Low Key Hill Climb Awards Ceremont - Dec. 11, 2009

RFA and I attended the Low Key Hill Climb Awards Ceremony at The Sports Basement. Our team Sisters and Misters of No Mercy was the #1 team so it was super special. Unfortunately do to work schedule and distance, we were unable to have dinner with the team before the ceremony. There was a great turnout. I was thrlled to be awarded the #2 overall woman - and, of course, our fearless leader Janet Martinez was #1 woman. Carl Neilsen was #2 overall in the men's category.

SportVelo Turkey Training Camp - Nov. 28-29, 2009

RFA and I participated in the SportVelo Turkey Training Camp on Sat. and Sun., Nov. 28-29, 2009. The camp started on Friday, but after the hard long race up Mt. Hamilton for the low key hill climb on Thanksgiving Day, we opted to do an easy one hour high cadence session on the trainer on Friday, and start the camp on Sat. Turns out that was all for the better because it was rainy on Friday. We were lucky that the weather was beautiful over the weekend. We all met at Coach Dan's home and started from there - warm-up and then a long climb up Page Mill - that was awful - my legs weren't recovered to handle the surges up the grades of 15% plus. We had a great paceline with Dan out to San Gregorio. I felt much better on the climb up Tunitas. Total: 53 miles; 5485 ft climbing; 3:49. Back to Coach Dan's house for a shower, grilled salmon for lunch, 1/2 hour massage and lecture by Rene from Agile PT on cycling and physiology. Great day with my cycling friends. And Andi is a great hostess. Sunday's schedule was 3 repeats up Old La Honda; however, I had to get ready for my business trip to Switzerland the next day, so we did an abbreviated ride - 1 OLH climb; 33 miles; 2755 ft climbing; 2:11.

Mt. Hamilton Low Key Hill Climb - Nov. 26, 2009

Great finale of LKHC - Mt. Hamilton climb - our Thanksgiving Day tradition the past 3 years. The climb has three sections with a short descent between climb 1 and climb2. Climb 1 is 5.90 mi, 1514 ft (4.86%); climb 2: 3.20 mi, 770 ft (4.56%) and climb 3 is the toughest with 6.60 mi, 2060 ft (5.91%). Total climb to the observatory is 18.4 miles, 4343 ft. I finished 6th out of 18 women at 98:21. A woman sprinted by me at the end and beat me by 5 seconds - took me by surprise and I couldn't catch her. RFA had a good finish at 106:48. RFA and I are proud to be part of the winning team - Sisters and Misters of No Mercy - congrats to all. And I am thrilled to be #2 woman overall - and team mate Janet Martinez is #1 woman.

JEP Coaching Scholarship

On October 31, 2009, RFA and I found out that we were both awarded 2010 AV/JEP coaching scholarships with Coach Dan/SportVelo - thank you Alto Velo! We are thrilled and honored. We had our initial consultations and Coach Dan and established our goals for 2010. Coach Dan using trainingpeaks.com and we upload our power data from our training programs. I really like the customized training programs, the communication and look forward to a great racing season.

Mt.Diablo Low Key Hill Climb - Nov. 14, 2009

RFA and I left the house and the pavement was wet, mist in the air and then a downpour as we crossed the Bay Bridge - then, like a miracle, the sky cleared and the sun came out. Another beautiful warm LKHC day! The Mt. Diablo LKHC started late as a time trial from North Gate. The North Gate section is 6.25 mi, 1910 ft (5.8% grade; the Summit Rd. section is 4.5 mi, 1690 ft (6.9% grade) for a total of 10.75 miles, 3600 ft (6.3% grade). And then, of course, the finish is "The Wall" at 20%. I forgot how tough the Wall is! I kept a steady pace and finished 4th out of the 18 women with a time of 71:41. My Sisters and Misters of No Mercy team mate Janet Martinez was the #1 woman at 68:07. RFA finished well at 76:25. And our team finished #1.