was able to make a great route of about 40 miles and 5000 feet of climbing. We went down to the quaint village of Occidental nessled in the redwoods. Then climbed a little on Bittner Rd before taking a screaming descent down Joy road - aptly named. Now we were down to the main road to Bodega Bay - Pacific Coast Highway 1. But after only a mile or two we took the cut across behind the town of Bodega Bay called Bay Hill Road - a narrow, twisiting four mile paradise with huge eucholptus trees. The views up into the valleys was only surpassed by the first glimps of the Pacific ocean as you take a turn through the trees. We come back out on PCH only about a mile ahead of the turn up famed Coleman Valley Road. This is the King of the Mountain point of today's race and we are there about 1 1/2 hours ahead of the race leader.

I first experienced Coleman Valley Road two years ago after I watched the race up by Sebastipol. I meet Charles, a local painter and cyclist, there and he took me down this road and I returned to Sebastipol the way we came down to this point today. The road climbs from sealevel to about 1200 feet in about 3 miles. The KOM point is only 1.6 miles in and at about 800 feet. There were many cyclists making the climb and lots of spectators trying out there cow bells and cheering us on. This is one of the highlights of riding race routes on race day. It took me about 15 minutes to get to the KOM point. So, from experience, that told me the racers will do it in about half of that time.

Barry and I found a good spot a couple hundered feet from the KOM mark and began to shiver and wait. The clouds were heavy enough to block the sun and the wind off the ocean was just enough to keep you from staying warm. We huddled close to the ground and survived until the race arrived. Cows came out to see what all the fuss was about and then finally the race leader - off the front by 11 mintues came up to us. The rest of the peleton was pretty much together and hot in persuit. You could see they were suffering as the riders pumped past us. Barry picked out Jens Voight (his favorite), Tom Boonen and others. No one waited around long after the sweeper passed and the cyclists were about spit in half, each going a different direction. Our direction involved a little more climbing, which helped us warm up.

The ride back was amazing. We once again decended into the town of Occidental and found a festival of cyclists there. Two years ago, when I arrived in this village after the long climb up Joy, the place was abandoned and I was hypoxic and lost - finally going the long way back. This time I knew how to get us back on Occidental Road and after a short, steep climb it was a great decent and roller coaster of fast hills all the way back. Barry and I were all smiles as we made the turn to take us back to the hotel. In the hot tub we talked with three guys down for the race and riding from Oregon and others. Soon we were tabled up to some more great Mexican food at the restaurant next door.

Tommorow looks like rain, so we may just watch the race start in Santa Rosa, and the ride in the afternoon if it clears off.

Pico Packs a Powder Punch - 2/10/08

Winter weather continues with blasts of snow and ice. Outside bike riding is not getting done due to slop on the road and poor conditions for ice biking in the woods. Spinning and Donato ART sessions, along with Sunday Snowboarding predominates.

On a ride up the Skye Mountain Quad at Killington I learned from a fellow riding with me that Pico Peak should not be missed, especially in powder conditions. Pico is covered on my Killington season pass - so why not? It just so happens the next Sunday we had a big storm in store, so Pico it was.

Pico is a steep peak with a lot of different options. I rode up the chair from the base and then over to the Summit Lift as I was instructed by one of the mountain ambassadors. Riding up the Summit Lift the first time I got to talk with a seasoned Pico skier and he gave me a good lesson on where to go to get in different rides. The main run down from the summit is Pike, a very wide black diamond that went straight under the lift. Good bumps, but icy from overuse in places. Over on the west side was Giant Killer, a double black that is steeper than most and to be avoided unless you really like the steep. To the east are glade trails -- one a blue, the others black. These were great! Bumpy and narrow and twisty. KP and Summit Glades were the blacks and I spent most of my time on these at first.

The snow started to come down heavy around 10 o'clock and the conditions were already perfect - about 6 inches of soft, moderate weight powder on top of a deep forgiving base. The bumps could be jammed into and not cause much reaction, but enough to use to turn. As the snow continued at over an inch per hour pace, the powder got deeper. Dropping off of one bump and landing on another was great fun.

I ventured into the Birch Woods area at first to get out of the wind and flying snow. After the first tentative run, I was thrilled. I wanted to learn how to board in the trees this year and this was the perfect place and conditions to do it. The second time through the trees I started up higher in a non-designated area that was all new fresh tracks. It was a mistake because I got out of control a couple of time and once hit my should and then my helmet (i.e. head) on tree trunks. Getting myself picked up out of the deep soft snow was physically draining also. No harm done, but a bit shaky going into the Birch Woods, I did not do too well. Not discouraged (i.e. stupid), I returned to the Birch Woods after doing a couple of runs on blues. This time it was great! I got a rhytem going and was riding the trees like I wanted to.

I got a run going where I would start off on the glade black diamonds from the summit, and then cut over to the start of the Birch Wood trees, then out the other side and back to the Summit Lift. The more I did it the better it got and the deeper the powder became. Finally my legs were giving up. I took a run all the way down to the bottom on the Summit Glades run and was going to call it a day at noon - but could not abandon this great mountain, these conditions and the new skill and thrill of riding the trees. Up I went again. This repeated about four more times until I finally called it a day and returned to the car to start digging it out from under about 8 inches of new snow.

The drive home was slow due to icy and snowy Route 4 coming down the mountain into Rutland; but, it would have been much worse had I gone over the top to Killington. There are still many runs to explore at Pico. I did not get to the Outpost Lift, which looks promising with several black diamonds and another woods to try out my newly aquired ability to ride in the trees. Little Pico to the east looks steep and fun. My choice of Pico was a good one from many standpoints, so I will return. Another great Ridin Day!

Winter Riding Countinues

A mix of activities to keep in shape, continued progress on knees and winter Ridn makes January an eclectic mix. Swimming and spinning are keeping the heart and muscles strong. Winter riding in the woods on the studded-tired mountain bike and snowboarding make up the ridn.

Dan's Saturday morning spin class remains a routine for Donna and I. We get up not too early and still are at the Y in time to get signed-up for a bike. Dan is good at visualizing rides and makes the workout fun. Donna and I then head for the (Un)common Grounds coffee shop for breakfast.

This Saturday I doubled-up and went to Grafton in the afternoon to ride with the Capital Group at the WinterFest. We had 15 riders and challenging snow conditions for a great 2+ hour workout. The group stayed together going over Water Tower and Little Johnnies trails, then 8 of us rode RPI to the other end of Long Pond. We returned the length of Long Pond on the ice, dodging ice fisherman and ice holes all the way back to the beach area.

I have managed to get to Killington a couple of Fridays to enjoy excellent conditions up on the mountain. The base was solid enough to remain after a serious thaw and enough new and man-made snow has been added on top. The last time there I stayed over on Killington, Skye and Bear Mountains until my legs gave out. Cascade was in great shape with soft bumps and Skyehawk too. Later in the day as the soft stuff hardened, my legs gave out -- it was a long trip back over to the car at K-1.

A mountain bike ride on the home trails where I had to stay balanced enough to stay within 8-inch wide ATV tire tracks with 4 to 12 inch walls on the side was a fun challenge last Sunday. With the wind chill in the single digits, I had on the flat pedals in order to wear hiking boots. As a result I was warm, but the pedals kept hitting the side of the tracks. Still a great workout and fun to be in the woods under these conditions.

A trip is being planned to California next month in conjunction with work. I hope to ride some of the routes of the professional bike race Tour of California with a coworker, and then go up to Tahoe to do some snowboarding.

2007 Ridn Summary

Daily riding and other activities have been tracked, so tallying the numbers at the end of the year is easy to do. Mileage and hours for the years can be compared to previous years and used to set some goals for 2008.

Way back in 1999, when I was about a year into road cycling, I was doing an after work ride with my Pioneer manager Robin N. It was a hot, humid day near Hershey, PA and I was keeping up with Robin on this 20 mile hilly ride. Robin was in great shape and an avid cyclist, so I was happy he kept looking back to make sure he was not gapping me, and I was right there with him. At the end of the ride, which we averaged around 20 MPH, he said I had made significant progress in my riding. He asked how many miles a week I was doing, and other questions I could not answer. He suggested I start keeping a training log. Well, that was all it took, with my penchant for making Excel spreadsheets, I immediately created a training log.

Today's version of the original is called TrainLog4, because as I started doing triathlons I wanted to track running, biking and swimming. Since I stopped running, I, now track three different types of cycling - cyclocross, road and mountain; along with swimming. Total hours of all other activities are also tracked. It is simple, great fun, and informative, to go back through and read the comments and look at the patterns of activity.

Another benefit is the ease of getting to some averages and totals of different activities at the end of the year. Here are some 2007 results:

Cyclocross - 6 rides - 122 miles;
Most of these in November (4 rides, 49 miles) and April (29 miles). Foul weather riding at its best!

Road Cycling - 76 rides - 2874 miles;
September's 490 road miles were the most I have done in September and the third highest monthly mileage since tracking started in 2000.

Mountain Biking - 28 rides - 54 hours - 402 miles;
Monthly mileage records were set in January (18), May (46), June (103) and October (54).

Total Bike Miles - 3398. Behind last year's record high by 446 miles. Frigid weather since the middle of November forced me inside (spinning miles do not count as cycling). Also, no biking trips in 2007 to Georgia or California, unlike other years. Total bike mile monthly records set in August (495), September (548) and October (349). With September's 548 being the highest all bike monthly total since starting the log. It was truly a great fall for cycling in 2007!

Total hours of activity - 369. The most ever at a little over 1 hour per day average. Only averaged less than 4 hours per week since the middle of December as shoulder, knee and back are getting repaired. Last year was the previous high at 349 hours. This year 48% of the days I did some activity, so roughly 3 to 4 workouts or rides per week. Previous years have been in the 55 to 60% range, but with fewer total hours (243 to 349). Pattern has been to do fewer workouts per week, but longer hours per workout.

Other activities: Swimming - 15 times, 12 miles. Snowboarding - 22 times, 93 hours (if 4 runs per hour and each run is 1/2 miles, about 149 miles). Spinning - 14 times, 16 hours (if average 20 miles per hour - 320 miles).

Beyond the numbers. Races, Rides and other Highlights:

- Grafton Winter MTB ride
- Tahoe area snowboarding
- Golden Gate and Stockton California Cycling Club rides
- Battenkill Rubaix Race
- Bruce Rides (4)
- Cambridge Cycling Club rides (4)
- Art Rides: Alt. Plan B (2), Sacadaga, Lake Desolation MTB
- Saratoga Duathalon
- Grafton/Pittstown Mountain bike rides (8)
- Blackfly Challenge
- VT mountain biking: Kingdom Trails, Millstone, Kelly Stand Road
- MHCC Rides: Bash Bish Falls, Teddy Ride, Century
- Ti Ride Bike and Cruise
- Killington Downhill Mountain Biking
- Ididaride

It was a great year for doing different events with people that I only interact with during work or family time: Donna, Alix, Russ, Terry, Eric, Marty, Paul, Bennett, and Jim. It is very gratifying to show others the activity or locations that I am excited about. In the end I slowed down on the competitive nature of my riding in favor of savoring the time outdoors with others or just by myself enjoying pushing my physical limitations for the fun of it, not to win an award. By doing so, I enjoyed it more and achieved a greater sense of satisfaction from ridn in 2007.