Como Street Century

This was not a big week for mileage as I didn't have that many opportunities to ride. I was just shy of 200 miles for the week. On Saturday went out for an easy 40 miler and enjoyed thoroughly.

On Sunday I did the ride above. It was the first time I tried this loop and I think I will include it in my repertoire. I left my home and got about 32 miles 1,800 feet of gain before joining the Como Street ride. Como Street is a fast paced ride about 35 miles and 2,000 feet of climbing. A lot of local pros show up and keep the pace high. It was fun to run into people I know from the local racing circuit. I ran into Kristy, Ethan, Patrick and Sean. I did get dropped but I might be able to hang on as the months go by. Then it was back to Huntington Beach in reverse.

It is 100 miles with 5800 feet of climbing with a really good fast paced section in the middle. It's a winner.

On My Commute today..

By now many of you that commute on the 5 freeway might have heard of this story but I was there. My commute has come under siege over the last couple of days.

First the Tour de France is on and is keeping me up late --even with all the fast forwarding of the commercials. I love DVR. I can take 5 1/2 hours of Tour coverage and condense it down to 4 hours.

Second the Marines are holding a Combined Arms Exercise (CAX) and they have closed the bike path from Las Pulgas to San Clemente via San Onofre campground. This crises was resolved when Caltrans allowed cyclists to travel on the 5 Freeway from Basilone Rd to Las Pulgas.

But today was totally unexpected and could not be planned for. A Von's truck over turns, flips and comes to rest in the shoulder (bike lane) catches fire and sets off a brush fire in the process. News sources say the accident happened around 5am.

I got on the 5 freeway at Basilone Rd heading south just before 7am on the shoulder of course. I could see a huge back up of traffic. I think to myself this is cool I've never been on the freeway on my bike on this section. Trucks are lined up all along the right most lane as far as the eye could see. I continue south and enter the weigh station. The truck drivers must have thought I was nuts. Out the other end and keep heading south.

You would be surprised how many people are poor planners. They go past San Clemente and don't get gas and now they are running out of gas on the freeway. So now there are numerous cars on the shoulder out of gas or overheating. In addition, there were the drivers who thought they were too special to wait in traffic and think they can ride the shoulder. Ok if there has been an accident and everybody is stopped don't you think you should leave the shoulder open for EMERGENCY VEHICLES to clear the accident so that you Mr and Mrs Special can get to your ohhh so important place.

All the things above went on for a good 19 mile stretch of the 5 freeway. Finally, when I arrive at the accident site all but one lane is flowing. There are a dozen of emergency vehicles and at least 40 personnel. It was quite a sight. It sure made for an interesting morning.


I can't explain it any better than the professionals can so here you go. Click on the link for KUSI coverage of this accident.

By the way have you subscribed to my blog yet?

Week End Totals

My training for Furnace Creek 508 is coming along slowly. I ended the week with:


22,000 feet of gain
410 miles
15,000 kjs
28 hours on the bike

I happened to be in Encinitas on Saturday training a client. It felt strange to be at my work location on a Saturday. It felt even more strange to be in the store and not working. After training my client, I went for a hill workout on Torrey Pines. For those of you reading my blog for other parts of the world it is 1.4 miles (2.3km) 400 feet (122 meters) of gain with an average grade of 5.4% The first 1/8 of a mile is really shallow. My plan was to do 15 repeats and call it a day.

On one of my repeats (11th) I was passed by someone so fast that it startled me. I reacted instinctively and jumped on their wheel. It wasn't until I got on their wheel did I realized that I didn't even do a check over my shoulder to see if another rider was coming from behind. Once on their wheel I noticed it was a girl. I was really working hard to keep up with her. She was in her big ring and probably her 23T. She had a good cadence going and I was "under pressure" as Phil Liggett says. We weaved in and out of the other riders on the climb and eventually I got alongside her. She was working too hard to stay in the big ring and eventually faded. When it was time to sprint over the top she was tapped out and downshifted to small ring -- which of course caused her to spin wildly and without power.

I thought I would tag along and find out more about her. Turns out she hadn't been riding long. I think she might make a good racer. She obviously has plenty of power to climb and also on the flats as I noticed later.

I also ran into John Martinez MD with Coastal Sports and Wellness Medical Center . Dr Martinez and his practice sponsored my Two Person Race Across America team in 2007. My partner Rick Shulze and I owe Dr. Martinez a huge thank for you for his efforts. I remember my crew chief and girlfriend, Brandy, calling him at all hours of the night and day seeking medical advice for the issues I was experiencing. His support was essential in our success. Thank you John!

Check them out!!

From their website:

Coastal Sports & Wellness Medical Center of San Diego provides high quality primary care, sports medicine, chiropractic care as well as sports massage, acupuncture and personal training for athletes and active patients with a focus on lifetime health using a comprehensive team approach.

Here are just a few of the services they provide.

Sports Medicine and Chiropractic
Sports Massage
VO2max and Lactate Testing
Sports Performance Programs
GRAVITY Training Sessions
Indoor Cycling Classes Cycling Performance Center

TT Effort new PR

Averages and Max readings




Peak Power

About once a month I try to hurt myself and do a 20 min TT to see where my fitness lies. The day is randomly selected with varying circumstances leading up to the day.
For those power junkies out there here are the numbers leading up to this test.

Sunday over...... 4000kjs
Monday........... Rest
Tuesday.......... Rest
Wednesday........ 3400 kjs (Two AM/PM commutes 8 hr work day in between)
Thursday......... 2400 kjs (One AM commute and one lunch time ride 5hr rest)
Friday........... 1100 kjs (One AM commute data taken from this commute)
_______________________

...................10,900 kjs
(not including the return trip on Friday's PM commute)

It should be known that when I commute I get barely five hours of sleep a night. I JUST CAN'T fall asleep. So most of these miles/hours/kjs are done with very minimal recovery in the form of sleep.

Anyway the numbers aren't bad. Over rolling terrain I averaged:

25.81 MPH
231 watts
92 Cadence
3.27 w/kg

Let's see what I average in another month.

So who said you can't get 9,000 feet of climbing on the coast?

I couldn't go out to the mountains last weekend. So I thought I would check out the hills that shoot off of Pacific Coast Highway. I rode down from Huntington Beach to San Clemente. I was determined to get a 100 miles in and at least 7K of climbing. I ended up with 100 and 9K. In a 58 mile section I got 7,700 feet.

On my return trip I went up as many hills as I could take directly off PCH. Let me caution you and tell you that this was NOT an easy ride. Most of the hills were at least 10% grades with others significantly more. This ride is NOT for the beginning rider.

I started with San Salvador in San Clemente. Very steep

Then Palisades Dr to Bienvenido and some other dead end street. Very steep

Pacific Island Dr both sides. Steep

Nyes Place continue on Balboa. Very Very steep 1 mile section over 20%

Summit Dr and Bluebird Canyon. Very Steep

Alto Vista gated community. Steep

Newport Coast with Vista Ridge Steep.

At the end of my ride I was treated to about 15 miles of headwind. Good way to finish a hard day on the bike.

I commuted today. My wonderful girlfriend, Brandy, was up at 4am with me getting me ready to get out the door. She made coffee and a light breakfast and I was off. She really is the best at taking care of me.

Ticia if you are reading this you should be riding your bike. Get out and ride your bike!

All for now.

Not feeling it today...

Last week I completed my longest week of miles since my initial base period. Late November and December of 2007 I began a base building program to get ready for my first few events in January 2008. LAST WEEK I COMPLETED 429 MILES. I'm feeling it now. Typically, Monday is a rest day for me. I took my rest day as planned.

Today is Tuesday and I felt exhausted after my usual 6 hours of sleep. I awoke at 4am and just couldn't see getting a productive day of training out of it. I felt exhausted and my legs were still aching. I was supposed to commute today (100 miles round trip). I will listen to my body and take another rest day.

I will resume commuting (training) tomorrow Wednesday. This weekend is the 4th of July and since I would rather be riding my bike than just about anything else during the holidays ---I'm going climbing.

All for now. MAKE SURE YOU SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG AND YOU WILL GET ALL THE LATEST NEWS.