Mount Palomar

July 26th - It was a day to visit the Gods up on Mount Palomar which is located a bit North of San Diego. This climb is compared to climbs in the Tour de France such as Alpe d'Huez except it's longer, 11.8 miles compared to 8.6.

We started in the parking lot at Harrah's Casino and right from the beginning we start climbing after only a few blocks. Not much of a warmup.

To our advantage was the weather which wasn't over the top hot. I think we didn't see anything north of 95 and at points there was a slight breeze. Don't get me wrong, we all still lost plenty of fluids on this ride.

Our first support and gear, SAG, was at the split off highway 76 to South Grade. This was at 8 miles into the climb. I'm already down a bottle at an hour on the road. Yep, it's a slow climb.

There is no real group riding at this point. You find your own pace and ride. Some like to stay with others and chat but for me, it's time to ride by myself and reflect.

There are some beautiful views and you slowly make your way to the top. You look to your left and right and can see for miles back down the valley. But one challenge is the motorcyclists who love to ride these roads at break neck speeds. One of our riders was clipped by one on his way down. He stayed upright but his ankle was swollen. The motorcyclists didn't even stop.

Unfortunately one of the XX1090 radio contestants was injured on his way down as well, Alex Hamlow, when his front tire blew out. As you can see by the picture, Alex is still in good spirits. Check out Alex's blog for more details and to hear how he's doing in the contest: http://qmdc2009clyde.blogspot.com/

I snapped a few pictures of some of the radio contestants before we started this Saturday. I'll work on getting a group shot next.

Aug 4th is another Elimination and we reduce the group down to 10 participants. Tune into the Scott and BR show on Tuesday next week to here who is left in this contest.

HOT Ride...

July 19 - This week we took the QMDC participants on an easy flat ride up the coast to San Clemente and back, 75 plus miles. We started at Flower Hill instead of Fletcher Cove and from the start we were experiencing 75 plus degree weather. Reports had indicated it would be hot but with the breeze off the ocean it wouldn't be too bad.

I passed off the Immunity Pump to Joy Muelenbein. She accumulated the most votes from the radio write in. I'm very curious to see what it looks like in a few weeks.

I started with Group 3 with around 40 people. Between myself, Colonel Mike and Doc Mike, we had our hands full. We broke it up some when we hit the Marine base. Unfortunately Mike MacGregor experienced a flat, then another flat, then another flat and 2 more all within less than mile onto the base. We finally had Mike SAGGED off the course. Not sure what the issue was but it happens.

At this point I was with a tandem and we high tailed it to the first stop just on the other side of the base. Nice pace. We caught Group 4 and I stayed with them until a mile short of the turn around when I crossed over and jumped back in with Group 3.

At this point Group 3 was down to 14 people and a few were struggling off the back. It was a hot day and it's difficult to keep enough fluids in no matter how much you drink. I dropped back to help and lost site of the group before leaving the base. Joe, didn't get his last name, was able to keep pace but the hills where hard. He stopped South of Oceanside to let his feet cool down.

I rode on and caught Alan and we rolled in to the start were I thought we would find Group 3 but about 15 minutes later they arrived. Funny, how did that happen? Apparently they took a detour on the base. Oh well, everyone made it back.

Next week, Mount Palomar. Nothing but climbing. Fun.

Good Days and Bad Days

12 July - I try to make this blog about CAF, Trek, XX1090 and other things I'm involved with. Yesterday, Saturday, I lead out the Trek Destination Ride in the South County as the leader of our C group. Normally this is covered by Brent Smith who I think is a very talented cyclists. However, he was out of town so I took on the that role as the fast group leader. I pulled the first 15 plus miles and think I may have put a little too much into that....why, because I felt it today.

As a Ride Leader with CAF, my job is to be responsible for the group I'm assigned to. Today, Sunday, it was Group 2. We started out at a good pace put after climbing Del Dios we put the hammer down and started a pace line. I popped after about 15 minutes at 25 plus MPH. This is not what a Ride Leader does. I'm supposed to lead. But the other side of it is...know your limits.

I dropped off, was pulled back by a member of the group, Dave, and stayed with them the rest of the ride until I had a flat on the bike path. Some people stopped to help and we stayed together for the rest of the ride. Lisa took the rest of the group because we had lost John Welch with a few flats. (John's the type of rider I would love to be some day)

The Radio People had some questions today as they should. We have our first elimination down to 15 contestants coming up this week. What are the rules...there are none. Promote CAF, QMDC and XX1090. That's where it starts. Tuesday is the first cut. Vote on XX1090 for someone to get immunity.

It's going to be a fun week. Catch The Scott and BR show from 5-9 AM. More to come.

Track Clinic

July 5th, 2009 - Today was a day to bring it back a bit after our quick ramp up on the mileage over the last 5 weeks. The Anaheim ride was over 80 miles and the most miles some of the participants have ever put on their bike.

We started today at the San Diego Velodrome located not too far from the San Diego Zoo.

When we talked about this at the Ride Leaders meeting several months ago I was curious as to why this would make a good clinic. I've been to the track but have never ridden a track bike. I have a lot of friends who track race, as they call it, and or ride single speed bikes. What's the big deal?

Let me see if I can tell you a few things first about the track bike. It's really the simplest of bikes in that it has one gear, no breaks and no coasting. That means when the back wheel rolls the pedals move so your legs move with them. How do you stop...with your legs but it's a slower process.

The track itself is kind of oval shaped and banked on the ends. The total course would fit just about inside a football field.

As everyone showed up, including the xx1090 Radio Contestants, (by the way, be sure to vote for your favorite contestant) you could feel a bit of tension as we all questioned what this would be about. However, Lisa Jennings did a fantastic job of presenting what we would experience and how to do it. Lisa is coach and X mountain bike racer.

Everyone received a loaner bike. We then has some instruction from Lisa and a demonstration from Christan Steele, one of the radio contestants. Then in groups of two we started riding around. To our surprised no one crashed or fell over.

After some more warm up and getting used to the banks of the track we then each did a short sprint. Everyone was into it and cheered as we individually raced the clock. It was harder then it looked and my quads where burning.

We thought it was over but Lisa let us know that we now each would do a full lap sprint. OK, no problem. But again, my legs and lungs where burning after that.

I walked away with a whole new appreciate for track riders and the idea stuck in my head that track is a new sport that I need to tackle...once I'm finished with the QMDC.

Everyone else had the same opinion by the end. It was a fantastic day.

One sad note to a degree, Chris Glossner, another one of our radio contestants, will rode his last ride with us today. Tomorrow he heads to the hospital for back surgery which will keep off the road bike for at least 4 or 5 months. He found out about it a few days after excepting a spot as a contestant. To top it off...he has been trying to get into this contest for 3 years. I'm sadden to see him go, wish him luck with the surgery, and look forward to the day when we can ride side by side again.