XX1090 Sportsradio in Studio with Scott & BR

The six remaining S & BR Cycling Team got an email from last year's winner Jim Carbaugh that our presence is requested at the XX1090 studios at 6:00 am sharp tomorrow morning.
Give us a listen and we'll see who will be left from our remaining team, Mike Henderson, Monique Beauchamp, Brent Reman, Carl Gregory, me and Nina. But, Nina won immunity this week, so it's among the other 5. It will be great to see them, but what about coffee...

Tune in to the Scott and BR Show on AM 1090 tomorrow to find out...

TheSix present Exceptional Athletes, Exceptional People

Today was the big day for TheSix's party/fundraiser hosted at Bondi Food & Beer in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. What an amazing turnout and response from our friends, families, QMDC Fundraisers, Ride Leaders, XX1090 Radio Contestants, Challenged Athletes and their friends & families. We had terrific results from our Silent Auction items, both donated and consignment, great interest and fundraising from our raffle items. Guests enjoyed Bondi's famous Aussie hospitality with delicious BBQ and Coopers beer. A wonderful and generous crowd remained for our raucous Singles Auction starting around 5:30 and rolling along until after 7:00; thanks to all the beautiful men and women who playfully joined in our efforts to benefit Challenged Athletes. For me, the day's highlight was hearing Ryan Levinson talk about hope; the hope that CAF gave him after he could no longer compete in triathlon; hope to open up new avenues of competition for himself and others that will follow him as he forges a path in ocean paddleboard.
Thanks to everyone for your support and passion.

The room is Spinning

My back was recovered enough by Wednesday to get to Spin at the Sporting Club at Aventine. Mike H was there as always, as were Kayvon, Jeffrey, Mike Mac, James, and leader Kris and leader Jessica joining, and some others whom I recognize but still know by name. Will I meet them before the end of training? I hope so.
I was running a bit late, but running is a kind of warmup so after a few minutes I was ready to start with some jumps/climbs. In the meat of the session, we did 10 sets of 1 min 85%, with a 30 sec standing sprint, then 30 sec recovery. It was hard, and due to almost no training, I could not sprint with much conviction, but I stayed with it as much as I could and definitely had a good sweat.

S & BR Rider Elimination

Today was another rider elimination, a dreaded 6:45 time before starting work and today we lost Todd Northup from the XX1090 Radio Team. By now, I don't want to see anyone left be eliminated, and would gladly trade places with them. But that's the way the contest goes, as Jim Carbaugh has said many times. It doesn't make it easier. Fortunately, Todd is Fundraising and I know he'll be in San Francisco with QMDC.
Ave atque vale.

Del Dios/Circle R/395 Loop

Today was my first day back on the bike for anything meaningful since early August. It was great to see everyone again, and at the start of the day I felt good, but expected a big challenge from the heat, hills, and distance. I was not wrong.
I felt pretty good, but had a persistent, loud but intermittent squeaking from either derailleur cogs that earned me a new nickname 'Tweety' from ride leader Kevin Lingii. I had a bit of back pain after hitting an immediate climb leaving SAG 2 in too big a gear, a twinge and pop that I knew would be troublesome for a couple of days, but not bad enough to force me off the bike. Thankfully, Mike Henderson had aspirin that he let me have, so I was able to roll on. Yeah and Thanks, Mike. The Oceanside bike path was it's usual torment, and I fell off my paceline group towards the end but caught up at the sortie point. But by the time I got to Carlsbad, my hamstrings and quads were threatening to cramp, and they did. I pulled off to the side and several folks offered to stay, but I told them to continue since all that could be done was to take in Gu, drink water, and baby it home. The last 10 or so miles of the day's 75 took me twice as long as it otherwise might have, but it was still a great day in SD. Kevin Davenport had strawberries, plums and Naked Juice he shared with me back at the finish, thanks Kevin!

Half Ride to Oceanside

Today was a scheduled San Clemente and back ride on the coast, but Carl, Kevin H and I each had family commitments and planned to turn around about halfway and get back. For me, it is the combined Birthday Party for my sister Kate, daughter Emma (6), wife Diana, and son Owen (4); the actual dates are 8/22, 8/25, 8/27 and 9/9 but we try to have a big combined party on one day and this is it. My Dad is visiting from NH and Kate is down from LA. This was a quick and easy ride, and at turnaround I talked with Georgina (whom I learned is Carlos Gutierrez' sister) and learned that she was injured on July 19 and was just getting back on the bike. She joined us at our early turnaround and we had a good visit on the way. We both agreed that discretion was the better part of valor this day.

Spill your coffee Tuesday.
Even though I luckily won the Immunity Challenge for the Scott & BR Cycling Team last Sunday and wasn't going to be eliminated today, my morning follies (trying to connect with Producer Marty as I arrived at work, getting disconnected, hanging up because my battery runs out in 2 minutes, running to the office, spilling my coffee on the way into the building, being unable to take the elevator because it was full of equipment on-the-move, then bounding up four flights of stairs to reach my office and plug in my phone) ensured that my heart rate was unhealthily spiked nonetheless. I'm a one-man Keystone Kops each of these cut-down days.
Fortunately, I was able to talk with Scott and BR, but also had to hear the unhappy news that our friend and teammate Kris McDaniel was eliminated. Kris is on vacation, and got the news while listening over the internet. It is truly the case that we don't know what criteria are used for elimination, and it's no fun waiting each Tuesday to hear that we're now one fewer, even though we knew going in this was how the contest would progress.

Scott gave my blog a plug on air; but I once again missed my opportunity to mention our Fundraiser/Party 'Exceptional Athletes, Exceptional People' taking place at Bondi Restaurant, 333 5th Ave in the Gaslamp Quarter on Sunday, September 14th from 2:00 until 6:00 pm. Bondi will be providing a delicious Aussie BBQ, Coopers beer specials, and live music, all this and a special raffle prize are included with the purchase of the $20.00 event ticket. The emceed event will also have additional door prizes, a silent auction, raffles, a hosted Singles Auction and some great guest speakers including Challenged Athlete Ryan Levinson and Olympic athletes. All funds raised will benefit the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Please contact me or Carl Gregory at http://carlsbigworld.blogspot.com to purchase your ticket and come join the fun! Look to this space for more details coming soon, and check out our event website at http://thesix.org.

Recovery+

Today's ride was a scheduled recovery ride, and good thing. Friday night was a late one, a rare night out for Diana and I. Our neighbor Andy is the bass player for local legends 'Buck O Nine' and put us on the guest list for their show at House of Blues that night. We had a blast and Buck O Nine stole the show, even though they weren't the headliners that evening. But, on Saturday I was in even more need of a recovery than would have been the case after Kitchen Creek, San Clemente and Fallbrook/395 rides the last three weeks...
First things first today; I surrendered the Immunity Pump idol, now adorned with my flair. In honor of our team sponsors, The Scott and BR Show, and particularly celebrated former Charger's linebacker Billy Ray Smith, I added a Chargers can cooler, to keep the giant Coors light (Kevin Heil's addition) cold.
The Immunity Challenge today was an Olympic theme, and consisted of two questions:
What are the 4 biking related events at the Olympics.
How many gold medals are being awarded across these events.
I came up with the 4 categories; Road Race, Time Trial, MTB Race, and Track events.
For medals, I could only think of 14, but there are 18. I must have been closest, because I won the Immunity Pump again! Out on the ride, James remarked that this is a pretty solid strategy, to avoid elimination by having the Pump each week.
The ride itself felt very short, as usual group 2 had couple of short bursts of speed, but overall it was nicely paced, good for chatting, and actually served the recovery purpose. When we approached Fletcher Cove, I slowed and readied to turn in, bewildered when everyone kept going and Mike Jennings had to remind me to keep rolling through; our ride left from Flower Hill Mall rather than our usual spot today. Great ride, and great to get back to see Diana, Emma and Owen just after 10 today.

Tonight's get together is an educational presentation by one of our great coaches, Fitness Professional Pat Jak, about nutrition and recovery. Unfortunately, not able to make this one but I'll be trying to get a copy of the presentation on Sunday.
I should also be able to pick up my bike from Dan Plummer's new shop, Wheels On Wheels, 9225 Carlton Hills Blvd, Santee, after work tomorrow. Dan's replacing the spoke I broke on last Sunday's ride, putting on new tires, brake pads, and bar tape, as well as giving the bike the once-over for other stuff needing attention, cleaning and lube. Thanks Dan!

No Spinning Class for me today, feeling the effects of some late nights recently. I also need to use my lunch hour to get my bike into the shop to have my broken spoke replaced, or else no ride on Sunday!

delayed post Tuesday 8/12/08 6:45 AM on the radio with Scott and BR from xx1090

I was the super lucky winner of the Immunity Pump before last Sunday's ride to Fallbrook, so I knew I would not be getting eliminated from the SBR Cycling team on Tuesday. I got a call Monday night from Marty Caswell/Scott and BR Show producer, asking if I'd be available to talk to Scott and BR on Tuesday morning; I was trying to figure out when I'd need to call her on Tuesday early AM, so I was glad she called me. She said she'd give me a call at around 6:40, and did. I was streaming the show on my PC, so my wife got to listen in. Unfortunately, before I got to chat with Scott and BR, the weekly cut was made, and our friend and teammate Kevin Davenport was eliminated from the competition.
I felt so nervous talking to Scott and BR on the radio, a first-timer on the air. It was a great visit, I got to tease Billy Ray a little about coming out to ride with us on next Sunday's recovery ride; we'd all like to meet BR in person! Scott did mention that after next week, cut down to 10 riders, the remaining team will visit the new studios in Sorrento Mesa and go more in depth about the our involvement with the QMDC, Team SBR, and CAF. Thanks for having me, Scott, BR, Marty and Team 1090!

delayed post - but only by a day! Fallbrook/Live Oak Park ride 8/10/08, 85 miles

I was so tired late last week, got to Spin on Wednesday but rather than perking up on Thu/Fri, I was drained. I was quite heartened to read Mari's email that it was OK, even to be expected to feel this way at the end of this build phase.
XX1090 Immunity Pump challenge was a quiz again yesterday, and I was fortunate and very happy to win. Each weekly winner is supposed to leave his mark on the totem, and it is really quite ghastly now. Carl set the bar high in his first week's win, adding a plastic light-up skull, and subsequent winners added a top hat with a logo and running horse figure (in honor of the Great Friends Stables), a cape and decorative trim with CAF and Scott and BR Show logos, and the most recent addition, Kevin Heil's bike bottle cage with the giant can of Coors Light (official beer sponsor of The Scott and BR Show on XX1090. How will I top this? Regardless, it is a great relief to get to stick around for another week.
The ride started with a haul up the coast, to the Oceanside bike trail. This was another reasonably paced ride, with ample time for visiting. Once we reached the trail, though, it was single file, and from a good bit there after, too; roads too narrow for side-by-side riding. Not too much to report about the ride, several long hills followed by long descents, then back up and down again. It was particularly beautiful coming back through Live Oak Park though, midday sun dappling the road through swaying trees overhead. Of course, this was a downhill stretch, so it went by pretty quickly. Some time before the last SAG stop, someone noticed I had a broken rear wheel spoke, and the wheel was out of true. It wasn't too bad, Kam showed me how to wrap the spoke around the others, and loosened the rear brakes so they wouldn't rub. Thanks Kam. I tried to avoid as many bumps and potholes as I could, and rode home without any incident. I chatted with Dan Plummer when we got back, and I'm going to get my bike over to him for a spoke replacement, brake shoe replacement, and tuneup this week - or no ride on Sunday. I'm glad it will be a recovery ride this week.

delayed post, San Clemente up and back ride, Sunday 8/3/08, 82 mi, 4.5 hr

xx1090 Immunity Challenge was a Calorie Counter - when I first saw the props for the quiz I thought we were going to have to eat as many as possible! Instead, we had to estimate how many calories were in a bucket containing packets of PowerBar Gel. Knowing that each packet has 110 calories, it was just knowing how many packets. I overestimated by twice, there turned out to be 155 packets so about 16,000 cal., I had guessed around 300 and 33,000 cal. Kevin Heil won immunity for a second time with his answer.
This was a good ride with a lot of close riding with a big group 2 this day; although a few of us stopped for a nature break in Carlsbad and didn't reconnect with the rest of 2 until emerging on the north side of Camp Pendleton. That meant a very quick SAG with a few sips of Coke (caffeine!), pretzels, and water refills, then off with the front part of group 2. But, given the size of the group, and the rolling coastal ride, I was able to visit with many different people. It was a beautiful ride, not too hot, I even got to peek at the coast and water a few times. Still it was a long 82 miles and I was ready to be done by the time we got back.

delayed posts, Spinning Class, 7/30/08 50 min. Lunchtime run, 7/31/08 4 mi, 30 min

Spinning is always a great start to the day, and as mentioned before I can feel the benefits on Sunday rides. The intensity of spinning for 45 minutes may be equal to riding twice as long, and breaking a sweat early in the day means at least a workout's been accomplished, all before 8:30 am!
Thursday I was able to get out for a lunchtime run; a quick run down into the right of way/fire road trails next to Campus Point. As before, I definitely notice slower turnover in my running pace, since I'm riding much more than running these days. It was nice to have a different workout, sunshine and warm breeze in the middle of the day.

delayed Post - Sunday July 27, Pine Valley Kitchen Creek Ride 60 mi, 3000'

Hills and Turkeys
I remember an earlier than usual rising, printing a map to Pine Valley (East of Viejas on I8), a morning drive with sun just rising in the east. It was very cool in the parking lot of Major's Diner, and I wished I had brought a sweatshirt, but the sun rose quickly as QMDC riders arrived, and it warmed. The XX1090 immunity challenge was not even contested, as nobody but a demonstrating Todd could reasonably track stand. The ride started with a small climb and a whizzing downhill, still cool at this point, but after 8 or so miles, the climbing started. It did not end until about 22 miles. It was continual, not too steep, but so long. I kept rounding bends and cursing, seeing the road snake on up ahead, up and up. I followed Kevin D for a good while, and when we finally reached the high point of the climbing and flattened out, it was a very alpine area, sparse and shorter pine trees with that warm, dry summer pine needle smell. It would've been a nice place for a picnic or hike, but we were just passing through.
Our first SAG was a much needed stop for water, gel, and pretzels, with a Powerbar. The back half of the ride was just a bit more climbing, then rollers heading first north, skirting the edge of Anza-Borrego - a long way down to the desert, and I wouldn't have wanted to climb back up. When we reached 76 for our left turn, I was amazed to see a sign for Julian - 6 miles. I tried to hang with group 2 on this turn, but the pace was too much and I couldn't hang on the back, so I slowed and found my pace.
I passed by a field by Lake Cuyamaca, and there were 20 or more wild turkeys, led by a big Tom as they grazed, unimpressed by me.
Water began to run low as I made a final turn towards the last 5 miles, and the unpleasant reality of a 2 mile climb before a 3 mile run in had me just about to cramp up; I nursed my way in, though. I wouldn't have been able to ride another 5 miles, but it was great. Carl shared a big bowl of strawberries post ride, and was as always a very popular guy. Thanks Carl!

delayed posts - from week of 7/27/08

Never a good idea to put off any posting, since now I have to rely on my Garmin 50 data and spotty memory to remember back to two weeks ago. How sad is that?
Diana was out of town on business, so no Spinning Class on Wednesday 22nd. But, as my Garmin remembers, I put my bike in the minivan and brought it to work, for a couple of lunchtime rides on Thursday and Friday that week. Thursday was from Campus Point, over to N.Torrey Pines, downhill, over to Vista Sorrento Pkwy and back, with the return by way of Miramar Rd and Eastgate Mall, about 21 miles. Friday was from Campus Point, down the 5, up Sorrento Valley Blvd to Camino Santa Fe, and back by Eastgate Mall, about16 miles. This was getting ready for Kitchen Creek on Sunday.

Today was cut down day #2; Luckily for me my phone did not ring at 6:45 and I've survived with the (now) 13 other XX1090 am Sportsradio Scott & BR Cycling Team; Ray was not so lucky. I haven't seen him since the first week, but he had emailed the group that he broke his collarbone and was recovering from that. Sorry Ray!

delayed post - Sunday July 20 Recovery Ride - Carmel Valley Loop 40 mi

I got up early to watch some TdF coverage which began at 4:30; I was up shortly before 5 tho. I chowed my usual oatmeal and yogurt, and watched the ascent of Col de Agniel, the usual silent sneaking to avoid waking my family. Luckily Carl called at 6:10 as I was preparing to roll and said email had told us to be ready to ride at 6:45; so I left right away.
After the usual morning stop at the Amtrak station, I arrived and saw the crew, not everyone was ready to roll but some were. Jim Carbaugh had another XX1090 quiz, and I was able to answer some questions but simply blanked on others, too much on the brain or brain too small more likely. The 15 remaining Radio contestants picked up our snazzy new jerseys, thanks Scott & BR, XX1090 and QMDC!
Kevin Heil won the mighty Immunity Pump for the week, accepting the freakishly decorated sceptre from Carl. Carl's added 'flair' is a light-up skull.
Kristine and the coaches had recognition and awards for folks from Groups 1-4, and a wild card award for fundraiser Dave; citizenship, community, and promotion of the ethos of CAF/QMDC drove these selections.
We had a safety reminder from Mari, and further expanding on the purpose and nature of a recovery ride from Pat Jak and Kam; strength and endurance gains are not made during the actual training (which breaks down muscle) but during active recovery. This is intellectually accepted by all, but always proves harder to abide to once on the road.
We headed out on the road, and deliberately kept the pace light, safe, and conversational - kept the pedals falling over. I rolled out with group 2 and headed up and down the line, but had a few great chats with Pat. A key piece missing for me is enough focus who the QMDC/CAF is supposed to benefit; Challenged Athletes. Both Pat and Bryon liked the idea I have to meet or connect with a few of the Athletes, Fred and Dale who ride with us weekly being great examples. Both guys have done all the training rides, both using handcycles; these guys are incredibly strong. Although I've said hello and such, I haven't had more of a conversation than that. Hopefully I can spend some time finding out more about them, their involvement in cycling, sports, CAF/QMDC. My hope is that this will take my QMDC experience out of the realm of me/I, to where it should be, focused on benefitting Challenged Athletes/CAF.
Just before the SAG, I was at the back of Group 2 with Pat, and we thought we were waiting for Greg who was coming back to the group after a flat. After a bit, tho, we didn't see him so turned around to go look. Further still, and we found Group 3 with no Greg in between. Pat continued along to look for Greg, will I hitched on with Group 3 and so got to spend the second half of the ride with Carl, Brent, Mike Mac and Frank. This was a double bonus, and the wisecracks were flying. We all kept ourselves in recovery ride mode and had a great roll back to Solana Beach.
Kudos and thanks to Todd for his early morning focaccia bread, just delicious for the post ride. I had my piece and Carl's too.
After the ride, The Six had a parking lot meeting regarding our event coming up in September. Somehow the guy with the worst handwriting ended up secretary, but our festivities and event are too good to forget, notes or not. Stay tuned for announcements to follow.!

Please donate to me or another fundraiser at:
http://mdc2008.kintera.org/bailey4caf

Delayed post, Thursday, July 17 Lunchtime trail run

I got out for a lunchtime run last Thursday, a sunny, breezy puffy cloud perfect day. A quick warmup walk/jog, with some Pat Jak inspired side runs, backwards run, high-knees and butt kickers. I skipped the pushups and squat thrusts, cause the bark on the side of the parking lot's no fun on the hands. I headed down the 'goat trail' single track from the Kyocera parking lot on Campus Point, emerging on Roselle St. The downhill is pretty steep, mostly walking, but as soon as I reached the flat I could feel the slowness in the legs. It's been nearly all riding for the past 2 months, and the muscles used are entirely different. I ran up the canyon, 1.25 of gentle climb on SDGE right of way fire road, then a little flat run on Eastgate Mall and back down. The climb back up to Qualcomm AA includes a very steep final .25 mile, and again the fitness level imposed itself, I could only run 1/2 way and walked the rest. This 4 mile run took 35:16, a few months ago this would have been closer to 30:00. This is OK, and it was great to have the cross-training engagement of different muscles, sunshine, smell of jasmine, and all. I'll strive to get at least 2 weekday lunchtime runs, since lunchtime cycling is not as doable.

Spinning Class, 7:00-8:00 am at The Sporting Club

Jessica filled in for Kris this week, and led us for another excellent eye-opener of Spin to start our day. She has some different music, and focused on matching cadence to the beat. The lights were low, so I couldn't see my HR monitor, maybe a good thing :)
Mike Henderson, Brent, Sam and I represented the XX1090 team; Sam mentioned it was his first Spin Class. Kristine, Chris & Jim McMillan, James, Dave, Helen, Mike McGregor, Kayvon, and a few others I recognize from QMDC but whose names I don't know rounded out the group. I always have trouble recognizing people without helmet, sunglasses, and biking clothes, many times I've introduced myself to someone I've ridden with before. We look so different riding vs otherwise.
I was back to my trail-running shoes, they seem to grip the pedal cages the best, have a relatively firm sole so not much is lost in pushing the pedal. I'm starting to feel a bit stronger in sprinting out of the saddle, but I still lack leg speed and stamina in that standing position, compared to seated. Something to continue to work on, I expect is strongly relates to Core/Upper Body strength, which are lacking. I was probably more tired today than Monday or yesterday, but I still got a good sweat and great workout.