Team Revolutions' Annual Camping Trip

What a weekend it was!

Randy and I got there Friday evening. A bit late, but we got there. We situated ourselves, talked to Chandra and Rob and Randy's parents, ate dinner, and went to bed.

Saturday

Randy and I went to ride Mormon Emigrant Trail. The ride out of Sly Park was enough climbing for me (no, I'm joking..). We then headed on to Sly Park Rd. and on to Mormon Emigrant Trail. Always a fun climb! All 25 miles of it. I decided that I was going to work on speed, so I started to do some intervals on the harder climbs. The Death Ride got me working on a slow-and-steady, but since the Winters Road Race is coming up, I need to work on speed. 15 miles into the ride and I was bone dry.. No more water for me. So, we turned around. I didn't realize is was so hot! Either way, it was a good ride.

After we got back, we ate some lunch and got ready to kayak. This was my first time ever on a kayak, so I was really excited. We got the tandem ready and into the lake, and I didn't know how to get in and I was freaking out that I was going to tip over. We didn't tip over, and it was hot, so going into the lake wasn't going to be that big of a deal. Randy told me that I pedal too fast so I had to slow down (I was excited! Like a little hummingbird on crack). He weaved around brushes and rocks and freaked me out on purpose, so I splashed him. We also had the treat of seeing the bald eagle that lives there! It was a great sight. Saw some thunder clouds, but no thunder. About an hour later, we went back to shore and put the kayak away.

Bistro 33 catered our diner. Now THERE'S some awesome camping food. It was fantastic, especially after the workout we had (mostly because I was running around like a hummingbird on crack... maybe I should have hung out with the Team Revs kids). Dinner and dessert! Yum. It was Jeanie's birthday, and Big Boss Mike was giving a speech. He said that he and his family had a gift that Jeanie would really appreciate when someone yelled, "A new bike!?" Lo and behold, it was a brand new CycloCross bike! How awesome is THAT!? The kids were racing around the campground, then the adults got on their kids' bikes and raced, too. How many, "Oh crap! My kid's brakes don't work!" we heard was priceless.

We went to our campsite and hung out with Roger, Lisa, Randy's parents, Chandra, and Rob. We told jokes, talked, joked more, and so on. It was a great night. We all decided it was time to go to bed at 11pm. We had a ride in the morning!

Sunday

We woke up, got the mountain bikes ready, and went over to Jeanie's campsite. She wasn't ready for the ride (she thought it was earlier than it was), so we chatted for a while and then headed out. The ride freaked me out, and within 2 miles, I crashed once into some bushes. At least they broke my fall. Then, we headed up to the Flume and I crashed where I couldn't see how deep the sand was (remember, I have no depth perception). That one hurt a lot. I decided to turn back because I was slowing Randy and his dad down a LOT. So back to the campsite I went, though I wish I could have gone further, but I felt really bad about being so slow on the MTB. People saw me come and and said, "Girl, you're a little dirty!" Yup, I was very dirty! A little scrape on my elbow but nothing huge. Some bruises and lots of fun. The good thing about me turning around is that those thunder clouds came back, and it was thundering! Lighting, thunder... Randy's mom and I decided to tear down the campsite and Randy's and my tent. We did that just in time because it down-poured for a (really) short time. It all works out! The guys came back and we packed up the bikes and went to Randy's parents' house. Showered, ate lunch, hung out, and then came back home.

What a trip! I loved it. I'm so glad I joined Team Revolutions. What an amazing team! I don't think other teams are like this. I know my collegiate team doesn't do stuff like this, we just train and race. Thanks to Mike B for creating such an awesome team and for Jeanie for coordinating the trip. You guys are simply awesome. Oh, and how can I forget.. Bistro 33 for all of the awesome support!

I can't wait for more fun times and next year's camping trip!

My Bike's Anniversary

One thing I forgot to mention. On July 10, 2010, I had my bike for a full year. My original bike, a 2007 Felt F75, got stolen from the shop when it was getting a tune up for Death Ride 2009. I got this bike, a 2009 Felt F75 (the shop replaced it), on July 9, 2009, half an hour before I was to leave for the Death Ride. Yup, Death Ride 2010 was my one-year anniversary with this bike.

In one year, I put 5,800 miles on this bike.

It's a heavy bike and it sucks when I have a lot of climbing, but it's been a good bike. It handles well and I've learned a lot on this bike. I'll most likely get another Felt in the future (one that weighs less, though!). Now it fits me (it didn't last year), I like it a lot more.

This was just pretty much me bragging in the, "Hah! I put 5,800 miles on my bike in a year!" sense. I think it deserves bragging rights ;)

On Bikes and Horses

So, one of my Team Revs teammates asked me to re-write up the etiquette that bikes should follow around horses. A guy scared a horse and it bucked off his rider on a multi-use trail, and even though it's multi-use, I just went to an immediate "Oh crap!" because horse people are crazy when it comes to the safety of their horses. If my horse were to get hurt because of some carelessness on etiquette, I'd go crazy on them. Hell, I HAVE. Most horse people treat their horses as if they were their CHILDREN. There are the assholes who mistreat them and abuse them, but that's a different story.

I posted on the team's forum. Here it is:

"First off, congrats, Jack! I'm glad you enjoyed your first mountain bike ride! While I haven't been out on the dirt much, I'd be lying if I said that I'm not getting addicted. This asphalt rider enjoys dirt, too! Jeanie mentioned to maybe post about the etiquette again (I posted about it last year, too) on your thread, so here it is!

We ride a lot in the Granite Bay/Auburn/Cool area. There are a LOT of horse people in these areas. Auburn hosts the Tevis Cup, a 100-mile ride that has to be done in 24 hours or less. Horse people are serious in these areas! The Granite Bay trails are right by Boarding at the Lake and Los Lagos Equestrian Center, so you'll see some people riding at all hours of the day (night time rides are fun!).

While it'd be nice if everyone had an awesome, calm, and experienced horse out on the trail, and while it'd be nice if every horse person knew how to handle/control their horses, it's not always so. I've trained a lot of young horses out there and the only way to make them experienced and calm is to take them on the trail. I did that with my horse. I've heard a lot of horse people complain about mtb'ers out there not yielding, coming up too fast on horses, spooking them, etc. Fact is that out there, horses have the right of way, and while it's annoying, it's the way it is. There have been a bunch of complaints about rude riders out at Granite Bay recently

So, you encounter a horse. The etiquette is:
1) Yield. Like I said, it's annoying, but it's better than getting ticketed or having people complain to the rangers and then having the rangers threaten to close the trail to bikes. The older the horseback rider, the more they're going to stick to the "rules" and the bigger chance of them complaining. The younger the rider, the higher the chance that they'll want to race you and your bike (I do this all of the time!). I yield to bikes when I can and because my horse is well-trained, and if possible, a race would be in the books

2) If you see a horse, TALK. Say "hi" or "how are you." As much as I love horses, they're not the smartest. They can't focus on objects quickly, so they spook. They're prey animals and it's wired in them to flee if they think something will attack them (dogs, bikes, cars, shadows...). This can be dangerous to riders who don't have good riding skills or if they don't have an independent seat (meaning that it takes a LOT for them to get dumped). Once a horse hears the voice of a human, they most likely calm down.

3) Ask if it's okay to pass.

4) Be aware on sharp turns where you can't see ahead. If you run into a horse, hit one, etc., you're in for a world of pain, and not just physically. Horse people get MEAN if their horses get hurt (even if they don't get hurt, but more-so if they do! lol).

5) Some of us train TWO horses at a time. I've done it, especially with bran new horses. I ride my experienced horse and lead the other horse. That can get tricky and please, please COMMUNICATE. It's safer for you and the horses and the handlers.

I know it's annoying to have to stop, but it's a lot easier to stop a bike than a 1,200 pound animal that could freak out. One kick from them and you'll be off of the bike for a long time. I ride with mtb'ers while I'm on my horse. I've taught kids and I teach them to share the trail, but unfortunately the older generation of horsemen/women don't see it as we do (basically fun because we get to race!). I enjoy the distractions because it desensitizes my horse to chaos, and it helps when out on races or competitions. I take it as a training tool, but again, not everyone sees it that way. It hurts a lot to get dumped off of a horse... it hurts even more if they step on you. It's dangerous because the rider can easily break something and the horse can take off and run into a busy street (again, they're prey animals).

Just be friendly. The friendlier you are, the bigger the chance that someone will return the smile. Please communicate. The trails will be a LOT more fun if we all cooperate. The more we cooperate, the less tension the disciplines will have, and the more fun we will all have. Horses will not be leaving the trails and neither are bikes, so we might as well all get along! And if you ever see me out there and you're up for some racing, don't be afraid to ask "

I'm just hoping that this gets through people. It'd be nice if people would get their heads out of their asses (and this is to BOTH disciplines) and just cooperate. People are going to wind up losing, and from what it seems (I've volunteered and have been talking to the rangers at the parks), the Cool/Granite Bay areas are going to cater to the horses, which would be a shame, because those are awesome trails for both horseback riding and mountain biking.

Hey, let's hope that people start to cooperate. I can spread the word all I can. I love BOTH disciplines, so I'll do my best to educate people!

Death Ride 2010 Report

Oh, man. Where to start?

Randy and I left for the Death Ride on Friday. We got

to Turtle Rock park where I got my number. After that, we went to the campsite (Hope Valley RV) and got ourselves situated into the trainer (Randy's parents let us use their trailer. How nice is that!?). Found a card that Randy's parents wrote for me on the table! We checked out the campground and then headed into Tahoe, where we had dinner. I decided that I wanted to see what Carson Pass was like, so we drove up the summit. Now, the grades don't seem bad, but it's pass #5, after 100 miles of riding, and lots of wind. I knew it was going to suck, but I didn't think it was going to be TOO sucky. Haha...

Went to the trailer and decided to get some shut-eye. I had set up my alarm, but we were in a canyon with NO cell phone service, so I thought that my phone's battery was going to drain due to it searching for some service. So, I set up my heart rate monitor's watch, my phone, and Randy's phone. 4AM was my wake-up time. I kept waking up but felt like I was getting enough rest. We wake up to Randy's alarm at 4:15AM. Wtf? Turns out my watch's alarm didn't sound, I forgot to take my phone off of vibrate (wtf? Really, now?), and Randy's alarm decided that 4AM was too early, so it decided to go off to the 4:15AM one. Holy hell.. At least I woke up!

I got ready. This time, I didn't forget to Chamois my chamois (this is relevant later), We got to the start, where parking was already hell (at 5AM!) and got my bike ready.I then went to the Turtle Park entrance, where I saw a bunch of Team Revolutions guys there. They started right at 5:30AM. I was waiting for some other teammates, and I waited until 5:45AM, but I decided to start. Randy rode with me until the rider check-in before Monitor/Ebbett's. He said "good luck" to me and off I went.

Passed Markleeville. Oh, Markleeville. A small town at about 5,500 feet of elevation with a population of 200 people. Road closure. Yup.. the passes were closed to traffic and ready for us. Cut-off times were posted. This was going to be work!

I started Monitor very nice and easy. My HR was high, but it's always like that at the beginning of a ride and I didn't feel like I was over-doing it. I felt like I was going snail-slow, but it didn't matter; my goal was to finish, and this was pass #1. A mile into the climb, I saw people already taking their layers off. Good thing I only took arm-warmers as extra clothing! Going up the climb, I saw a Team Revolutions teammate, doing the same "slow and steady" pace.

The summit of Monitor. Great! One down. Got my sticker, some food and water and went down. Unfortunately, a lot of people have poor bike-handling skills. Braking too hard, swerving, etc. But, I'm confident with my skills, so I went down. 47mph. 20-ish minutes to go down 8 or so miles. I got down, my second sticker, got some food and water, and took pictures. A lady saw me take pictures, so she asked me if I would take a picture of her. I gladly did and then she offered to take my picture, but I didn't need to take pictures of how I went from "looking fresh" to looking like crap, so I declined. I then decided to head up the second pass.

The back side of Monitor sucks. It's longer and it screws with you. I got to the mid-rest stop and I got some water. Headed up and I was taking pictures while riding, and one guy rode next to me and said, "Here, give me your camera" and took pictures of me! How nice of him. I then rode away from him and got up to the summit again. Stopped for a bit and got some water and decided that I needed to pee since I haven't in about 3-1/2 hours. Um, ouch! The stop of Monitor is pancake flat and it's where the helicopter is parked. A helicopter, you say? That's how gnarly the crashes get.

Mmkay, down I went. People were cheering at the bottom and I took a left to go to Ebbett's. There was a water stop a bit past Wolf Creek, where the volunteers were dressed as pirates! So much fun.

Ebbett's. Pass #3. This side of Ebbett's SUCKS. I went up at an easy pace. Took some pictures, ran into some Teammates. Then, the tough grades started, and that's when I said, "Shit... when will this END?" when I knew exactly when it was going to end due to the pre-ride two weeks before the ride. At the time of the pre-ride, there was a lot of snow at the summit. Not this time! Only two weeks and most of it had melted. Took some pictures of the lake and headed all of the way up to the summit. I sat a bit and I guess spaced out because a gentleman asked me if I was feeling okay. I said that of course, I was just spacing out. I remember thinking, "I'm up here... two to go. I can do it." I then bumped into a bunch of teammates, said hi, and went down to Hermit Valley.

Got my fourth sticker. Rested, drank a Sprite, ate a little, and decided to

pee again because I hadn't in a while. I started talking to Team Revs' big boss, Mike, about the CycloCross team and then decided to go up. The back side of Ebbett's is much easier. It's a steady climb and shorter, so I was able to get into a rhythm. I took some pictures again and went up to the summit. Bumped into my teammates. Went down and another rider who wasn't too skilled at descending pushed me into a pot hole. The good thing is that I never felt out of control and I was able to get out of it just fine. The bad thing is that, dammit, she pushed me into a pot hole!

The lunch stop was at Wolf Creek, but I didn't stop and eat because my stomach was feeling weird. So, a teammate and I went off to Turtle Rock. We passed Markleeviile, where its residents were on the sides and cheering us on! How awesome is that!? It was encouraging. Up Turtle Rock and I saw Randy and my parents cheering me on. I stopped to get fresh water bottles, where I found out that one of my cages broke. Lame. I was able to hole a bottle, though, so I just put a new bottle in, chatted, and headed off before I decided that 4 passes was enough.

At the junction of HWY 88 and 89, there was a rest stop, where I bumped into even more teammates and chatted with them. I got hosed off, which felt GREAT after 90 miles. Cold, but great. I started up the grade...

What a painful section. I started to feel it, though I don't think my body was feeling it much, it was my mind. It was all games from here, and I wanted to give up. My legs felt fine, my hear rate was low, but for some reason, my brain was telling me, "This is too much. It's over."

But I kept going. I stopped once, had to sit down because I got dizzy, and two gentlemen talked to me. One of them had done this ride before; this was his friend's first time. He said that Carson is the pass where people break down and give up. He then asked me if I wanted them to hang out with me for a while and if I had GUs. I told them that I was just going to take it easy and that I had enough GUs. Up I went again up the Pickett's junction rest stop. I had a Sprite due to feeling as if I was going to bonk and I think that that saved me. I sat, chatted a bit, and decided to start back up.

Nine miles to go.

It was relatively flat for 5 or 6 miles. Then, the last 3 miles. Holy. Hell. Again, mind playing tricks. I felt fine. The only part of me that hurt was my ass, but that's expected. I stopped. My water bottle cage broke. Damn. At least I was close to the top.. or so everyone said. I kept going. Stopped about a mile and a half (without knowing) from the top. I walked about a tenth of a mile, and I'm not ashamed to say it. I got back on and started to play games again. Every landmark I saw was my next goal. Tree, got

it. Rock. Got it. Sign. Got it! And kept on going.

People kept coming down. I was pacing a guy behind me, when another guy coming down said, "Just around the corner, guys! You're almost there!" When I heard the guy I was pacing say, "Just around the corner, just around the corner. What corner? There's been five fucking corners!" I had to laugh. Another guy comes down, "Quarter of a mile!" It wasn't. It was about a mile. I cramped. I've never cramped before, so it was a "WTF!?" moment. But I decided to spin it out. It helped. Hah.

I got to the summit. Oh gods. I got there. I went to the sno-park, which

was a few feet descend from the actual summit. I got my fifth stic

ker, my pin, and a bunch of congrats. I did it.

I walked around for a little and nearly cried because dammit, I got to the top of the fifth pass even though I wanted to give up. But I didn't. I was officially a five-pass Death Rider. I walked to get some water and some watermelon, and one of the gentlemen who had been encouraging me on on the whole ride saw me and said, "There she is! Well done, young lady. You did your team proud." I smiled, said thank you. Sat with some

gentlemen and chatted a bit. Signed the board and took their picture (They bashfully said, "I know we just met, but could you take our picture?" I, of course, did!).

I decided to go down. I had 20 or so miles to go (though mostly downhill) and I had 55 minutes to the cut-off of 8PM. Down I went. Got behind a woman who SLAMMED on her brakes on a completely straight part of the road, so I had to slam mine. Good thing I sat behind my seat because I would have gone over my handle bars at the speed I was going. That was fine. Passed her as soon as I could and started the fun downhill. Passed a few more people. Reached a good speed. Got to a relatively flat area; had to pedal. Boo. Got to another steep part. Saw the entrance of the campground. Tempting. Very tempting, but went on due to not being able to tell my parents or Randy where I was. Down, down, down. Turned right to head to Turtle Rock. Up. Yup... after riding 120+ miles, you had to go UP! Spun the uphill. The very last part before a rider heads to the entrance of Turtle Rock is a good little hill, though by the end, it felt like I was going up all five passes again. I spun it out. I kept thinking, "Oh, maybe Randy parked at the bottom since this is where I started!" Nah. A guy behind me said, "Ugh.. more up." To which I replied, "Well, there wasn't enough before." We laughed. I saw the entrance, sped away, and saw Randy, who took a picture of me.

I was done.

I asked Randy if my parents were still here. The answer was yes, but my mom had apparently been freaking out. Why? This ride was absolute carnage. Going up the passes there was ambulance after ambulance. Cops speeding away to crashed. The helicopter got good use. A report that said, "Rider down in critical condition, but recognizable." His bike was in pieces. A girl went down coming down Carson. No apparent explanation, so it was assumed that she was just too tired and probably hit something and unable to control her bike. Another rider with IV's. A lot of reports being radio'ed in saying "Rider down." Yup... a good reason for a mom to be freaked out. I rode over to them. She saw me. I took my helmet off. Nearly cried because HOLY SHIT I FINISHED!!!

I started cramping. Another WTF!? This is the first time I've ever cramped! Then again, it IS the Death Ride. Randy pulled a chair out for me and I sat. I couldn't take off my shoes, so my parents tried. They've never taken cycling shoes off and were tightening them. Randy took over. My feet were free. I cramped again. Chilled for a bit, then decided that I wanted to get the form for my Five-Pass Jersey. Got it. Got some food. Couldn't eat it all. You'd think that after burning 8,012 calories I'd want to eat. Nah. We decided to go back to the campground. I started to get light headed due to my glucose levels hitting the ground. I laid down while Randy got his car. Mom helped me out, told me that I was finally able to beat my mind games. Got in the car and we went to the campground.

I took a shower, drank some orange juice to get my glucose levels up, and rested. My body was never felt just exhaustion. Randy then went on a drive to get some cellphone reception to call his parents and I fell asleep.

This ride is the hardest, most humbling experience I've ever had. It was amazing to get to the top. The best part? I was able to beat my mind games. My body can take it all. Hell, my body would have been able to take another 2 passes, but my mind has always played games with me. But, I gave it the bird and decided to keep going, because if I didn't, I would have kicked myself so hard. My mind games are slowly going away. Two victories in one ride.

Death Ride 2010. What an experience. No bees stung me, my bike fit, and I had good training for it. I'm happy I didn't listen to those, "You're over-traning!" comments and I'm glad I took rest when I needed it. I think I did the right thing.

I finished. On my 22.2 pound bike, an EpiPen, and a bunch of nerves. I was done after 13 or so hours of riding. And I'm damn proud. I couldn't have done it without Randy and his parents. His parents let us borrow the trailer and gave me a lot of encouragement. My parents for being there for me the whole way, for picking me up when I needed support, when I felt like my world was going to fall apart, and for being the best parents a girl could ask for. Randy, for showing me how a good team works, for training with me, helping me with my bike handling skills, all of the encouragement, for being with me on every single step, and for being my personal mechanic of the ride. My whole TEAM! Without them, this would have never happened.

It may be a, "So... you finished a ride. A not-so-special ride. So what?" I tried this ride last year when I was in absolute hell. I wasn't able to finish last year due a bee sting and my bike being bran new at that time. My mind was tortured. This year, being able to defeat ALL of that was an accomplishment. Not only was I able to finish a ride that I wasn't able to the year before, it marked the fact that I was able to get out of that bad time in my life and that I didn't break me. In fact, it made me stronger and more knowledgeable. I defeated ALL of that.

Do I want to do this ride again? I said, "Hell no!" going up Carson, but looking back, I think my time could improve. Death Ride 2011, here I come! But before then it's the Winters Road Race on August 28th!

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!