Team Revolution's Bistro to Bistro Ride, Father's Day Mormon Emigrant Trail, and Death Ride Pre-Ride

June 19th: The Bistro to Bistro Ride

Fred Haines, owner of Bistro 33 and one of our biggest sponsors, held a ride for Team Revolutions. There were three possible routes: 15 miles, 40 miles, and 71 miles. Randy and I did the 72 miles, which was riding from Bistro 33 in El Dorado Hills to the Bistro 33 in Sacramento and back. The route was the easy, low-key American River Trails (lol at ART being "low-key"). Our first rest stop was at Folsom Bike and Grind, where they had coffee, bars, water, and a bunch more for us. There was a second stop at the Sunrise park, where Bistro 33 had some food and water for us. We got off on Guy West Bridge and headed through a bit of Sacramento to get Bistro 33 where there was a bunch of yummy food and water.

This ride was a relaxing one for us. We took our time and had fun socializing with out teammates. At the end of the ride, Bistro 33 in El Dorado Hills had an after party, which was fantastic! We had a lot of awesome food, good music, drinks (both boozed and non-boozed.. which I had the non-boozed because of this damn Death Ride!), and good times. Fred knows how to throw a ride and party!

June 20th: Father's Day Mormon Emigrant Trail

Randy's dad, Ron, wanted to do a ride for Father's Day. As Randy's parents live right by Sly Park and MET, we decided to do that as an easy and enjoyable ride.... HAH! MET is a challenge for sure, but it's a great ride! We headed out and had a good time. Turned around at a good spot so we could go back to the house and have lunch with the Glaeser family. I was getting some good speed on the downhill when I realized that the guys weren't behind me. So, I turned around. Turned out that Ron had gotten a flat and told Randy to go get me. Randy and I rode for about 2 miles (I was a good ways away, apparently!) and when we all met up again, we rode back and a much reasonable speed (no 48mph for me! My highest speed that day must have been 46).

The good thing is that I wasn't struggling on this ride at all. Last year, I was struggling with 30-25 gearing and exhausted by the end. This year, I was going at a very comfortable "spinning" cadence with 39-28 gearing and still had energy. I think it's a great improvement from last year! While this wasn't a hammer-fest ride (hey, we gotta enjoy our families on rides, too, whether they are hard ones or not!), it was still great to see that I was able to feel and ride much better than last year.

I went to wish my dad a father's day that evening, too, who was doing a lot of studying for another certification. Every man celebrates differently, I guess, haha.

June 27: Death Ride Pre-Ride

Yvette, Jason, Randy and I decided to ride a few of the Death Ride's passes. While it's only Yvette and me riding the actual Death Ride, we had some good support from the guys. We rode both sides of Ebbett's first, which are passes 3 and 4 of the ride. I went out a bit too hard on the first hill, so I decided to take it easy for the rest of the ride. Both ascends went great, when we saw an SUV with two road bikes stop by. Lo and behold, it was two Team Revs teammates, Pam and Steve! The team had done a pre-ride the day before, but we couldn't make that, so we went the day after. They stopped and gave us some of their left over water, at least to those who didn't have an 11-pound camelpack like I did!

The second descent was a bit shadier. Even though I had zipped my jersey up, I had a big fly into it and bite me. I had to come to a full stop and see what it was. I was freaking out because I'm very allergic to bees, and a bee sting is what ended my Death Ride last year, besides the fact that I'm at the top of a freaking mountain with only an epi pen and a bike to get me to the car! Cell phones? Hardly any service. Jason saw me pull up and stopped to see if I was okay since Randy had told him I'm allergic to them. Randy was in front of me, so he didn't realize I had stopped until he looked back and saw that Yvette was passing him, so he turned around (yup... CLIMBING Ebbett's again. What a great boyfriend!). I rolled up to Jason and told him that I didn't see a stinger, so it may not have been a bee, but we'll see in 10 minutes. Yup... there was a bit of nervous laughter. I rode to Randy and told him what happened, which he then decided that we were going to ride close together (even on the hard descent) just in case I had to get stabbed with my Epi pen. I didn't. It luckily wasn't a bee, but I decided that I was going to zip my jersey all the way up, as in chocking all the way up, to take that risk out.... at least from there. I still had my arms, legs, and head.

Up to Monitor we went, and I decided to take Monitor REALLY easy since it was really hot and I still had 8 pounds of camelpack on my back. Yvette and Jason took off, Randy and I stayed back and took it nice and easy. It was a comfortable pace, we were able to talk and laugh. When we got a bit over mile 4 into the pass, we saw Yvette and Jason pulled over on a side road, and I asked them what was up. Yvette was out of water, Jason had a bad head ache. Randy was low in water, and I still had nearly 2 bottles (maybe 3/4 of each filled) and some of my camelpack. I told them I was taking it easy because 1. It was hot; 2. I was keeping my target heart rate; 3. I've had heat stroke twice, I know when it's coming, and I wasn't going to risk it when the ride is less than two weeks away. The decision was to turn back, though I was ready to do the rest. It was a good decision. We had two rides with no water (I gave Randy some water from my Camelpack. Yvette said she didn't need it for the descent), and one rider with a head ache. So, down we went. We stopped in Markleeville to rest (Okay, I wanted to rest because my ass was killing me... will never forget to Chamois Butt'r my chamois!). Two miles of easy climbing later and we were back at Turtle Rock, where we started.

It was a great ride and I'm glad I went to pre-ride the passes. I know exactly how I'm going to start the ride. The elevation didn't have any effect on me (good ol' elevation training has paid off). I think this ride will be painful, but very doable.

After, we all went our separate ways and we stopped at Randy's parent's, where we had dinner and hung out a bit. Then came home. It was great being over and talking about bikes, the outdoors, and any random subject that came out! Definitely a great dinner and fun times.

I'm glad to have some great support on this ride. Randy will be going to the ride to be my "mechanical and beer" support. I haven't been drinking at ALL because of this ride (ever gone bar hopping with friends and just order a soda? Yeah, you get teased, haha!). When I roll to the car at the end of the ride, I will have that beer handed to me and I'll chug it. I may pass out on the bike, but dammit, it'll be worth it!

Let the countdown begin!

Ladies' MTB Ride

On Monday, June 14th, Team Revolution's Jeanie (aka boss of the MTB race team ;) ) hosted a women's only MTB ride. This was my first group MTB ride ever, and maybe 5th time out in the dirt (hey, I'm a roadie... we don't see much dirt!). I was nervous and scared senseless, but I went out anyway. Stayed in the back most of the time since I didn't want to slow anyone down, though the uphill is not my issue, it's the downhill! Unfortunately for me, I have no depth perception. It's pretty hard to see anything out there, be it drops, rocks, sandy areas, water, or shadows. I can't tell what's what nor if it's a shadow or a hole on the ground. Either way, I just have to be more alert. Since I've had no depth perception for a few years, I get used to my surroundings a lot faster. Being alert is key, though, and always looking at my surroundings is as well. Key things help.

The ride had a good turnout. Jeanie had asked Randy to come out and help a bit (he's usually the "catcher" in the rides). Chandra's husband, Rob, also came out and helped a bit. So we had a bunch of women and 2 men to balance out the estrogen... Hah!

This ride turned out to be a bit more of a "skills learning" ride. I was the newest to mountain biking, but not the only

beginner (just the really, really newbie). Jeanie and Randy taught us how to go up and down some of the more technical stuff on the TBF course at Granite Bay. We all mostly had issues with rocks and realizing that we can go OVER them. I think that that's where I have most of my issues. I'm not used to my bike simply running over rocks and tree roots... my road bike would be sending me over the handlebars if I did that! Either way, we worked on that, and one of our teammates, Krista, did extremely well going over some of the very technical parts that I can only dream of doing right now (there's a couple of spots that are more WTF!? than anything... I'll do those soon enough!).

After doing some skills, we got to more riding. There's a short, steep hill with a lot

of roots in the way where I crashed last time. This time, I took the better line but lost control of my front wheel and crashed AGAIN, though this time around I got past the roots. Not too much damage was done; just a scrape on the arm, elbow, a sore arm (lasted about 3 days), and a dirty kit. Let's just say that I was glad that I was on dirt and NOT on asphalt.

We later on went on a section of the trail that some of us hate. It's not a hard section, just a weird line with a bunch of rocks, and since I can't see how far away or how deep the sections between the rocks are, it scared me. However, this time I went for it, and after Jeanie, Krista, and Randy showed their lines (since they were ahead of us), I rode it, and it was a lot easier and smoother than I had thought before. So, I conquered another section that I didn't feel confident in!

After the ride, everyone packed up and went home. Jeanie, Rob, and I decided to ride to Folsom Bike and Grind. They are very experienced MTB riders, but I toughed it out. The only issue I had was the downhill. Uphills are fine for me, but I have yet to get comfortable on the downhill (everyone knows I'm crazy on the road on the downhills [I love the speed], so it's only a matter of time for me to get comfortable on the dirt). I pushed my comfort zone with speed and was able to keep up for the most part, until they would take off on the downhills and turns (still working on those). We then got on to the paved trails at Beal's point, where I lead the paceline down to Folsom Bike (asphalt, haaaay!). All of a sudden, I feel something hit my pedal and Jeanie say, "ooohhhhhh ho!" I look back and ask, "What the hell did I hit?!" thinking it was a snake only for her to say, "A squirrel!" I didn't even see that thing, which is good because if I had seen it, I would have probably swerved or tried to avoid it and caused the potential of Jeanie and me going down. When we got to Folsom Bike, I asked Jeanie if she saw it run off, and she said, "I just heard a loud crunch." Rob said he saw it go to the side, but I'm sure that after a loud 'crunch,' it wasn't going to live for very long. Oops!

This was a great first group ride for me. I'm excited that I was able to do some of the technical parts that I wasn't able to before. I also got another crash down! This ride definitely made me look forward to my next time out on the dirt!

Mt. Diablo and the San Francisco Zoo

On June 12, Randy and I decided to go to Mt. Diablo again. Hey! It's 11 miles of pure climbing and great training for the Death Ride with some elevation gain and an eff-load of wind (at least that day). It was a fantastic ride, to say the least. Two repeats up Diablo. The first time we didn't stop at all. We climbed the whole thing in one go, no rest stops, which is good if I want to do the Mt. Diablo challenge this year. It wasn't hard to do the whole thing at one go, though there were parts with a lot of headwind which really slowed me down (from 9/10mph to about 7mph). We climbed the south side of the park then up to the summit due to a time trial being held on the north gate by the Wells Fargo team.

The second time was a little more of a "Death Ride pace," so I took my time, spun on the places that I had to, and took a rest stop at the second ranger station, where the North and South Gate routes meet. I talked to some cyclists there and they asked my training program and why I "was doing repeats up Mt. Diablo" and that I was "a bit crazy," all in good nature and fun, of course.

Going to the summit a second time was a great feeling. We took a bit more of a rest at the top, filled our waters since it was pretty warm, and headed back down. We didn't do a third repeat since we got there later than I wanted, but still got a great workout!

On Sunday, June 13, we went to The San Francisco Zoo, which was great! I hadn't been to a zoo in a long time, so it was even more fun! Add the fact that I was with the best boyfriend in the world and it made the experience one of the best I've had! There were a lot of great and funny animals. It was a bit chilly at first, but it warmed up as the day went on, and the more the sun came out, the more animals we saw either basking in the sun or being silly.

It was a great weekend. I had a lot of fun and it was cool and breezy. Coming back to the valley, where it was 20 degrees hotter, was nice, though, and we're back to our regular routines of living life and riding!

Folsom Bike's South Canal Time Trial

Folsom Bike is hosting the time trial on the South Canal. Yesterday (Tuesday, June 8) started the four-week series, where they give prices out and make it even more fun! This was the first time trial I have done since 2008, the year I started cycling. That year, I went from doing a time trial in approximately 34 minutes to 28:26 minutes. Yup, that same season. I didn't do any time trialing last year (I'm sure my readers know that last year was just a horrible one for me, but that definitely changed!). This year, I decided to just go, and my schedule finally cleared up enough to let me ride it.

Randy and I drove over to the time trial to get there on time since he works in Roseville. We got ready, signed up, and warmed up for a whole 1.5 miles. That's... not a warm up for me. I take a while due to my hip, so I knew that this was going to hurt. Add the awesome headwind we had, and we're in for an awesome ride!

Wilson (the owner of Folsom Bike) was holding people up, but I've never done that and I didn't want to fall (something I'm going to practice), so I just held myself up. I felt silly, but I've never had someone hold me up while completely clipped, and it would have been really embarrassing if I had tipped over. So, I started out on my own. The wind was brutal going out. Nothing eventful, really. There are three rollers on the course, which isn't bad at all. The way back was a lot easier, since we had a tailwind. Some guys had passed me, all decked out on their TT bikes, aero-helmets, booties, disc wheels... yeah... But it was going well. Looked down at my watch and was going just in time to beat my last time. At the end, I went faster and it looked as if I beat my time.

We had the prize drawing but I didn't get anything (boo). They had some good prizes, too! Hey, there's 3 weeks left (no I kid. I was there for the fun!). I met a woman who mountain bikes (I hear about her a lot, so I introduced myself when I confirmed it was her), and met another Team Revolutions teammate I've never met before (it was his second time on a road bike! He's a mountain biker). Overall, we had 4 Team Revs representing!

When we got home, we looked at our results. Randy did very well! I checked mine and I did better than I thought- 27:58, which got me second place to a CAT 2 racer, who rode it in 27:21... I wasn't too behind! My average was 21.5 mph and hers was 21.9 mph. If I push a bit more, I'm sure I can catch her. But hey... she's a CAT 2 racer. I'm ecstatic to even be that close to a CAT 2 racer!

This time trial is 10 miles long. It's the most painful ride ever... I'm going back next week!

Ladies' Crit Practice, Sierra Century 2010, and Ladies' Social Ride

Crit Practice

So, on Thursday (June 3rd), we had a women's only crit practice. John Collins organized it, as he does with most crit practices, coed or not. It was mostly a skills practice in which we rode while touching each other's shoulders as we were riding the course and then touching elbows (since there are no personal bubbles in crits), "attacking" from the middle, and bunny hopping. Yup. I now know who to bunny hop over things and I'm having a blast with it. I may have to true my wheels again, but it's a lot of fun. Good thing I have a monster 22-pound bike with very heavy wheels, not those flimsy ones :P Over all, it was a great practice and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Sierra Century 2010

What a fantastic ride! The Sacramento Wheelmen have always put on a great ride, and I'm glad I rode it again this year, this time with my great boyfriend. I greatly enjoyed the ride and looking back on it, it wasn't as hard as it was last year.

In 2009, I was riding most hills on a 30-25. This year, I rode the steep hills on a 39-28, and only used the 28 when I needed to. It was a lot hotter this year, too. I remember that I started out with a jacket last year, and this year I started out with my sleeveless jersey at 7:30am! I think that it wasn't until mile 30 or so that I had to take my jacket off during the 2009 century, and that's because we had started the climbing.

Around mile 82, the descent starts, which is a lot of fun! I think that the descents are why I enjoy climbing so much; it's well worth it when you can ride 40+mph down some great hills with great scenery.

The "dinner" was fantastic as well, even though I wasn't as hungry as I should have been because the weather spiked from being in the high 70's to low 80's up to 92 degrees yesterday. I drank a lot of water, which got hot very quickly in those bottles, but it's still water and I still drank it (haha!).

The rest stops were well stocked and had enough water to go around. Even the last of the stops had enough of everything, even though we skipped the very last rest stop and decided to ride to the finish (it was mile 87, with mostly descents and flats. We had food and enough water, so we decided to ride through). I think that I'll be riding the Sierra Century in 2011. It's one of the best rides in the area.

The Team Revolutions Women's Social Ride

Team Revolutions hosted a women's only ride today, June 6. We had a fantastic turn out! I wasn't expecting to have so many ladies come to the ride, and it's

great that we had such a large turn out. I volunteered to help "lead" the Cat 3 women, and we rode up to Beal's Point and then around Lake Natoma. When we hit the Negro Bar staging area, there was an ambulance and a crowd. I saw my boyfriend walk from behind the ambulance and I thought, "Oh, great! Was his silly ass involved in a crash?" He walked to up to me since the group slowed down (we don't need more crashes) and he told me that there had been a heart attack. Apparently there were two men running and the one in front had said that his chest started to hurt and then fell face first. His running partner tried to wake him up, which is when Randy rode up to them and asked them if they were okay. The conscious runner said that no, they needed help. Someone had called 911 but was on hold, while another person said that the rangers weren't too far ahead. Randy then rode up to them and told them what was going on, so the rangers called their dispatch and got an ambulance on the way. In the mean time, two of our Team Revolutions women, Shannon Beretta and Heidi, did CPR on the collapsed runner. I rolled my group right through the scene since the ambulance was already there; there was no need for a huge crowd. Hopefully the runner is doing okay.

The rest of the ride wasn't as eventful (hey, not a bad thing!) and we rode back up to Folsom Bike and Grind where we had some yummy Folsom Grind drinks and socialized. It was great meeting a lot of the Team Revolutions women (I ride a lot with the guys, so it was a nice change), and it was fantastic catching up with the women I haven't seen in a long time (such as Cathy Kastner and Shannon Beretta).

I'm sure that there will be more fun to come. The weather is getting to be fantastic and more and more riders are coming out.

Another fantastic weekend down in the books. Just what the doctor ordered to prepare us for the week!

Indian Valley Century and Calpine Ride Report

What a great weekend to ride! Three days of fantastic riding, great company, and amazing scenery. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

On Friday, the boyfriend got off of work early, so we decided to go on a 57-mile ride on the American River Trails. After that, we showered and got everything ready to go up to Calpine to our friend Dave's.

Saturday was the Indian Valley Century. What an great ride! It was windy and cold, but it was fantastic. I got some elevation training in, which is great since I haven't done much of it for the Death Ride. We started out at 3,500 feet at climbed up to 5,000 feet or so up to Lake Antelope, which is where the mile century sent us to. I was still wearing FOUR layers on top and full-fingered gloves, but after the descent, I went down to 2 layers, though I was still wearing full-fingered gloves.

Here are some pictures from the ride:

The view we got on a lot of the ride.

Gorgeous roads.

On the climb to Lake Antelope.

In this picture is Randy's (the boyfriend) ear, me sticking my tongue out, Dave to the right, and Randy's dad- Ron- behind me.

On Sunday, Randy and I went and explored around the area. We got quite a bit of elevation going on in Calpine, so we took advantage of it. The warm-up was a bit harder for me since it started on a one-mile climb, but I was able to keep it at a steady 8/9 mph pace, which for my warm-up is pretty fast, but it felt great. My breathing was deeper, but I expected that since I'm not used to any sort of elevation.

After a little more climbing, we descended into Graeagle.

We then went on into Portola via Highway 70 where we thought we were going to get killed since cars didn't seem to be too bike conscious, but we survived. Oddly enough, we bumped into another Team Revolutions teammate going the opposite direction. Randy was in his Sea Otter kit and I was wearing my CSUS kit, but I still yelled out, "HEY TEAM REV!!!" and said hello to him.

After Portola, we took a right to go into Calpine, which was another 13 miles.

Over all, it was a fantastic weekend. I hope to go back very soon, and I think I'll be going back next year to do this century again. The people are extremely friendly and there is hardly any traffic. I recommend this ride to anyone who wants a little bit of change in their riding!