Training Camp Day 4

Vacation will henceforth be referred to as "Training Camp." Camp manager is a drill sergeant. Seemed to make sense to have today be a shorter, flatter ride considering yesterday. 3,900 feet of climbing and 4 hours later, the short/flat ride was over. It was pretty hard to get my heart rate up to where I wanted it to be (low zone 2--that's pretty low), so I tried not to fight for it too much and went off of perceived exertion. Just because HR isn't responding doesn't mean the pace isn't decent.

The ride today involved a large loop that goes near Stanford, it's pretty popular amongst bike riders. I stopped an hour and a half into the ride for an ice cream bar (yeah, it was warm enough and the liquid sugar was needed for the ol' legs). That's when a group ride rolled past that I would have liked to have joined in on. Alas, the ice cream was only half eaten. Everyone else I've seen out on the roads are either individuals or a small group where it's obvious everyone on the ride are friends (vs a bone fide group ride).

At the end of the loop, there was a nice climb called Old La Honda road. I rode this climb with Lana last summer. Fortunately, I didn't remember most of it (possibly due to the fact that I was doing very hard intervals all the way up it last summer) so every twist and turn was a pleasant surprise. Here's the vista from the top, yes, those are clouds below at the top of the picture.After the climb and descending back down to the loop, it was time to be a tourist for awhile. I tooled around an outdoor mall area (Stanford mall?) and then ended up over in Palo Alto. This is a view of the entrace of the Borders bookstore! Cool or what?!

And here's a really big egg made up of stripped circuit boards. See the close-up below the egg. As much as I think circuit boards are cool, I'm not sure this piece spoke to me...at least not like these fish do!

If there's one place I've wanted to visit for years and years, it's IDEO, the company that I consider to be the absolutely coolest one in existence. They are a design firm, and the best of the best. These guys have helped design many of the things in our lives that we may take for granted. Check out their website for a list, it's wild some of the things that are explictly designed not just engineered.

A few IDEO employees visited Denver for a design project a few years ago for some firm that was going to be buiding lofts somewhere (we weren't entitled to the details). It was such an experience to get to talk with them and see how they asked questions to extract info from me and the group of interviewees. (They were already my heros years prior to that interaction.) Anyway, it was pretty darn exciting to be able to stand outside of their door today.

Dinner (a small garlic, basil pizza and a huge salad) was fetched from Trader Joe's (yes, they have lots of them out here!) Hopefully my legs are ready for a group ride tomorrow. I'm ready to log some non-solo miles.

Vacation Day 3

This was an intense climbing day. It involved five hours of pedaling with 5,ooo feet of climbing in two installments: the first 1/2 of those were gained in the first 1.5 hrs of the ride. The second 2,500' were between hours three and four. The natural beauty of the ride, again, is impossible to describe. The picture above doesn't quite do much of the climbing justice as the foliage was so dense in spots, few rays of light met the pavement.
At the top of the climb, the fog could be clearly seen. Moments after this was taken, the temperature dropped at least 15 degrees in a split second. After a fast descent (past many pumpkin patches that were packed with happy people) and getting back to sea level, there was the ocean, the sand, the crashing waves...a warm, lovely scene that I rode next to for quite a few minutes before getting back on a road that tipped upwards. It was just as steep as the first road, 8-10% grades much of the distance.

And on this kind of ride, typically half-way through, I'll start thinking about food and the perfect end to an epic day. Sushi was the cuisine of choice so after the necessary shower and recovery shake, I ambled to town to devour a bowl of chirasi (sushi on top of a bed of rice) at a local Japanese restaurant. The night was topped off with kicking back and watching a movie (Pirates of the Caribbean). It's time to get some zzzz's now since my appetite is coming back in a big way and I don't feel like eating anything more today.

Vacation Day 2

Russ & I got a later start, but it didn't matter since the only time constraint was at 6:30 tonight. Total saddle time was ~5 hrs, total mileage was reasonable, though. Still good to get my body warmed up for the miles coming this week. Today involved a good tour of the area so I'll know where to ride tomorrow and during the week. (Below pictures in reverse order of the ride.) Water skiiers with kite/parachute things. Just prior to this was lunch in San Mateo in a yuppy grocery store (their salad bar was beautiful, but I can't eat salad in the middle of a ride).
Upper crystal Springs reservoir.


Is this Italy? Isn't this sort of what it looks like?

Tonight I visited the local Blockbuster & grocery store. Watched a stupid chick-flick (with Patrick Dempsey), but yes, it was fun. This is vacation!

Question to readers: what should I be for Halloween this year?

Vacation Day 1

Today was loooong. But it was outstanding from beginning to end. The day began by taking an early train to San Francisco...nooo, it started with me putting my bike together at 6 am. Fortunately, it traveled fine and was easy to get together. Once in San Franciso, Russ (my host) and I rode around the eastern portion of SF next to the water, he pointed out all of the cool things to see and it was a nice, leisurely ride.



This is Russ with a dirigible (helium-filled) in the background. It made news, we were lucky to see this vessel flying overhead. The ride took us past the fine arts place (get name) and over the Golden Gate Bridge. There was a great climb on the other side with a vista at the top. The descent down the other side was quite steep--I could smell my brakes burning. We ended up in Sasalito, but not a lot of time to enjoy it.

I really liked the vibe there, and the fruit smoothie from the local ice cream store. The ferry boat ride back to SF was fun, I *heart* ferry boat rides. We got back with time to spare before catching the train home. I had 15 minutes to shower up before Lana picked me up to go to an outdoor concert that was held as a benefit for the Bridge School (Neil Young has connections to it). Lana, Aaron and their random assortment of friends (from college, work, friends of friends), it was a fun group.
Lana is a good friend from CA, but she lived in CO for a couple of years, during which we logged thousands of miles together (sitting next to me in the above pic).

The lineup of bands was wonderful. The first few were ho-hum, but then Death Cab for Cutie came on and the night air was alive with awesome sound.
Everyone agreed that Sarah McLachlan was the performance of the evening.

This was a first for me, being on a lawn during a concert. It was a good thing we were on grass, too. I was so tired from the day (still somewhat tired from the trip out), I laid down, shut my eyes and was in that happy place that involved hearing the music vividly, but being so relaxed there was only a tiny line between being awake and asleep. It felt like summer. A light jacket was almost sufficient for staying warm. Amazing. Got home at 11:45 and had the most restful sleep that I've had in a long, long time.

Things that you don't want to hear...

I should be 1/2 way to San Francisco right now. However, I'm amongst hundreds of people hanging out in the A concourse at DIA. The PA system just said that we're delayed for at least another 1/2 hour because "they're fixing the plane." Terrific. Fortunately, I have 2 days of Wall Street Journals to read, two books and a journal to write in. Oops, and I forgot the booklet explaining all of the Amendments & Referendums (referendi? how is that plural?) so I can cast my ballot from San Fran.

Now that it's officially vacation time, I don't want to use the computer much...except to do such things as blog. The packing process was exhausting, I'm tired and would be very happy to catch some shut eye.

Fortunately Ed (the fish) has a place to stay (with a neighbor...I just started knocking on doors and one neighbor that I don't know was walking through the hall). Is this what it means when they say it takes a village? And, let me remind you, we're talking about the simplest being ever to take care of (with the exception of a sea monkey, maybe).

Back to reading and waiting in style. More updates soon from the land of very steep hills and cool bridges!

Enjoy the sunset...

Isn't this a beautiful sunset? And it was much more beautiful in person. Thought it would be nice to share.

Caved to txt

FYI, I now have a txt plan on my phone. Held out as long as was humanly possible, but it finally seems to make sense. So, ignore everything I've ever said along the lines of "please don't txt me." :)

Birthday #3

This was simply a continuation of birthday #2. There was enough (homemade) chili, beer, chips and cake for many, many more people than who showed up Sunday. In order to help out, I brought home 3/4 of a gallon of beer...and it's going to go flat, soon! What shall I do? It's a crime to let it go to waste, but it's equally as criminal to drink it like water. I love beer, but it must be savored and not squandered. Hmmmm....

"Sorry Ma'am"

Friday I was left (at dusk) waving my arms like a maniac at a bus stop when my bus flew right by without stopping. Upon calling RTD, it appears the bus driver just didn't know he was expected to stop at his designated stop. My tax money pays for this and it costs $4 a ride. The RTD people said, "We're sorry." And they wonder why no one takes public transportation here.

Today the bus that I was on stopped in the *fast* lane on 36 in order for the bus driver to pick up a fallen bike rack. Seemed like an awfully dangerous move, so I felt compelled to asked her about it when we stopped. She explained that when a motorist didn't see the bike rack and ran into it, it caused his SUV to roll three times.

Tomorrow I'm driving.

Birthday #2

The cake has ponies on it...and it tasted just as good as it looks.

Cristienne has always wanted a pinata, so here it is. Isn't it too cute to smash?
Nope, she took some pretty hard swings at the kung-fu panda. A few people later...

He wasn't looking quite so cute.I got a chance to take a few swings. Took a few moments to figure out where the pinata was hanging, though.Seamus helped finish the job. There was candy and ponies inside (Scott provided the fillers).

What a scene, eh?

What a weekend! I'm ready for the week to begin so as to have things slow down just a wee-bit.