Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Ride #??? I Lost Count!
Saturday, August 15,2009 – Really? Are we in mid August already? YIKES! This marked our longest training ride before our century on September 19! 75 miles! Yep, that’s 75 miles in the heat, all in one day! No, this is not Palm Springs where the miles stretch on and on in endless flat succession. NO SIR! This is serious training for the torture that is our Moab Century in Utah! Today we climb!
Our group now consists of my Coach and me. His Angels are now at all different levels and fluttering with different people. I get the best though. J He is 72 and challenging me to keep up!
Today’s ride is one that I have heard whispers about since the beginning of our training. Old La Honda Odyssey. I don’t think my ‘old Honda’ could have done this one! We started out at Foothill College and went 17 miles up into the hills, past a reservoir and down to the end of Steven’s Canyon and back to our first SAG stop. The amazing thing here is that it wasn’t but a few weeks ago that I would have died on this little 17 mile stretch! There is some decent climbing here. Nothing really major but it gets your attention. A few weeks ago I would have said “I’m done now, thank you!” Now though, I was just warmed up! I took a quick SAG stop and enjoyed yummy goodies, topped off the water and was ready to go! Mind you, I have been talking to my coach about how these long rides are taking me longer than others. There are various factors from my bike to the length of time we stop and chat at the various SAG stops. My mission today? Quick stops! So, I fly through the first SAG and am ready to go. Coach though is starting up some good conversations with various people he hasn’t seen in a while. This is just really good fodder for me for the next 50 miles! I now have razzing material! YAY!!! “So Coach, you ready to roll???” :p Oh, that felt good! (You should have seen the look I got! lol) I finally got him back on his bike and off we went.
We went back past Foothill College again and up into a different set of hills at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Here we go shifting up, then down, then up, then down. 11 miles of this and my notes say to “Bear Right onto Altamont Road (HINT: small chain ring) Now, when you see that on your directions there are a few thoughts that go through your mind. One is: how nice that they let you know what’s coming. That thought is followed by: Coaches don’t usually do that unless you REALLY need to know what’s coming. The following thought just can’t be expressed in words that I would want my mother or children to read! The road in front of us suddenly looked much more like a wall. My bike has been giving me fits and doing this automatic shifting thing and also deciding that for what ever reason it now doesn’t need to go into my small chain ring! It likes working hard and doesn’t really feel the need – no matter how much I beg! I have been meaning to take it into the shop but that requires actually being in town. So here I am thinking happy thoughts as I make circles in the road trying to get my bike to shift so that I can go up this crazy wall they call a road. Finally it clicks and off we go! As we started up my coach said to aim for a nice gated driveway on the right. If we could make that we could rest and have an easier time of getting going again. When you stop on a hill that is more wall like than hill like it can be a real challenge getting your bike moving again in the right direction with you in the saddle! We reached the driveway and I re-learned how to breathe. Then he pointed to the next driveway on the other side of the street. It was up the road about maybe 200 feet. “Now, if you need to stop there you can.” He tells me. It has a nice steep driveway that we can walk our bike up and then get momentum enough to carry us up and over the top of the hill. I LIKE THAT! So, I manage to drag my sorry behind onto the bike and over to the driveway. From there, I learn to breathe again and then slingshot my way to what I thought was the top. OOPS! Not really the top. Somehow we manage to make it though and then get rewarded with a fun down hill. We went down Page Mill Road watching for sharp turns, cars and other cyclists. There was one person on her bike going up Page Mill and I don’t know if she was drunk, suicidal or just amazingly oblivious! She was cutting across traffic, in front of a car then down the middle of the road and was starting to veer toward me! YIKES! I tucked and zipped past before she could crash into me.
I made it down with out incident and then headed out through Portola Valley and onto Old La Honda. Here we are again with the directions mentioning downshifting! NOT GOOD! I start to circle to get my bike to shift and…no. Not gunna happen. So I get off of my bike, shift and spin the peddle – no resistance so it should shift….right? uh – no! Didn’t want to, wasn’t going to, no way, no how! Seriously? I have to do this climb in my middle chain ring with a 40 lb bike? Maybe if my bike weighed 15 lbs, I could do it, but REALLY? Thankfully one of our honorees came along – Mike. He has Leukemia that is currently in remission. He was really sick for a long time and is working now on getting his strength back. Even sick, he is a stronger cyclist than I am! He also happens to work as a bike repairman so he pulled out his little tool, made some adjustments and YIPPEE! I was in business! I guess that means that we get to climb! Old La Honda is a 3 mile climb. Yes, the entire 3 miles is going up and a pretty good pitch. It doesn’t ever level off. It just keeps going! At what I assume is mile 2 there is a road called Upenuff Cr. I LOVE THAT! And since it is a circle you get to see the sign again! When you get to the second Upenuff you know you are almost to the top! The entire climb took us an hour. Oy! Our fastest rider, who is also on the Iron Man team did it in 27 min. So I guess that an hour for me on a big heavy bike isn’t so bad. (I keep telling myself that).
That was the end of our big climbs. There was a wonderful SAG stop at the top. They brought me an ice cold Coke. I didn’t realize it but my blood sugar had dropped and I was getting really shaky. Wonder why??? Cookies, coke, water, chips, sandwiches…it was all SO good!
Next came the reward – the down hill! This was fun. The first part was pretty straight so I got some pretty good speed going. Then we headed down HWY 84. Here my coach said he would see me at the bottom! He LOVES the down hill and wanted to go! I was on my own cruising down 84 through the redwoods at probably 35mph or so. SO pretty! There was oncoming traffic, but not much going my way. 84 is a two lane road. It reminds me a lot of HWY 152 in Gilroy going over to Watsonville. It is all redwoods and ferns, like something out of a story book. So pretty. As I was flying down the road thinking this I remembered too that a couple of cyclists were hit on 152 several years ago. They were killed instantly. Now I was the one on the bike. A little nudge of fear was planted. I prayed “Lord, please get me and my coach off of this mountain safely”. No sooner had I said the words than a large pickup truck zoomed up behind me and squeezed between me and oncoming traffic! Mind you that at this point there is no shoulder. The side of the road is about 2 feet of soft dirt and leaves and that gives way to a drop into a ravine. I am having to ride on the ‘business’ side of the white line. This is a narrow road with NO extra space. This truck somehow managed to fit between me and the cars going the other way. He didn’t even slow down! YIKES! I let out a yell but managed to keep my zooming bike under control and stay on the road. God is good! It isn’t every day that you pray and have your prayer answered within a fraction of a second! Later that afternoon I was telling my friend Naomi about it and she asked what time that happened. I told her and she said that I had come to her mind at that time and she had prayed for safety! Wow!
Comparatively speaking the rest of the ride was relatively uneventful. We went through Woodland, down Canada Rd along the reservoir up to HWY 92 and back. We had another SAG stop at mile 63. Here they had Dibbs ice cream. OHHH…Heaven! This was wonderful. They also gave me another ice cold coke. SO good. The only problem was that once I started riding again I realized that I had a float going on min my stomach and that wasn’t so good! Lesson learned. The sugar and caffeine though got me through the next 10 miles and back to the car. 75 miles and 9 hours later!
It felt SO good to set a new personal best of 75 miles. I wish I was faster, but it isn’t a race. I did something I never would have thought possible. I am starting to think that maybe in a few weeks I really WILL be ready for Moab. All I can say is that by the time I got back to my car I was glad we didn’t still have 25 miles to go!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Up! Up! Take me Away!!!!
Training Ride # 6 – Calaveras 55 miles (or that is what the schedule says – they LIE!!!) It was actually 57.4 miles but who is counting? MY LEGS! That’s who! Probably 60% of this ride was some form of up-hill. No, that does not mean that 40% was down hill – oh no. It means that we had a few miles of flat road that had a nice wind to go along with it!
Saturday, July 25, 2009 marks the day when I finally cross the half way point to my century! Wheels up at 8am in Milpitas. This week worked a bit differently. I am part of the slow group or should we call us the newbe’s? We have finally come up with an official team name. Our coach’s name is Don and everyone in our group is a girl so we call ourselves “Don’s Angels”. LOL I think I need to get little devil horns for his helmet. Maybe a little toy gun for ours? Or should I go with halos? Anyway, I digress. Don’s Angels started to roll out at about 8am in one group. We stayed together for the first 20 miles or so until we started to climb. This was our first big challenge. We got to go up and over a mountain. 5 miles of climbing! Here is where we split into 2 more groups and I was on my own with my coach and my mentor. It worked out well. I am not used to being the slowest of my pack, but when left with these two I definitely was. They are great though and really patient. We climbed and climbed and climbed. After a while we were rewarded with an area that leveled off and there were big homes nestled into the country side. The whole climb we were hearing peacocks calling. When we leveled off my coach pointed to what our team calls the “Peacock House”. Coach has ridden past before and seen a ton of peacocks strutting their stuff. Today I was the only one to spot one between the trees – but what a site! It was a white peacock! Who knew they came in white! How cool is that? Unfortunately I didn’t see it with his feathers splayed, but it was still cool. Then it was more climbing up to the top of the mountain. Here we were treated to our first SAG stop. SAG is the ride support team that offers rest stops with food! We LOVE SAG! Christina, our director, was there with pom poms and a cow bell. We had made it to the top! Fresh food and water, a quick bathroom break and we are ready for our reward – the down hill! Now down hills used to scare me. Some still do but now that I know better how to control my bike – they are kind of fun! (much better than climbing!) The only down side to the down hill is that they go so fast then you are climbing again, but it is a welcome break. Our decent dropped us into the windy foothills and over along HWY 580. As we took the frontage road along 580 I looked up and saw to my surprise Dublin and Pleasanton! How on earth had I ended up here? I am in shock that I had ridden my bike all the way here. This is a good 40 minute drive from my house – over the mountains. CRAZY! I never thought I would be riding my bike here. We take a quick break at the Marriott hotel (where I have stayed before) and then started south along the foothills. This was more rolling climbing and turning and climbing with little downs then back up and up. This ride was all about the ups! We rode through areas that I have only seen from a distance from the freeway. I am still in shock that I am here – and feeling pretty good too!
We were treated to our second SAG stop. This was at a house. Our SAG captain’s mom lives in these hills and any time there is a ride she opens her home for a SAG stop. She had fresh watermelon – YUM and chips and sandwiches, fresh fruit and more water. Best of all was a flushing toilet! Something we don’t always get! J The only down side to her house is her driveway. Coach had warned me to downshift. Holy Cow! I don’t know if my van could make it up this driveway and back down on a regular basis! This thing was steep! My mentor Wendy got off her bike and walked it but Coach and I rode all the way up – to clapping and cheering. We were greeted by our other team mates too that we had separated from during the first mountain climb. We lingered a bit too long but were nicely refreshed when we started again and got to ride down the driveway. J It could have been fun if we weren’t worried about stopping before getting on the road again. We continued on through the hills into the small historic town of Sunnol and along HWY 84. Then we continued down under HWY 680 and down through the valley. At this point we were in the full sun and heat. It was a warm day and we were in the valley – NOT GOOD! I looked over to the pass that we usually drive over and never thought I would ride along and asked the coach if that was where we were going. “Nope! We won’t be going over the pass.”
“But we have to be going over those hills.” I questioned
“But not there” was all he answered
“But we are going through those hills, right? We have to be.”
Silence…. That is never a good sign.
Soon the valley road turned into a bit of a climb. Ok, I am slowing down now but I can climb for a while. It isn’t as steep as the 5 mile climb earlier – I can do this! What they didn’t tell me was that it was going to go on forever! This turned into the Ride That Has No End! We kept climbing, and climbing and climbing and climb…..you get the idea. It was hot. I was tired. It was hot and we kept going up….I don’t have a computer on my bike so I can’t tell you how long it was – it was just long. At the summit (or what I thought was the summit) we had our last SAG stop. Since it was the top there was no shade, but they had ice! I put ice in my water bottles – yay! Then I had Cheetos! Let me tell you – when you are working that hard and it is that hot – Cheetos never tasted SO GOOD!!! After our quick stop we continued on. There was a bit of down hill so I thought we were on our final decent back into Milpitas and our cars. I was SORLEY mistaken. We had a nice little downhill which lead to more climbing. We would turn a corner and the road would go up again! Then we would go down a bit just to be faced with more up! I was going slower and slower as the hot afternoon dragged on. Coach, Wendy and I kept up a friendly banter to distract us but it dragged. Finally Coach asked if I thought it would never end and I said that I trusted him to eventually get us to the car. He laughed and we rode on. A few minutes later and he asked me again. My reply was “Expletive! Expletive! Expletive!” The down hill had to be soon – PLEASE! For the love of all things good, it has to be around the next corner! We have been climbing forever! We turn the corner and “HOLY MOTHER!” The road went straight up! Coach just about fell off of his bike laughing at my reaction. This is his favorite part of the ride. He loves to watch the faces of his latest victims as we see our fate lying before us. To soothe me he starts to talk about upcoming land marks. “Eventually”, he says “we will come to a couple of large power lines – the big metal kind. At the top you will see a large nest. It belongs to two Bald Eagles and their chicks”. Ok, so now I have something worth looking forward to. I mean seriously, I have seen a white peacock and now I get to maybe see Bald Eagles? COOL! We don’t usually have them around here but for some reason we have a pair this year. After what seams like an eternity we came to the power lines and sure enough there was the nest. No eagles though. That is ok. The nest was huge and really cool. It also was a land mark that was almost at the end of the climb. Finally we got to do the down hill that we worked so hard for. It is called “The Wall”. It was fun to go down. Short but fun. Coach and Wendy warned me about the stop sign at the bottom. Good thing that they did! I had to slam on my breaks and throw my weight back to make it! I almost over shot it even with their warning! After that it was a relatively flat ride back to the car. I was pedaling quite a bit slower than I was at the first part of the day. Humm…wonder why? Bryan and the kids were there to greet me with cheers and hugs – which is always awesome!
So now I can say that I have ridden more than half a century. That is amazing! I did it and lived to tell about it!
So that is the update of my training. As far as our honorees – most are doing well. As I mentioned in a previous posting, one- Joseph - is not doing so good and has opted for the most aggressive treatment. He has completed his chemo but his white count is still poor. His spirits are up but his Dr.’s are pessimistic at best. Please keep him in your prayers.
My fundraising is coming to a close. I need another $1100. Almost there! I have a corporate partner who will match any cash donations I receive. So, anyone who has been thinking about making a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society now is the time! I am looking for my last few sponsors! If you make the check out to me I can have it doubled! That means that I only need about $550 more and I will have reached my goal of $3900!!! How amazing is that! So please consider making a donation. It all goes to such a wonderful cause helping to find a cure for cancer as well as supporting families who are dealing with this on a daily basis. As always, I appreciate your prayers as well.
God Bless,
Susan
Saturday, July 25, 2009 marks the day when I finally cross the half way point to my century! Wheels up at 8am in Milpitas. This week worked a bit differently. I am part of the slow group or should we call us the newbe’s? We have finally come up with an official team name. Our coach’s name is Don and everyone in our group is a girl so we call ourselves “Don’s Angels”. LOL I think I need to get little devil horns for his helmet. Maybe a little toy gun for ours? Or should I go with halos? Anyway, I digress. Don’s Angels started to roll out at about 8am in one group. We stayed together for the first 20 miles or so until we started to climb. This was our first big challenge. We got to go up and over a mountain. 5 miles of climbing! Here is where we split into 2 more groups and I was on my own with my coach and my mentor. It worked out well. I am not used to being the slowest of my pack, but when left with these two I definitely was. They are great though and really patient. We climbed and climbed and climbed. After a while we were rewarded with an area that leveled off and there were big homes nestled into the country side. The whole climb we were hearing peacocks calling. When we leveled off my coach pointed to what our team calls the “Peacock House”. Coach has ridden past before and seen a ton of peacocks strutting their stuff. Today I was the only one to spot one between the trees – but what a site! It was a white peacock! Who knew they came in white! How cool is that? Unfortunately I didn’t see it with his feathers splayed, but it was still cool. Then it was more climbing up to the top of the mountain. Here we were treated to our first SAG stop. SAG is the ride support team that offers rest stops with food! We LOVE SAG! Christina, our director, was there with pom poms and a cow bell. We had made it to the top! Fresh food and water, a quick bathroom break and we are ready for our reward – the down hill! Now down hills used to scare me. Some still do but now that I know better how to control my bike – they are kind of fun! (much better than climbing!) The only down side to the down hill is that they go so fast then you are climbing again, but it is a welcome break. Our decent dropped us into the windy foothills and over along HWY 580. As we took the frontage road along 580 I looked up and saw to my surprise Dublin and Pleasanton! How on earth had I ended up here? I am in shock that I had ridden my bike all the way here. This is a good 40 minute drive from my house – over the mountains. CRAZY! I never thought I would be riding my bike here. We take a quick break at the Marriott hotel (where I have stayed before) and then started south along the foothills. This was more rolling climbing and turning and climbing with little downs then back up and up. This ride was all about the ups! We rode through areas that I have only seen from a distance from the freeway. I am still in shock that I am here – and feeling pretty good too!
We were treated to our second SAG stop. This was at a house. Our SAG captain’s mom lives in these hills and any time there is a ride she opens her home for a SAG stop. She had fresh watermelon – YUM and chips and sandwiches, fresh fruit and more water. Best of all was a flushing toilet! Something we don’t always get! J The only down side to her house is her driveway. Coach had warned me to downshift. Holy Cow! I don’t know if my van could make it up this driveway and back down on a regular basis! This thing was steep! My mentor Wendy got off her bike and walked it but Coach and I rode all the way up – to clapping and cheering. We were greeted by our other team mates too that we had separated from during the first mountain climb. We lingered a bit too long but were nicely refreshed when we started again and got to ride down the driveway. J It could have been fun if we weren’t worried about stopping before getting on the road again. We continued on through the hills into the small historic town of Sunnol and along HWY 84. Then we continued down under HWY 680 and down through the valley. At this point we were in the full sun and heat. It was a warm day and we were in the valley – NOT GOOD! I looked over to the pass that we usually drive over and never thought I would ride along and asked the coach if that was where we were going. “Nope! We won’t be going over the pass.”
“But we have to be going over those hills.” I questioned
“But not there” was all he answered
“But we are going through those hills, right? We have to be.”
Silence…. That is never a good sign.
Soon the valley road turned into a bit of a climb. Ok, I am slowing down now but I can climb for a while. It isn’t as steep as the 5 mile climb earlier – I can do this! What they didn’t tell me was that it was going to go on forever! This turned into the Ride That Has No End! We kept climbing, and climbing and climbing and climb…..you get the idea. It was hot. I was tired. It was hot and we kept going up….I don’t have a computer on my bike so I can’t tell you how long it was – it was just long. At the summit (or what I thought was the summit) we had our last SAG stop. Since it was the top there was no shade, but they had ice! I put ice in my water bottles – yay! Then I had Cheetos! Let me tell you – when you are working that hard and it is that hot – Cheetos never tasted SO GOOD!!! After our quick stop we continued on. There was a bit of down hill so I thought we were on our final decent back into Milpitas and our cars. I was SORLEY mistaken. We had a nice little downhill which lead to more climbing. We would turn a corner and the road would go up again! Then we would go down a bit just to be faced with more up! I was going slower and slower as the hot afternoon dragged on. Coach, Wendy and I kept up a friendly banter to distract us but it dragged. Finally Coach asked if I thought it would never end and I said that I trusted him to eventually get us to the car. He laughed and we rode on. A few minutes later and he asked me again. My reply was “Expletive! Expletive! Expletive!” The down hill had to be soon – PLEASE! For the love of all things good, it has to be around the next corner! We have been climbing forever! We turn the corner and “HOLY MOTHER!” The road went straight up! Coach just about fell off of his bike laughing at my reaction. This is his favorite part of the ride. He loves to watch the faces of his latest victims as we see our fate lying before us. To soothe me he starts to talk about upcoming land marks. “Eventually”, he says “we will come to a couple of large power lines – the big metal kind. At the top you will see a large nest. It belongs to two Bald Eagles and their chicks”. Ok, so now I have something worth looking forward to. I mean seriously, I have seen a white peacock and now I get to maybe see Bald Eagles? COOL! We don’t usually have them around here but for some reason we have a pair this year. After what seams like an eternity we came to the power lines and sure enough there was the nest. No eagles though. That is ok. The nest was huge and really cool. It also was a land mark that was almost at the end of the climb. Finally we got to do the down hill that we worked so hard for. It is called “The Wall”. It was fun to go down. Short but fun. Coach and Wendy warned me about the stop sign at the bottom. Good thing that they did! I had to slam on my breaks and throw my weight back to make it! I almost over shot it even with their warning! After that it was a relatively flat ride back to the car. I was pedaling quite a bit slower than I was at the first part of the day. Humm…wonder why? Bryan and the kids were there to greet me with cheers and hugs – which is always awesome!
So now I can say that I have ridden more than half a century. That is amazing! I did it and lived to tell about it!
So that is the update of my training. As far as our honorees – most are doing well. As I mentioned in a previous posting, one- Joseph - is not doing so good and has opted for the most aggressive treatment. He has completed his chemo but his white count is still poor. His spirits are up but his Dr.’s are pessimistic at best. Please keep him in your prayers.
My fundraising is coming to a close. I need another $1100. Almost there! I have a corporate partner who will match any cash donations I receive. So, anyone who has been thinking about making a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society now is the time! I am looking for my last few sponsors! If you make the check out to me I can have it doubled! That means that I only need about $550 more and I will have reached my goal of $3900!!! How amazing is that! So please consider making a donation. It all goes to such a wonderful cause helping to find a cure for cancer as well as supporting families who are dealing with this on a daily basis. As always, I appreciate your prayers as well.
Checks can be made out to me and sent to me at:
Susan Martin
137 Herlong Ave.
San Jose, CA. 95123
God Bless,
Susan
Monday, July 6, 2009
Hicks You!
Yep, I have a new bad word to add to the vocabulary. Hicks was evil and Shannon was even more evil – though I haven’t figured out a good way to use the new word Shannon. It doesn’t roll off the tongue like Hicks does. Perhaps I should explain – for those of you who don’t know our area.
Saturday, July 4,2009 – Independence Day! What a wonderful day to sleep in and spend time with the family…OR what a great day to get up early for a bike ride with the team! YAY! Ok, so in all fairness they did schedule the ride for 8:45 and it was only 10 min from my house – which was awesome! The only problem was that I got so excited about it being close by that I neglected to look at the start time. You guessed it! I showed up at the usual 7am excited about my extra ½ hour of sleep – since it was so close – but no one was there! A couple of panicked phone calls later and I realize that I am an hour early. I could have actually slept in!
Once the ride actually gets going it is starting to warm up and is pushing 9am. We started at the VTA parking lot on Colman between Almaden and Winfield. We went down Almaden Exp. Then back up to Camden – total about 7 miles. There is that killer incline on Camden that was a good warm up for what was coming. We then turned left on Hicks and headed into the hills. When I saw Hicks on our rout sheet I must admit I was a bit nervous. It turns out that in comparison – Hicks really isn’t that bad. It was when we made that right turn on to Shannon that things got really interesting! Now, let me attempt to explain. This is a part of town that really few people see. It is part of the base of the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains and really if you don’t live here the only reason to go on this road is for the scenery. This is where you see full on mansions on large acreage. There are horses and plenty of road kill along the way to distract you from the excruciating pain emanating from your legs & lungs. This pain is caused when the beautiful rolling hills decide to stop rolling go straight up! Oh, but there are turns in the road too! So after each bend you see the one ahead and think that it must level out there only to find that it does no such thing! It just keeps getting steeper! This goes on for what seems like an eternity. I am truly getting a glimpse of what Hell must be like. I can’t breath, my legs are shaking, and my goal is to keep my bike from going backwards! Just one more curve – it must level out right up there! Oh @%$*! There is another curve and the road just got steeper! Ok, don’t hyperventilate. Deep breaths from your center. You can do this! Just one more turn and you are there. DENIED! It seemed like it went on forever but in reality it was probably the longest 1 ½ miles of my life. Finally I reached the top and was greeted by an old shady oak tree and one of our honorees. Yep, he beat me up the hill! He was having a nice break waiting for the rest of us. Just to put this in perspective, he used to be an avid cyclist before his Leukemia. He has since fought the good fight, had a bone marrow transplant and just doesn’t have the strength and energy that he used to have. Yep, HE beat me up the hill with time to spare. What the @%$* is MY excuse? After that killer climb came the great reward of the decent. I will admit that going down still scares me a bit, but I am getting better.
We dropped down into Los Gatos which was full of people getting ready for the parade. We were like the pre-show! Then we went up Hwy 9 to Saratoga. Now we did Hwy 9 last week and it wasn’t really that bad. It has some rolling inclines but they are more long and gradual. This time though I was still recovering from Shannon and Hicks! Looking ahead at our rout sheet I realize that we still have a bunch of miles to go and then loop back and go the OTHER way up Shannon and Hicks! Say What????? Um…Coach? I think we may have a problem! Thankfully Coach Don was cool about it and said we would see how I felt when we got there. Well, by the time we rode to Saratoga and back down Cox to Blossom Hill there was a unanimous decision by the group to skip that wonderful hill and go straight down Blossom Hill Road to Camden then over to the VTA. I was SO thankful. I really don’t know if my legs could have handled that again. I think I may have had to walk my bike for the first time! All together the ride was about 39 miles which is officially my longest ride to date! YAY!
Saturday night my family and I enjoyed the wonderful fire works in Morgan Hill. They were really amazing. We had a great time hanging out and playing games until it started to get dark. Then Samantha and I went out and sold glow sticks to raise money for TNT! That worked out really well. We made a bit of cash and got back to our blankets just in time to curl up and watch the show. It was truly a great day!
Saturday, July 4,2009 – Independence Day! What a wonderful day to sleep in and spend time with the family…OR what a great day to get up early for a bike ride with the team! YAY! Ok, so in all fairness they did schedule the ride for 8:45 and it was only 10 min from my house – which was awesome! The only problem was that I got so excited about it being close by that I neglected to look at the start time. You guessed it! I showed up at the usual 7am excited about my extra ½ hour of sleep – since it was so close – but no one was there! A couple of panicked phone calls later and I realize that I am an hour early.
Once the ride actually gets going it is starting to warm up and is pushing 9am. We started at the VTA parking lot on Colman between Almaden and Winfield. We went down Almaden Exp. Then back up to Camden – total about 7 miles. There is that killer incline on Camden that was a good warm up for what was coming. We then turned left on Hicks and headed into the hills. When I saw Hicks on our rout sheet I must admit I was a bit nervous. It turns out that in comparison – Hicks really isn’t that bad. It was when we made that right turn on to Shannon that things got really interesting! Now, let me attempt to explain. This is a part of town that really few people see. It is part of the base of the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains and really if you don’t live here the only reason to go on this road is for the scenery. This is where you see full on mansions on large acreage. There are horses and plenty of road kill along the way to distract you from the excruciating pain emanating from your legs & lungs. This pain is caused when the beautiful rolling hills decide to stop rolling go straight up! Oh, but there are turns in the road too! So after each bend you see the one ahead and think that it must level out there only to find that it does no such thing! It just keeps getting steeper! This goes on for what seems like an eternity. I am truly getting a glimpse of what Hell must be like. I can’t breath, my legs are shaking, and my goal is to keep my bike from going backwards! Just one more curve – it must level out right up there! Oh @%$*! There is another curve and the road just got steeper! Ok, don’t hyperventilate. Deep breaths from your center. You can do this! Just one more turn and you are there. DENIED! It seemed like it went on forever but in reality it was probably the longest 1 ½ miles of my life. Finally I reached the top and was greeted by an old shady oak tree and one of our honorees. Yep, he beat me up the hill! He was having a nice break waiting for the rest of us. Just to put this in perspective, he used to be an avid cyclist before his Leukemia. He has since fought the good fight, had a bone marrow transplant and just doesn’t have the strength and energy that he used to have. Yep, HE beat me up the hill with time to spare. What the @%$* is MY excuse? After that killer climb came the great reward of the decent. I will admit that going down still scares me a bit, but I am getting better.
We dropped down into Los Gatos which was full of people getting ready for the parade. We were like the pre-show! Then we went up Hwy 9 to Saratoga. Now we did Hwy 9 last week and it wasn’t really that bad. It has some rolling inclines but they are more long and gradual. This time though I was still recovering from Shannon and Hicks! Looking ahead at our rout sheet I realize that we still have a bunch of miles to go and then loop back and go the OTHER way up Shannon and Hicks! Say What????? Um…Coach? I think we may have a problem! Thankfully Coach Don was cool about it and said we would see how I felt when we got there. Well, by the time we rode to Saratoga and back down Cox to Blossom Hill there was a unanimous decision by the group to skip that wonderful hill and go straight down Blossom Hill Road to Camden then over to the VTA. I was SO thankful. I really don’t know if my legs could have handled that again. I think I may have had to walk my bike for the first time! All together the ride was about 39 miles which is officially my longest ride to date! YAY!
Saturday night my family and I enjoyed the wonderful fire works in Morgan Hill. They were really amazing. We had a great time hanging out and playing games until it started to get dark. Then Samantha and I went out and sold glow sticks to raise money for TNT! That worked out really well. We made a bit of cash and got back to our blankets just in time to curl up and watch the show. It was truly a great day!
Monday, June 22, 2009
And the Training Continues!
The cycling training has really taken off. This past weekend we rode up in Woodland (that area off of 280 where the reservoir is just before you turn off to go to Half Moon Bay.) It was really windy and we worked on drafting. It was pretty fun. The coach has divided us into groups based on our speed. He put me in the “Fast” group – which sounds impressive but really the groups are “Fast”, “Faster” & “Fastest” – so it is a really nice way of saying that I am in the slow group. Lol. But I am ok with that. It isn’t a race and kind of like the Tortuous and the Hare, we will get to the finish line. The best part though is that I am feeling stronger and rides that would have wiped me out a few weeks ago are easy now. We officially finished our workshop type trainings so now I think we start focusing on distance and endurance. It should be interesting!
In our honoree news, one of our honorees has been really sick lately. He went into the hospital recently and was diagnosed with a more advanced form of Leukemia. He was given 3 options: 1) Go home with pain meds and have about 3 months, 2) mild Chemo and have about 6 months, 3) aggressive Chemo and have about 12 months. He chose option 3. He came home from the hospital for the weekend to have one last Father’s day with his family. The up side is that he has reconciled with his adult daughter who hasn’t spoken to him in 5 years. I don’t know where he is spiritually so he and his family need lots of prayer. It is strange being in a group of people who are fighting for their lives and the lives of others with out a faith or belief in the Great Physician! I am hoping to bring His love and hope to these people. They need that more than a cure.
In fundraising news - Several friends donated this past week and got me up to $350! YAY! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!I have some cash donations too which I am hoping to double with corporate matching programs. If everything comes together that I have floating around out there I should have close to $1000! That is totally awesome! I have a car wash this weekend that I am doing with my friend Kate. We are washing cars at Sports Basement in San Jose on Friday, Saturday and Sunday! If you need a car wash stop on by! If you are interested in hosting a fundraiser for me that would be awesome! Some things I am working on now are Wine Tasting Parties, Murder Mystery Nights and of course a Fondue Party.
That's the latest! I am sure I will have more tales to tell after my hill repeats on Tuesday. YIKES! If last week was the warm up, what will this week be? HELP!!! :)
In our honoree news, one of our honorees has been really sick lately. He went into the hospital recently and was diagnosed with a more advanced form of Leukemia. He was given 3 options: 1) Go home with pain meds and have about 3 months, 2) mild Chemo and have about 6 months, 3) aggressive Chemo and have about 12 months. He chose option 3. He came home from the hospital for the weekend to have one last Father’s day with his family. The up side is that he has reconciled with his adult daughter who hasn’t spoken to him in 5 years. I don’t know where he is spiritually so he and his family need lots of prayer. It is strange being in a group of people who are fighting for their lives and the lives of others with out a faith or belief in the Great Physician! I am hoping to bring His love and hope to these people. They need that more than a cure.
In fundraising news - Several friends donated this past week and got me up to $350! YAY! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!I have some cash donations too which I am hoping to double with corporate matching programs. If everything comes together that I have floating around out there I should have close to $1000! That is totally awesome! I have a car wash this weekend that I am doing with my friend Kate. We are washing cars at Sports Basement in San Jose on Friday, Saturday and Sunday! If you need a car wash stop on by! If you are interested in hosting a fundraiser for me that would be awesome! Some things I am working on now are Wine Tasting Parties, Murder Mystery Nights and of course a Fondue Party.
That's the latest! I am sure I will have more tales to tell after my hill repeats on Tuesday. YIKES! If last week was the warm up, what will this week be? HELP!!! :)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Hill Repeats
So last night we had our first "On Bike Skills & Hills Workout". It was sponsored by Integrated Performance - which I think is like a gym for athletes. It was awesome having a personal trainer help with technique going up and down the hill.
I posted earlier what my definition of a hill is. This one was no different. It happened to be about 0.8 of a mile long all of which was at what my coach would call an incline. There were a couple of parts that were inclined a bit more than others! Very little was actually gradual, most was pretty steep. I am proud to say that I made it up that hill every time! Going down, I didn't fall - which if you saw the turns and the speed...well I was happy to stay ON my bike the whole way down. I narrowly avoided eating bugs which met an untimely end on my face - so I am learning to keep my mouth closed on the decent! We worked on banking our bikes on the turns going down and pulling up on our pedals going up.
One of the problems that I have is my bike. Being a hybrid (a mix of street bike and mountain bike) I am upright and my gears don't work like the street bikes that the rest of the team has. I am having to figure out how to use my gears to the best of my advantage going up. How hard do I need to push vs. how fast I should pedal. What should my cadence be? These are all things that I am working on learning and I think will get easier with practice. All I know is that I am very happy that I made it up and down that hill 7 times last night! YAY!! I don't think I could have done it even once a few weeks ago.
I posted earlier what my definition of a hill is. This one was no different. It happened to be about 0.8 of a mile long all of which was at what my coach would call an incline. There were a couple of parts that were inclined a bit more than others! Very little was actually gradual, most was pretty steep. I am proud to say that I made it up that hill every time! Going down, I didn't fall - which if you saw the turns and the speed...well I was happy to stay ON my bike the whole way down. I narrowly avoided eating bugs which met an untimely end on my face - so I am learning to keep my mouth closed on the decent! We worked on banking our bikes on the turns going down and pulling up on our pedals going up.
One of the problems that I have is my bike. Being a hybrid (a mix of street bike and mountain bike) I am upright and my gears don't work like the street bikes that the rest of the team has. I am having to figure out how to use my gears to the best of my advantage going up. How hard do I need to push vs. how fast I should pedal. What should my cadence be? These are all things that I am working on learning and I think will get easier with practice. All I know is that I am very happy that I made it up and down that hill 7 times last night! YAY!! I don't think I could have done it even once a few weeks ago.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Honoree Story
I received this letter from a friend of a friend. Mercedes and her family have been through a tough road and she graciously shared her story with me and she has agreed to let me share it with you. I will be riding in honor of her family and what they have gone through.
Hi Susan, 6/7/2009
I'm a friend of Cheryl's and wanted to share my story. My brother did this bike event after my father passed away. We watched chronic lymphocytic leukemia slowly destroy his life over 15 years, but we were lucky, he was given 5 years upon diagnosis. Then a new experimental treatment was developed right here in Silicon Valley. The doctors were able to cure dad's leukemia with that new monoclonal treatment, but they never got a handle on the lymphoma. What they did learn through his treatment was that he either had 2 diseases, or the treatment split the disease. (They thought lymphocytic leukemia was one disease and were mystified when the lymphoma remained after the leukemia was cured). This is an area of medicine where they're actually making headway, so our $$ are working! Every year that a patient manages to survive they have a chance at a lifesaving medical breakthrough. Hats off to you for doing this!
Mercedes
Hi Susan, 6/7/2009
I'm a friend of Cheryl's and wanted to share my story. My brother did this bike event after my father passed away. We watched chronic lymphocytic leukemia slowly destroy his life over 15 years, but we were lucky, he was given 5 years upon diagnosis. Then a new experimental treatment was developed right here in Silicon Valley. The doctors were able to cure dad's leukemia with that new monoclonal treatment, but they never got a handle on the lymphoma. What they did learn through his treatment was that he either had 2 diseases, or the treatment split the disease. (They thought lymphocytic leukemia was one disease and were mystified when the lymphoma remained after the leukemia was cured). This is an area of medicine where they're actually making headway, so our $$ are working! Every year that a patient manages to survive they have a chance at a lifesaving medical breakthrough. Hats off to you for doing this!
Mercedes
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
First Ride - Los Altos Hills
Yes, it says hills. Now for those boys and girls out there who live in the flat lands, hills are what my coach calls an incline. It is where the road that you were just riding on is now perpendicular to the ground! You are cruising along minding your own business when all of a sudden you turn a corner and the rider in front of you yells - DOWN SHIFT!. Say WHAT??? You want me to take this bike where? Then, as some cruel joke SOMEONE decided to put a freaking stop sign half way up! Now, I have a delima. Coach made it very clear that we are to obey all traffic rules, but really....this one too? Seriously? Are you kidding me? Well, I did a little Hollywood stop but apparently that wasn't ok - I got told. OOPS! But hey, I made it up that twice accursed hill! We did that another 3 or 4 times during our brief little 15 mile joy ride. Rolling back into the parking lot I am slightly afraid to get off of my bike. My legs are Jello - but hey WE DID IT! We were greeted by juice, fruit, bagels and cream cheese - the works! Then we met the people who are the real reason we are here.
I met a dad who noticed a lump under is arm in April just before Passover. He was getting out of the shower and noticed something new. He thought it was a fatty tumor because it grew so fast. He has since had it removed and is undergoing Chemo to make sure everything is gone. One of his daughters was there today supporting him.
I met another team mate who is also suffering from Leukemia. He was engaged to be married and was under a lot of stress. His stomach was hurting but the doctors dismissed it as sore muscles from his cold he was getting over. Then he started to have fevers every day. Then night sweats. SIX MONTHS LATER they figured out that he had Leukemia and hospitalized him immediately. Miraculously he survived but he is still being watched and treated.
Another woman had some form of cancer (I didn't catch which kind) in her brain. She had been hit in the head with a soft ball and a week later couldn't move the toes on her left foot. She thought it was a residual problem from being hit in the head. It took about a week for them to figure out that she had cancer. She was admitted to the hospital right away to start treatment. At one point they put her into a drug induced coma because the pain that she was going to go through was more than she would be able to handle. She woke up to her normally calm husband's face telling her to be strong and keep fighting. That is when she knew that she was in real trouble. She fought for months in the hospital. Her room was plastered in pictures and letters from friends and friends of friends. It kept her going. (Lesson: never underestimate the power of a card or a note) Today she was at our event able to walk, but still limping on her left side. She is working on being able to ride a bike again. She hopes to get back on her surf board some day too.
Those are just 3 of the 5 or 6 that were there today. One wasn't able to be there because he is so sick right now and can't be around other people so we all signed a card for him. I hope to meet him soon too. It is a good reminder when the hills are tough or the ride is long - THIS IS WHY WE DO THIS!!! I am so glad to be a part of such a wonderful team.
I met a dad who noticed a lump under is arm in April just before Passover. He was getting out of the shower and noticed something new. He thought it was a fatty tumor because it grew so fast. He has since had it removed and is undergoing Chemo to make sure everything is gone. One of his daughters was there today supporting him.
I met another team mate who is also suffering from Leukemia. He was engaged to be married and was under a lot of stress. His stomach was hurting but the doctors dismissed it as sore muscles from his cold he was getting over. Then he started to have fevers every day. Then night sweats. SIX MONTHS LATER they figured out that he had Leukemia and hospitalized him immediately. Miraculously he survived but he is still being watched and treated.
Another woman had some form of cancer (I didn't catch which kind) in her brain. She had been hit in the head with a soft ball and a week later couldn't move the toes on her left foot. She thought it was a residual problem from being hit in the head. It took about a week for them to figure out that she had cancer. She was admitted to the hospital right away to start treatment. At one point they put her into a drug induced coma because the pain that she was going to go through was more than she would be able to handle. She woke up to her normally calm husband's face telling her to be strong and keep fighting. That is when she knew that she was in real trouble. She fought for months in the hospital. Her room was plastered in pictures and letters from friends and friends of friends. It kept her going. (Lesson: never underestimate the power of a card or a note) Today she was at our event able to walk, but still limping on her left side. She is working on being able to ride a bike again. She hopes to get back on her surf board some day too.
Those are just 3 of the 5 or 6 that were there today. One wasn't able to be there because he is so sick right now and can't be around other people so we all signed a card for him. I hope to meet him soon too. It is a good reminder when the hills are tough or the ride is long - THIS IS WHY WE DO THIS!!! I am so glad to be a part of such a wonderful team.
Welcome - Wait. Where Am I?
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am just your average mom juggling homework assignments for my daughter (10) along with homeschooling my son (7) while managing a home and being a wife to my ever supporting husband. This summer I have taken on an added assignment. I have decided to join Team In Training on a century cycle ride in Utah on September 19th! Now, being a busy mom I have had absolutely NO time for the gym in years and now I am training to ride 100 miles! YIKES!!!! Why would I do that? Well aside from really being tired of being tired and out of shape, I wanted to reach out and make a difference in my community by raising money for a wonderful cause.
The other day I was at an end of year pool party for some of the girls in my daughter's class. There were 10 moms sitting around chatting. Of those 10 two had fought off cancer. Last year my father and grandfather were treated for cancer. I know that we all have stories like that. Every hour 4 people die from blood cancer and 15 more are diagnosed. There are 15,000 people suffering from blood cancer in San Jose alone.
Team In Training raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Blood cancers affect people of all ages from young children to grandparents and everyone in between.
How the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society works:
74% of total funds raised are given directly to cancer research, education, advocacy and patient servicesoParticipants joint the team for a nominal administration feeoParticipants raise capital toward the team goaloEach team member is given a minimum support goal to raise - my minimum is $3,900
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has 4 priority programs to help reach its goal of finding cures to eliminate Leukemia, Lymphoma & Myeloma.
Research Initiatives - Support projects throughout the world
Patient Financial Aid Program - Financial & Emotional support to those affected by blood
cancer
Public Education Programs - Provide free educational programs & materials to the public
Professional Education Program - Provide education opportunities for healthcare professionals.
As I alluded to earlier, each TNT participant agrees to raise money to benefit research and patient services for those affected by leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. Please make a donation to help me reach my fundraising goal of $3,900 by July 1, 2009. That gives me just 4 weeks total.
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Remember that all donations are 100% tax deductable.
I hope you will come back to this site frequently as I will be posting blogs about my training as well as my fundraising goals. Thanks for your support!
www.tinyurl.com/susantntblog
The other day I was at an end of year pool party for some of the girls in my daughter's class. There were 10 moms sitting around chatting. Of those 10 two had fought off cancer. Last year my father and grandfather were treated for cancer. I know that we all have stories like that. Every hour 4 people die from blood cancer and 15 more are diagnosed. There are 15,000 people suffering from blood cancer in San Jose alone.
Team In Training raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Blood cancers affect people of all ages from young children to grandparents and everyone in between.
How the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society works:
74% of total funds raised are given directly to cancer research, education, advocacy and patient servicesoParticipants joint the team for a nominal administration feeoParticipants raise capital toward the team goaloEach team member is given a minimum support goal to raise - my minimum is $3,900
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has 4 priority programs to help reach its goal of finding cures to eliminate Leukemia, Lymphoma & Myeloma.
Research Initiatives - Support projects throughout the world
Patient Financial Aid Program - Financial & Emotional support to those affected by blood
cancer
Public Education Programs - Provide free educational programs & materials to the public
Professional Education Program - Provide education opportunities for healthcare professionals.
As I alluded to earlier, each TNT participant agrees to raise money to benefit research and patient services for those affected by leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. Please make a donation to help me reach my fundraising goal of $3,900 by July 1, 2009. That gives me just 4 weeks total.
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. Remember that all donations are 100% tax deductable.
I hope you will come back to this site frequently as I will be posting blogs about my training as well as my fundraising goals. Thanks for your support!
www.tinyurl.com/susantntblog
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