25th Annual MDR

The MDR...the 4 day Memorial Day Ride from San Jose to Santa Barbara.  I did it!  Again!  Well, most of it.  It's a fabulous annual ride and now that it's complete, that 25 years worth in the books.  (A mere 15 for me......I started in '98, but missed a couple along the way.)

The 25th MDR gang at the start

How was it??  Well.....the damn foot did act up.  I can't believe it's still not healed, 4 weeks since the minor surgery.  But I have to look at the bright side.  I plugged along for much of the ride, doing 289 out of the total of 350 miles.  Admirable, but I was hoping for the whole thing!  Instead, I did my duty of driving a 25 leg out of Carmel.  But that wasn't my only down time.  It warmed up on day 4 and I had some pain during the 3rd leg, so I packed it in at mile 68.  Too bad....I didn't even get to descend down to Gaviota Pass!  It really did hurt.  And as much as I wanted to continue, when I saw one of our cars stop for someone else, I hopped in too.  A little bit like sticking up your hand for the Team car in a race.  The ego hurt, but the foot hurt more.  I know.....I should have had it checked before the trip.  But you know how it is!  If you have something like this trip planned, you don't want to ask someone who might tell you to sit the whole thing out.  No f*ckin' way!  I will get it checked again, but really wanted to go on this ride too. 

In any case, it was a lot of fun!  Riding great roads, eating good food, drinking tasty beers, being with fun friends.  And repeating 4 times!  Here are some more fave pics so far.  If I see anymore, I'll post them too.

Bixby Bridge, 13 miles south of Carmel

At the "Quad C" - the Central Coast Coasting Competition on Turri Rd.

Mike on Big Sur

Mike and Jeff nearing SLO

Mike on Hwy 1 south of Carmel

Mike bike on Turri Rd.

The beginning of the Gaviota Pass drop to Hwy 101 (2 miles @ 7%)

Tour de France!  (Cheese store in SLO)

MDR group south of Carmel

Bixby Bridge

South of Lucia on Hwy 1 through new avalanche protection tunnel

The Best and "Not So Best" of Times? We'll See......

Well, maybe the title sounds worse than it really is...but what does that all mean?  Simply, I'm in pretty good riding shape, but having trouble riding!  Huh?  Yeah, I've had a great year for mileage (almost 3K miles) and looking forward to this year's ride to Santa Barbara, the annual Memorial Day Ride (MDR - just days away).  But foot issues are slowing me down!

I had some minor surgery a few weeks ago to get rid of some bursitus, which is like a callus under the skin that can hit a nerve or bone.  Right on the ball of my right foot!  Eek.  It's probably from old cycling shoes (rub rub rub...) and I've had it for well over a year.  But until recently, it's been very manageable.   Then, about a month ago, it starting getting inflamed and then during a particularly cold and wet ride up in Chico (the Wildflower century), it really started to flare up.  To the point where I couldn't deal with the pain and thought maybe it was getting infected.  It was almost like stepping on a nail.  Yikes!

So, off to the hospital I went May 2nd for the surgery...but even now (2.5 weeks later), it STILL is not fully healed.  I wore a "boot" to keep the pressure off (no fun), did nothing for 5 days (no rides, no walks, no showers).  The after about a week, I slowly got back into walking and some short rides...dealing with things, thinking it would get better.  And I suppose it has, but way too slowly.  The doctor never said it would last this long!

The post-op bandage

The "boot"

 Last weekend, I may have pushed it too much.  We went to Sacramento for a crew race, and I rode 62 miles on the bike path, thinking no climbing wouldn't bother it.  The good news is that I saw many of the Tour of California (TOC) pros out there training....yes, on the bike path!!  Double pace lines, passing grannies and kids on bikes.  WOW!  That was unexpected!  But also unexpected was the pain...it really hadn't gotten much better yet.  I really pushed it three days later by going up Diablo to watch another stage of the TOC.  It was an exciting stage (!) and I had no real pain going out there.  But returning was pretty damn painful. 

 

"Sir" Bradley Wiggins leading up Diablo (He ended up winning the whole race!)

Turned out to be an 80 mile ride.  40 miles out ok and 40 miles back in pain.  Ouch.  Not from the miles, but from the damn foot.  But looking at the bright side, the race was cool!  Here are my pics and 4 videos from that stage....TOC Stage 3 up Mt. Diablo.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=112371152910629742937&target=ALBUM&id=6014258831752019921&authkey=Gv1sRgCKCPhfrk3aD1wQE&feat=email

The high temps (90-100) that day probably made things worse....expanding feet, etc.  I thought it through and said WTF...new shoes must be part of the answer.  So, off I went and found a pretty good price on the same type of shoes (Sidi Dominator 5) and crossed my fingers that they would be better.  So far, it seems to have worked.  I suffer a bit after riding from my foot expanding a bit, but not like earlier.  I rode two 40 milers (Sat/Sun) and didn't do too bad.  With three days until the big MDR....I'm hoping we are there.  If I keep the incision clean and take it fairly easy, maybe I can do it.  I'll report back....hopefully with good news and not a need for another hospital visit.  ;-)  Because the big event of the year, the MDR, starts Thursday, May 22nd and I don't want to miss it!!

What's in a (Bike Ride) Name?

Our rides these days seems to need a name.  With strava and everyone posting their rides, you want to show everyone how fun your ride was, but it seems you need a catchy name too.  Well, I guess I've fallen into the trap.  Here are some recent ride names I've come up with since the beginning of this year....they all have some "inner meaning" and I'm sure you can figure some of them out.  Sorry if they are too esoteric!  You can find them all at my strava page (http://www.strava.com/athletes/77170).  I hope it's more than "a ride is just a ride is just a ride"!

Goin' Loopy

LimBo Rockin' with the Sistas

A Mile for Each Year? ;-) (some with Lou Q)

Port, Parks and The Peak (Urban Exploring)

Noodling up Grizzly and Environs

Flats sans flats

Still perfecting my rain predicting skills (with Amy)

That close to a Century and you stopped?? (Ride to Davis - back on Amtrak)

Back on the Chain Gang (with JM and Jeff)

Triathlon (Walk/Fly/Ride).....back to only the ride....

"Da Bears", Pig Farm and Happy Valley (with Jean-Marie and Mark G)

Highlands Cyclists Breakfast Club Ride (sans breakfast!)

Lou Reed Ride (Such a perfect day!)

Feeling Flat...like the road

Bumps, but no bruises (small climbs that is) - Butters, Skyline, Charing Cross

Wildcat-Wilder-Snap! (Broke my chain and had to call the team car - Caryn - for a lift home)

New Year's Eve Champagne Ride on a Beer Budget (Great weather in Marin/Sonoma with Jared)

Ride Update....Busy!

Hi!  Sorry for the lack of reports lately.  Here is a picture from our train ride back after riding from Berkeley to Davis last weekend (April 5).  Great day for a ride!  More updates later.....been too busy riding to report!

So......what was 2013 like??

So, what makes up a great year of riding??  No rain to speak of, long rides almost every weekend, and some epic ones (like the Nifty 10-50) are some of the great memories of this past year.  Oh, and no crashes!  What's not to like?  Ok, maybe it was unofficially bracketed by two parts failures....the crankarm failure on New Year's Eve 2012 and a broken chain in early January of 2014.  And both were in the middle of nowhere.  Is that the appropriate way to mark the year?  Well, sure, why not?  Both ended up ok and it was all part of the adventure!  I guess I could carry more tools, but....maybe not!  With an "almost" record of about 7700 miles, it may be tough to pick out the best.  But let me try and tick off, in no particular order, my top 10 rides.  All of these rides and more can be found here:  http://www.strava.com/athletes/77170

1-2. Berkeley to Davis (2), April and Nov 2013.  What a great bunch of folks both times, followed by dinner at our house.  I think it's becoming a date on peoples' calendar!  The best part is the last 35 or so miles through the farmlands of Vacaville into Davis, followed by the train back to Berkeley with a cold beer.  Superb.

3.  Nifty 10-50.  50 miles of the "steepest sh*t" in the East Bay, adding up to 10,000 feet of climbing.  Throw in bad brakes on Brendan's mt. bike and you've got an epic ride.  Right to the last mile, where I almost bit it on Indian Rock because the brakes were no longer holding.  So much for disks?  Well, so much for my ignorance about disks.  All I had to do was turn the little knob and they would have been re-adjusted.  But hey, that would have taken away the thrill!  ;-)

4.  The Diablo stage of the TOC....Stage 7....especially the descent down the mt. to North Gate with the pros and 100's of other cyclists all at the same time!  Smooth.

5.  Furlough ride - San Francisco to Tunitas Creek and down into Palo Alto and back over the Dumbarton Bridge to Fremont BART.  I love those point-to-point rides!  Not the quietest or even prettiest ride, but a goal was met.  And like a few others in October, I was paid for it!  (Keep it up, Repugs.)

6.  MDR day?  That's the Memorial Day Ride.  It's our annual 4 day ride from San Jose to Santa Barbara, totaling about 375 miles.  I suppose I should be able to pick the best day, but they're all good.  Good company, good weather and good roads.  Who can pick a favorite?  Not me.  Let's do it again....for about the 15th time!

7.  Rides to the Farm.  I rode up to Kenwood to our friend's place a few times this past year from Larkspur.   It's about 60 miles and it's always a great ride.  There are a few busy sections through Petaluma.  And the hard climbs are at the end, when I'm pretty sapped of energy.  But for the most part, it's a beautiful ride.  The hardest parts are indeed the most beautiful as well.  Sonoma Mt. Road can't be beat.  Hard, bumpy, and steep.  But quiet, pretty, and remote.  The best there is if you're a cyclist.  And it's only a few miles from a cold beer at the house!!!  In fact, the year ended on New Year's Eve with a ride to the Farm accompanied by my workmate Jared joining me in Kentfield and departing in Petaluma.  Nice way to end the year.

8.  The Grizzly-Skyline-Pinehurst Loop.  I do this loop so many times each year (every Tuesday night in spring and summer), one would think it's not part of this list.  But it's emblematic of the unbelievable riding we have at our back door here in the East Bay.  Serious climbs.  Mostly quiet roads.  And wonderful descents.  Right into town.  That's the name of the game with this 38 mile loop.

9.  The American River Bike Path.  Not near home, but still accessible, this is the flattest 60 miles one can find around these parts.  It's the path that goes from Sacamento to Lake Natoma, where Caryn's and Brendan's crew meets are held.  I have a habit of losing patience and wanting to ride during these events, so always bring my bike up to regattas.  And it's so flat that I can set my own land speed records for mph.  Nearly 20 mph for 60 miles!  That's what you get when there's no elevation or cars.  Not bad.

10.   Grizzly Peak.  Why is this so special?  It's on almost every ride we do around these parts.  Well. this was the year they repaved that sucker!!!  After 20+ years, they repaved it this fall and it was SO SMOOTH, it was hard to believe.  There is a god.

That's the top 10, but there were many other great rides that didn't make the list.  Our coastal ride in CT among the colorful leaves.  The Chico Gran Fondo, which I need to do again to appreciate it more.  And the Patterson Pass / Del Puerto Canyon / Mines loop with Marius and Jules.  Been hearing about that 100 mile loop for years, but this was the first year I did it.  One memory of that ride was cruising along at 28 mph for 16 miles with no work.  There's a lot of wind in that valley.  And thank goodness we were riding in the southerly direction!  And finally, riding on Todd's birthday ride (43 miles for 43 years that turned into 72 miles).  It wasn't the course or the distance as much as the company.  I was able to talk to Calvin T. for quite awhile hearing about the history of Bay Area and California racing, including how he "taught Greg Lemond how to race".  Hmmm.

Here's to more memorable rides in 2014!

HNY!

Happy New Year in 2014!  It's been a great year for many things, including riding.  I've achieved my highest mileage in almost 20 years, which is since Brendan was born.  It was due to a number of reasons, including very little rain, consistent long weekend rides and of course, the gov't shutdown, which gave me plenty of free time to ride!  Whatever the reasons, I had a little over 7700 miles this year!  Below is a Strava accounting of my rides (on one chart, which is a bigger number b/c it includes all activities) and a picture of Brendan and me on a ride a couple of days before Christmas.  I actually got him out for over 50 miles in the week or so since he got home for the Christmas holiday!  Maybe with that bit of base mileage, he'll be encouraged to get out there more during this new year.  And maybe those who read this will too!

Happy Holidays!