Since last Thursday evening it has been snowing off and on here in Sitka. Makes for sloppy bike riding and since my mountain bike is still suffering a broken front shifter, I haven’t really been out on the saddle…
So Friday, Pete and I decided to get out for a little cross training. We packed up the snowboards and a few snacks and headed for Verstovia to see how the snow looked up on the mountain. We hiked the 2000 plus feet up to Picnic Rock and strapped in. It took us just a little over an hour to make it up to the start point and then a quick ride down from the front side into the backside bowl. That first ride for me was pretty wild as I hadn’t been out on a board for a couple of years and we had some alpine scrub to get through. We then hiked back up the bowl to the South side of the untracked powder loveliness and made our second run down. The following is my attempt at a few graceful carving turns down the hill…
After working our way up to a sheltered spot in the trees and out of the wind, we had a bite to eat and left our packs for the next run. Stomping up one more time up the hill we cut in one more 600 feet of vertical down the bowl and our uncut 2 feet of powder. That last run was much better for me with turns coming easier and even a couple of launches off a natural half pipe. (of course the helmet cam footage didn’t work that run!) We had a quick bite before we packed back up out of the back bowl. One more quick run to the tree line and the hike back down.
All told with the hike up, three full rides down the bowl and the hikes back up and the final hike back down the mountain we figured at least 6000 feet of exercise! I am still feeling it a little in the hamstrings! Of course I am hoping to get back up there again… and with the snow falling here in town I am sure there is plenty up top again!
So finally getting out there a little… Pete and I yesterday and today, Pete, Uncles Frank and Bill and I. not really long rides but good climbing and at times pretty quick pace. The ride yesterday was a new loop for Pete and I as we decided to head out towards the Halibut Point Road end of town. We hopped on the cross trail behind the high school and made our way up north via the extra wide gravel trail. Some parts of the trail are steep enough to necessitate a granny gear and others a pretty quick ride down the other side. The great thing about this ride turned out to be that we only had to ride about 1/2 mile of HPR and mostly stayed on the backroad trails of the Cross Trail and the Bench Land Road that isn’t currently open to cars. One unfortunate thing happened as we were about two miles from home, my 16 year old grip shift for the front derailleur bit the dust… was stuck in the little chain ring the rest of the way home.
Todays ride was a pretty wet one at times. We parked at Thimbleberry Lake trailhead and headed up the way to Blue Lake road. caught sight of the brother bears at Fortress of the Bear and then headed back to the truck via Sawmill Creek Road. Just as we hit the SMC Road it started to pour. Bill and I were riding in a pace line, me following Bill and hitting what seemed to be every puddle! Keeping up a good pace Bill decided to hit a huge puddle and drenched me in his spray! When we arrived back at the truck I opted to keep peddling and headed for the house by bike. I would guess that the entire round trip was about 8 miles at most, though always preferable over giving a cat a bath! Oh, from the ride from the day before you might have been wondering about my derailleur problem? Well I was able to rig the bike so that I could at least ride in the middle ring on the front gears. Made the up hill a little more interesting and the down hills I was forced to coast a lot more. Also the ride home on the road I was keeping a pretty high cadence, though I sometimes like that anyway. Its good spin practice, better than doing isolation drills!
I’ve been keeping my road bike in the trainer lately and commuting on the mountain bike. That is until yesterday when my pedal and crank had a falling out – more on that in another post. February training in Seattle isn’t the best but thanks to some drainage issues I now have a room in the basement all to myself. Check it out:
Note the fancy new drainage system where the wall meets the floor.
The stool in front is where the laptop goes to play the training DVD, it’s a nice setup really and the wintery breeze with the windows open keeps everything nice and cool. If you’ve never ridden on a trainer I’ll have you know it’s very hot since you aren’t actually moving meaning there is no air moving over you.
Team Bear riders after finishing 65 miles… some would say, the cutest couple on the course!Lucifer and some pals…
The bike was sometimes the rock star in the crowded field… with almost 4,000 bikes, it certainly was the most unique. Team Bear, 6 riders strong, had a great time in the hill country outside of Austin. The Austin LiveStrong Challenge and the Ride for the Roses brought in a little over $4million dollars with a total of $10.1 million raised in all four cities total. Team Bear in Seattle was the number 4 team with $25,689 raised. Kevin brought in $17,649 to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and was honored by being invited to ride in the front group of the Austin LiveStrong Challenge and Ride for the Roses. While I didn’t get a chance to actually meet Lance, I was privileged to attend several events where many, many special guests were honored for their efforts to help the Livestrong movement.
We met lots of great people throughout the weekend and look forward to continuing some of those friendships. There were people from around the world there.
We also learned that Seattle will again host a LiveStrong Challenge in 2010! June 18-20 Seattle will play host to a great event and Team Bear will ride, run and walk again! Stay in touch if you might be interested in joining us, and get out there and ride your bike!
Just back from a 24 mile ride, trying to shake out some of the cobwebs in my head. Last couple of days have been miserable sometimes as memories and emotion flood my mind. I had to get out and focus on the road ahead of me, literally. Not that riding keeps me out of my head, it just slows the rest down as I have to concentrate on what the next 10ft, 100 yards, and 2-3 miles bring me. Map and stats of the ride here.
Speaking of goals ahead:
October 23-25 Team Bear will be traveling to Austin, TX for the Ride for the Roses and the Austin LiveSTRONG Challenge.
At this point I have received my invitation to ride with Lance in the Ride for the Roses that weekend, once I reach the $15,000 mark I am provided a friend invitation and Michael will be joining me. Marc has purchased tickets and has committed to extending his fundraising efforts to qualify him for the Austin Challenge event that same weekend. Marc has also taken on the task of recruiting the other Team Bear members in joining us! So here we go again!
I am really looking forward to heading down there, and having as many Team Bear members join us in Austin is going to make it that much better! The Ride for the Roses is going to rock, as we will be peddling along with 7 time Tour de France winner and as of today 3rd place winner of the 2009 Tour de France, Lance Armstrong! Go Lance! With less than a year of racing, Lance’s comeback is something else!
Kevin and I went on a mini but sweaty and tough uphill ride this evening. Ugh. Warmer air, car exhaust and traffic made me feel pretty vulnerable to the upcoming 70 miles. I keep chanting, it’s a ride-not a race, it’s a ride-not a race. It’s a sort-of Little Engine that Could chant. I have to think too that, I am healthy and capable. No matter how slow or hard riding the bike is, it’s a lot easier than what my brother and Beth are doing.
Beth returned from her trip to Geneva and dramatically lost some physical capabilities. Because the chemo therapies are not working, her tumor is growing and therefore putting pressure on areas of her brain. This has caused her to loose the ability to move her right arm and leg. She is now unable to walk or move from place to place without assistance from Kevin, me or someone else. So, I have to think 70miles-no big deal. I’m healthy and capable to do almost anything all by myself, and I’m thankful and humbled by that.
I’m leaving Sitka tomorrow to be with Beth and Kevin. I finished my last ride (39 miles) here before packing up the bike for Seattle. The ride was free of my ipod and cell phone, leaving me only with the thoughts of landing at their doorstep. Beth returned from her trip and I think they have had some difficult days. I’m looking forward to being with them.
Here are some pictures of Beth. I just wanted to post them. This ride and trip is about her, so here she is.
Kevin and I headed out for a 50 mile ride Tuesday along the Green River. We kept up a hard pace on the way out and worked just as hard on the way back into a head-wind. After about 40 miles the legs were showing some wear just in time for a climb up California Way from Elliott bay – about 300 vertical feet.. Honestly after the climb my legs felt better than before so I think the ride up Village Park Drive at mile 36 in the LIVESTRONG Challenge will help refresh the legs. Kevin posed the question in a previous post and now I can say I feel ready.
Of course a ride with Kevin wouldn’t be complete without the camera. He is surprisingly good at keeping it still while riding
Just went for a 12 miler around West Seattle. Started up California to the Admiral then down Admiral, reversed course at the bottom of the hill and cruised Alki, back around the bend past Colman Pool, around Lincoln Park and back up the hill to the house.
Good ride until I headed back up the hill and the bike would not stay in one gear! ARRH! The lower gears kept skipping around, jumping back and forth! Made for a frustrating ride those last 3 miles! So on arriving at the house I packed up the bike, drove up to the shop where I just had the rear cassette replaced two days ago so they could take a look… well, 45 minutes later guy asks, did you have a 8 or 9 speed on this before? Well, its an 8 speed shifter so it needs to be an 8 speed cassette right?! Needless to say, tomorrows ride will be on a 9 speed while the 8 speed is ordered. They were very nice and apologized several times for the mistake but I don’t really have time for this!
Well, tonight I will dream of the Renovo R2 I am sure!
Just returned from a 51.6 mile ride from West Seattle – along the Duwamish River and the Green River – down to South Kent and back. Great spin! I hadn’t put in that many miles in almost three weeks with the trip to Alaska and then getting that cold that still isn’t completely gone. Kept the average effort low just to keep the cadence up and not have to cut the time short. At just over 16 mph average that 50 miles was done in 3:05:17.
The plan over the next week while Beth is traveling is to put in several long rides. I would like to do at least two, maybe three more that are over 3 hours. With that I think I will be in good shape for the Challenge. Erika is going to come into town early that week so that we might get out on a couple of rides for her to preview some of the course and to get out as a group too. I am really excited for her to be here and get out on the road!
I just got a message from the travelers and they are having a great time. They are in Provence, France staying at Katherine’s (travel partner and great friend from Seattle) Dad’s Inn. Not sure what day they are leaving but the plan was to head out to the North Coast of Italy, maybe Portofino.
Here’s a little video from the ride. Not as fun doing these when you are by yourself… but none the less here you go.
