Riding With My Dad

Today I skipped the Agoura Cycles road ride for something much more personal, a good mountain bike ride with my dad.

We took off from my house here in Newbury Park and snaked our way over the the Santa Monica Mountains.  As we rode up to the top of the black bitch, we suited up for what we knew would be a cold decent and boy were we right.  

After dropping in we shot over to the single track that runs adjacent along the road and settled into a nice pace as we worked our way down the canyon towards the beach.  Just before hitting the campgrounds, we made our way to the sky by heading up Overlook trail.  The ground was tacky and smooth, which made for spot on riding.

By the time we made it over to the top of Backbone, we had covered 15 miles.  As we made our way back to the canyon floor, we had one of the most perfect runs you could ever imagine.

We aimed back towards the black bitch talking about rides past, Rocky Peak, Johnson's Motorway, Lone Oak and more.  When we came up on Dos Vientos, I decided to treat him to some of my typical stomping grounds and gave him a taste of some tight switchbacks that lead to the housing track just above Albertsons.

My dad isn't necessarily a fan switchies, but he made the most of it and gave me a good laugh as he attempted to swing his rear end around the tight turns.  Needless to say, he nearly ended up in the bushes a few times.

The whole ride was 3 hours and 30 miles.  Try that on a mountain bike and you'll feel like you just did a century on a road bike.

So now as I sip my wine (who are we kidding, gulp it down) I can feel the ache in my legs.  Good ride Pop, you made me what I am today.

Some things....

Ever wonder why every piece of clothing and accessory for cycling is adorned with logos? Isn't it enough that we paid for it once...do the manufacturers have to keep cashing in on our body parts? Should we form a union? Get royalties? Perks?

I mean--look at this... Joel's feet!

Doing the Lance Dance

Andy and I were fired up to ride this morning's shop ride...we had a new route plan and 30 riders of all levels. The morning was gorgeous, so off we went. We headed out Agoura Rd to Las Virgenes and the group split off into various levels quickly. Andy went ahead, came back, went ahead and came back again....we had one newbie on our ride; Stephanie...really fun gal and a great sport.

We were quickly dropped, but it was a beautiful day to ride and Andy and I were determined to do the Lance Dance up Rock Store today--and I was not anxious to work, so we managed to convince Stephanie to come alone--she did and WOW!--she made it up in 26 minutes, no stops and on a hybrid bike with sneakers on GO GIRL...you should have seen Andy sweat....I think he was a bit worried about gettin his ___ kicked:)

The descent down Rock Store was smooth and quiet. Absolutely perfect day; I think we could have gone all day...

Great fun and we made a new rider out of Stephanie::)) Come join us...you might just like it...
~rl

Mountain Bike BDay Ride

With today being my birthday, I played hooky and went for a three hour ride on the Mountain Bike.  Needless to say, it was a great day to be out on the trail and Sycamore Canyon was calling my name.

After dropping in from the black bitch, I hit the rolling single track that runs parallel to the road.  Running right across the trail in front of me, I was able to spy a bob cat.  It was great to see animals like this still out there where so many humans now visit... I am glad we can venture out together and I leave him alone and fortunately he leaves me alone... though I think a bob cat is nothing like a mountain lion but I digress.

I decided to hit up Hell Hill.  Now I haven't been able to conquer hell hill in the last 7 years but today I was determined... and I did it!  Of course now my legs are punishing me, but by god I nailed it.

Backbone was typical as always.  Even on a Wed. afternoon, there was still riders coming up. For the life of me I will never understand why they do that.  It is such a well known downhill run, I would never recommend ascending that trail for the risk of getting clipped is far too great.

All in all it has been a great birthday.  Maybe in the weeks to come we will do a mountain bike ride out in Sycamore for one of the Agoura MTN Bike Rides.

Coach Gareth Motivates Me

Last night we had a Conejo Valley Cyclists meeting at Agoura Cycles. There was a little business, then Coach Gareth gave a presentation on Lactate and VO2 Testing. I'm sure, if you are like me, you've heard of this, but I never quite understood how this could be useful for the
"wanna be athlete" like myself.

I learned so much and now I can't wait to get tested and create a training plan for next year! Yes imagine being able to have a training plan to maximize YOUR abilities and help you attain your goals. Fantastic infomation and I'm going to continue to learn more from Coach Gareth as he comes to the shop to do this testing.

Yes get tested at Agoura cycles. First testing session for Lactate starts this Sunday--sign up early by emailing Coach Gareth at: gareth@coachgareth.com .

After that there was more, James gave a maintenance clinic and we learned about bent derailleurs, the nasty things that happen when your energy spills onto your components and of course the ever necessary flat repair.

We will have more clinics so shout out about what interests you/your group and we'll get the experts here to give you the details.
rl

Lost without training

Forget Lance, let's talk about me--

I've been out of "training" mode now for three weeks and it's awful. I feel lost. I don't know which direction to turn. Don't get me wrong, the down time is great, lots of wine, chocolate and fine meals at my favorite places. Also I've enjoyed riding with friends I haven't seen for a while.

Now I'm not a racer (at least until next year), but I've had a hard time putting my thoughts into words about how I miss training until yesterday, when someone did it for me: I'm a big fan of Selene Yeager, Bicycling Magazine's "Fit Chick"; Ironman athlete, puts it like this:

http://fitchick.bicycling.com/2008/11/mad-season.html


For those of you unwilling or able to read the entire article here is the part I could relate to:

"So, some folks are just hitting their peak, while the rest of us are desperately trying to hang onto our fitness while our speed and power are hitting the skids. It's a cluster of confusion as we're alternately racing, riding, hitting the gym, recovering, watching football, getting ready for the holidays, and, of course, drinking at every opportunity. As one of my friends recently put it, "I'm gonna need a new liver if this keeps up...."It's not that we're lushes. We're just athletes. That means we're obsessive, intense, focused and disciplined to the point of being sacrificial--at least while we're in season. Once we cross the line of the last race of the year, it's straight off the rails until we find a new goal to get us on the straight and narrow again. It makes perfect sense really. Many of us fell into cycling as a way to stay sane. I'll be the first to admit that riding, training and racing helps keep me from spiraling into a mental abyss."

Shout out if you feel this way too!
~rl

Lance is getting scared.

Now Lance is worried about what French spectators are going to do to him on the tour.  Clever Lance, way to not only drive more awareness to your "comeback" but also gives you a fantastic "out" in case you think you won't have the team or legs to support your success.

Read about his fears here from Yahoo!

Frankly, he gives me mixed emotions.  I applaud the dude for driving awareness and funding to cancer research, however his ego is about as nauseating as John McEnroe and almost up there with Greg LeMond.  Though Greg is a complete asshole for talking so much crap about nearly everyone in the tour.  Talk about desperate for attention!  Go ahead, RaeLynn - chime in about how wonderful Lance is and how he is the greatest thing since bio-pace, or whatever clever comparison you will come up with.

Fix that howling brake!

After weeks of dealing with a howl in my front disk brake, I've finally fixed the problem.  After learning how to service disks, I got the noise to stop and can proceed to ride without the announcement a half mile away that I am coming your way.

Of course, I could never hear it over the headphones, but I could feel it in my handlebars - yeah it was that bad.

But I bring this up because it is important to understand how your bike works and be able to handle some repairs yourself.  This isn't to say Agoura Cycles can't handle your needs mechanically, but it is to say sometimes they can't recreate the problem, therefore can't fix it correctly.

In my situation my howl only happened at a certain speed and typically only on hills, something they couldn't fix by riding around a parking lot.

Now the problem is solved and along the way I learned how to change my disk pads and re-align them.  If you yourself have problems the shop can't seem to handle, don't blame the guys wrenching on your bike - learn how to handle the problem yourself.  Chances are, it is much simpler than you thought and along with fixing your own bike comes the pride of knowing you now better understand how your bike works.

Blown Away

The Friday ladies ride was blown away, but have no fear..the ladies came out for the Saturday morning ride:) So did the guys, so we all ventured out searching for a route without 70+ wind gusts and away from the encroaching smoke cloud.

It turned out to be a great morning. We rode out into Westlake then as the wind grew we took shelter in Carlisyle Canyon. Beautiful, shady and no traffic.

Great day to ride and yes Andy had cut off sleeves, but his new Castelli shorts got rave reviews from the gals!

Ciao

RL

Pink Train Ladies Ride November 14th

TGIF -- Pink Train rides again

Next “Pink Train” ladies ride: Friday, November 14th 9:00 a.m.Start at Agoura Cycles.

We will vary the times/dates of this ride until we can find a time that seems to be best for most. Email RaeLynn at zenzyus@yahoo.com to rsvp.

Intermediate level ride, road bikes, helmets required, proper attire, gu/bars/etc. available to purchase at shop if you need prior to ride.

And of course...wear PINK

This will be the route, unless we have enough who want to go to Rock Store, then we will change the route....

AgouraCycles0 ftLeft on to T.O. Blvd8 ft
Turn left onto Kanan Rd343 ft
Turn right onto N Westlake Blvd6.2 mi
Turn left on Avenida de los Arboles7.7 mi
Turn right onto Erbes Rd8.7 mi
Turn left onto Pederson Rd9.0 miTurn left onto E Olsen Rd10.8 mi
Turn left onto N Moorpark Rd11.1 mi
Turn left onto E Avenida de Los Arboles11.7 mi
Turn right onto Erbes Rd13.5 mi
Turn left onto E Hillcrest Dr15.7 mi
Turn right onto N Conejo School Rd16.1 miGet on Willow Ln and drive southeast16.8 mi
Turn right onto Hampshire Rd17.4 mi
Turn right onto Triunfo Canyon Rd17.9 mi
Turn left onto Lindero Canyon Rd20.6 mi
Turn left onto Lakeview Canyon Rd21.2 mi
Turn right onto E Thousand Oaks Blvd22.6 miGet on E Thousand Oaks Blvd and drive east22.8 miAgouraCycles26.2 mi
Posted by RL at 11:50 AM 0 comments

Why I Am Starting A Mountain Bike Group Ride

Last Saturday I joined the Agoura squad to take part in their Saturday Shop Ride.  Typically I would have set off on the longer route, but in the spirit of fun and friendship I joined the shorter route to say hello to RaeLynn and Joel.

And while everyone in the group was nice and fun to ride with, I did notice every rider we passed, when I said hello I would get no response.  Now maybe it was my "redneck" cut off jersey as elitist RaeLynn would point out as to why I would be ignored, however when someone says Hi to you, I was always taught it is polite to say hello back.

So I am going to start a Mountain Bike group ride.  We are talking good times in the dirt, friendly riders and shit talking all along the way... at least that is the hope.

And one last thing RaeLynn, my new Agoura Jersey is immediately getting it's sleeves cut off too... I would hate to ruin my redneck look, especially when I am leading the road rides on my steel bike.  Boy that's got to hurt!

If you are interested in doing joining the soon Mountain Bike group ride, you can let me know here.

Wow Mountain Man Seen in Spandex!

I was cruising along this morning with the Agoura Saturday morning ride group when Mountain Man (Andy) shows up on a road bike and spandex----shocker; ok well he was a little redneck with the cut off sleeves, but we immediately fixed that back at the shop by dressing him up in a fine, looking AGOURA jersey:)

I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks....maybe Andy can teach me to ride and read the route map?

~rl

ps shop rides every saturday morning--short and long variations; 7:45 a.m. meet time, we roll out at 8:00 a.m

Just say YELLOW

If a picture paints a thousand words...

TGIF -- Pink Train rides again

Next “Pink Train” ladies ride: Friday, November 14th 9:00 a.m.

Start at Agoura Cycles.

We will vary the times/dates of this ride until we can find a time that seems to be best for most. Email RaeLynn at zenzyus@yahoo.com to rsvp.

Intermediate level ride, road bikes, helmets required, proper attire, gu/bars/etc. available to purchase at shop if you need prior to ride.

And of course...wear PINK




AgouraCycles
0 ft
Left on to T.O. Blvd
8 ft
Turn left onto Kanan Rd
343 ft
Turn right onto N Westlake Blvd
6.2 mi
Turn left on Avenida de los Arboles
7.7 mi
Turn right onto Erbes Rd
8.7 mi
Turn left onto Pederson Rd
9.0 mi
Turn left onto E Olsen Rd
10.8 mi
Turn left onto N Moorpark Rd
11.1 mi
Turn left onto E Avenida de Los Arboles
11.7 mi
Turn right onto Erbes Rd
13.5 mi
Turn left onto E Hillcrest Dr
15.7 mi
Turn right onto N Conejo School Rd
16.1 mi
Get on Willow Ln and drive southeast
16.8 mi
Turn right onto Hampshire Rd
17.4 mi
Turn right onto Triunfo Canyon Rd
17.9 mi
Turn left onto Lindero Canyon Rd
20.6 mi
Turn left onto Lakeview Canyon Rd
21.2 mi
Turn right onto E Thousand Oaks Blvd
22.6 mi
Get on E Thousand Oaks Blvd and drive east
22.8 mi
AgouraCycles
26.2 mi

From the Blow Hard

So based on my opinion I have been called a Blow Hard and a Lance Hater because I think Lance is making a mistake coming back to the Tour.

Funny, considering I have done the Ride for the Roses in Texas, read books on Lance and his own stories and have watched the tour every year he was in it.  So let's get one thing straight, I am not a Lance hater, in fact quite the opposite.  I just don't want to see all his hard work he has achieved go down the drain on a risk not worth the payoff.

I would personally love to see what he did for road cycling in the US be turned towards mountain biking.  And while I love the light traffic on the trails, if I had to trade that in so bike companies could stay in business, local shops wouldn't suffer during our harsh economy and more people fell in love with cycling again, then I am all for it.

And as for my point on Lance not doing it alone, he didn't.  George is one of the greatest domestiques in the world.  Not only did he ride with Lance on his 7 victories, but also with Contador in his 07 victory.  So to say he won the tour, you have to say why -  absolute best team along with the best coach, etc, etc - he just had the winning formula.

At least that is my opinion, straight from the Blow Hards mouth!

The Banana Guard

Yesterday I gathered with a group of friends in Solvang for the annual Solvang Prelude ride. This is our end of the year ride; a short, easy 50 miler and lots of wine tasting prior to and after. It's like a "Sideways" tour on bikes.
We started off at 8 am with a little rain and then ends a couple hours later with beautiful sunshine, music and food at the finish. There was also an expo--vendor booths, etc. letting you purchase a few items you can't live without...


And that's where we came across "The Banana Guard"....yes this is real; a plastic, protective, banana holder for your bike--it's probably not hard to imagine our conversations (considering the beer and wine we had already consumed with lunch) about this most necessary item:)..
I'll leave that up to your imagination, but in the interest of Agoura Cycles keeping you up to date on the very latest products here is the photo....
I'm not sure we'll stock this item..but I know how/where to get for those of you who are protective of your bananas.
~rl
ps..it comes in seven different colors...including pink and is dishwasher safe!