Day 21 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
12.3 miles, 1913'
TOTAL:
211.2 miles, 25607'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 20: Cadel takes second and the yellow jersey.  Stage 21: Cav wins again and Cadel did it.  This was one of the best Tours in years.  Favorite moments:

• Gilbert taking yellow when he was severely marked.
• Garmin winning the time trial
• Thor getting yellow and holding it.
• Thor wins a mountain stage
• Voeckler fighting to keep the yellow through the Pyrenees & Alps.  The guy knows how to suffer.
• Andy finally attacking and from way out.  Cadel bringing back Andy on his own.  
• Contador attacking from way out and going out in style.  Cadel bringing back Contador on his own.  
• Cadel decisively beats Andy in the time trial.
• Cadel in yellow going into Paris.

Started late since I was watching the last stage of the Tour.  It got hot climbing up to China Flats.

Another nice Southern California day.  Actually, I like it cooler but having the sun out is nice.

I really wonder if this was the original trail that was used.  Must have been amazing in the day.

The challenge time frame is over and although I didn't get to the goal, I did reach my personal goal of 25000 feet.  That is only a third of the total but all the time I had.  Still I am able to see improvements in fitness from this.  No wonder bikers talk about training blocks.  This has worked wonders on my limited riding time.

Day 20 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
8.7 miles, 1116'
TOTAL:
198.9 miles, 23694'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 19: Rolland wins for France's first win this Tour.  Of course Voeckler had the yellow jersey for 10 days.  What can I say, Contador went all in.  I was on the edge of my seat and hoping Cadel could pull it together.  Can't believe the timing of the bike change either.  Andy gets yellow and hopefully for one day only when he hands it off to Cadel tomorrow.  Oh, this is such a great tour and absolute nail bitter. 

Again short ride due to a busy work day.  At least I'm not working this weekend.

A nice riding day.  Not too hot although the forecast for this weekend is to heat up again.  I will likely only get a short ride in since we are going to Irvine and have a work family play day.  I'm sure it will be a fun time for the Peanut

Hot enough for the snakes to be out.  I was too slow getting the phone out and the snake was in the bushes by the time I was ready.  It was a 3' rattlesnake.

Day 19 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
10.2 miles, 1461'
TOTAL:
190.2 miles, 22578'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 18: Andy finally attacks.  He's too tentative but finally this shows he actually wants to win.  Cadel chased hard to keep Andy in his sight and Contador got dropped.  I think he Tour is over.  Voeckler stays in yellow for another day but I think tomorrow might be it.  I would think Andy would take yellow tomorrow and lose to Cadel on Saturday.  That's my prediction.  Cadel all the way!!

Short on riding time so it was hill repeats.

Repeats starts at the country club entrance.  Next time I need to bring chalk since I keep forgetting how many laps I do.

The challenge is almost done and I have 2422' left to reach my personal goal of 25000'.  That should totally be doable.  I'm sure to get at least 1000' tomorrow and Saturday can be a ride in the Santa Monicas before we go to Irvine for my work family day at the park.

Day 17 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
7.6 miles, 968'
TOTAL:
180.0 miles, 21117'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 16: Thor does it again and this time Ryder gets on the podium too.  Contador attacked like I knew he would but Cadel was the man and put time into everyone.  Cadel is now in second place on GC and 1:45 from Voeckler.  I think Stage 18 and 19 will blow the race apart.  As long as Cadel still has 30 seconds on Contador, he should be okay but with the big mountains up ahead, Contador can do amazing things.  Go Cadel!

Another short ride today.  Yesterday I got swamped at work and couldn't get out for a ride.  You would think working from home has flexibility.  It does and doesn't.  I had time to take and pick up Peanut from preschool but not enough to ride.  Oh well, I knew I wasn't going to complete the Rapha Rising but I still wanted to get some climbing in.   I'm 3883' from my personal goal but tomorrow is a commute day and Thursday may be too.  Going to be tight...

Day 16 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE

7.7 miles, 959'
TOTAL:
172.4 miles, 20149'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 15: Cav wins #4 in this tour.  Voeckler sends another day in yellow.  Some are speculating he could take it to Paris.  I'm hoping for Cadel but who knows?  Voeckler is looking strong and determined.

Today was a short ride since we had a family beach day planned.  We also had a guest for the weekend so it was a short ride.  Not quite 1000' but close.  We had a great beach day.  Megan and I played in the sand by the water for a while.  Shayna tried stand up paddling and I got about 10 minutes in the water.  A little bit bodysurfing and a little stand up.  When we got home, we swam and Megan did great.  She's doing well in the pool.  

Day 15 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE

38.5 miles, 3691'
TOTAL:
164.7 miles, 19190'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 14: Vanendert wins (I think he's one to watch in the future).  The GC contenders tried getting away but none stuck.  Cadel stays with the winning group.  Voeckler sends another day in yellow.

After missing out the last two days of riding, I was raring to go.  I did the Rock Store loop and it was a cool morning.  Starting tomorrow, it will be hot again.

In the Santa Monicas and the roads are starting to curve...

Already sucking wind but I'm feeling much stronger from the last 2 weeks of climbing.

About 1/3 up the Rock Store hill.  In the Tour of California two years ago, this was all lined with people.

There are lots of wineries popping up in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Left down the hill to to the beach or right and up the mountains.  It was right.

I've seen this a couple times riding past but never stopped.  There are a couple boulder problems here.

There is a steep face with some holds.  The rock is volcanic and looking pretty solid.  I should bring my climbing shoes next time and  check it out.

Day 14 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE

Another forced rest day due to a crazy busy work day.  No time to get out and I barely had time to go swimming with my little girl before dinner.  She was waiting all day to go with me.
TOTAL:
126.2 miles, 15499'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 13: Thor does the unthinkable and wins after climbing Aubisque.  He picks up over 2 minutes on the descent and drops Roy and Moncoutie.  Amazing. Thomas Voeckler sends another day in yellow.

Day 13 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE

Rest day (really it was a work day and my 5 hour commute took away any chance of riding
TOTAL:
126.2 miles, 15499'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 12: Sammy Sanchez wins in the first true mountain day and Contador loses a couple more seconds.  Thomas Voeckler amazingly stays in yellow.  When Veockler has yellow, you have to pry it out of his hands.

Day 12 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE

6.1 miles, 839'
TOTAL:
126.2 miles, 15499'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 12: Cav wins his third in this Tour and takes the green jersey.  Hoogerland stays in polka dots all bandaged up while Thomas Voeckler stays in yellow.

Only had about 30 minutes to ride before lunch so this was it.  Definitely one of the benefits of working from home otherwise I would be able to ride even less.  Took out Worthington and after the last couple days on Luigi up the same hills, I can feel the 9 pound weight difference.

Day 11 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE

5.5 miles, 910'
TOTAL:
120.1 miles, 14660'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 11: Andre Greipel beats Cav for his first Tour win.  Thomas Voeckler in yellow. 

After yesterday's ride, my legs were tired.  No surprise since it was only 12 hours ago.  I was supposed to go to work today but the train got cancelled since a semi got stuck before it got to my station.  Looks like I will go to the office on Thursday.

Everything is getting more dried out.  No longer my spring flowers.

Day 10 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE

6.0 miles, 871'
TOTAL:
114.6 miles, 13750'
TOUR DE FRANCE Rest Day: Thomas Voeckler in yellow. 

Today I tried out Strava for the first time and saw my neighbor was on the first page of results.  Of course, that meant I had to try and beat it.  Not as easy as it seems.  His average speed is about 0.5 mph faster than me and that's substantial.  I did this ride at 5:30 right before dinner and just had 30 minutes to squeeze this in.  Since tomorrow I'll be at work, it will be a rest day for me.   

Day 9 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE

22.6 miles, 2170'
TOTAL:
108.6 miles, 12879'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 9: Luis Leon Sanchez wins from the breakaway and Thomas Voeckler gets yellow.  Lots of crashes that took out Vino (broken femur), Zabriskie (broken wrist), Van den Broeck (broken shoulder blade) and more.  A crazy crash from a french tv car that also took out Flecha and Hoogerland in the breakaway.  Not worried about Voeckler in yellow but Sanchez is now 0:37 in front of Cadel.  Considering he's done well in other grand tours, they better watch out for him.

I had to do some work today but the nice weather and being a Sunday, I got out for a bit.

The weather finally cooled down so I was a bit chilled when I started.  Once the hills started, that was no longer a concern.  

I definitely will not be able to complete this challenge.  The last month has been super busy at work so I've been working 50-60 hours a week.  On top of trying not to spend too much time away from family, there's not much to give.  This year I realized that I can get away with 2.5 hours of exercise a week (20 minutes a day minimum) to balance family, work and my sanity.  Last week, I worked out 6:16.  Back in my younger days, that would be just one day but now that is too much time away from family.  I'm really torn.  Today, I can feel the benefits of the last 9 days but at the sacrifice of my family.  I think I have two options.  Ride less or ride before they wake up.  Let's see what I come up with.

Did I mention I love the wide roads of Thousand Oaks area?

Day 8 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
10.8 miles, 2064'
TOTAL:
86.0 miles, 10709'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 8: Rui Costa wins after a long day in the breakaway and Thor amazingly stays in yellow.  Thor stays with Cadel who took 3rd in the first mountain stage.  Amazing what the power of the yellow jersey can do.  Horner drops out after a severe concussion and a broken nose.  Cadel stays 1 second down on GC.

A good ride and still getting to know Mama Celeste.  She's a great bike.  Handling is spot on and can't imagine wanting any different.

Hmm, which way to go?  Left for the big hill or right on the short hill.  Left, of course.

Started riding a little later than usual and the sun is already pretty high but not so hot yet.

On this stretch there was no wind and I was debating about turning around but couldn't since that is the only way I can get more climbing.

I love the hills in my backyard.

Day 7 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
5.8 miles, 880'
TOTAL:
75.2 miles, 8645'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 7: Cavendish and Thor stays in yellow.  Cav wins 2nd stage of tour.  Wiggins crashed out, Boonen stopped from his injuries on Stage 5, Horner and Levi crash.  Horner loses over 12 minutes today and I was hoping he'll do well too.  Damn.  Cadel stays 1 second down on GC.

Short riding day but first ride with Mama Celeste on the dirt.  Just getting acquainted with each other.  I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship.

First ride with Mama Celeste.  On my road rides the bike felt a bit twitchy.  Well with cross tires on dirt, it handles perfectly.  The reactions are great, not too fast and not too slow.  Even going slow uphill, the handling is stable (much better than the Surly).  Descends well and when climbing out of the saddle, it goes and just wants me to go faster.  Balance real well and added bonus is no toe overlap.  Can't believe it since I'm a midfoot cleat rider now.

Mama Celeste in her element.

Day 6 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
Rest day.  I had to go to the work office and left at 5:15am and got home at 6:00pm for dinner.  No time for riding.TOTAL:
69.4 miles, 7765'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 6: Boasson Hagen and Thor stays in yellow for a Norwegian win.  First Tour win for EBH and more importantly, first Tour win for Team Sky.  After all the hype, they really needed this. 

One of the benefits of going to work is getting kbbq from the korean market.  It's close to my office.

A beer was sure tasty after my 3 hour commute home after only going 86 miles.  That's what I get for having to cross all of Los Angeles county.

Day 5 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
8.1 miles, 1074'
TOTAL:
69.4 miles, 7765'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 5: Cavendish and Thor stays in yellow.  Cav gets his first win this Tour on a crash filled day.  Brajkovic & Boonen both went down hard.  Not sure if they will be riding tomorrow.  Cadel stays 1 second down on GC.

Today is another hot day so I'm only doing hill repeats but only got 2 in before the heat got to me.  Also checked out the difference between Mama Celeste and Luigi.

Mama Celeste in road mode.  RL is more reactive than Colnago and accelerates really well (of course, RL was designed for dirt with 32 tires, not road tires).  On hills, it feels like flying and you can climb longer standing up. 

The first downhill.  This isn't so bad...

This is my road bike.  A 1990s Colnago Master Competition called Luigi.  I've wanted a Colnago since high school so a couple years ago I found the frame and fork on ebay.  As you can tell, I like steel bikes.  Comparing the ride between Celeste and Luigi, this feels more comfy and seems to be a better longer (3+ hour) ride bike.  Doesn't accelerate as well and not as reactive but not in a bad way.  In the way that after a long day in the saddle, when my mind wanders, I won't crash.  Not sure if it's more flexy but when climbing up hills I can't stand as long and tend to sit earlier.

Wide open climb.  If there was more shade, I could have done a couple more repeats but I didn't have the time to do it.  Busy work day and I had to get started.

Day 4 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
22.5 miles, 1674'
TOTAL:
61.3 miles, 6691'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 4: Cadel wins! and Thor fought hard to stay in yellow.  On a stage that Gilbert was the favorite, Evans beats Contador by about a 1/4 wheel on the line. Exciting finish!  Cadel stays 1 second down on GC.

Today I was in Irvine to show my face at work.  The rest of the week, I'm working from home in Thousand Oaks so it is a long drive.  I had a 4:00 meeting and went for a ride with Larry after work.  It's great riding with someone again.  I spend about 90% of my time riding alone so this is a real treat for me.  It was the same for him so as usual on the uphill we were both going harder than we would normally do.  Not racing but pushing each other.

It was my maiden voyage on the Rock Lobster Cross.  I think her name will be "Mama Celeste" but not completely sure yet. I used the Colnago front wheel and changed the rear tire for the road since Larry wanted to see the bike but go for a road ride. I have to say the bike feels great. After an hour, I wasn't thinking about the bike anymore and everything fit perfectly. The bike accelerates really well and this is the same wheelset as the Colnago so I'm guessing it is stiffer and just goes. I guess the longer wheelbase doesn't affect this bike at all.  Really psyched about that. I can feel the handlebars are high but when sprinting, it was still balanced. I will likely do a comparison with the Colnago tomorrow before going on the dirt.  This will be an awesome race bike.

Rock Lobster Cross Euro "Mama Celeste"

Finally got the bike all built up.  I'm running Campy Veloce front shifters and front derailleur and Shimano Ultegra rear derailleur.  This makes it possible to run it as an 8 speed.  I like it this way since 8 speed is a more durable, cheaper and lighter.  The best combo for me.  As soon as Zank comes out with his cross chainrings, I'm going to get those.

To stop, I'm using the TRP mini-v which are super powerful.  The Thomson stem and seatpost rounds this out except the wheels.  These are the training wheelset which are Campy front and Ultegra rear  with WTB Cross Wolf clinchers.  My racing wheelset are DT 240s on Velocity Escape rims running Challenge Fango and Grifo tubulars.  I can't wait for cross season to start.

Day 3 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
17.5 miles, 1416'
TOTAL:
38.8 miles, 5017'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 3: Tyler Farrar and Thor stays in yellow.  Tyler wins on Fourth of July and Garmin continues on a roll! Cadel stays 1 second down and BMC can save their energy instead of defending the yellow jersey.

After yesterday's hot day, I knew I had to go for a road ride.  It was so much better having the speed and keep some air moving around me.  

In last year's Festive 500, I saw someone's blog who used all their bikes in the challenge.  I want to do the same so this is my rain bike.  A 1980's Holdsworth Mistral called "Worthington".  Internal gear hub, generator hub & led light with fenders are so easy in the rain.  Although I'm in So Cal, it doesn't rain that much but I love to ride in the rain so this bike gets used quite a bit.  I actually time my rides so that I can catch it when the rain is coming down instead of wet roads.  The harder the rain, the bigger my smile.  I think it's from the years growing up in Vancouver, BC.

My comfy bike.  Worthington is set up for long distances although she is a bit heavy at 30 pounds.

The wide safe roads of Thousand Oaks

Getting ready to head uphill

I have this last hill before getting home.  If I'm blown, this hill is a killer.  Today, I saw a rider in front of me and slowly caught him.  Within 10 seconds after I passed him, he got out of the saddle and motored up the hill.  I think he was a little pissed that a bike with fenders beat him.  After he passed, I maintained our gap all the way to the top.  I'm okay with that.

Day 2 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
13.5 miles, 2414'
TOTAL:
21.3 miles, 3601'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 2: Garmin-Cervelo and Thor is in yellow!  Garmin gets their first Tour stage win ever and Thor the World Champ gets the yellow jersey.  Way psyched to see that.  Great to see Cadel is only 1 second down too.  Let's hope he can keep the momentum going.


One of the benefits of doing this challenge is it gets me out the door instead of staying home and watching the Tour live.  My mornings are really the only time I can sneak out and do some exercise before family activities or work starts.  I record the Tour anyway so there is no reason not to ride but I get sucked in too easily.

Hot day and riding on dirt and going slow is not the way to go.  Tomorrow is another scorcher so it will have to be a road ride

Start off with a great jersey.  Even though it is wool, it wasn't bad in the heat.  Of course, I live in arrid Southern California so that is helpful.

Singletracks and going uphill.

It didn't take long for me to want a nice cold one, even at 8am.

I tend to fade and lose motivation when it's hot.  I had to play games in my head just to keep going.  I told myself that I had to make it up to this bench.  After that, it was to ride at least 45 minutes or get to the summit.  There were lots of minor goals in between too.

Ahh, at the top.  Time for some speed and cooling off.

On the way back, I have this last hill and normally it is a slow climb but today, the heat got to me and I walked a portion.  Maybe I have to get up earlier tomorrow if this heat continues.

Day 1 - Rapha Rising

TODAY'S RIDE
7.8 miles, 1187'
TOTAL:
7.8 miles, 1187'
TOUR DE FRANCE Stage 1: Philippe Gilbert.  Crashes in the race splinters the peleton and Contador is 1:20 down on GC.  I'm hoping Cadel can turn this bit of luck in his favor.

It's Day 1 of the Tour de France and the Rapha Rising challenge.  I know I'm not going to complete the challenge but that's okay.  This is incentive to put in more climbing miles and get my cyclocross base training.  Also fun photo documenting this.

I know the majority of my rides will be offroad since it is easier getting the elevation gain on dirt than on the road with the least amount of time.  This is the bike that I'll be using which is an On One Inbred 29er singlespeed.  My wife calls this "Big Wheel".

Luckily for me, my house is on the right and the trailhead is 1/4 mile from my house.  When I was done with my ride, I added a section of pavement as easy bonus elevation.

This open space is a 5 mile wide swath of land that goes for 20 miles or so.  Most of the time I can see development in the distance but not close enough to hear it or be concerned by it.

This is my usual view as I'm grinding up the hills in my 32x22 gearing.

Going up.

At my turnaround point which gave me under an hour to ride.  Being the weekend, it was family beach day and we were set to leave around 9:30.  With a bit of hot weather (95 degrees), the beach sounded awfully good.

10 minutes from home.  Even though homes are right there, I still get my little bit of singletrack.  I'm liking the riding incentive.  It's making me tack on any extra climbing that I pass.

So far all the pictures are from my iPhone 4.  Pretty amazing how technology has come along.  Most likely it will stay that way since I don't have a solid case for my camera.  I have a relatively good case for my phone so that's going to have to do.

Rapha Rising

I'm in. In celebration of the Tour de France, Rapha is doing a challenge to get people out riding. The goal is to climb the same amount as the Tour riders except they do it in 9 days while we get the full 22 days of the Tour. That's 21,125 meters or 69,307 feet. Over 22 days, that's an average of 3,150 ft/day.

Okay, I have to concede already. Having a full time job and 2 kids (4 years old and 7 months), I just don't have or want to take that kind of time. Having said that I'll still take the challenge and see what I can do. My goal is 25,000 feet or 7,620 meters which is an average of 1,136 ft/day. To put things more in my favor, I'm going to be mountain biking since it is easier to rack up the elevation than road riding. Luckily road riding was not a requirement. I just got a new cyclocross bike so this is incentive to get it all built out this weekend and putting in my time for cross season.