Back to Blogging….again

Now that I am back from China and the Hardrock 100 I will try to get back to blogging.  I have been accepted to compete in the Furnace Creek 508.  This is a 508 mile solo bike race across the Mojave Desert in early October.  I have about 10 weeks to get my long distance cycling fitness in order.  This will be a step up from other endurance activities and frankly it scares me.  That a lot of time in the saddle.  On a recent 200 mile ride I got to feel what this will be like.  It was and epic ride where my saddle sores got the best of me.  I will work out these kinks for the 508.

Here are some recent training:

7/25 – Bike Mulholland Loop – 42 miles
7/24 – REST – feeling a little left knee ITB pain… also not sleeping well the past 2 nights
7/23 – Run – Backbone trail, 10 miles west of Kanan Road
7/22 – Bike – Rock Store, Yerba Buean from Mulholland, Stunt Road, 40 miles

7/21 – Bike with Bill, PCH, Latigo Canyon, Mulholland, 70 miles
7/20 – REST,
7/19 – Bike with George, Mulholland Loop, 42 miles
7/18 – Run – Pt Mugu State Park, 10 miles

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Backbone, Home and Back

I started at Kanan Road at the backbone trailhead today at 7:40.  Andy’s friend Maria wanted to run long today so she joined me on this run.  The plan was to run to Misha Mokwa where she would meet her husband Shawn and I would continue to Newbury Park to my house.  I did this very same run in January in cooler temperatures.  I enjoy showing people new to the area these trails.  There is all kinds of history about the area and the evolution of the trail over the last 10 years.  There are the stories of bushwacking before the trail was built, the location of the rusty car, new trails created by the inmates at Camp 13, the Boney Bunker and more.

We made good time and Maria is quite a fit runner.  We both had high mileage weeks (she has more miles than I) and we still pushed to the pace.

As always I ran into people in need of directions: two guys hiking the Backbone West to East were ready to walk on Yerba Buena instead of going up on Etz Malloy motorway; I set them straight.  Others throughout the day asked “where’s Boney Mountain” or “How much farther?”

I ran into Scott and Mike up in Tri Peaks doing some photography.  I directed them to the arch for some interesting shots.  It was ironic running into them there since two days earlier I showed Scott some new areas to explore in Google Earth .  Ran into John and talked about business opportunities.  Lots of chatting delayed my finish but i am OK with that.

Got back to the house 6 hours from the start and 24 miles. I cooled down by soaking in cold water below my waterfall.  Ahhh, that felt good. Powered down a recovery drink, Avocado, tomato, orange juice.  Now to pick up the car.  Hopped on my road bike and made my way back to Kanan Road via Decker Canyon and Mulholland Highway.  Decker was tough in the really steep section and I could feel the strain in my knees.  Got to car and found a front mountain bike wheel just laying against the fence with no owner.  I talked to one guy there but he did not claim it.  I took it and will look for the owner by posting it in a few lost and found biking web sites.

Saw a hawk being badgered by a crow.  A closer look revealed a snake in the hawks talons that the crow as set on stealing.  After watching them for 5 minutes the hawk was still airborne with his snake and the crow just gave up.

Weekly Mileage Running: 82 miles

Weekly Mileage Biking: 65

• Activity: Running, Road Biking
• Miles: 24, 20
• Wildlife: Red tailed Hawk with a snake in its talons

Fog to Sun

Road down to PCH in the fog and half way up Encinal Canyon the fog cleared and it got hot.  Felt good despite the swollen quads and heel blister.  Probably did 45-50 miles…

• Activity: Road Biking
• Miles: 45
• Wildlife: Dead Gopher Snake

Bad Drivers and Tar Pits

Took a recovery ride this morning and came back through Hidden Valley. Had a car pass a truck and come at me head on. I had to pull off the side of the road into the dirt. I cussed him out. I figure he did not see me and when he did it was too late. This was a bit unnerving and just part of the deal sharing the roads with cars. I wonder if the driver has the same perspective. Probably not.

Went to the LaBrea Tar Pits with my daughter Rachel. We had a nice time down there whil Jeanne and her friend took in the LA County Museum of Art. A nice day expect for the traffic in the city. I am sure glad I am not commuting down there. Such a waste of time. I hope I can score a job that does not require this kind of torture.

Road Biking: Lynn/Potrero Loop – 20 miles

• Miles: 20
• Activity: Road Biking

Biking Continuum

I started the day with a friend of mine who has always wanted to ride a bike but never had the chance to learn. Now she has a goal to ride a bike with her friends at the beach. She is in her early 50s and asked me to help her achieve this goal. No training wheels on my old mountain bike but it served its purpose. I lowered the seat and held it as we did repeats, back and forth in the parking lot.

She actually was able to ride on her own for over 40 feet. I was so proud. Then she tried this again and was on a solo run when she fell over. Took a nice hunk of skin out of her knee. We bandaged it up and she started to feel light-headed.  I think it was due to low blood sugar.  As she relaxed in the trunk of her car I gave her one of my Hammer bars and that snack cleared up the problem. She said she wanted to continue practicing so we spent another 30 minutes doing laps in the parking lot. She has improved significantly from when we first started. She emailed me she from her doctor’s off that she was happy with her progress and is still focused on her goal.

At the other end of the spectrum was today’s “time trial”. I have been wanting to time myself on the Rock Store climb on Mulholland Highway. I got the “official start and end” locations from Robb and warmed up with 8 miles of rolling hills. As I moved past “the pull box at the mobile home park entrance” I started my watches. I focused on a steady

pedal stroke with little time out of the saddle. Traffic was light except for some a-hole in a tiny car that was screeching around every turn. I had to concentrate to not lose focus as he passed me. My stomach started to hurt about 10 minutes into the climb. I guess that pint of Super Food Protein Smoothy was too much for my stomach at this level of exertion. I got out of the saddle in the last 100 yards. 30 feet from the top a 4 foot Two Striped Racer Snake was on the side of the road. Its head raised up 6 inches above the pavement. These are very fast snakes but he was in an odd place with a large embankment to climb up to escape. Normally I would have stopped and moved him off the road, potentially saving his life, but today I just had to keep going to get my finish time. I passed the green dumpsters at 15 minutes 14 seconds. My stomach was really talking to me now so I stopped hoping that nausea would not set in. I snapped a picture, caught my breathe, and twittered my finish time. This will be a tough benchmark for me to improve on. I look forward to the next chance to climb the Rock Store.

Road Biking: Rock Store Climb – 30 miles

Wildlife Sighting: Striped Racer, Pair of Coopers Hawks

• Wildlife: Striped Racer, Pair of Coopers Hawks
• Activity: Road Biking
• Miles: 30