The best SAG service ever!

Just delivered to my front door, and ooohhhhh so good. Thanks a million, Cindy!

ALC8 Day on the Ride SF

This was the ride where I was going to try to be a more mellow rider to see if doing so would be more fun. Sure enough, my pace was certainly mellow, but that was largely out of necessity and not by choice. Not only was this year's new-ish route somewhat challenging, I clearly was coming down with something that, as I write this a day later, has me laid up with a low-grade fever, an overwhelming desire to sleep (but only for an hour at a time), and other random symptoms of swine flu.

The calendar said that meet time was 5:30 a.m. So true to form, I arrived at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park at about 5:20 a.m. and found almost nobody there -- in fact, I was able to park directly in front of the building. You'd think that after so many years of this, I would realize that there's no need to be there so stupidly early. (I woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep, so it's not like I was doing anything else useful.)

We finally got going around 7:30 a.m., about half an hour late, so already my plan was somewhat in doubt. The closing time for Rest Stop 1, 21 miles into the ride, was only 10:30 a.m., so even if I rode at a generous pace, I still would have to get in and out of the rest stop. And sure enough, as I've written about here many times, it's often difficult to get in and out of an ALC rest stop, especially early in the day. The line for a portapotty was about 10 minutes long (not at all bad by ALC standards), so I didn't leave until right around 10 a.m. (Fortunately, I didn't hear anyone shouting a 30-minute warning as they do on the ride, so maybe they kept it open a bit later in light of the delayed ride-out.)

Then came the hills. White's Hill, Nicasio Valley Road, and (new this year) Lucas Valley Road -- all places that I'd been before, so it wasn't really unexpected, but it was taking a toll on me -- more than it should. But since I was hanging back with the other riders, I found plenty of other folks who were riding a pace that suited me just fine, and I wasn't feeling much of a desire to pass hardly anyone. (I also took even more photo stops than usual.)

Once we got into San Rafael, there were a few miles that were new to me -- a rarity in the Bay Area. The miles through downtown San Rafael were slow and frustrating, but there were a few more steady climbs to increase the elevation gain. After that, it was back into San Anselmo for the stop-sign-overload ride back into Sausalito.

My pace for the day was a moderate 11.8 mph, and a lot of that was because I just didn't feel like passing anyone on the hills, opting instead to stay behind and offer encouragement when needed. I felt pleased at the end of the ride -- although I was saddened to hear of a crash, a vehicle break-in, and a failed bicycle frame.

Saturday's ride was challenging, with about 4,700 feet of climbing. That's about as much climbing as on Day 1 of the ride, although on that day it's spread out over about 80 miles of distance. No other day of the ride has as much climbing, so if you survived Day on the Ride, you'll do just fine in June.

But I was unusually tired after the ride, and all day long I had been consuming (and, um, unloading) far more water and Powerade than usual. And I was coughing a bit more than usual. As the day wore on, I began to sense that something wasn't quite right. As soon as I got home, it hit me quite suddenly: a case of the shivers. My temperature had shot up to 1.8 degrees above its normal (as registered by the thermometer that normally has me at about 97.5 degrees), and I was hugely tired. I was asleep by 6:30 p.m., but I could only sleep for 60 to 90 minutes at a time all night long, and I was in this half-awake, half-asleep state all night long. Once this morning arrived, I was able to go to the grocery store for drugs and comfort food, but doing so only made my temperature shoot up another degree or so. So it was back to sleep for a while.

As of this afternoon, though, things don't seem to be getting any worse. My temperature is still about a degree too high, and I don't really feel like doing much of anything, but I did muster enough energy to finally put a new rear tire on my bike and clean the chain. (That seemed to test the limits of what I can do today, alas.)

So it's plenty of rest for me -- I hope that I'll be able to stay home tomorrow -- and then a short ride or two later in the week to get ready for our big 113-mile trip to Gilroy next Saturday.

Hills!

If you wondering whether today was really as hilly as it felt, I get about 4,700 feet of climbing over 68 miles, using the same scale that we use for our Mountain View rides. That's a lot!

An experiment

Saturday morning, I'll be waking up around 3:30 a.m. to make my way to chilly San Francisco for this year's Day on the Ride. Given that I've come to generally dislike cycling in Marin County, why would I bother? Because I want to try something different -- something that might have a big impact on how I approach the ride this June.

Those of you who ride with me know that I'm a wonderfully average rider. When I'm not sweeping a ride, I tend to be in the middle when it comes to pacing, and I almost never "hammer" it. But when it comes to rest stops, I try to get in and out very quickly. A few years ago when I was less sure of myself and really did have speed issues, this was a wise strategy that helped me complete Every Friendly Inch of ALC. But now, unless I've got a bus to catch, there's really little need for such a strategy.

During ALC, I consistently reached camp in the first half of riders -- sometimes even the first third or first quarter, gauging by the number of bicycles in Bike Parking when I arrived. Sure, this got me some nice perks like little or no line at the shower truck, but I've missed out on a lot of fun things along the way. Also, by consistently riding with cyclists who generally outclass me when it comes to skill and speed (particularly on descents), I ended up not enjoying myself nearly so much, constantly enduring the calls of "On your left!" all day long while passing very few people myself.

This year's Day on the Ride is only 67 miles, down from 78 miles last year and 100 miles a few years ago. Yet, if the ALC calendar is to be believed, there's still a 10-hour time limit on the ride. That's a lot of time! And, hence, my experiment.

I'm hoping to take a very casual approach to this ride. I don't plan to be bunched up at the front of the pack waiting to be the first person out of Golden Gate Park. I plan to take my time on Camino Alto and White's Hill, and I might even hang around the lunch stop for a while and, gasp, try to be social. And who knows when I'll get back to San Francisco -- maybe 2 p.m., maybe 3, or maybe even later.

Then again, I might decide an hour into the ride to just take off and be done as quickly as possible with the 387 stop signs and 9,000 cyclists of Marin's narrow streets. That's the experiment: I want to see whether I can (or want to) have a leisurely large-group ride. We'll know in a little more than 24 hours.

Photo credit: Day on the Ride 2008, by Jamison, at Flickr

Two indispensable items

In the giant list of everything that you're supposed to bring with you on your bike while doing the ride, I've got two items that often get overlooked but make the ride much better for me. One of them you probably know about; the other, possibly not.

Lip balm -- preferably with sunscreen -- is extremely important. Even during our last few training rides, the rides are now long enough that you can do serious damage to your lips if you don't protect them from the sun and the wind. As with all such items (including sunscreen), you are expected to bring your own on the ride. Although the medical tent might have some available, it's only for emergency use ... and they often run out or start rationing anyway as the week progresses.

The item you might not have thought about is a tiny water mister. This tiny bottle (see how it's only a little larger than the lip balm) can make you feel immeasurably better on hot days -- and it can make you a lot of instant best friends when you walk around Mission San Miguel with a cool spray of mist in your wake. It really only makes sense when the temperature is above about 85 degrees or so, but we have enough of that on Days 2 and 3 (and, this year, maybe Day 5) that this dollar-store item is a wise investment.

I've certainly gotten the strange looks when I've pulled the mister out of my jersey pocket (or perhaps I just get strange looks anyway), but then folks go "wow."

Just remember: If you mist yourself heavily, your sunscreen might wash off. Remember to reapply it!

It can happen without warning

On the part of Highway 9 that we rode Saturday afternoon, a tragic incident occurred the next day. KCBS radio reports:

24-year-old Ashley Jackson of the Alto Velo cycling team was riding in the bike lane on Highway 9 toward Los Gatos with her boyfriend and cycling coach, Dave Nelson, when Nelson said they were both hit from behind by a late-model, silver, 4-door BMW 7 Series sedan. "I can't even speak the words of what this person did," said Nelson. "You can ruin someone's life by one action and not even care to stop."

Nelson said it appears the car's right mirror clipped Jackon and knocked her to the ground. "The car comes flying through, by me, grazes me with the broken mirror, hits me with his broken mirror, kind of shocks you, wondering what he's doing. At that point, I have to turn around and see my girlfriend laying in the road. She's crumpled up and hit by this car." Jackson was knocked unconscious, with a broken collarbone and a serious brain injury.

The Mercury News adds, just in case anyone was wondering:

The two were cycling together, he said, single-file in the bike lane, with helmets on.

Ride report: Cat-3 Distance Training #8

Go, riders!

The longest day of AIDS/LifeCycle is Day 2, from Santa Cruz to King City. It's about 108 miles, the day starts off cool and foggy, things really get hot toward the end, and while most of the hills are rolling, there are a couple of attention-getters along the way. Sounds just like Saturday's 100-mile century loop around the South Bay! Congratulations to the 29 riders who were part of this event, and extra special thanks to SAG driver Susan for another day of outstanding service. Special congratulations go to the riders who completed their first-ever century.

By this point, just about everyone has mastered basic riding techniques, and you're all mostly following the safety rules. (I did see someone roll through a red light, though. Don't do that!) Again this time, I'll take a few minutes to talk about all of the various management tasks that you have to do while riding. Getting to Los Angeles is not as simple as pedaling over and over and over again!

Saturday's ride was our first ride that had rest stop closing times -- and they never became an issue for anyone, which was good. In fact, some of you joked about how generous the time limits were. The good news is that these are roughly the same time limits you'll have on most days of the ride in June.

But here's the other news: We had only four stops. A long day on the ride can have as many as six official stops -- four rest stops, a lunch stop, and a water stop -- and two or three unofficial stops, such as Paradise Pit in Santa Barbara on Day 6. That can be nine stops in one day. If you were to spend just 30 minutes at each stop, that would be 4.5 hours off your bike out of the 12.5-hour time limit that you'll have on most days. And 30 minutes at a stop isn't all that unreasonable, even if you're a "fast" rest stop person, because much of that time you'll be waiting in lines ... for the toilet, for food and water, etc. So you could be spending as much as one-third of your day not riding! All of a sudden, the 12-hour time limit becomes just eight hours on the bike, and you start watching the clock to make sure you don't miss a closing time.

That's why time management is such an important factor. You know roughly how fast a rider you are. Based on that, you can budget time for off-the-bike activities, and then you need to stick to that budget. If you're a slower rider, try to get in and out of rest stops more quickly. Doing so can allow you to reach camp earlier than riders who are faster than you.

But also remember that the fun stops along the way are a key part of the ride. Don't become so focused on reaching camp that you forget to have fun along the way! The challenge for you is to find the proper balance between completing the ride and enjoying the week. It's not easy.

Another thing that can happen on very long rides is that you might not always be thinking clearly or be as attentive as you should be. I saw it happen yesterday -- a rider in a residential neighborhood didn't even notice a stop sign and went right through it. This wasn't intentional at all on the rider's part; rather, the rider's mind had just gone somewhere else for a few seconds. It's very easy to get yourself into a "zone" where you're extremely focused on the task of riding, and you can lose sight of the world around you. Not only can this lead to things like not seeing a stop sign; it can keep you from having fun and interacting with other riders.

I've seen it on the ride -- a cyclist pulls into a rest stop nearly in a daze and sort-of sleepwalks from bike parking to the toilet to the water line. (I think I might have been that cyclist a couple of times.) Sometimes that's a sign that there's a nutrition or hydration issue; other times, it's a sign that someone has retreated into their own private world. Either way, there's a danger there. If you're not paying attention to your body, you can put yourself at risk of injury; also, however, you can become a risk to other cyclists because you might be more likely to do something unsafe or unexpected. (Ever see anyone bonk and just decide to suddenly stop right in the middle of the bike lane? That's what I'm talking about.)

Use the rest of the training season to get intimately familiar with how your body responds under the stress of a full day on the bike. Fine-tune your time-management skills, and practice pacing yourself so that you can maintain the same pace "forever" -- or, at least, long enough to get you through seven days without injury.

For our next ride in two weeks, we're adding another hour of riding time and keeping the total climbing about the same. Our 113-mile ride will go all the way to Gilroy and back. An added challenge on this ride will be the possibility of strong headwinds on the return from Gilroy to San Jose, so the difficulty might go up a notch or two. Details and RSVP are here.

And next Saturday is Day on the Ride in San Francisco. This year's route is 67 or 42 miles; the longer route includes some challenging hills in central Marin County. Pre-registration is required and limited (and costs $15); details are here.

Day 1 is just six weeks from today! Thank you for being part of AIDS/LifeCycle.