Mallorca Trip - Day 4, October 11, 2008

Saturday morning we did a repeat of Friday's 25 mile loop to Calvia with Bobbi and Mark (with the requisite cappuchino stop). We arrived back to the hotel just in time for a light lunch (salad) with the group who just arrived from Madrid. The group then moved to the pool area to assemble their tandems. I relaxed poolside while RFA assisted others. We did another 25 mile loop through a forest, through Puerto Nous along the coast and a variation of the Calvia loop. We enjoyed dinner at the hotel - menu featuring risotto with truffles, pork, a decadent chocolate desert and wine. I ate and drank too much! Good thing we cycled 50 miles today!

Mallorca Trip - Day 3, October 10, 2008

We felt pretty good this morning after a good night's sleep and feasted at the hotel's vast buffet. Tables of cheese, breads, fruits, meats, grilled vegetables, eggs, omelet bar, yogurt, cereals - even caprese. We built the tandem on the tennis courts - it went pretty smoothly and I tried my best to be a patient assistant. The weather was partly sunny and pleasant. We managed to plot out a bike route on our own and did a 25 mile loop to Calvia and back - it felt fantastic! Stopped for cappuchino. We ran into Mark and Bobbi McC. in the bike storage room in the hotel garage. We met them on the Tuscany Santana tandem trip - they live in Cupertino, just down the SF Peninsula where we live. Had not seen them since! Small world. Mark is a very strong rider. We made plans to get together for a Saturday morning ride before the rest of the group arrived. In the evening we went into Palma for dinner and found a lovely modern French restaurant - great Rioja wine. I had a grilled chicken salad. Don't even think about dinner until 8 PM. A great day!

Mallorca Trip - Day 2, October 9, 2008

We had a tight connection in Madrid and it took us a while to get to our gate - seemed like endless trains and escalators. We went through passport control and security in Madrid and boarded a domestic Iberia flight to Palma. On the plane we suddenly got the sick feeling that we should had cleared customs in Madrid - thinking how could we be so stupid and envisioning flying back to Madrid to try to sort out this mess. We were encouraged when we saw a customs sign in Palma, and, sure enough, the international baggage was segregated from the domestic baggage. The Iberia agent informed us that the bike bag did not make the flight, but that they would deliver it to the hotel by 5 PM that same day. We arranged our own pre-tour, arriving two days ahead of the Santana group - some of whom were doing a pre-tour in Madrid. We stayed on the Hotel Valparaiso Palace - a beautiful 5 star hotel sitting atop a steep hill (more on that later!) overlooking the cruise ship dock. The people were very service-oriented and we had a lovely room overlooking the pool and the water. The weather was unsettled and windy when we arrived, but no rain. We took a brief nap and felt even worse when we got up. We had a late lunch at the hotel (a parma ham and parmesan cheese salad) and then took the bus into downtown Palma. Palma is an amazing large city - reminded me a bit of Barcelona (no surprise there!) The Palma Cathedral was massive and certainly the dominant landmark, built during the 13th century. We heard that Mallorca had a velodrome and tried to find it using our map - we find the remnants of a demolished racetrack and velodrome, only to later learn that there is a brand new velodrome - next visit!! Then we took a cab to the outskirts of the city to a high end bike shop to see about renting singles for the next day. They were very accomodating and had some decent aluminim Orbeas for rent - only problem was, according to the bike shop folks, no really good plact to ride from the shop and we didn't have a car. We went back to the hotel and just grazed for dinner (South Beach bar and a glass of wine) and went to bed early.

Mallorca Trip - Day 1, October 8, 2008

We are off to Mallorca on a Santana tandem bike tour for ten days! Les from Summit Cycles, Burlingame, CA gave us a ride to SFO in his van so we could transport the tandem - that is a good friend! This time we had no problem checking the bike in the BikePro bag with American Airlines and they did not charge us anything extra. We had free frequent flyer first class tickets. All of our flights were on time (SFO-ORD (Chicago)-Madrid-Palma. We flew on Iberia, AA's partner, on the legs to Madrid and Palma. The transatlantic flight was only half-full which was nice. We ddn't get much sleep 'tho. I was pretty bummed out about the weather - the foreseeable forecast was rain, wind and thunderstorms. To make matters worse, the weather in San Mateo showed a beautiful, sunny, warm forecast for the next week. We packed rain gear, base layers, rain booties, umbrella expecting the worse.

Mt. Tam Hill Climb September 27, 2008

We woke up at 5:50 AM and left the house around 7:15 for the drive to Stinson Beach. The Golden Gate Bridge was beautiful in the fog and then almost like magic, Sausalito was sitting in brilliant sunshine. There wasn't much traffic on the windy mountainous road to Stinson Beach. There was plenty of parking and we rode bikes over to the registration area. We ran into Pete from Bikeforums who was his usual ebullient self. He was racing with RFA in the 55+ category. We also saw Ron L. who was already warming up on the trainer. Phyllis was walking over with pancakes from the cafe - she wasn't up for racing up Mt. Tam and elected to ride her mountain bike on her own. While it would have been nice to have P. race to spur me on, she would have been riding with the Cat 1/2/3s, while I was racing with the Cat 4s. The 4 mile flat lead out in the peloton would have rendered our times disparate by at least one minute (the W Cat 1/2/3 peloton being that much faster on the flat lead out). I did have 2 WebCor teammates in the W Cat 4 -Alison C. (a non-racr but good hill climber) and Jamii N. who had a great time in the 2007 Mt. Tam Hill Climb. RFA and I warmed up on the trainer and headed out to the start line. RFA's group started 5 minutes ahead of the W Cat 4s. There was a chance that I might pass RFA, but it was far from a sure thing. The temperatures were perfect and the sun was shining. There were aout 23 pre-registered in the W Cat 4, but only 16 women showed up at the start line.

The Course: The hill climb is 12.5 miles with about 2000 feet of climbing. The first leg is a flat 4 1/2 miles along the lagoon. Right turn to Bolinas-Fairfax Road through the woods with some steep parts exceeding a 10% grade for 4 miles, followed by the 4 mile "Seven Sisters" stair-step climb to the finish.

The W Cat4 peloton were led out by a race official vehicle and started out at a sane pace (maybe about 25 mph but it felt easy with the draft and tail wind effect). We all behaved and rode in a double pace line. I was well-positioned about 4 riders back. We took the right turn to Fairfax-Bolinas cautiously and crossed the open cattle grate safely. We then started climbing and the group splintered. There were about ten women ahead of me at this point. I passed one women a few minutes later and was hoping that I might make some gains along the way. Soon some of the Men's Elite Cat 4 (this group started 5 minuted behind us) passed me and gave me some words of encouragement. I just climbed steadily and fell into a rhythm, trying to keep my HR up at 150-152. Soon I broke out onto the ridge and took on the Seven Sisters. The sun was hot on my face at this point and I poured some water down my back. I was taking sips along the way to keep hydrated. I passed a couple of the men's 55+ racers. I finished in 58:41, well off my goal of 55-56 minutes. I just didn't have the drive to psuh myself to the limits for this race. RFA and I have been in "active rest" for the month of September and have not been doing any sustained threshold hill climbing to train for this race. Not an "A" race in Dmitriy's eyes. I met RFA at the top - he had a good time of 1:01:57 - never had the pleasure of passing him!

The race was well-organized, and I look forward to doing it again next year and shaving minutes from my time!

Recap of 2008 Racing Season and 2009 Goals

The 2008 racing season is essentially over. Today was the last “Beat the Clock” Canada time trial, and next Saturday is the Mt. Tam Hill Climb – and that is it. The Russians have us in “active rest” for the month of September, so we haven’t been doing any special preparation for these events. Even the Sunday Russian rides for September are shorter distances, no serious hill climbing and medium-paced. We get chastised if we ride too fast (Vladmir at the side of the road motioning “down, down”). Our workouts are designed to maintain our current level and provide a rest period so that we are mentally and physically ready to start hard training in October. Except that RFA and I are heading off to Mallorca on Oct. 8 for ten days on a Santana tandem tour. The cycling in Mallorca will include some good climbs, and although it will be social, just by riding every day, we should be ready to jump right into the Russian’s October training schedule. It will back to the weight workouts in the cycling gym immediately followed by the trainer workouts. Nasty stuff. We have been duly warned that we will be doing repeats up Old La Honda with the lead water bottle and long (70 mile plus) hard training rides on the road in November, more intense weight workouts, and 1 ½ hour trainer workouts. We also need to work in training at the Hellyer velodrome on the track bikes 1-2 times a month. While I have been regularly doing weight workouts (5 times a week) on my own at Equinox, I haven’t done any leg strength training since the end of last January.

This is a good time to evaluate my cycling over the past nine months and contemplate what lies ahead for 2009.

A look back at 2008 racing season:
We have been training with the Russians for a little over 9 months. We have been very dedicated, not missing a workout and following the program. I must admit that I am very pleased with my improvement. I have a LONG way to go, but have made measurable progress.
By far, the highlight of the year was winning the Masters Track National Championship in the 2k individual pursuit with a time of 2:59. Along with that, being named “Rider of the Month” for that feat by my Alto Velo WebCor Racing Team and my first place finish at the Esparto Time Trial (that elusive victory).
My biggest disappointment: missing the podium at the Northern California Nevada State Time Trial Championships (Sattley)

A review of the statistics with some short commentary:
# crashes: 0
# falls: 0
# cycling-related injuries: 0
# friends made through cycling: Many
# new bikes: 2 (Orbea Ordu TT bike and Cervelo P3C Track frame)
# pounds lost: 9 (117 down to 108)
% body fat change: 5 % (13.8% down to 8.8%)

# Races this year: 26 (updated for Mt. Tam)
4 hill climbs
11 time trials (3 tandem TTs (one unsanctioned)), 8 ITT (5 unsanctioned)
6 road races (1 circuit race)
0 crits
5 track events (3 unsanctioned)
# DNFs: 0
# first place finishes: 7 (2 sanctioned/5 unsanctioned)

Details
Hill Climbs: (updated for Mt. Tam)
San Bruno Hill Climb - 10/20
WebCor King of the Mountain - 5/16
Mt. Diablo Hill Climb – 4/8
Mt. Tam - 10/16


Time Trials:
Berkeley Hills TTT (tandem) – 4/5 – happy we knocked 3:36 off our 2007 time
Bay Area Senior Games – 1/2 (non-sanctioned/on road bike)
Dunlop TT – 8/23
Northern CA/Nevada ITT State Championship – 4/4 – only 7 seconds out of second place; disappointing results because I know I am better than my results show.
Northern CA/Nevada Tandem TT State Championship – 2/2 – knocked 4:22 off our 2007 time and I had just done the 20k ITT
Esparto TT – First place (1/10) – My first victory!
Canada Beat Beat the Clock TTs
ITT 27:11 (7/19); Tandem 27:54 (2/2) (both RFA and I did ITT beforehand)
26:30 (6/11) – a Personal Best
26:51 (4/11)
26:37 (1/7)

Road Races/Circuit Races:
· Brisbane Circuit Race (24/40) – my first road race; happy that I didn’t crash, and made up time on the climbs and caught my team mate
· Wente Road Race (7/19) – in a breakaway and lead peloton until the end; dehydrated and neuroma foot pain
· Berkeley Hills Road Race (13/38) – in the lead peloton until the end
· Spring Hill Road Race – (11/16) – dropped by the lead peloton on the first climb, poor results
· Diamond Valley State Championship Road Race (4/6) – dropped by first and second place finishers on the first climb; almost dropped out due to extreme neuroma foot pain
· University Road Race (10/10) – finished last of the finishers – lapped – disappointing but acknowledged as the hardest RR.

Track:
Beat the Clock: won the 2K, 3K and 4K pursuits on my Orbea Ordu TT road bike
Track Masters National Championship: 4/5 in the 500 meter; 1/3 in the 2K individual pursuit with a time of 2:59.

The Year Ahead:
On Thursday, Dmitriy shared his goals for me for next year.
20’ OLH time (I am currently at 23:30 with a hard but not full out effort)
2:45 2K pursuit time at the track (my National Championship time was 2:59). I will need to do this in order to have a chance to win at Nats or Worlds.
Upgrade from Cat 4 to Cat 3 by the end of the year
I embrace these goals and I will definitely be working hard to achieve them.

Other goals for 2009:
First place in the State Masters TT championship (or at least close in on "she who cannot be named's" time and take second)
Improve my time at Dunlop TT by at least 30 seconds
First place at Nats Masters TT
Defend Esparto TT first-place victory
First place at State Masters Track Championship – 2k individual pursuit
Defend National Championship at Nats Masters Track Championship – 2k individual pursuit
First place Worlds Masters Track Championship – 2k individual pursuit

Beat the Clock Time Trial Report - Sat. Sept. 20, 2008

This was the last Beat the Clock Time Trial of the season. RFA and I debated whether to participate, and if we did, as individuals or perhaps as a team. The racing season is over and we are in "active rest" for the month of September, so it was hard to get excited about this event. On the other hand, it is for such a good cause, always fun, and there are so few TTs. We decided not to do the team time trial (TTT) since we haven't practiced and didn't want to crash just before our Mallorca trip. When my friend (and competitor) registered, that was enough to solidify my decision to do the individual time trial (ITT) event. In an attempt to do some preparation, the week before, I rode my TT bike at the cycling gym two days and on Thursday did another speed workout (110 cadence) on the trainer on my road bike. I was also hoping that some of the track workouts would carry over. We got up at 5:15 AM and left the house at 6:15. It was still dark when we arrived at Canada and Edgewood. We used flashlights to put the bikes on the trainers. At least the air was moderate (low 60's) and almost no wind. The air however felt heavy with moisture so it would be difficult to set any new personal bests. The important thing is that the pavement was dry. RFA had a 7:30 start time and I was scheduled to start at 7:31. So it appeared that the start times were purposely set so that RFA would be my one-minute "rabbit." RFA used the Easton tubulars on his Cervelo TT bike and I was set up with the disc and the tri-spoke. In theory, the disk and the tri-spoke are definitely more aero. I felt that my top speeds were faster, but the wheels didn't seem as responsive on the climbs compared to my Eastons. My goal was to beat PD and LH but PD decided to scrap the ITT and only do the TTT, and LH was a no show. So now my goal was to pass RFA. We both had good starts. Nearing the turn around, I saw RFA already heading back. I guessed that there was a 30 second gap to close to pass him. I passed the guy who started ahead of RFA after the backside of the water temple but still no RFA. I started my Garmin before the start and guessed my time to be around 27 minutes. I was not real happy - but happy that RFA had a good time. If the starting times were correct, that would put him in the neighborhood of 27:30 which would be phenomenal given that his personal best for BTC was 27:54. Results were posted today and we are trying to make sense of them. I have a time of 26:37 and RFA's time is 27:56. If the start times are correct, that means I would have passed him - which I didn't. (BTW, RFA's electronics weren't set, so he has no personal data.) We surmise that his time is correct, the start times were one and one-half minutes apart and my time is about 23 seconds too fast. We'll see if they post corrected times. Regardless, I was the fastest woman! Even with a corrected time! The #2 woman was 27:24. Sweet!