Another Epic Adventure

Finally a day off!

2008-04-06T09:34:00.001-07:00

Woke up this morning at 6:30 and I didn't have to get up. What a feeling! Today was a nice day of eating good food, saying good by to some great friends we meet at the race and exploring the wine region of South Africa. This has been an amazing journey and it's exceeded every expectation I had when I decided to take on this race 5 months ago. I am taking off tomorrow on a four day safari and then I head back to the US. I feel like I have been away for ever and I really look forward to getting home and seeing Charlie! I hope he still remembers me!

The un-pleasant part of bike race travel

2008-04-05T08:06:00.001-07:00

Top 10!

2008-04-05T07:22:00.001-07:00

We finished without incident today. It was a short final stage but still painful since we raced hard all the way. We raced our Energade buddies, leap frogging the whole way.... to the point of a three way sprint which we won as 7th place masters! It was a pretty thrilling finish and I can't wait to see that finish line photo with our arms in the air and big smiles!
So anyway.. we ended up unofficially in 8th place and we think 56th overall:)

One more day!

2008-04-04T12:33:00.001-07:00

Team SLO Grown had another good race today on stage 7. The other American master's team had an unfortunte mechanical... breaking one of their rear derailleurs. They converted the bike to a singlespeed and had to ride 35km in granny gear before reaching neutral support. This probably cost them over an hour, knocking them out of the top 10.
In addition we beat a couple of other teams we needed to and hopped from 11th to 9th! Our overall placing is also improving, from 73rd yesterday to I think 56th. The pressure is now on for us to maintain that top 10 which was our original goal going into the race.
Today's stage was from the seaside town of Hermanus - self proclaimed as the top whale watching spot in South Africa - to the beautiful wine estate Oak Valley. It was intense racing right from the start again, this time without the road race as we immediately turned up a 1,500ft paved steep climb where things strung out. We were basically sticking to the wheels of our nemisis team EnergadeXXX.... They did get a bit of a gap on us over the first couple climbs and we could see them in the distance down some of the farm roads. With the help of a strong little group we were in, we did catch them at water pt 1.... We had a very quick bottle and camelback fill and left before they did, getting a lead into a tricky sand section and up onto the day's big climb.
Today we had the riding highlight of the Epic... A sweet long flowing singletrack section through the pine trees... Very similar to the type of riding JD and I do at Tamarancho in Fairfax.
Anyway, cresting the hill in the vineyards to see the race village below was especially nice knowing that we are almost done!

Some more pics I have attached...
SLO Grown in the dining tent.
Steve, a South African, really enjoying his massage.
The well organised race bag truck at the end of a stage.
The "chill" zone.

Stage 5 racing action

2008-04-02T12:26:00.001-07:00

I'll try to be quick here as I need to get to sleep in this thunderstorm!
144km's today (90miles!!!). Another fast and furious start - a road race on mountain bikes - had us moving up in the bunch to mix with the A group. We stayed with them over several painful rolling hills finally to be relegated to the 2nd pack. We raced along with this group which contained the Trek/VW and Rocky Mountain pro women's teams till the first water stop where we lost contact. After that stop I thought we'd be on our own for a bit... but we got lucky... that bunch took a wrong turn and just as we were about to give up chasing, they all turned around towards us!
Anyway we stayed with them through some fast jeep track and all the way out to the sand dunes where it split up.
Anyway, we rode through deep sand on double track, a hot brushy rocky section, then had a fun time - just JD and I - riding hard into a crosswind on a long gravel road with Thomas Frishneit and his partner Tom Ritchey - it was pretty fun to be trading pulls with Frishy - one of the most winningest mtbers around!
I am proud to say that we even came in ahead of them as I think Ritchey was having a bad day.
In the end we pulled off a great 8th place masters and mid 50's overall finish to move up to 13th in masters and 73rd overall!

Update after 5 stages

2008-04-02T11:57:00.001-07:00

It's crazy.... I'm sitting here in the dining marquee watching some photos of yesterday's stage, and I can hardly remember it. I guess its different when you are "racing".... The concentration is so intense, from having your eyes glued to the wheel in front of you so you don't end up in a 25mph dirt road pile up, to trying to pick ruts, rocks, and other obstacles out of grass covered singletrack while bombing down through the fynbos shrubs, to finally, fixating on a spot 2 feet in front of you so you don't see the rest of the long 15% hot rocky climb you still have to do...
Now it is about an hour later... almost 9pm... I'm in my tent... and a thunderstorm has just arrived, a "proper" thunderstom they would say here - bright close lightning bolts, jolting thunder claps, and rain....yippee. I hope it stops by the morning. Oh, and did I mention that these hastily erected tents are not quite tight enough, so, the sides where the fly touches are getting wet and dripping.

A few more pics

2008-04-01T12:52:00.001-07:00

Race village Swellendam

2008-04-01T10:11:00.001-07:00

The sign post, motor home village, our masseuse Amori, behind the scenes kitchen...

Multimedia message

2008-03-31T10:24:00.001-07:00

a little later they are all full...

Three stages and a prologue done

2008-03-31T08:45:00.001-07:00

Enjoying our early finish and easy tent selection...

Today was a beautiful yet demanding ride! We started in Calitzdorp, right in the middle of the Klein Karoo (hot, barren, dusty, exposed desert in English I think), and finally finished 5hrs 32min and 70 some miles later in Riversdale. I think it was a little harder today because we started at the front of group B and basically hung on to the lead pack of pros and elites for the first hour. It was a crazy pace, at times reaching 25 mph on the flats! It was also a bit hectic as even good mountain bikers can be sketchy in a road race like pack. There was one good crash that sent one of the elite women to the ground - happening as the pack flew through a dip in the road, people panicing cause they can't see through the thick dust cloud... after the initial battle of speed, we had a tough gravel road climb, some momentum killing "rolling" hills, then a long trek through sandy, brushy, rocky, hot, headwindy jeep trails that never seemed to be flat. The last 25 miles were probably the easiest, with about 12miles of fast tailwind riding down flat gravel roads, then a shortish climb on pavement. Towards the top of that climb and about 10miles to the finish is where it got interesting again. JD and I were caught by a group of 7 riders who were riding strong... we hooked up with them, got ovee the pass, collecting a couple more riders, then motored down the other side, sweeping up another group of 8 on the flat yet stiff crosswind section before the finish. There was a lot of jostling for position reminding me of some of the windy road race finishes I've done...
looks like we finished 79th team overall today and 14th masters...

Multimedia message

2008-03-30T11:53:00.001-07:00

The Maxxis Tires booth is a busy place... even into the night! I had to use their services today to replace a rear tire with a torn side wall!

The Karoo is Hot!

2008-03-30T11:49:00.001-07:00

Well, two "real" stages are now done.... we sit at 15th in the masters - so far so good!
Yesterday from Knysna to George was 76 miles, with 10 thousand ft of climbing.
Today was over 80 miles with two big climbs - #2 was steep, rocky, and hot - they say the temp got to 39c or about 100f and it felt like it. Anyway, I apologize for the brief report... check out the CE web site for pics and other cool stuff. The link is at the right...
I'll try to write more tomorrow!

the view from start group B

2008-03-28T21:49:00.001-07:00

off we go!

2008-03-28T21:47:00.001-07:00

Prologue a success....

2008-03-28T08:29:00.001-07:00

Team SLO Grown had a good first day with a 41:26 time trial. Now that all the results are in it looks like we stand 8th in the Masters and 59th overall.
We had a blast on the twisty, hilly, fast, course through the woods. It was really fun as teams were starting every 30sec... we were passing the whole time:)
Two other master racers, Doug and Rich, from California (who JD knows from adventure racing) finished just over 1min ahead of us and are sitting in 4th...
Tomorrow is an entirely different story. We are riding over 70miles and 10 thousand feet of climbing.... we will not be hammering like today!

Prolog in the bag!

2008-03-28T03:59:00.000-07:00

After being in South Africa for 6 days my reason for coming has begun! Today Jim and I raced the prolog starting at 9:20 am. The atmosphere was electric with teams going off every 30 seconds. The course really suited our style of riding with some really fun technical down hills and nice steady climbs on double track. Our time for prolog was 41:26 which was good enough for 8 overall in the masters division and 52 overall. Are overall ranking might drop a little since not all of the men's teams have completed the course at the time I'm righting this blog. Tomorrow the real race begins with stage 1.

Off to Knysna

2008-03-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

JD and I took advantage of an opening on the shuttle to Knysna yesterday. It was a nice scenic bus ride, basically backwards along the route we will be riding for the next nine days.... yes we drove for over 5hrs, so it really is a long way!
Today has been nice - registering, putting the bikes back together, going for a warm up ride, and just relaxing. The weather is beautiful and sunny, probably in the mid 70's.
9:20 tomorrow am marks the start of our race... 15km later we will have an idea where we stack up against the other masters riders.

Playing tour guide

2008-03-26T07:18:00.001-07:00

Funny how once you have been to a place and somone else hasn't you are suddenly the expert. Yesterday JD and I did the Cape Town tourist thing.... the pic is the Cape Point Lighthouse.... we "did" Cape Point, Table Mountain, Bo Kaap (the Malay quarter), V&A Waterfront (think Pier 39 on a much bigger scale), and Long Street.

Acclimating to South Africa......

2008-03-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

My first day in South Africa was very exciting with the realization that I was in a different time zone and been traveling for 29 hours. Jim did an awesome job setting up transportation to the house in St. James because right when I walk out of baggage claim there was a sign with my name. It took about 30 minutes to get there and after getting my bike and luggage into the house Jim and I took off for some lunch. We were both really hungry at this point and walk down the street for a bite. After lunch we went back to the house and I put my bike together so we could go for a ride. It felt really good to get on my bike! It was at dinner that night when I finally felt the effects of my travel. Shortly after sitting down I could barely keep my eyes open, I even had an espresso before dinner which helped a little but when we got home I headed straight for bed and fell right to sleep.

Day 2 started out with some coffee's and an omelet before heading out on another ride. We have spent the rest of today exploring different parts of Cape Town and relaxing. Unfortunately it has been really windy so I didn't get to go up table mountain today. We have two more days in Cape Town before heading to the start so I'm sure I'll get up table mountain. South Africa is amazing and I having a great time so far.

Welcome to Africa!

2008-03-23T10:07:00.001-07:00

JD, smiling, happy to be here.... nice little 20 mile ride to loosen the legs. Another beautiful overlook - this is Chapman's Peak with Haut Bay in the background.

Cape Town is a nice place to Taper

2008-03-22T21:03:00.001-07:00

So, my first full day consisted of rolling out of bed at 6am (actually not too bad considering the time change), walking out the front door to watch all the runners in the Two Oceans Marathon go by, heading down the street to a cool little cafe to sit in the sun and have an Americano and a huge feta, spinach, and butternut squash omlette for like $7, putting the bike together and getting in a nice 2hr spin along the coast past Chapman's Peak to Haut Bay and back, going to Clifton to lie on the beach all followed with a "sundowner" glass of wine and sushi at a swanky Miami Beach style place on the strip at Camps Bay.
JD arrives this afternoon.... too bad I"ll have to do it all over again with him....

Half way to Africa

2008-03-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

So after months of training I boarded my flight on Friday at 7:30 pm headed for Frankfurt. It was a very uneventful flight that didn't feel like ten hours. Although business class is very nice. Thanks to Kristina (your the best!)I was able use the Admirals Club here in Frankfurt during my 5 hour layover. Let me tell you the shower was just what I needed. I can't wait to get to Cape Town! As I sit here in Frankfurt I think about the four months of training and how the race felt so far away and now it's less then 6 days to the start. Yikes! Jim text me yesterday and he is safely in Cape Town and I will be arriving Sunday @ 1:00pm. Adieu from Frankfurt!

my view for the next 15hrs

2008-03-20T14:13:00.001-07:00

One flight down.... wish I could say I was half way!
....oooh and is this plane full... dang.

Best of the Best too....

2008-03-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

Tom Ritchey (project Rwanda)

In addition to all the "weekend warriors" and competitive recreational riders, there is a whole different group of guys and gals who will be at the front battling like it's a 2hr World Cup race every day. Some of the biggest names in Mountain Biking will be right there on the start line with us - another one of the draws of this race - to be able to ride "with" some of the stars....

Bart Brentjens

Check out this article that does a good job of describing the who's who....

Christoph Sauser

A common bond...

2008-03-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

Below are a couple of blog posts from some other teams of riders from England, South Africa, and another US team... they are some of the many I have read recently that really bring home what a common bond we have with all of the participants of the Cape Epic. This bond is probably one of the primary reasons I am doing this all over again. It is such a daunting race with a reputation of being so long, mountainous, and difficult, that most people take the training rather serious. It is very easy to be engrossed in your own dedication and training, through thick and thin, rain and cold, around work responsibilities, and in lieu of social activities that sometimes you forget that there are some 1000 other people scattered around the world who are also trying to get themselves to a point of being able to do this! Getting to the start line, seeing the photo helecopter above, listening to the music, and hearing the announcer congratulate us for getting there and then finally hearing that gun go off is even a bit of an emotional experience....

Good luck to all!

Goodbye cold, wet mud and hello sunshine and dust!
2008-03-17 18:43:20
Well after 6 months of training in mixed conditions in England, we're nearly there. Team Pies 'n' Thighs have just completed the last weekend of real training mileage (and some bog-snorkelling in the mud) and are looking forward to the strange concept of warm weather and sunshine. It's been a long slog at times, but with the mental focus always on doing as much as possible to make the Cape Epic experience one we'll enjoy and remember, we're sure it will be worth it. We've slowly racked up the distance and are obtaining the last few bits of kit before embarking for South Africa early next week, and are excited and nervous about our first Epic.However, all of this couldn't have been managed without the help of friends and families, and so we'd like to say thanks to all of you who've supported us over the past 6 months, for the sacrifices you've made when yet another 'short ride' has taken up half a day. I would particularly like to thank those people I've dragged out on cold and wet weekends to accompany me on another ride, and who've kept me entertained - you know who you are and thanks again!

4 MONTHS DOWN THE LINE!!!!!!!!
2008-03-15 10:39:13
EVERY YEAR ITS A DIFFERENT JOURNEY. EACH TIME I HAVE TRAINED FOR THIS RACE THE DYNAMICS SEEM TO CHANGE. TO ALL THOSE GUYS WHO HAVE ENDURED MANY HOURS ON THE NATAL NORTH COAST, THANKS FOR GETTING ME OUT OF BED SOME MORNINGS. THE CHALLENGES WE HAVE ENJOYED I AM SURE WILL PAY OFF COME 28TH MARCH. ONE MORE LONG RIDE TOMO WITH MY FELLOW EPIC RIDERS THEN SOME SHORT SHARP INTENSE RIDING NEXT WEEK. TO ALL THOSE FIRST TIME RIDERS, ENJOY EVERY DAY, ENJOY THE MAGNITUDE OF THE EVENT, BE PROUD YOU ARE DOING THE TOUGHEST MOUNTAIN BIKE EVENT OUT THERE, YOU WILL FINISH, AND WHEN YOU HAVE THOSE MOMENTS OF DESPAIR, REFLECT ON THE SACRIFICES THAT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE MADE, AND GET BACK ON YOUR BIKE AND GRIND THOSE PEDALS. I AM GETTING EXCITED FOR THE RACE AND LOOKING FORWARD TO PUTTING MY TRAINING TO THE TEST WITH MY FRIEND AND PARTNER,MARK.

Stressing begins
2008-03-14 16:01:38
To everyone, good luck. To all first timers like me; even more luck. There's no getting out of this now. The enormity of the task is now seriously clear, but hopefully all the training will pay off and we can finish this beast. Greg and I have followed our training program pretty religiously and put in many 6 hour days, lots of 7 hour days, and several 8 hour days. And too many spinning sessions. So hopefully we can finish this thing with minimal trauma. All you guys in SA, spare a thought for how tough it is for us guys from the Northern Hemisphere to train for this event. Shorter days, colder weather, and those of us at altitude, lots of snow and ice that kept me on the indoor trainer for 4 hours at a time on occasion! When I did get outside, it was in full tights, balaclava, thick gloves and 4 body layers, regularly in temperatures well below of 0'C. Then, we we get done with the training, we have to fly over with all our gear, nutrition, bikes etc. Then we we arrive it's a logistical nightmare of moving around, storing bike boxes, shuttles etc. Not to mention the extreme cost of it all. But this is a special race, so it's all worth it. So now it's down to keeping healthy, not doing anything stupid, and just surviving the course; then coming home to a very tolerant, patient, pregnant wife who has endured my singletrack mind for the last year! See you all on the course - look out for Team Pioneer Africa!

Should be a restful first week...

2008-03-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics I was sent of the place we are staying in St James (a coastal suberb of Cape Town)... This should be a great place to shake out the jet-lag:) This is all thanks to Saul, a South African who I used to work with at Passage Yachts...

It's the one on the left... too bad it's so close to the beach...

View of St. James

The hills above St James

Danger Beach - out the back door

View from the back garden

Can you see why I am ready to go already???

Live daily coverage....

2008-03-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

Looks like the Cape Epic web site will be interesting while we are out there suffering, err, I mean having a great vacation!

This little bit of info was emailed over today:
"Live Site During Event. At the start of the event we will be switching over to the brand new Absa Cape Epic Live Website on www.cape-epic.com. Spectators and supporters of the race will be able to track the Absa Cape Epic from the comfort of their own home and office. Regular race updates throughout the day are all just a click away. Polar Live Rider Tracking will allow internet users to track the position and heart rate of selected riders on a map, in real time, following their every pedal stroke. Omnibridge Live Vehicle Tracking will spot the logistics and route crew out on the course supporting the riders."

So, follow along:)

Are you aware?

2008-03-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

Was just sent this nice little test... please take it.

Click here.

A new T shirt and other news...

2008-03-12T22:57:00.000-07:00

I know this is a little crude.... but for some reason I think I deserve to be able to wear it now... I just stepped on the scale and found that I am within 4lbs of my COLLEGE bike racing weight! Lean and Mean I say..... bring it on Cape Epic!
The training is winding down. JD and I both have one more long 7hr ride then a nice taper. Hard to believe the countdown timer is at less than 15 days till race start and exactly a week till I fly out.

We just received our prologue start time - 9:20 am. I think this is a great time as it will give us the rest of the day to get prepped for the real racing.

Tomorrow is a day off from riding, so, I think I will take advantage and start laying out the spares, clothes, sleeping bag, energy drink mix, Powerbars, etc... should be fun.

test

2008-03-10T07:39:00.001-07:00

Checking the mobile blogger...

Epic Weekend........

2008-03-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

I had my second weekend of back to back 7 hour rides! Yes you read that right 7 hours in the saddle. Saturday started real early around 6:30 am so that I could get 2 hours of riding in before meeting up with the Saturday morning group ride at the bridge. It ended up being a gorgeous day riding up to Point Reyes Station and back along the coast. All and all I got 115 miles in the saddle on Saturday.

Sunday's ride started a little later thanks to daylight saving but they day ended up being longer then they day before..... Oops! I ended up spending 7-1/2 hours on my mountain bike saddle logging a whopping 84 miles with 9865 feet of climbing. I couldn't have asked for a nicer weekend to be out riding!

I AM GOING TO SLEEP WELL TONIGHT!

Great photos

2008-03-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

I just found a site that has some of the best photos I have seen of the 2007 Cape Epic... these are really good!

Here...

in fact... have a look at the other galleries they have on their site... great pics all around!

More pics...

Cape Epic 2008 Course Preview

2008-03-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

Check out the 2008 Course preview on Cycling.TV

Here

Seeing video of the course is getting me both excited AND nervous!

Some big numbers...

2008-03-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Mt. Tam is looking green!

Sunshine - looking down the coast from Mt. Tam

I was just checking out the "log" and found some pretty big #'s... I hope this means we will be very fast this year!

Since the official "training for the Epic" started on November 26th I have managed 3,079 miles of riding! sheesh... A lot of that has come in the last month where things have really ramped up. I did 30hrs and 372 miles just last week. Mixed in with the volume, we are doing some difficult intervals too....

Pt Reyes Lighthouse

Pt Reyes coastline looking North

It looks like there is a little over a week more of this hard stuff then the taper. A very good thing I think!

View Larger Map

Yesterday's 111 mile road ride to Pt Reyes and back

so close....

2008-02-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

Exactly 3 weeks from today I hop on a plane for the big flight to South Africa! It's coming quickly!

Two more weeks of tough training to get through then a bit of a taper.... looking forward to that for sure!

I remember those warm casual recovery rides along the Atlantic Ocean beaches from last year! So nice to take a flight and suddenly be in Summer:)

Suddenly Summer in SA - from '07

As for today, I am off to ride my road bike for 7hrs.... yippeee....

Epic training...

2008-02-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

A bit hilly?

View Larger Map

Great test ride today... Epic in its own way - 7hrs, 70miles, 9,770ft of climbing... So, I found the endurance is there, the nutrition and hydration is there, and the bike fits well, so, feeling like I'm off to a good start. Oh yeah, and it wasn't raining! What a beautiful ride to be able to do right from the front door....

Some friendly riding partners....

also saw two quick little bobcats!

Ahhhh..... the last hour was almost all downhill!!!

My new favorite quote

2008-02-21T19:59:00.001-08:00

"I am 41 yrs in the body, but 20 in the brain..." That's right!!

Click Here to hear Mario talking about the stage 4 finish at the Tour of California... sorry but you have to watch a commercial first...

What a stud and inspiration to all of us "over the hill" riders..... Go Mario!!!!

Training aids...

2008-02-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

A few of my favorite things....

SanDisk Mp3

Somehow having music piped in under the helmet makes those long rides that much easier. Even all these rainy, cold, and miserable rides seem to be more tolerable.
Why not an Apple Ipod? I have a subscription to Napster to Go - an awesome service that for a few dollars a month I can download unlimited songs. I have also loaded on some hilariously good comedy stuff.... I must look pretty funny to be riding along occasionally giggling to myself like I'm kinda nuts...

Cold Cream

What? Don't women use that stuff to get makeup off their faces??? Yep, they do... cause it moisturizes, cleans, and protects the skin. No, I don't use it for my makeup, I goop it all over my nether regions before a long ride. There are some fancy, expensive Swiss products that are made for this same purpose - called Chamois Cream - used to alleviate chaffing, and the devil of endurance riding - saddle sores. Assos makes a cream that costs about $21.95 a can, while (when I splurge) I can get Pond's brand for $7 and smell even better!

Garmin Edge 305

My trusty GPS unit has endured a chomping by a ferocious German Shepard puppy and one Cape Epic. I really like having this training aid as it gives me bragging rights.... its nice to have the proof of how many miles I've ridden and how many feet I've climbed. Just knowing my ride is being recorded keeps me going sometimes...

Ski trip pics

2008-02-18T16:40:00.000-08:00

The view to Lone Peak from the condo
The view from 11,000 ft

the studded beast
nice retro rental helmet
Jim and Big Bri
Jim and Dave

cross training...

2008-02-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

Long runs in deep powder can really burn the thighs I am finding! Though I am in pretty good shape, skiing does demand some different fitness. I am here in Big Sky, Montana for a week long ski trip with a couple of old college roomates. We have been blessed with incredible snow, relative mild temperatures, and super light crowds! This place is huge and the snow is unbelievable!! We have literally had two days of fresh tracks in knee deep powder. We wake up in the morning and look out the window with a huge grin at the heavy snow falling. I will try to post pictures later....

The timing for this trip isn't perfect since I should be riding my bike for close to twenty hours this week, but I am making the most of it. I have rented a mountain bike with studded snow tires and am also able to hit the gym to finish off my weight routine - my buddies think I am nuts to head down off the mountain after some grueling skiing to ride around and lift weights... I hope it pays off. The snow tires are amazing! It is slow going but fun. With the studs I can ride on pavement, ice, snow, and only start slipping when there are piles of slush.... My big workout is a long 7 mile climb that goes from 6,500 ft to 7,500 feet...

Trust me, after a day of skiing, biking, and lifting - the jacuzzi feels like heaven. Tomorrow I am topping it off with a sports massage:)

Last minute night ride....

2008-02-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

Was supposed to have a day off yesterday, but, got a call from the night riding buddies. A meeting at the Pelican Inn, clear starry skies, drying trails, good friends, and post ride stew and beers got the better of me. It's hard to say no to a little STP.

testing the video feature....

FINALLY......A day off!

2008-02-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

Yeah! I got to sleep in this morning!!!!!!

Now that I have been on my training schedule for 2 months I realize and appreciate my days off which only happen after 9 days of riding and strenght training. I have already begun to feel the payoff from all of my training. Since my last day off (1/28) I have ridden 312 miles on my bikes or about 23 hours and strength trained 4 days. All this training done around my busy work schedule.

Here is my view as I head back to the city on my daily rides! Only the Golden Gate bridge to cross and my ride will be finished.

Ireland??

2008-02-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

Nope.... just the Marin Headlands on a beautiful foggy morning... Another great ride to start the day!

At least a little good news...

2008-02-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

No, this isn't a mountainous training ride.... but the value of the South African Rand to the US Dollar... Unlike most things in the economy, at least this trend is going in our favor!

Luckily for us, the Cape Epic event is fully self supporting. One of the reasons for the Rand's decline is some serious issues with the national power company not being able to supply the country with electricity. Hopefully this isn't going to affect us too much.

The post ride pile

2008-02-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

Another miserable wet ride, another pile of wet gear... Soooo glad that I have a washer and dryer just inside the front door. The process is to run in, strip down, and scurry up to the hot shower... Makes me greatful that I'm not still in a multi unit building in the City - sorry JD....

Hills in the morning

2008-01-31T11:23:00.001-08:00

Here is our little loop, part way up Mt Tam and then up and over the Marin Headlands a few times...

JD got me up early today so we could actually get in our 3 hour ride and get to work at a reasonable time (I am so fortunate that Passage is pretty casual about my work hours... I guess that is their form of sponsorship!). Today's ride was "standing intervals" - basically a hilly endurance paced ride where we do 5min "intervals" of riding standing out of the saddle. It's a good workout for the shoulders and core that is different than riding sitting...

A quick photo to show off the new Cape Epic Kit.... nice.

Did I mention I am struggling to decide which bike to take? This 23lb carbon hardtail, or my 25lb aluminum full suspension.... both awesome bikes.

What is that in the sky???

2008-01-30T12:29:00.000-08:00

A big blazing ball of orange surprised me this morning.... I guess that's a bad sign that I am getting used to the rain and gloom!

Had a nice 3hr spin through the Oakland Hills, good climbing, and nice weather - I'll take

43 degrees and sunshine over 60 degrees and rain any time!

Thanks PowerBar!!

2008-01-29T19:45:00.001-08:00

Got a pretty nice care package in the mail today.... Thanks to my brother Bill, who works at PowerBar developing all their new treats, I get a little charity sponsorship for the Epic. These goodies are certainly invaluable for both training and racing. For a long event like this, nutrition is obviously very important.... Our goal while racing is to try and eat something about every 45 minutes. Multiply that out to the 50 hours we raced last year and you can get a sense of the food consumed!!!

So, again, THANKS for the support PowerBar!!!

Charlie's getting a little suspicious about the new bike!

2008-01-24T14:20:00.000-08:00

Charlie is becoming more suspicious that something is going on. It might be the fact that I am usually out the door on my road bike before 5:00 am or gone for 4 or 5 hours on the weekends on my mountain bike. My training has really been bumped up to the next level. Currently I am strength training 3 days a week and putting in 14 to 18 hours on the bike while trying to keep my job..... Some mornings it's hard to get myself out the door but I realize all of this training is going to pay big dividends come race time.

I just hope Charlie will remember me when I get back from Africa..... I haven't been away from him for more then 4 days.

Annual Snow Ride

2008-01-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

Had my annual snow ride this morning.... After a failed attempt at finding snow (only freezing rain) on Tuesday, I thought I'd try again. It was a nice climbing loop from Sausalito over to Muir Beach, along the coast to Stinson, then up the back side of Mt. Tamalpais to Pantoll station. When I got to Pantoll I knew my 3hr ride would be short if I headed straight home, so, I headed up towards the peak. As I climbed the chilly rain started to mix with snow flakes! This obviously gave me some motivation to keep going till there was enough for a photo op.... I pretty much had to go all the way to the peak to get the pics attached here - altitude approx 2,200ft :) fun...

Who says we aren't motivated to train for the Cape Epic???

A big training week comes to an end...

2008-01-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

So the first really big volume week is about to end with 20 hrs of training and about 260 miles of riding... The good news is that my legs are handling it fine. If anything, knock on wood, they are feeling pretty strong!

Did a fast ride with the BBC boys up in Vacaville yesterday... pulled off a hilly 70 mile road ride in 3hrs 47min for over 18mph avg - trust me fairly fast for a "endurance" ride. There were times I thought it was a pseudo race....

Next week the plan goes even bigger... and we haven't even started to do the dreaded "seven hour" days!

No Turning Back Now!

2008-01-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

I finally made the most important commitment. The ticket has been booked!!!! Yes, I received my e-mail confirmation on Saturday and I'm leaving for Cape Town on March 22nd.

2008 Kit proofs

2007-12-22T11:09:00.000-08:00

This is a bit fuzzy... but should give an idea of the kit design for 2008!

Looking forward to some fresh chamois....

Albert's advice....

2007-12-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

So, last year, Tom and I shared our "Premium Package" with some fun (and fast!) Germans. Albert and his partner Hans were in the Masters division - the one JD and I will be in this year. They ended up 10th - an awesome result!

Anyway, I sent Albert an email the other day asking for advice on doing well in the Masters division.... here is what he said:

"I asked Hans if he has some recommendations for you. He said, you should go as fast as you can the whole time, until your tongue will come out. If you do so, everything will turn out right. He told me this every morning in SA too. And … it worked.

What I remember:
- I was going hard every day except the 4th day
- We were going very hard in the morning at the beginning of the race. We tried to stay with the professionals as long as we could
- We tried to stay close together (Hans waited for me ;-) sometimes)
- We go forward to start from block A where the cool guys are
- We tried to avoid flats with tubeless tires and silicon-milk
- I would go next time with a bike not older than 2 years because of exchange-parts
- and … do not get ill (especially not at the last day)"

Great advice... ha... I can't wait to be riding around with my tongue hanging out!

He also sent a couple of pics from the finish line of last years race -

Lucky.....

2007-12-12T13:34:00.000-08:00

This is a sample post off the Cape Epic forum:

Joined: 11 Dec 2007Posts: 1
Posted: 11/12/07 Post subject: Team entry 2008 desperately wanted

Hi there If anyone has an entry and is wanting to sell it on, please get in contact with me. I have been trying to get one for the last 3 years and am absolutely desperate. We are willing to pay twice the going rate for an entry, so please, if any of you have an entry and are in doubt as to whether you want to do the race, please contact me at %$##*. Many thanks Warren

So, I knew it was a big deal to get into this race... but reading some of these requests really brings it home.

I guess we have to keep it in mind when we are trying to get the miles in this winter!

2007-12-07T07:08:00.000-08:00

I guess I can't back out now! So with about two weeks of rest after running the New York Marathon I have jumped back into training. With the help of Jim's cycling coach and a training schedule I have already begun riding my bike around 8 hours a week and hitting the gym to lift weights (yikes). I am really excited about doing this race with Jim and look forward to traveling to South Africa. This is my first time writing a blog so I'm learning as I go! More to come from the smaller half of SLO Grown..........

2007-12-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

The training has started in earnest... after a short but fun cyclocross season and a two week break the focus has turned to the epic! That means a lot of time just riding the bike:) JD is getting into it as well, he has even signed up with coach Scott of Wenzel Coaching. It is nice to know that he and I will be on the same page!

Plane tickets were booked yesterday - one big change from last year that I am NOT looking forward to. Here is the gist: 5hr flight San Fran to Washington DC, 2hr layover, 15.5hr flight Washington to Johannesburg South Africa, 2hr layover, and finally a 2hr flight from Joburg to Cape Town.... so, about 26hrs of travel? And, the big change - I am in COACH. This time I will not be laying down, sipping free drinks, perusing fancy entertainment consoles, or eating gourmet meals... sigh. I just hope my body doesn't lock up and prevent me from racing!

Off to the Cape again

2007-11-18T16:53:00.000-08:00

I have a new partner in crime for the 2008 Cape Epic mountain bike stage race in South Africa. JD, a childhood friend turned riding partner will make up the other half of our team called "SLO Grown" as in from the great town of San Luis Obispo.... Stay tuned for another epic two wheeled adventure!