Train in the Rain

We have finally had some wet weather here in California. Some teammates and I thought that it might be a perfect opportunity to try out our wet weather gear in preparation for the upcoming ride in the Pacific Northwest.

On Thursday Susie and I rode to work in a drizzle. I found out that I need better gloves and I need to install the fenders for my front tires. The spray from the front tires goes straight to my hands and my gloves quickly soaked through...We both noticed that our faces tend to get really cold when they are wet. At 7am on a clear day it is cold but we do not notice the chill in our faces. On Thursday morning everything was pretty warm except our wet faces. We might have to think about this a bit before purchasing a full face mask...


This morning we had another team Brown and Caldwell ride. We met at the Guy West Bridge on the bike trail and the wind was blowing pretty good. I thought I was really smart and suggested that we head east into the wind so we would have a tailwind on the way back...We rode ten miles and when we turned around it seemed that the wind had switched directions! So we rode another ten miles into the wind! So much for planning ahead, Mother nature has a mind of her own! In the end we completed 20 miles and even though we dressed for a blizzard we had sun for most of the morning!
Shirley, Lance, Susie, Diane, Diego, Me

After the training ride I met a friend downtown for the Tour of California time trials. It was pretty amazing to see the speeds these guys were reaching in such a short race.


Lance Armstrong was there and I saw him race. However I am embarrassed to say that I did not realize he had gone by until someone told me. How lame is that? I was watching the faces of the riders assuming I would recognize Lance, instead I should have been reading the name of each rider off their trailing motorcycle.

If something is seen but not recognized, did it really even happen?

Skiing!

This weekend I went skiing with some FA friends.

We stayed in a cabin in Truckee, CA on Friday and Saturday nights and skied in the afternoon on Saturday. At the cabin we spent time laughing at each other, having very serious political discussions about MAC vs. PC, listening to one of Paul's informative and insightful lay person FA lectures, and learning to play Backgammon.

Valorie, Sierra, Me, Sophia, Susan, Paul, Phil, Calie, Brianne, Nate Sean, Claudia, Haley


There were 5 skiers in our group, we skied with Disabled Sports USA and had a blast! I attempted to ski standing up again and I performed quite well if I don't say so myself. However I think I am going to try sit skiing on a monoski or a biski next time so that I can be a little more aggressive and reduce the risk of injury. Also, the sit skis look like a lot more fun as demonstrated by Phil, Brianne, Calie and Sophia. Find out more about disabled ski equipment at the DSUSA equipment resource page.


Me and Brianne


Me and Phil

My instructor for the afternoon was Vanessa who I had met during the summer while cycling and waterskiing with DSUSA. Vanessa and I had a great time shredding the mountain and chatting and laughing on the lift. Skiing is great because: 1. You're skiing 2. You're hanging out with other people who love skiing.

Me and Vanessa

A good time was had by all!

Training

We have a large team this year (44 riders so far [there's still time, registration closes on Feb 15]) and we are all training harder every day in preparation for our March 16 - 19 adventure.

A month ago, over Christmas break, I visited Chico, CA to spend a few days at my brother's house and we took a training ride with some teammates. Man it was cold! We were all decked out in our cold weather gear and we had a great time. There were 9 of us and we covered about 20 miles.

Left to Right: Chris Prater, Mike Bryant, Me, Jina Bryant, Becky Prater, Collin Bryant, Stephanie Lockwood, John Lockwood, Cody Prater

It was cold in Chico in late December but it has been warm and dry around here lately. Perfect January training weather! Yesterday, some teammates from work got together for a ride. It is tough to get up early on a Saturday morning but we were glad to be on the trail! It was an important ride because we all realized how much work we need to do before March 16.

Lance, Amanda, Me, Diego, Roberto, Susie, Shirley

Ride on!