midweek ride

Bike-used as a form of competitive and/or recreational sport, cardiovascular exercise, a way to commute, a way of being "green," to build muscles, get fresh air, being closer to nature, feeling of freedom, testing your limits, a great way to meet people and make new friends, to clear your head, and food for the soul. Yet, despite all of the advantages of riding a bicycle, there is VERY limited access of bike lanes. Worse, there is ZERO respect from majority of the drivers. I use a ROAD bike, meaning it's meant to be out on the ROAD with other cars. I don't know if drivers think bikes are meant for the sidewalk or they are just really impatient or are always in a hurry. These drivers like to honk, skid pass you, give you the evil eye, or give you the "bird." The honking makes me jump because it's so loud and it suprises me.

I was excited to leave the house this afternoon after Randy left for work to ride my bike and visit my friend who is dying of brain cancer. Unfortunately, I came home feeling disappointed because I didn't get to see her. I had to make a detour because the "bicyling" route provided by mapquest had me take Lakewood Blvd through the traffic circle. The traffic at the time was insanely crazy. Lakewood Blvd. has a long stretch of road with the 405 freeway at the end of a tunnel. Cars were flying in this area and wanting to merge into the freeway. I was thrilled to learn that there is a bicycling route option in mapquest but was very disappointed to learn that the route given was VERY unsafe.

When there were no bike lanes, I was forced to take the road less traveled at times just to be "safer" so I would take the sidewalk. Ironically, the road is sometimes uneven with cracks and bumps and leaves from trees on the side that can hit your face if you're not careful. I needed to outsmart the road and I had to take shortcuts such as the gas station or through a residential area. I hate taking the pedestrian cross street because you have to push the cross street button then readjust your bike so it points to the right direction. This meant I would have to lift my bike off the ground while I walk with it doing that. I felt silly everytime!

Riding alone definitely heightens your senses since you have to listen to cars, always looking ahead, around, and in front of you, watching out for obstacles, pedestrians, and other bikers. I needed to stay alert EVERY second ready for quick responses and making the best judgement especially the timing of stopping and taking off from stop lights.

I notice that 75% of bikers do NOT wear helmets. I don't get that! Is it worth the risk of being too cool to wear a helmet in exchange for your own life? I have heard of many stories where a person gets in an accident because they get dinged by a car and their helmet ends up breaking in half from the fall. What if the helmet wasn't there? What gets broken then?

Needless to say after this chapter of venting, I had a great ride. My distance was 27 miles in 1'50" time. I did accomplish checking on my parents' house and I did get my exercise, midweek training, and beautiful fresh air.

Thank you for reading.

week 13, Thousand Oaks

Cruisin' the Conejo is a bike event in Thousand Oaks. Our team rode for 68 miles and finished in 6 hours including 4 SAGs, 2 flat tires, 3-4 hamstring cramps that needed stretching, and several call outs of "gap." Prior to the event, I was feeling nervous because I hadn't ridden during the midweek and the longest ride I had done was 60 miles. In the end, I survived without falling or getting a leg cramp like I did last week and I still felt good. On the ride home, I did take a nap since my wonderful hubby came to support so he ended up driving.

It was an adventure to be a part of a bike event seeing numerous other cyclists on the road. The cyclists were very courteous greeting each other with "hellos" and "good morning," made small talks, and everyone knew the rules on the road. The majority of the bike models I noticed were Giant, Specialized, and Trek. In case you are curious, Lance Armstrong uses a Trek. I own a Specialized Dolce. One of our teammates just bought a sweet looking Specialized with carbon material (which makes the bike expensive because of its super light weight) and vibration control (makes the ride even smoother). If you are wondering how much a sweet bike like that would cost, well, it's about $3K. If you are a serious rider, then it's a great investment.

The toughest part of the route was the beginning because of its 8% grade incline. I was really using every ounce of strength and my breathing was very heavy. I was so relieved that the hardest part was over in the beginning.

During our SAG stops, boy scouts volunteered to hold your bike while you take a break to fuel up, use the bathroom, and stretch. One boy scout was holding 6 bikes and they were very enthusiastic to hold the bike for you. It was like a competition for them who could hold the most bikes.

It was a great ride to be out in an open country road. We saw a ranch of white picket fences, with tall iron gates as the entrance, horses, cows, and bulls. There were several farms of strawberries, cabbage, and orange trees. In the strawberry farm were several strawberry pickers. I made a mental note to experience strawberry picking in the future.

I felt very proud to have accomplished my longest ride so far. I was especially happy that my husband, Randy, came out to support and seeing him in the beginning, the middle, and the end definitely helped my mentality to keep going.

week 12, 48 miles, PV and car wash fundraising

We did 48 miles in Palos Verdes, as a break from our previously more challenging climbs and longer distances. PV is one of my favorite rides because of the breathtaking ocean view, beautiful homes, and long downhills. Loved it, loved it, loved it!!! One of the things I admired in the homes was the garden. I saw several marvelous displays of fuschia spring hills. I also saw a peacock in a frontyard. Is that even legal to keep them as pets?Admiring the details in these majestic homes made my climbs easier. In addition, I discovered a way to climb more efficiently. Having clipless pedals is a huge advantage by focusing on pulling instead of pushing on every pedal. I found that I didn't have to work as hard.

Midway through our ride, I developed a leg cramp on my right calf. I've suffered from it since I was a little girl by waking up in the middle of the night because of severe contraction from my calf and I would cry out in agony. My poor husband wakes up because of my screams. My mom suffers from leg cramps too but she gets it only during the daytime. This was my first time that I felt it awake. Does anybody know how to remedy a leg cramp?

Dallas, our speedy downhill guru (he can go up to 50mph), came up to me during one of our SAG stops and said, "Once you make that turn in Hawthorne, rip it!" This was my opportunity I had been long waiting for to break my top speed. I was very stoked that I beat my fastest downhill record of 32mph to 38.9mph. This was 3 miles worth of downhill without sharp turns.

Other moments during our ride:
funniest moment-I yelled out "Go Team!" A horse and a chicken responded by making their animal sounds. We didn't know we had an audience.

jaw dropping moment-seeing a cyclist with 7 sports bottles: 4 on his bike, 2 behind his seat, and 1 in the backpocket of his jersey. I wondered how long he was cycling for.

The next day after training, I had a car wash fundraising event in Lakewood. My team of hardworkers washed several cars, vans, and trucks. Since I had 6 hours of sunexposure without using sunscreen, I got sunburned. It's hella painful! My husband, Randy, was designated to hold the sign in front of the parking lot to get people's attention. He got honks from drivers passing by and women happily waving to him. I felt a lot of love and support because many relatives and a couple of high school friends showed up to get their cars washed. Thank you so much! We made $208. Every dollar counts...

week 11=fundraising events

only 6 weeks left until my century ride on June 6th.

I sacrificed my saturday training to raise money by holding a garage sale. Coincidentally, my neighborhood was holding a community garage sale so I didn't have to do any of the promotion. It turned out to be a worthwhile sacrifice since I made $400. This puts me at $2500. You can still help me raise $1400 more to reach my goal.

On monday night, my team organized a fundraising event at a restaurant with a silent auction. Our honored teammate, Laura shared her story. She is such an inspirational person because of her positive outlook in life. Though she's only in her late 40's, she has the body of an 85 year old woman after intensive chemotherapy and radiation. She was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia and was given a poor prognosis of 6 months to live. She obviously beat the odds and was able to witness one of her daughters walk down the aisle. She continues to fight daily and continues to have a smile on her face. She reminded us the reason we were all gathered that evening to fight saving lives.

week 10, Malibu, 60 miles

I hesitated to join the faster group after Coach Charlie talked about the challenges ahead of us. I made the conscious decision to move up a ladder last week, so there's no turning back now.

Malibu is one of the most beautiful rides we have done because of its serenity and beauty. Our climb to Encinal canyon was meditative and peaceful. Since we can go on our own pace with climbs, it was just me and the mountain. I could hear the birds chirping, my huffing and puffing, my heart beating 100 miles a minute, and my pedaling. I look around from time to time to distract me from the numbness on my buttocks or the soreness from my shoulders. I kept at my own steady pace. I never felt I had to push really hard like I did at an 11% grade the last time we did Malibu. There were several elite riders passing me by who made the climb look as if they were going downhill. They pedaled smoothly with ease. It made me feel like a wimp but it also motivated me to keep going. One of the riders stroke up a conversation with me, "Are you with Team In Training also?" I proudly responded, "Yes, I am." He said, "You guys are doing a great job." That was definitely a pat on the back. There were also riders coming downhill and I received smiles or a thumbs up.

Mission moment this week: a story was shared about an 8 year old girl who wished to shave her head for the sake of her classmate who was teased in school. Her classmate lost his hair due chemotherapy for his battle with Leukemia. Her and 6 other classmates joined this self-sacrifice. That story carried with me during my climb in Encinal Canyon and I actually became emotional and got choked up about it.

Assistant Coach Scott commented after our ride, "You were on fire!" I was 3rd place out of 9 in my middle group.

One of our teammates just had an inguinal hernia repair a few weeks ago and she already started training again. Her willpower is amazing and her comeback is incredible.

week 9, Long Beach, 55miles

Our team met in El Dorado Park at 7:30am for our route from Long Beach to Irvine and back. For the last 2 weeks, I have pondered over taking my training to the next level by joining the faster group. I felt excited to challenge myself and nervous about being able to hang with the pace. I was ecstatic I did because I loved every second of it! The group was very encouraging, supportive, and welcoming. Today was the perfect transition to step it up since our route wasn't as hilly and I was familiar with the area.

Coach Charlie met up with us on the road with his dance music blasting from his bike. He has a sports bottle which also functions as a speaker for an ipod. It was one of the coolest things I had seen today. In addition, one of the mentors from our group has a computer bike which is also a GPS. We actually missed a turn during our route so the computer bike came in really handy.

The weather was really windy especially during our ride back to the park; of course the sun came out when our route was almost over. Luckily, today's bike path was the friendliest bike route of all the trainings we have done since there was a bike lane 90% of the time. Overall, our group did 57 miles in 4 hours, 56 minutes averaging 15 miles per hour. The time includes 2 SAG (Support And Gear which is refueling our bodies and taking potty breaks) stops, stop signs, and street lights. Go Team!

week 8, Griffifth Park, 50 miles

We are halfway there with our training. This was my favorite ride because there were several rolling hills so that meant a lot of downhills too. I got really comfortable cycling downhill and I lost my fear of losing control; I just enjoyed the moment. I received pretty nifty compliments from my coach, assistant coach, and mentor. My coach said that it's pretty common for a light rider to be good at climbing hills but not as common to see light riders do well going downhill because not many pedal. The assistant coach said to my coach, "I have created a speed demon." My top speed was 32 miles per hour. Freedom but tiring too! Surprisingly, I didn't feel as sore anymore as I usually do the next two days after a long training.

The highlight of the day for me was carpooling with my buddy, Joyce, who is training for a marathon. It was great to catch up with old times. The reason we were able to carpool was because TNT's marathoners (26.2 miles or 13.1 miles), hikers (18 miles to Yosemite), triathletes, and cyclists all came together for a social event after our training. Here is an update of our fundraising efforts. I have raised ~$1500, my cycling team have raised $25,000, our Great LA Chapter have raised $700,000. What a great progress! Thank you to all those who have donated.