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My last week of hard training has come a slightly dramatic end.

Yesterday, teammate Dan Mennel and I took on our last hard ride of training before July 11th.   To date the weather has been surprisingly cool this year which has allowed for very comfortable 6-8 hour weekend rides.  Not this last week though.  Almost in keeping with the potential heat we will encounter on the Death Ride the temperatures increased all week, reaching 100 degrees both Saturday and Sunday.

We headed over the coast for the majority of the ride and while it wasn’t cool, for the most part it was shaded.  Starting in Los Gatos we headed over the Santa Cruz mountains to Soquel, turning left towards Corralitos.  We climbed Eureka Canyon (where one of the big fires crossed last summer at this time) and made it back to Summit Road.  Our second decent towards Soquel veered right to take us to Scotts Valley where we climbed Mt. Charlie in the heavy heat of the day.  Dan and I split at the junction of Bear Creek Road and Skyline and I headed towards Hwy 9 and Saratoga.  I arrived back in Los Gatos around 4pm, after 8:45 hrs of riding.  I was spent.

It was good to spend a day training in the heat to remember how draining it is, but how essential aids like electrolytes and cold water really help.

On Sunday I took a short recovery ride to keep the lactic acid from building in my legs.  I did not get out until almost 11am and I was definitely sore and tired from the day before.  I cleaned my bike to prepare it for its final tune-up to Hyland Bikes and finally got out of the heat around 12:30pm.

In my tired haste, I miscalculated how far away I was from a door frame I was passing through and just like that I had put my bare foot into the corner of the frame.  I felt a pop in my fourth toe and then waited for the pain to come, which it did.  While I was hoping I hadn’t done anything too drastic, I continued on my way of getting myself ready to head to the bike shop and to our TurningWheels for Kids BBQ.

As soon as I put my foot into my sneakers I knew I had done something to my toe.  I dropped my bike off at Hyland, ran an errand and then had to go home to change shoes because the pain was becoming worse.  Lucky for me, the Turning Wheels crew is full of brilliant, experienced nurses and when I arrived at the team BBQ nurse Donna set to taking care of me.

From what I gather, if I had it x-rayed the resulting treatment would be the same – tape it to the next biggest toe, ice it, take ibuprofen, rest.  If it is broken, it sounds like a 6-week time frame until it is without pain.  I have no idea what this will mean when I put my cycling shoes on this Wednesday, but I’ll let you know.  For now, it’s nurses orders – ice, rest, elevation.

Never a dull moment, but it’s difficult not to be inspired to keep going when surrounded by the incredible members of the TurningWheels for Kids board of directors (all volunteer!) and riders.

Fingers crossed that this won’t be too painful…

My many many many thanks to all of my donors who continue to keep me pedaling!  I am at 70% of my fundraising goal and am really hoping to make 100% by the day of the Death Ride on July 11th.

Every week brings roughly 200 miles of training in the month of June.  3 or so rides ranging from 25-30 miles each during the week and over 100 miles on the weekends.  In total, climbing between 15,000 and 20,000 feet over those riding days.  Mixed in with core and strength training, the time and energy it takes to do this leads me to my top 10 list (which I have lots of time to ponder on rides, so it may expand yet…).

LEAH’S TOP 10 SIGNS TO TIP YOU OFF THAT SHE IS TRAINING FOR THE DEATH RIDE:

10. She doesn’t return phone calls or emails for weeks because she’s either on her bike, eating, sleeping or working.  Energy limits and brain power stops there.

9.  She answers simple questions like ‘how are you?’ with ‘bicycles’.  That pretty much sums it up.

8.  Any bedtime after 9pm is not enough sleep.

7.  Any meal not big enough for 2 people without snacks in between will leave her hungry.

6.  A lack of Cytomax (the sports drink she trains on) sends her flying to the closest store in a sheer panic to buy more.

5.  All potential plans with friends and family leading up to July 11th must be conducted between 5 and 8pm on either Saturday or Sunday or she either will be on her bike or sleeping.

4.  She cannot sit still for more than 10 minutes without getting up and stretching.

3.  She’ll ride through snow, wind, rain, clouds, cold weather because any training ride cannot be missed.

2.  Her favorite meal is a chocolate recovery drink blended with a banana.

1. 9 times out of 10, if you asked where she is you’d be right by answering with ’she’s on her bike’.

Between riding and fundraising, my apologies to all who I have not connected with in a while – I promise that I’ll be better starting July 13th:)!.

Thank you for your continued support.

With all due respect to Tom Jones- unless you could hear me sing, then you would say I have no respect for him, I found myself singing the tune named in the title of this post on a recent down hill section of a training ride. (English teachers, I am truly sorry for that first sentence.) I know I should have been concentrating just a little harder on my technique and line, but I was pondering why so many of us are riding the Death Ride for the charity, TurningWheels For Kids. Our numbers have grown from the 4 last year to over 20 this year.

So, why do I do it? Because the kids are worth it. Period. The longer I’m associated with TurningWheels For Kids, www.turningwheelsforkids.org , the more amazing I find everyone who is associated with it. Over 6,000 new bikes to underprivileged kids in less than 4 years! What kids? Our kids of Santa Clara County. Many of us remember our first bike. For many of these less advantage children these bikes are their first bike. So many families struggle to survive, never mind provide for a bike to experience the exhilaration and freedom of pedaling yourself to your own adventures.

Just recently I assembled and prepared a few more bikes to another group TWFK serves. These are the children in the Family Healthy Lifestyle Center, which is a program under the VMC umbrella. These kids are classified as obese and have committed to Dr. Dan Delgado’s program of education, healthy eating and exercise. If bike riding is the chosen exercise and one can’t be supplied by the family, we will provide. Not long ago I had the privilege of viewing some before and after pictures of these kids and their bikes. So much joy went along with the slimmer faces. There were reports of so many children (and their families) moving into a much more healthy lifestyle. This is an amazing, life improving program and we are privileged to be a small part of it.

Although there are many things TWFK does throughout the year, the culmination is the one day in December when over 2,000 boxed bikes are assembled by 700 community volunteers and given to a variety of charities. To be part of this is magical. Did I mention that this all happens in less than 1 day? Can you imagine what 2,000 bikes looks like in one spot?

Those are just a few of the reasons I’m riding the Death Ride this year for TurningWheels For Kids. This is partly why I’ve ridden over 1,400 miles and climbed well over 100,000 vertical feet so far this year. This is why I will attempt to ride 125 miles and climb 15,000 feet in one day in July. There is, though one unchanging reason that I am riding for and volunteer for TWFK~ It’s not just for the kids, it’s more than that. It’s because these children are worth it! If even one finds a healthier, more exciting world because of our efforts, then it is worth it.

Please consider supporting my efforts by making a donation in my name here:

http://www.turningwheelsforkids.org/blog/?page_id=63

Thank you to all how follow and support our adventures.

Death Ride For Kids- Round 2

Thursday, January 1, 2009
Day 1- Jan 1- Ride 1
Who’s bright idea was it to get up early on New Year’s Day and ride up Mt. Hamilton? I’m such a sucker. It started foggy. Cold, wet, thick fog. It transformed into a beautiful sunny day at the Lick Observatory after 4,300+ feet of climbing. The snow capped Sierras were even visible.

It ended after once again passing through the thick, cold, wet fog. A great day, a great ride, a great way to start the new year. Even better was that I met several friends at the top including Team Wrong Way member Frank (a huge TWFK supporter), Scott and first time Mt. Hamilton summiteer- Sue!
5,000′ of climbing, 39 miles.

Oh, one more thing. I’m proud to say that I’ve re-instituted my post-ride regimen of a hot dog after a good ride.

Posted by Dave at 8:19 PM 0 comments
And So It Begins
Maybe I’m not so smart. Maybe I am. Maybe it doesn’t matter, but I’m back for round 2.
Last year I rode my first Death Ride. I felt like I went for it kicking and screaming. I know I was reluctant. If you’re bored you can read all 17 posts detailing last years preparations and the actual ride here:
My 08 Death Ride blog

So here’s the scoop: On July 11, 2009 I will once again attempt this.

Why? That’s a very good question that has a very good answer. I participate in a Not-For-Profit charity called TurningWheels For Kids and we provide new bikes for under-privileged and under-privileged health challenged kids in and around Santa Clara County, Ca. This year we provided over 2100 bikes! That’s crazy. Actually we’ve supplied over 6,000 in the last 4 years combined. One of our struggles is the on-going funding of our programs. Bikes are not cheap. Last year as part of our efforts a few of us solicited financial pledges from our friends, acquaintances and even our enemies in exchange for riding the Death Ride. It turned out to be a very successful and rewarding way to earn money for TurningWheels For Kids.

That’s mostly why I’m doing it again. Well, that and the amazing stretch goal this is for me. Imagine riding a bike over 125 miles, climbing 15,000 feet of mountain passes and doing it all in one day. Imagine doing it with a few thousand other riders and some of your best friends. Imaging preparing by riding a couple of thousand miles and 100,000 climbing feet of training. Imagine suffering extreme heat, exhaustion, pain… oh, wait. Don’t imagine that part.

And so, having registered for the Death Ride a couple of weeks ago, the adventure begins. I just hope there won’t be any crashes, aching knees, suicidal squirrels or worse like last year…..

I’d like to thank all of my supporters that have sent encouragement again this year and for donating to TurningWheels for Kids.  I am at 30% of my goal for fundraising and probably about 70% of my goal towards training.  Still a ways to go, but holy cow – the ride is only 6 WEEKS AWAY.  Time is flying this year.

I wish I had the time to keep up with my training blog as I had in past years, but it’s not in the cards this year.  Don’t let that fool you though – I am still on my bike day after day and generally it’s going like this:

Mondays are often rest days – light stretching, maybe some core work.

Tuesday are 25 mile climbing loops, 2500 – 3500 feet of climbing lasting up to 2.5 hours.

Wednesdays include intervals or one short climb. Roughly 1.5 hours on the bike plus 30 minutes with weights and core work

Thursdays are back on the hills – 2.5 hours and as much climbing as I can get in.

Fridays are lighter – a 30 min swim, yoga, or core work.

Saturdays are big days – 6 – 8 hours on the bike, 70+ miles, over 8,000 feet of climbing.

Sundays are usually light weights, a short spin, walk and/or yoga.

So weekly totals add up to between 4-5 days on the bike, covering 160 – 200 miles, climbing 15,000ft total and training nearly 20 hours.

Next month, June, is the biggest push in training.  Everything (time, mileage, climbing, etc) will increase by 20-30%, resulting in what I have termed ‘Death Ride-itis’.  This phenomenon results in the following:

- Friday nights end by 9pm, Saturday nights no longer exist for me.

- Saturdays I become useless post-ride unless I’ve had an appropriate nap.

- Home projects go on hold until July 12th due to lack of time and energy.

- Invitations to events and any weekend plans not Death Ride focused are answered with ‘wish I could, but  I’ve gotta train’.

- Lapse time to return phone calls, personal emails and all things non-Death Ride increases 10 fold.

- I eat more, sleep more and cannot sit still for more than 15 minutes before my now uber-used muscles need to be moved, stretched, adjusted.

But really I love it.  The training and fitness, supporting TurningWheels and particularly this year, our amazing team of riders.  I’ve had the chance to go on some team rides with most of them and each one is amazing in their drive for their own goals.  I can’t wait to see 20 some TurningWheels jerseys on the course come July 11th – it will be awesome.

Again, thank you again for your continued support and look for the June update!