Chris (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} alc1337) wrote,@ 2006-05-22 19:54:00 |
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Starting to wind down
I did indeed travel to Lodi this weekend to ride the Lodi Sunrise Century for the third year in a row. According to my log, I knocked 22 minutes off my actual ride time from last year, and my elapsed time including stops was just about 8:30 -- a much better showing, assisted partly by the cool temperatures and near-total lack of wind.
I figured Sunday would be a washout, but I went to San Francisco anyway. After briefly waking up early, noticing the light rain, and then sleeping past the start time for all the official ALC rides, I woke up later in the morning to see that the rain had apparently stopped. So I finally got on my bike at about 11:30 and headed off across town, going nowhere in particular. I made my way to the Golden Gate Bridge and decided on a lark to head up into the Marin Headlands, up some very steep hills that I'd never done before.
This took me to the amazing view from the top of Hawk Hill -- alas, since I didn't know I was going to be there, I didn't take my camera, so you'll have to make do with this random photo from the same spot, taken by someone else.
I started to head down into Sausalito, but the first couple of raindrops hit me, and I decided to turn around and head back to San Francisco. A wise choice, because within about 15 minutes of ending my ride, the skies opened up with rain and didn't stop for several hours. My ride for the day was only 22 miles, but they were mostly very hilly, so they were "quality" miles.
Less than two weeks to go now until The Ride, and I'm of a thousand different thoughts and emotions. I'm excited that the time is finally here. I'm nervous about the physical challenge. I'm anxious that I haven't yet figured out how I'm getting back from Los Angeles to San Francisco at the end. I'm worried about how my state of mind will be after the event. And I dare say that right now I'm teetering on the precipitous edge of overtraining. This afternoon was a picture-perfect day in Fresno, and I had no desire whatsoever to get on my bike and go anywhere. I need to shake this in the next couple of days, get in a few more rides, and then spend next week getting rested and ready for the big event.
If you're in the Bay Area and are considering heading down to Los Angeles for the finale, give me a holler, because I might want to bum a ride off you, for me and my bike. Otherwise, it looks like I'll be renting a car in the next couple of days.
And it's still not too late to donate online. If I can get my total up to $5,000, I get a very nice commemorative jersey that I can't otherwise buy or get. I've got more than $1,800 still to go as of this writing, but maybe, just maybe, you can help me do it.
Miles this month: 586
Miles this year: 3,265
I did indeed travel to Lodi this weekend to ride the Lodi Sunrise Century for the third year in a row. According to my log, I knocked 22 minutes off my actual ride time from last year, and my elapsed time including stops was just about 8:30 -- a much better showing, assisted partly by the cool temperatures and near-total lack of wind.
I figured Sunday would be a washout, but I went to San Francisco anyway. After briefly waking up early, noticing the light rain, and then sleeping past the start time for all the official ALC rides, I woke up later in the morning to see that the rain had apparently stopped. So I finally got on my bike at about 11:30 and headed off across town, going nowhere in particular. I made my way to the Golden Gate Bridge and decided on a lark to head up into the Marin Headlands, up some very steep hills that I'd never done before.
This took me to the amazing view from the top of Hawk Hill -- alas, since I didn't know I was going to be there, I didn't take my camera, so you'll have to make do with this random photo from the same spot, taken by someone else.
I started to head down into Sausalito, but the first couple of raindrops hit me, and I decided to turn around and head back to San Francisco. A wise choice, because within about 15 minutes of ending my ride, the skies opened up with rain and didn't stop for several hours. My ride for the day was only 22 miles, but they were mostly very hilly, so they were "quality" miles.
Less than two weeks to go now until The Ride, and I'm of a thousand different thoughts and emotions. I'm excited that the time is finally here. I'm nervous about the physical challenge. I'm anxious that I haven't yet figured out how I'm getting back from Los Angeles to San Francisco at the end. I'm worried about how my state of mind will be after the event. And I dare say that right now I'm teetering on the precipitous edge of overtraining. This afternoon was a picture-perfect day in Fresno, and I had no desire whatsoever to get on my bike and go anywhere. I need to shake this in the next couple of days, get in a few more rides, and then spend next week getting rested and ready for the big event.
If you're in the Bay Area and are considering heading down to Los Angeles for the finale, give me a holler, because I might want to bum a ride off you, for me and my bike. Otherwise, it looks like I'll be renting a car in the next couple of days.
And it's still not too late to donate online. If I can get my total up to $5,000, I get a very nice commemorative jersey that I can't otherwise buy or get. I've got more than $1,800 still to go as of this writing, but maybe, just maybe, you can help me do it.
Miles this month: 586
Miles this year: 3,265
