Last weekend our team ride took us from Orinda, up into the Oakland hills on Skyline, turning south to Castro Valley and then coming back on Redwood for a sunny, crisp, yet beautiful 50-mile loop. We actually rode into the Oakland Zoo for a short stint. The training rides have us riding in groups with similar riding ability so I was kinda hoping I'd get assigned to a group with a few ladies like myself so we can talk about our cycling stuff, our kids, and admiring the landscaping.

So, there I was with Karen as my coach (thank goodness! she's GREAT). But the really cool thing about Karen is that she's good about keeping the group together. In fact, when I ride with guys, they usually drop me (that means I can't keep up and they don't wait). So when Karen was introducing us to each other at the start of the ride, I realized something...except for me and Karen, the rest of the group is ALL GUYS. So guess what me and guys talked about? Our stuff, our kids, and admiring the landscaping. Go figure! =)

I love Etta James, except at 5:00 AM

I'm finding myself naturally waking up earlier, sometimes due to the birds chirping as the sun rises, but mosty due to my darling CAT (Etta James) pawing on my face to remind me that her food dish is empty. Whatever the method, it's a sure sign that DAYLIGHT SAVINGS is coming soon! I get excited about this because it means I'll be able to get more cycling miles in after work and I can toss my indoor cyclop-trainer back into the closet. YIPEE! I am so glad I live in Northern California - cycling HEAVEN!

So I kicked off the beautiful Spring weekend by hopping on my bike and riding up Mt. Diablo - TWICE. Yup, twice in one day. What was I thinking? Well, one of our TNT coaches who had completed the Death Ride last year said that I should have a goal of riding up/down Mt. Diablo 3 times in one day to prepare me for my event in July. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to assault Mt. D 1-1/2 times. Yesterday, my Mt D 2X route consisted of almost 5 hours of solid riding (only one short break to eat) in 51 miles and 7,000 feet of climbing (according to the hand-held GPS). I might have gone a little faster except that I was so captivated by the contrast of the California poppies blooming against the bright green landscape. Absolutely gorgeous!

So after all of that exercise, and swaggering through the rest of the day, I went to bed a little earlier and was determined to SLEEP IN. I closed my bedroom door and plopped into bed ZZZzzzzzz.......

Apparently, my cat knows how to open doors, because at 5:00 AM SHARP, she was licking my closed eye lids, trying to get me to open them. Then comes the velvety soft paw tapping on my cheek, and repeating this until I roll over and pull the pillow over my face. The cat does not give up and starts walking on my body pushing the weight of her tiny paws into me as if she is churning butter. So I give in to the relentless Etta James, thinking of all of the elaborate ways to baracade the door next time.

The Double-Door Technique

On February 27th, the Death Ride Group completed an All-Team ride in beautiful Marin County. Our route started in San Rafael in a steady rain (we ride rain or shine) out on Lucas Valley, then looped out north and back through Point Reyes Station and Olema for a total of 65 miles. Some of the roads were familiar to me but some were new, and of course, everything was absolutely gorgeous.

After the first hour, the rain transformed into partly sunny skies that seemed to make the lush green hills illuminate. The Bay Area is still caught somewhere between winter and spring and somehow we managed to experience it all in one day. The photo taken shows our little sub-group climbing out of the valley to start our loop north. There were plenty of very furry cows (not pictured), all depicting the trademark of happiness in cheese factory country.

Ok, by now there's a burning question in your mind: where are the bathrooms? And so you start doing the math...."65 miles, drinking one bottle of water per hour... riding for at least 4 hours... hmmmmmmmm..." So first, let me reassure that the kidneys don't stop working, and is actually a good indication that a rider is staying well hydrated. The only problem is, the bathrooms aren't always there when you need them. So let me explain the double-door technique.

We have SAG support on our rides (if they show up when they're supposed to). When no bathrooms are in sight (and I'm including bushes in the criteria), you hope to God that the SAG car is a four-door. You simply open the two doors on one side of the car, and voilà! You have a stall! Needless to say, this is not on the side of the car in full view of the road, and I don't have a picture to support my explanation. So trust me on this one: when you have to go so badly that you can't even think about getting back on your bike, you really don't care about finding the perfect spot. And since we're all family on these rides, everyone around you understands and will help you pull it off. =)