Unexpected Visit to Solvang

We were down in California last week, and happened to have some time available on Friday during the Tour of California Stage 6 Time Trial. So we made the drive to Solvang. We really weren't sure what to expect in regards to parking, crowds, and how well the kids would handle it. But we figured that it was worth a shot. It's not every day that you get to go see a professional bike race with the caliber of riders that are racing in the Tour of California. Not only is Lance Armstrong back, but the Tour has drawn all of the top teams this year.

I'm so glad we made the effort.

We found parking very quickly on a residential street just blocks from the course. A quick walk and we were on the fence watching riders come down the finishing straight.






We wandered around a bit and found ourselves next to the Columbia-High Road bus. A couple of guys that I didn't recognize were cooling down on trainers outside next to the bus. Then a guy walked off the bus in his full team kit. He was small and was wearing white sunglasses. I was trying to figure out who it was, when I heard his distinct Brit accent as he spoke to one of his teammates. It was Mark Cavendish. I was surprised because he was much smaller in person than he appears on television.

For those that don't know, Mark Cavendish is currently the fastest sprinter in the world. It is an unofficial title, but he won 4 stages in last year's Tour de France, 3 stages in last year's Giro d'Italia, and 2 consecutive stages in this year's Tour of California. If that still doesn't mean anything to you, then think of Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals in the last Olympics. Pretty much the same accomplishment.

Cavendish gets a lot of flak in the media for being "cocky", "brash", and "arrogant". I was a little hesitant approaching him with the boys because of the reputation that they have portrayed. What a surprise, the media couldn't be more wrong. I guess that is what you get for being better than everyone else at what you do.

Anyway, he was really cool and spent a few minutes talking to Zachary and me. We got a photo with him and he also signed Zach's little Amgen Tour of California cowbell. Zachary told him that he was going to faster than him some day. "Maybe when I'm six", Zachary told him. I reassured Mark that Zach was only four, so he still had 2 years to go before he would start losing to Zach. Mark laughed and told Zach to keep training hard. Not exactly the interaction one would expect from a cocky, brash, arrogant young professional bike racer that according to some is the "fastest man in road racing".

We made our way back to our spot on the finishing straight since that seemed like the appropriate place to be to watch Levi finish. I managed to squeeze my way to the fence and get a few shots. It was tough at the speeds these guys came around the corner, but a got a few pics and a video of Levi.

Michael Rogers coming around the corner


Michael Rogers sprinting for the finish

Video of Levi

Mad about Mad Alchemy

As I expected, I love the stuff. But I definitely need to get some of the Medium (or maybe even Madness). I felt the warmth of the embrocation, but with the temperature below 40, the Mellow heat just doesn't cut it.

Tonight's ride was great. I actually left the house on time, so I had a relaxing 1hr 10min spin to the Redhook parking lot. I pulled in just as the group was leaving. I set out to keep up with the fast group and succeeded. About 1hr 45min later, I was off the trails and back on the road home.

In addition to the embrocation, I was trying something else new tonight. I really don't like to carry a lot of gear with me on the bike. But lately, I have gotten caught out in some very cold conditions without enough warm clothes. I finally broke down and bought a large Camelbak that has plenty of storage for all sorts of gear. I got the new version of the HAWG. It is great.

I had another milestone tonight. I actually stopped on my way home and put on some of the warmer clothes I had my Camelbak. Sounds like not much of a milestone, but if you ride, you might know how hard it is to stop when you are tired and trying to get home. I have suffered through being extremely cold when I had extra clothes with me, just because it seemed like too much effort to stop and put them on. Sounds stupid, but I'm sure many other riders can relate.

Anyway, tonight I stopped and added full length leg warmers and booties over my shoes. The few minutes was well worth it. I was much more comfortable. I could really feel the warmth of the embrocation once my legs were not so exposed to the wind.

I'm off on vacation and then to my company's annual sales meeting, so I'll have a break from the bike for a week (except the one in the hotel gym). Then it will back to piling on the miles in preparation for Spokane.

A Lesson Learned

I was very proud of myself for getting in just about 200 miles from Saturday through Friday last week. I have been riding a lot lately, but with a job, 3 kids, winter weather, and short days of February in Seattle, it is a lofty goal to get over 200 miles in a week. I knew that today's ride might be tough because my body was tired from the previous week. But things started really well.

I ride with guys that are much faster than I am (who isn't?). I do my best to keep up, but it is usually a losing battle. Yet I am determined to get faster, so I always try to keep you with the guys that are faster than me.

So back to today's ride. Things are going well and I'm keeping up. I'm working hard, but feeling good. I started writing my blog article in my head. It would be titled something like "A Ground Breaking Day". It would talk about how I was finally able to keep up for an entire 2.5 hour ride at Black Diamond. It would boast that even though a had ridden 200 miles in the previous week, I had obviously reached a new level because I was riding strong.

Now picture me riding down a trail. Insert brick wall here. OUCH!

That is what happened today. Just when you start thinking too much of yourself on the bike, it teaches you who is the boss. Suddenly, I was struggling just to keep the last guy in sight so I new where to go in the intricate web of trails at Black Diamond. I got lost once. I started getting sloppy, making mistakes, and falling further behind.

Once the downhill slide begins, there is no stopping it. I have ridden enough and "practiced my bonk" many times. So I know enough to try to settle into a rhythm, and keep eating and drinking at times like these. I did all of these and I suffered...and enjoyed it at the same time.

One good thing that I realized during the struggle today was that I was still fighting. In the past, at times like these, I would let the negative thoughts run rampant and slow to nearly a stop. Your mind can do terrible things to you at a time like this. If you have never experienced it yourself, I'm not sure I can really convey the sheer power that the mind possesses to bring you down into deep, dark places you never knew existed.

Anyway, I learned a lesson today...not for the first (or last) time: Don't count your chickens before they hatch (or don't think about how proud you are of yourself for your performance until after the ride is over).

But the other thing that I realized is that my training is paying off and I am getting faster.

Still no Mad Alchemy yet :-(

Mad Alchemy

I recently purchased some embrocation and was hoping that it would arrive for last night's ride, but no luck. I bought some Mad Alchemy "Mellow" Embrocation. They also make "Medium" and "Madness". I thought I would start with Mellow and see how it goes.

I haven't even tried it yet, but somehow, I already know I am going to love it. Mad Alchemy was recently written-up in Bicycling magazine. It was created by a physical therapist that looked at the ingredients in his embrocation one day and didn't like what he read. He decided to try his hand at making his own, all-natural embrocation. And Mad Alchemy was born.

If you don't know what embrocation is, here is a technical definition from Merriam-Webster:

em·bro·ca·tion

Pronunciation:

\ˌem-brə-ˈkā-shən\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English embrocacioun, from Middle French embrocacion, from Medieval Latin embrocation-, embrocatio, from Late Latin embrocare to rub with lotion, from Greek embroche lotion, from en- + brechein to wet

Date:

15th century

: liniment

And a more eloquent, poetic description from the Mad Alchemy website:

WHAT IS EMBROCATION?
Embrocation is the essence of cycling. One of those things that just makes your world spin. Technically, you could do without embrocation, but that's not living. Embrocation is the jam on your toast, the honey in your tea. It's hot infusing carrier oils with capsicum at 2:00 in the morning. It's pure, it's life, it's just plain good. Simple ingredients make the best embrocations. High end, designer carrier oils, each with it's own unique benefits. Formulating and re-formulating the perfect ratio of essential oils. It's using only 100% pure beeswax to thicken your creation. It's science, it's spirit, it's alchemy.

Embrocation used to be just for race day, but lately has found it's way into my daily routine. Wake, shower, dress, coffee, embrocate, commute. It helps you feel cool on the hottest days and warms through to your heart when the mercury dips. Embrocation is the panacea for a ho-hum day.

Everyday, I grow fond of the process, the creation, the quest for the "perfect" batch.

WHY WE EMBROCATE...
Embro is being ready for 130 miles, in April, 45 degrees, raining, but still loving the ride. It's sprinting for the Provincetown line @ mile 140, against 7 of your best friends. It's talking about your 7 1/2 hour ride on the ferry back to Boston, dehydrated, but still sharing stories over a beer. Embro doesn't hang the bike up in winter. It simply lowers the tire pressure in the snow, puts on a wool base, and 2 pairs of shoe covers and rides. Embro is Portland in December, and New England in February. It's rain, it's snow, it's mud and sometimes it's even sunshine. It's always about the experience. It's about attacking on the hardest part of the course, or down that perfectly symmetrical, maple-tree alley. It's about cobbles and cinder, new pavement and gaps. Embrocation will not make you faster. It won;t make up the difference between 4th and 40th, but it will most assuredly make you feel like a "better" cyclist, a more significant part of the community. Not everybody is ready to Embrocate, though everyone has Embro potential. We Embrocate for legs, we Embrocate for our experience, we Embrocate for the love of cycling.

How can you not like it after reading that? I'll write a review once I get my first jar. Can't wait.

Another visit to the Frozen Tundra

No, I wasn't at Lambeau Field. Just another Wednesday night Thrilla ride. The temperature in Woodinville got down to 32 last night. There are a couple of cold spots on the trail that I am sure were colder than that. We even ran into a pretty good section of ice/snow on the pipeline trail.

I warmed up my shoes before the ride by putting hand warmers inside, and I left them much looser this time. My toes did much better, but they were cold. I had to break out the wool for last night, and I'm glad I did. The ride home was quite brisk to say the least.

Cold Feet

I have spent months researching winter cycling boots and waiting for the pair that I finally decided to order. I wasn't thrilled about buying shoes online without trying on first, but no one stocks a good selection of the winter boots, so I had no choice. The pair I chose was then backordered...of course. At long last they arrived. And they were too small...of course. Why can't anything ever be easy?

I got the bigger size sent to me and they fit great. I was so excited to ride without my toes going numb. So yesterday, I embarked on my journey around a loop I know well called the Thrilla. Total miles would be 63 after about 6 hours. It's kind of a simulated 24-hour race practice because I do laps and stop at the car each lap for food and drink, much like at the 24-hour race.

It was about 40 degrees out when I started and might have gotten a bit warmer through the day. When I finished, it was 35 degrees and just getting dark. My winter boots are called "Zero Degree Ergo Grip" and are rated to 5 degrees (false advertising don't you think?). I chose them because Bicycling Magazine reviewed them well and said that they were the warmest shoes they tested.

If you are expecting to hear me gush about how awesome it was to ride with warm sweaty feet, sorry to disappoint. After a couple hours, my toes were numb! Given, it was still nice not to have to deal with booties over my shoes. And my feet were warmer overall then without the winter boots. But my dream of riding in the cold with toasty toes has been shattered.