Aug 4, 01:19 AM by Steve | Windmill Century

Posted in Cycling & Ride-Report

One of my goals has been to do a century in under 5 hours. I had never attempted it, it was just something to try to do some day. I can easily do under 6, and do it regularly. Even solo. With lots of climbing.

Enter the Windmill Century. Local. Flat. There were rumblings from a good number of other Echelon members about going up there and making a day of it. That sounded like a recipie for a fast ride.

“If we get enough people we could get a good paceline going and try to do it under 5 hours.”

After the dust settled from the flurry of emails and message board postings, it appeared that I was going to drive up with Bill Lupo, Steve Nelson, and Mark Luke early in the morning. Denise and Ed were driving up on their own, as was Fran, Jurij, and several others.

Meeting at 6 at Steve’s meant leaving my house at 5:45, which meant waking up at 4:30, to give myself time to eat and clean the bike. I hadn’t thought about it earlier, but upon waking up realized that it was dark. Duh. I hoped it would be light enough by the time I had to leave, and fortunately it was. The drive up was uneventful, save for a few minutes of passing through a random fog bank that covered Buelton. Arriving in Los Alamos, I saw Jurij at his van as we...

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Jun 28, 11:49 AM by Steve | The Paradox of Coconut Water

Posted in Cycling & Ride-Report

The story starts, nominally, on Thursday—I decided that the Energizer battery charger I had bought for the Solvang Double just didn’t cut it and decided to build my own using the instructions here. I picked up the parts at Radio Shack, but they gave me the wrong kind of cable and I didn’t realize it until after I cut it! Fortunately I have tons of the proper USB cable and was able to finish the charger.

Friday, as I’ve posted, I was sick. Sick, sick, sick. I left for work feeling a bit off, and by the time I was about halfway there I felt so bad I could hardly turn the pedals over. When I got to work I had never felt so happy to get off my bike in my life! I somehow managed to lug my bike up to my office and proceeded to sleep on my couch for nearly the rest of the day, with a few breaks for work and one to throw up. I felt much better after that, and became 99% convinced that it was food poisoning. Eventually I felt well enough to limp home but didn’t think I would be able to ride 200 miles on...

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Jun 24, 02:20 AM by Steve | Grand Tour Highland

Posted in Cycling & Ride-Report

I ended up doing the Grand Tour Highland after all. Friday evening Kim told me she wasn’t going to let me give up so easily, and Saturday morning I felt better so we left at 4:15 and drove down to Malibu. I started around 6:15, and after being caught 10 miles out, rode most of the way with Eric Ostendorff . I probably would have been faster had I not had a nasty stomach cramp for the last 120 miles or so, and the whole being sick yesterday thing…

MotionBased Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 13:28:35
Moving Time (h:m:s) 11:07:47
Distance (mi ) 199.09
Moving Speed (mph) 17.9 avg. 42.7 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +10,714

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Jun 8, 04:04 PM by Steve | Addendum to County Ride

Posted in Cycling & Ride-Report

As if my story wasn’t long enough already, I forgot to mention that my cell phone started running “low” on power somwhere along the 33 and went into its oh-so-annoying BEE-BOOP mode, which you can’t silence, no matter what the settings. I put low in “quotes” because even when it shows 0 bars it usually lasts for most of the day, so its a little frustrating to say the least. Mondo asked me to turn it off, which I did (after a while), but then turned it back on to try to make a call (still no reception…) and forgot to turn it off again. When we stopped briefly in Ojai, he said (jokingly, I assume), “if you don’t turn that off I’m going to reach in your pocket and throw it out.” I turned it off.

Also, I got this from Scott:

Sherrie and I just finished reading the Echelon newsletter and particularly enjoyed your recount of the County Ride. The recumbent rider you saw as you passed the Lake Casitas entrance was Mark Tokar, Carol Tokar’s husband. Sherrie and Carol ride together quite a bit. Carol, Mark, Fran, Sherrie and I were finishing the Santa Paula loop with Mark pulling out from the Lake a few minutes ahead of us (he doesn’t climb as fast on the recumbent). So, your group passed by the Lake entrance after Mark but a few minutes before we left the Lake (I got a little busy visiting with a family of three cyclists,...

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Jun 4, 01:56 AM by Steve | Around the County

Posted in Cycling & Ride-Report | Comments [1]

Day 1

5:00 am. My alarm goes off and I start getting ready. Kimberly wanted to sleep in and meet us later, so I was to ride in with whatever clothes and food I needed for the first day. That meant street clothes to change into, and post—ride food and drink. I prep my bike, pack my backpack and make my sandwiches. I wanted to leave at 6:45 so that I could get there a few minutes before 7:15 without having to rush. I take care of some other stuff and leave a note for her. Of course things always take longer than expected and I didn’t leave until almost 7:00. If I hurried I could still get there a few minutes early.

I arrived at Peet’s about 7:10 and nobody was there except Damon. I should have expected as much, I don’t know why I always rush to these things. And I thought we were leaving at 7:15, so I actually thought I was going to be late. I don’t think the next person arrived until at least 7:20. The start was supposed to be 7:30 sharp, but everybody getting ready, loading up, taking pictures, etc., of course we were destined to start late. Of course, just before we left I started to feel like I had to go to the bathroom, but figured I would be fine to wait until Fess Parker Winery where we were going to stop for lunch. We finally rolled out around 7:50.

The climb up Old...

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Apr 8, 03:24 AM by Steve | Solvang Double Ride Report Part II

Posted in Cycling & Ride-Report

And now the second part to my ride report for the Solvang Double Century last Saturday. Been busy; rode to Ventura and back (85mi) for my “recovery” ride instead of sitting inside typing, then got lazy and hey, I forgot ok? I’m currently at my in-laws, watching the Formula One race from Malaysia.
Read part I

Rewind: Before I continue on with the story, I’m going to back up a bit and start with Friday evening. So Friday I didn’t ride at all so I could rest up… Oh wait that’s not me, I rode up Ortega Ridge with Eric before my afternoon appointment downtown, then after did some last minute shopping for supplies. I wanted a frame pump, a new tail light and some other incidental supplies. Luke at FasTrack gave me a hard time about the pump but reluctantly sold it to me. I was also considering a new headlight but didn’t like any of the ones they had there. Next at Bob’s on upper State I looked at their lights but decided to just use the one I already had. Finally to Circuit City to pick up a USB charger for my GPS. By the time we fueled up ourselves at Starbucks and the car at the nearby gas station, it was after 7. I was worried that Damon had left much earlier and was waiting up in Solvang for us for a long time. My worries were allayed when I called him...

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Apr 3, 06:28 PM by Steve | Solvang Double Ride Report

Posted in Cycling & Ride-Report

Food:
5 Clif Bars
2 Oreos
2 Cans of FRS
2 Cans of V8
1 Banana
1 Subway Sandwich
1 Cup of Noodles
1 Orange Soda
1 chocolate shake
1/2 PB&J Sandwich
...and a lot of Hammer Gel

Edge Data:
^{view on MotionBased}
Total Time: 11:42:34
Moving Time: 9:53:20
Distance: 191.67mi
Moving Speed: 19.4mph
Elevation Gain: 8,969ft (note that the unit reported just over 7000ft but was it was inflated during import?)

Polar Data:
Average HR: 144
Max HR: 175
Total time: 10 hours
Zone 1 (50%-55%): 0:04:20
Zone 2 (56%-69%): 2:08:51
Zone 3 (70%-79%): 4:49:22
Zone 4 (80%-89%): 2:55:49
Zone 5 (90%-99%): 0:02:42
Calories burned: 8,184

Results are now online at PlanetUltra

I realized in the hotel Friday night that I had forgotten my light at home so I decided to leave earlier, at first light, just to be sure I didn’t get caught out in the dark. I was figuring it would take 12 hours and a 7:30am start would be cutting it close.

The Road...

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