The Agony and the Ecstasy

This past Saturday was definitely the most grueling ride I've ever experienced, and everything that could go wrong that day, did. We rode 80 miles in the Livermore Valley, in 90+ degree heat. Unless you're regularly training in hot weather, you will never be completely prepared for the toll high temperatures will take on your body and mind. The upside of the ride was that it was a relatively flat, fast route. Team Chaos finished the ride in about 6 1/2 hours. But let me rewind to the start of the day...

An Untimely Timeline

6:21am
Received a call from one of my SAG volunteers. She cancels due to a close friend's medical emergency. It's bad for us, but no comparison with how bad it is for her.

6:35am
My ride picks me up. I lag, we get gas, we get our third passenger. We're running late. I call Coach Doug to formulate a new gameplan for the cancelled SAG stop.

7:40am
Arrive in Livermore. Consult with Coach Doug and we find a new SAG volunteer.Doug goes to buy food.

8:30am
Team Chaos rolls.

Mile 5
My first flat of the day.

Mile 20
Team Chaos riders not keeping single file. Speeding car passes us in opposite lane and forces oncoming car into shoulder. Coach Scott is not happy.

Mile 25
Rachel stops for a bike adjustment. I stop with her and we are separated fromTeam Chaos.

Mile 28
We find Iyer sitting under a tree. He has early signs of heat exhaustion.

Mile 34
David swerves to avoid a squirrel, crashes and cracks his carbon road bars. He SAGs out.

Mile 40
Rachel needs a nature break. We separate from Team Chaos once again. Just me and her for the next 20 miles.

(The heat is becoming oppressive)

Mile 50
Third SAG stop. We regroup with Team Chaos.

Mile 54
Stop in Sunol. My first feelings of nausea.

Mile 60
Begin Palomares climb. (The heat is now unbearable). I get my second flat, same tire.

Mile 62
I'm riding strong, albeit feeling like crap. I notice teammates sitting and laying on the ground at various points along climb.

Mile 63
One of our Mentors gets heat stroke. He has stopped sweating and is disoriented.

Mile 68
SAG stop 4. I sit for a while. I'm woozy. I accidentally step on Meena's dog's tail.

Mile 73 Slow ascent up Dublin Grade. No one speaks. All are exhausted and ill.

Mile 74
I spot Iyer laying under a bush.

Mile 76
My tire is going flat again. Scott tops it off with Co2. 2 1/2 miles to go. I am at my limit and start to dry heave a little.

Mile 77
One of my teammates, separated from Team Chaos, breaks down and sits on the curb one mile out from the finish, crying. Anonymous Mormon family in a van with 10 kids picks her up and takes her to the end.

Mile 78
3:30pm
We're done! We sit on curb outside Chevron station. Mark buys us all water. It's all any of us can manage to stomach.

4:30pm
Waiting for my carpool buddies to roll in...

5:30pm
We leave.

The Journey Home

Somewhere on 580 in Oakland, my bike almost falls off the bike rack. We pull into the shoulder on the fast lane side, and I'm terrified. You hear about people getting killed when they step out of their car on the freeway. Obviously, we survived it unscathed.

One of our passengers has a medical issue and urgently needs to go to the bathroom. We try to take the last Oakland exit, but the driver instead gets in the bus-only diamond lane. We are promptly pulled over and issued a ticket. We ask the officer if our friend can use the bathroom just on the other side of the freeway wall (by the Bay), but are yelled at and told to "go in the car."

That's not really an option, so we try to make it to Treasure Island. Traffic is at a standstill and it takes forever. It must be prom night because numerous stretch Hummers roll alongside us, with hoochies and meathead boys bursting out of moonroofs. Our teammate is on a downward spiral and bangs on the doors and sobs while she considers her bathroom options (or lack thereof). We finally make it to treasure island and she hops out and goes on the side of the road, just as a limo of promgoers whizzes past. We later stop again in downtown for another bathroom break.

I finally arrive home at 8:10pm. Friends from Sacramento have been waiting there for me since 7:00, and I am sun-baked, salty, grease-covered and smelly.

All heat, no shade in Livermore

"Chaos", setbacks, and progress

Work has kept me so busy that I haven't been able to blog in ages. A lot has happened, cycling-wise, since early April! So this is going to be a long post to get everyone up to speed.

First, I moved up to the next ride group. I was a little sad to leave Coach Fredsky's team, since I was just getting to know everybody, and Fredsky is so old-school and awesome (a cycling glove dangling from his bike frame, stuffed with energy bars, instead of a bento box? yes!). But, I came to know my new team quickly and they're great.

4/18 Team Chaos- just me and the boys

So my new team has been dubbed "Team Chaos," and rightly so. At our 60 mile Stafford Lake ride, we couldn't keep together for even a mile. Within the first 30 minutes, we were split into about 3 different groups, half of us went the wrong way, and one guy was completely doing his own thing (and still is). Coach Scott wasn't having it and pulled us over into a group meeting just before the hard climb of the day- Wilson Hill (7% grade).

He officially split us into Chaos A and Chaos B, and had me lead out Chaos A. Chaos A was composed of all guys, and is slightly faster. I was feeling really good about this, the sole woman leading a pack of men. We were coach-less. Rogues.

We were also mean and very un-TNT-like.

One cyclist moved up from a slower ride group and tried to hang with us, but we kept dropping him. He finally caught us along HWY 1, where we'd stopped for a bathroom break. Eager to get going, Chaos A collectively ditched him while he was still in the outhouse! I didn't even have time to object as half my guys were already a quarter mile up the road while I was thinking about it. I was riding fast and strong and didn't get dropped, and that's all that matters, though, right (somewhat sarcastically)?

Team Chaos in chaos

Team Chaos, orderly

At the end of the Stafford Lake ride, we had a team potluck and celebrated the 5th birthday of our teammate, Adrian. Obviously, he's not really 5 years old, rather it's been 5 years since his successful bone marrow transplant, and 5 years means he's officially cured! We need more cures.

Happy 5th Birthday, Adrian!

5/2 Half Moon Bay betrays me

Half Moon Bay is one of my favorite rides. I am always strong on this ride and always feel good, which is why I wasn't worried going into it, even though I had a) not been to the gym for two weeks, b) missed the previous Saturday's training ride because of work, c) was averaging 5 1/2 hours of sleep a night for the past week, and d) drank an entire bottle of wine Thursday night.

It was the worst judgement call ever, and I had the worst ride ever. Like usual, Coach Scott had me lead out, and for a good 15 miles I pulled the group along HWY 1 in a strong headwind. I was already burned out by mile 20. There we turned inland, and I welcomed the respite from the wind as we moved away from the coast. But I was already doomed as my strength was waning this early on in the 70 mile ride.

We eventually reached the first, and worst, climb of the day up Pescadero Road. I've done this climb a couple times and knew what to expect, but what I did not expect was how weak I was up this climb. My legs felt like cement and I got dropped by everyone in my group. The day just went downhill from there. I even opted to cut out the last (optional) climb. And I never cut out the optional climbs. Suffice it to say, I was extremely disappointed in myself and started to seriously doubt my abilities on the bike.

A helping hand up Pescadero Road

Demoted

The week following Half Moon Bay, I got an email from Coach Scott, telling me that I would be leading out Chaos B for the next two team rides. Ouch. My pride was wounded. Just two weeks before, I was leading the pack. It made sense, though. Chaos A was getting stronger, and I found myself chasing them constantly up the hills. As ride support, you're supposed to be a little faster than the group you're leading, and Chaos A was starting to lead me. It was time to get back on track and hit spin class and get some sleep.

5/9 Redemption

Last weekend we had a 70+ mile training ride, mostly in the Oakland and Berkeley Hills. I had been to the gym and done everything right the week before, but I was still anxious coming off my poor showing at Half Moon Bay. Plus I knew this ride would have a lot of climbing- Redwood, Pinehurst, and Grizzly Peak all in one day.

Thankfully, my focus paid off and I did fine. I was still getting dropped by the faster climbers in my group (and some of the ladies moved up to Chaos A- woohoo!), but I've come to acknowledge that they've just really progressed in their training, while I have just... gained weight. The ironic thing was, Team Chaos as a whole rode together most of the day- something we've never seemed to accomplish on any team ride.

Downside of the day? The ride took at least an hour longer than I expected. The upside? A long stop at Trader Joe's in Orinda for water, and an even longer stop with iced latte at Peet's 15 miles from the ride finish. Just the boost we all needed.

View from Skyline with Oakland down below