Beach Run with Kid in Tow!

We had some nice weather here last week and I wanted to go on a monster training ride. But I (understandably) got "the look" from my wife Dana and I knew it wasn't going to happen. So I did what any reasonable dad would do when needing a workout but also having kid duty on a glorious day -- BEACH RUN!!!

The Objective -- the beach at Crissy Field in San Francisco, about 14 miles away, and over a cool bridge. The Passenger -- my four year old daughter Sarah.




We put the hammer down and despite the fat knobby tires and the trailing load, we passed quite a few roadie types. It was cool to see the look on people's faces when they got passed on the steep bridge hill by a dude on an MTB trailing a kid yelling "GO DADDY!"





Made it to the bridge! Sarah's first time crossing over in anything not having an internal combustion engine. She's smiling in there, you just can't tell from the photo.




We got to the beach at Crissy Field and my buddy EB was there waiting with a cold cooler full of Pacificos. Sarah definitely enjoyed the rare 90 degree weather on the bay.

Hill Training for the Death Ride

The Death Ride is now just a couple of weeks away. In preparation, I've been doing a significant number of long climbing rides, including several good ones this month alone. Today was probably my next-to-last opportunity to ride before the big event and I wanted to work on some climbing at a moderate effort that I feel I could maintain for the entire 125 miles of the Death Ride. I rode with a heart rate monitor and tried to keep my rate at or below 150BPM while climbing some of the steeper grades on Mt. Tam. I'm not trying to geek out here like Loren (Mr. Heart Rate and Training Zone guy himself), but it was a worthwhile experiment.

I rode from home up to the top of Mt. Tam, then did a few repeats back down to Pantoll and across the 7 Sisters. The profile is below, as well as a shot of my zones. I think I succeeded pretty well at keeping my heart rate where I wanted it, and I felt totally fine on the climbs. I'll try this approach on the ride itself in a couple of weeks.

Zone ........... Range (bpm) .............Time in Zone
Zone 5 .........168 - 187 ....................0h 02m (1%)
Zone 4 .........150 - 168 ...................0h 35m (19%)
Zone 3 .........131 - 150 ...................1h 42m (57%)
Zone 2 .........112 - 131 ....................0h 35m (19%)
Zone 1 ...........94 - 112 ....................0h 28m (15%)

Marshall Wall 80 Mile Loop

I snuck out for an early ride with Matt and a crew from Endurance PTC this morning. We rode easy through the hamlets to Nicasio, then the Cheese Factory/Marshall Wall to Pt. Reyes. On the Marshall climb, I led out with another one of the guys climbing right alongside at a pretty good tempo. I was even more impressed at the top, when he told me the story of how he had a heart attack on a ride at this very spot a few years earlier. Dude!

After a coffee stop at the Bovine Bakery we rode a fast paceline down the coast to BoFax. Along the way, I charged way too hard on one of the many little uphill rollers and spread the group out like the total rookie that I am. Matt accused me of "throwing a hand grenade into the peleton". Oops :-) A good climb up BoFax and the Sisters dropped us back into Mill Valley. Nice day.

Stats:
Distance: 79.81mi
Time: 4:27:24
Climbing: 6,500'

Double Stinson, plus Pt. Reyes

As the Death Ride gets closer, lots of entries are starting to show up on craigslist and some of the cycling forums. Lots of people must have changed plans or are worried about their training level. In any event, today I finally scored my coveted entry to the ride and now have a new impetus for doing longer rides with lots of climbing. I'm very fired up. To celebrate, I went on a killer training ride on Saturday. I left my house in Tiburon at the very early hour of 6am and rode out to Muir Beach. From Muir I dodged death defying deer along the coast to Stinson, then up to Ridgecrest on Mt. Tam. I dropped into Mill Valley and met some friends at Endurance, then we all did the Muir-Stinson leg yet again. We followed the coast all the way up through Olema to Pt. Reyes, then an easy spin back home through the hamlets.

Stats:
Distance: 91.11 miles
Time: 5:21:01
Speed: 17.0 mph
Climbing: 9,200'

Here are a few pics from the first loop on the ride. Once I hooked up with the others, the pace picked up considerably and the camera stayed in the pocket.

Early morning on the coast just north of Muir Beach, after climbing "the hill" -- i.e., the dreaded 400' incline from Muir Beach up to Slide Ranch. This hill always hurts.

Views out towards the west shoulder of Mt. Tam. No cars at 6:30am, and a screaming curvy descent ahead!

Except for these crazed creatures that are freakin' everywhere at this hour. Deer are not as big as cars, but a lot less predictable. Anticipate!

Hmmmm, nice curves...

Looking back towards the Golden Gate. Morning foggy mist still burning off. This is an awesome stretch of coast from Muir to Stinson -- great curves, a few hills, and insane scenery. This is my favorite quick loop and can be done in under two hours from my house.

Bang a right at Stinson for a steady and steep 2200' climb up a bare hillside, then into the redwoods, then back into the sun.

Near Ridgecrest, the great city shows itself to the south. Bonus points if you can spot the top of the GG Bridge. I stitched together a few photos from this spot to create a panorama. Pretty crappy work, but you get the idea.

Looking back down at Muir Beach and Hwy 1, where I was a little while earlier.

The Brioche Ride

One of our favorite spots is the Sunday morning Marin Farmers Market, held at the San Rafael Civic Center. They have a huge selection of fresh fruit and other goodies, jumpy houses to entertain the kids, good coffee and this one bakery that makes the most kick ass sugar brioche this side of the Boulevard St. Germain. The other great thing about the market is that it makes for a great one-way ride from my house in Tiburon to meet the family. I can leave early, get in a decent ride, then we can spend a couple of hours drinking coffee and snacking our way through the booths. Nice day.

This was the plan today. I pedaled out of the garage at 6:30am and rode through Mill Valley up to the top of Mt. Tam. After soaking in the views, I dropped down the 7 sisters to Alpine Dam and Fairfax. I still had some time, so I took the long way to San Rafael (via Whites Hill --> Nicasio --> Lucas Valley). The kids were in full jumpy house mode when I got there, so I headed right for the brioche guys. I was not disappointed.

Stats:
Distance: 53.25mi
Time: 3:13:46
Ascent: 4,300'

Mt. Tam looks the same on this elevation profile as it does from my house. Strange.