23 Miles.

Mellow ride, not very many climbs, took me about an hour and a half (hit lots of red lights!).

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/23-mile-Lunch-Ride

Rites of passage

Originally found HERE

I’m going to cross this list off one by one. Look at #20, I’ve done that…twice, LOL.

From the November issue of BICYCLING: Falling in puppy love, graduating high school, the birth of your child–nothing compared with your first case of road rash and these 108 other momentous occasions in the life of a cyclist.

01. Realizing that the hill isn’t in the way; it is the way. 02. You go from one pair of shorts to a dedicated drawerful. 03. Being unable to sleep the night after you first shave your legs, because of the tingle of bedsheets against your skin. 04.When “thanks for the ride” goes from something you overhear to part of your lexicon. 05. You see someone at the beach tanned low on the quads and biceps, and give him a nod of recognition. 06. Bonking so bad you don’t think you’ll be able to make it home. 07. Discovering how a convenience-store Coke can resurrect the dead. 08. Starting and finishing a ride—the same one—in pouring rain. 09. When you hang out at the bike shop and no one expects you to buy anything. 10. When your bike computer registers triple digits for one ride. 11.Clearing a log on a the trail. 12. You embrocate. 13. Staying with the paceline long enough to take a turn at the front. 14. You’re on the bike for the fifth straight day, and your butt doesn’t hurt. 15. You try bibs and realize you can never go back to shorts. 16. You stop riding beside and behind the pack and instead ride inside of it—with no claustrophobia. 17. You swing off the front of a paceline before you get tired. 18. You blow a snot rocket without hitting your shoulder or leg—or the rider behind you. 19. You notice that someone else has the chain grease on his right calf. 20. You get stuck in your pedals and topple over at a stoplight. 21. Someone you introduced to the sport kicks your ass on a ride. 22.Riding a bike through a big, congested city and feeling smarter than everyone else because you’re moving. 23. You wake up to find the sheets stuck to your road rash—and still feel excited about riding that day. 24. Your boss stops by to ask you to explain what’s happening in the Tour de France. 25. You fix up your old bike to get someone into the sport. 26. Wearing out your first set of tires. 27.You ride through a pothole, and it’s no big deal. 28. Getting hopelessly lost—deliberately. 29. You stop midride to give your only spare tube to a stranded cyclist. 30. You realize you’re driving your car as if it’s a bike—drafting, looking for holes, getting away from the squirrelly guy. 31. Fixing a busted chain. 32.When you no longer have to stop to take off your jacket. 33. Feeling confident about taking off your jacket while riding—then catching the trailing sleeve in the rear wheel. 34. The first time you crumple your race number. 35. Planning a riding vacation. 36. Seeing a sunrise from the saddle. 37. Wondering how the biggest local hill would rank on the Tour de France climb classification. 38. In your head, Phil Liggett narrates your ride. 39. You got dropped, you flatted, bonked, got turned around—and when you got home you said you had a great ride. 40. You roll through a patch of gravel and, without thinking, reach back to brush the crud off your tire with your palm. 41. A rider you respect says, “You were flying today.” 42. Rolling through a stop sign—and knowing it was the right thing to do. 43. Doored! 44. When you crest the summit of a climb, start down and realize you’ve gone the wrong way. But keep going anyway. 45. Rubbing wheels—and staying up. 46. Letting go of your kid’s seat and not having to grab it again. 47. Getting a bike stolen and being surprised at how deeply it hits you.48. Cleaning the cassette with your old toothbrush. 49. Sprinting the neighbor kids. 50. Chasing a rabbit down singletrack. 51. Falling asleep when you stop for a break on a mountain bike ride. 52. Endo. 53. Telling someone which bike to buy. 54. Overcooking a turn. 55. Breaking a collarbone. 56. Figuring out how to layer without overdressing. 57. Deciding which car to buy in part based on how it will carry your bikes. 58. Your first ride with a jersey instead of a T-shirt. 59.Riding on a day so cold the water in your bottle freezes. 60. Discovering that a shot of Jameson in each bottle keeps the water fluid. 61. Though you’re not clear on exactly how to do it and unsure of the outcome, you manage to fix your first flat. 62. Walking home in your cleats. 63. Getting so deep into the sport you think your helmet looks good. 64. Following a favorite pro racer—besides Lance Armstrong. 65. Finding out your favorite pro racer was doping. 66. Wrapping your bar tape so the handlebar plug stays in and no bare bar shows at the tricky bend at the brake hood. 67. Naming a route. 68. Bumping elbows, then being relaxed enough to make a joke about it with the person next to you. 69. Sitting in with the big weekend training race. 70. Developing that “V” of muscle definition on the back of your calf. 71. Espresso at the halfway point. 72. Crashing and immediately asking, “How’s my bike?” 73. Fixing your bike with a rock. 74.Paying for a coach. 75. Figuring out that training advice doesn’t get much better than “Ride lots.” 76. Clacking into a rough tavern in cleats and spandex. 77.Having a position on Bartali vs. Coppi. 78. Throwing up after a sprint. 79.Chasing back on after a flat. 80. Winning a town-sign sprint and remembering it forever. 81. Explicating your training in exquisite detail on a blog, then realizing nobody cares. 82. Watching the compressed CO2 from your only canister shoot off into the air instead of into the tube. 83. Matching your bar tape to your tire’s sidewall— then realizing on your next ride that your bike looks like it’s been decorated by a blind pimp. 84. Riding someplace you’ve always driven. 85.Outsprinting a crazed dog. 86. Summiting an H.C. climb. 87. Waving at a cyclist coming the other way and being ignored. 88. Getting annoyed by an uninvited wheel sucker. 89. Getting so fast you’re confident enough to ride slow. 90. Wondering if cycling matters too much. 91. Not caring if it does. 92. Surfing traffic on adrenaline and luck in one of the world’s 10 biggest cities. 93. Sitting up, taking your hands off the bar on a downhill. 94 . At the PTA meeting, looking around at all the fat parents. 95. Dropping someone half your age. 96.Outclimbing someone half your size. 97 . Passing someone whose bike costs twice as much as yours. 98. Looking inside the bottle you’ve been using all season, seeing mold. 99. Dismissing what used to be your favorite cycling magazine because it keeps repeating topics. 100. Reading The Rider. 101.Coming home from Europe with a cobblestone in your luggage. 102. Finding out no one makes your favorite handlebar-bend anymore. 103. Riding down a trail you couldn’t safely walk. 104. Telling the joke, “God wishes he was Eddy Merckx.” 105. Cheating a crosswind by joining an echelon. 106. Feeling superstrong, then turning around for the ride back and realizing you had a tailwind. 107. Pedaling the Brooklyn Bridge, toward Manhattan, at night. 108.Being the person whose bike squeaks drive everyone nuts. 109. Reading a rites of passage list and finding that your own favorite one is missing.

le Lunch Ride Part Deux

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Oakley-Live-Oak-Lunch-Ride

Another week, another bike ride, another new route. This one was pretty fun, no leg cramps, no winds, just an real steep climb in the first few miles that forced me to walk the last 50 yards.

le Lunch Ride

Yesterday I went on my first lunch ride with a couple of co-workers. In my crew of three, two are both experienced cyclists. One is a tiny gentleman who seems like he eats Cat 1 climbs for breakfast. The other, a Clydesdale built for those crits and sprint finishes. Both had 11 Speed transmissions courtesy of Campagnolo on a Colnago and a BMC, respectively. Myself? A novice rookie in every sense of the word.

Being unfamiliar with the area, I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. When one of them told me the basic route by naming some of the streets, I just nodded and said, “uh huh”. I’ve done climbs in the past so I thought I was somewhat ready for whatever comes my way. Typically, I would Google map my intended route ahead of time to find out the elevation change. But not this time, I was just anxious and excited to finally ride with the guys!

The very first part of the ride was mellow. Still, I had to put a little extra effort to keep up with their pace, and this was on the flats! When it came time for the first climb, my leg started to cramp up real early. The thought of quitting definitely came across my mind a few times, but my pride kept me going. I really didn’t want to be THAT guy, you know what I mean?

If you look at the chart below the first, second, and third climbs are basically a single 2 mile climb with a couple of breaks in between. It was a climb that looked endless to me, I was on the lowest gear, a 26 with a compact, spinning my lungs off. Every time I look up, I see them 50 yards ahead of me having a comfortable conversation with each other like it was nothing! After I peaked what I thought was the only climb of the day, one guy matter-of-factly says, “Only a couple more to go.”

My reaction? I thought about calling a cab. But I can’t THAT guy. So I kept going. As I was struggling up the hills, I recalled an article I read just a few days ago with climbing tips, so I tried to follow those instructions as best as I could and it helped a little. I also remembered Lance once said, “Pain is temporary…quitting is forever.” That really didn’t make sense but whatever, at that point any motivation to help me pedal through the pain was welcomed.

The wind was blowing hard that day, so even the descents weren’t all that fun.
At the bottom I realized there were one last climb. Now, I drive up this hill every morning on my way to work and have always wondered if I can do it on the bike. I finally got my chance. I was completely exhausted, on the verge of bonking, with a 10 MPH headwind blowing, howling, urging me to just walk the rest of the way. Under the circumstances, this was the toughest climb of them all. But I was only hundreds of yards away from work and I didn’t want my coworkers to see and know me as THAT guy, so I finished it.

When I got back to the office, my legs were done (still painful to walk today) and my face was flushed. Was that ride painful? Yes. Would I do it again? Absolutely!

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Oakley-Lunch-Ride