A1 and A2 came out today for a ride.  A1 was in the mood for hills, and really wanted to go do Sweetwater.  I am sorry to say that I let him down.  We found some hills, but didn’t make it over to Sweetwater.  Here is a map of our route.  We started with a nice spin out Martinelli Road.  We then turned right on 116 and crossed our fingers for the next 3 miles.  We didn’t have any big trucks pass us, but we were still all relieved when we finally turned on Green Valley.  My heart rate hit 191 on the Green Valley hill.  If I rode close enough to A1, my heart rate monitor showed 215, but I think it was combining our heart rates.  We then turned right and headed up Harrison Grade.  We were still all staying together, which makes those climbs more fun.  I took them across Graton Road and up Facendini to Occidental Road.  We dropped down a bit before turning right on Jonive.  I took them on a secret road off of Jonive which is not on the map.  I hadn’t been on the road for probably 10 years or so, but it still had the gravel section on it I remembered so fondly.  After a quick drop down to Freestone, we stopped at the Wild Flour Bakery and split a sticky bun between the three of us.  We then battled a little headwind and headed out to the town of Bodega.  We turned right on Joy Road right before town and climbed up and back down into Occidental.  We could have come straight home from there, but instead we headed up Graton and turned right on Acreage.  That was another road I haven’t been on in ages.  We dropped down Acreage and then got to climb back up Morelli which runs you back into Harrison Grade.  We retraced our path back home from there.  The big event of the day for me was wearing my new Sidi Ergo 2 shoes.  I don’t know if they made me any faster, but I sure looked fast.  They were quite comfy also, which is a bonus to a pair of good looking shoes.  After getting back home, we headed into Guerneville for Mexican food at La Tapatia.  A1 got to drive the hub bus there, and now he says his life is now complete.  

I got home from the shop a couple of minutes early this evening, and somehow convinced myself to go out for a run.  I was teetering back and forth, and came very, very close to not going.  I am glad I went.  I felt really good with almost no pain at all in my calves.  I ran down to Steelhead Beach regional park and did some loops in the park.  I ended up running for almost exactly an hour.  I felt like I could have kept going all night, but I wanted to get home to barbeque up some red snapper and some vegetables.  I don’t know why we haven’t been doing this all along, but I cut up mushrooms, green peppers, red peppers, and a couple of zucchinis and put them in a basket that sits right on the grill.  I didn’t add anything else, and they were great.  I had the same thing the other night and couldn’t wait to do it again.  I am undecided about whether I will ride in to work with Mathilda or not in the morning.  The idea of a leisurely cup of coffee instead is awfully tempting.

Mathilda and I commuted into work on our bike this morning.  I was tired from the run yesterday evening, but it felt great to be outside.  I feel pretty darn lucky to have the opportunity to ride to work on back county roads with my dog.  We took a slightly different route this morning over Laguna Road, which is a tough one.  Those little rises get your heart rate up when you are towing 60 pounds in a trailer behind you.  I let Mathilda take a couple of minutes to explore on the little paths off the side of the road on Willowside before heading the rest of the way in.  It took us just a bit under two hours.  We decided not to ride home and bribed my son and daughter-in-law with some pizza for a ride back to Forestville.

I had just enough energy when I got home from work this evening to do my Martinelli out and back.  I had some good, sharp pain in my left calf.  It feels like there is a tendon snapping back and forth.  I put a couple of pieces of neoprene around my calf to hold the tendon in place, and it felt better.  I was running 7:15 miles for the most part.  I really felt good except for the calf pain.  I will try to commute in to work and home with Mathilda on the bike tomorrow.  The shop is busy as all get out, so I am feeling pretty beat up by the end of the day.  I guess that could be considered cross training.  We do need to do something about the floor in the work area, it is hard standing on the concrete all day.

Stick a fork in me, I think I am done.  Well, A1, A2, and Tayler came out to the house today for a nice casual ride.  I planned on taking them out to do the Chalk Hill loop, and I promised them an easy ride since it was to be A2’s longest ride yet.  We set off from the house at a little after 11, and we dropped A2 one block into the ride.  Actually, A2 was still trying to figure out those pesky clipless pedals.  Anyway, we crossed the bridge, and then turned right on Westside Road.  After coasting down the first hill, I was ready to spin along, when A1 decides that he wanted to go faster. That was the end of the “easy spin”.  To make a long story short, we ended up averaging a bit over 19 mph for the 57 mile loop.  Everyone worked great together, which was a lot of fun for me.  Nobody increased the pace when it was their turn to pull, and nobody pulled for so long that they couldn’t get back on.  We had a quick stop in Jimtown for some water and a bathroom break, and then we headed over to Chalk Hill.  It is a great experience getting to show new cyclist some of my favorite roads and to hear how much they enjoy them.  By the time we got back home, we were all feeling quite worked over.  Tayler had actually brought along his running shoes in case I wanted to go for a run after the ride, but we both agreed that a hot tub would be better.  I was super impressed by A2 considering that he has only been riding for a couple of months.  I know from experience how hard it can be to ride that fast and never take it easy, and A2 never complained and was right there at the front pulling when it was his turn.  We missed having Jimmy Neutron along, but sometimes school work comes before a bike ride, even if you put off that school work the whole spring break and have to do it the night before it is due.  A1 and A2 agreed that if Jimmy Neutron was along, it would have been easier because that guy love to go fast on the flats.

I went out today with Eric the Fireman.  We had a terrific ride.  He has been itching to do Sweetwater Road for a while, so, after adding in Mays Canyon Road, we went up the Guerneville side of Sweetwater.  Here is a map of our loop.  I haven’t ridden with Eric in quite a while, and I forgot how fast he likes to go on the flats.  I was joking with him about 2 miles into the ride because he was pushing the pace already.  He accused me of setting the pace, but I pointed out that his front wheel was slightly ahead of mine.  The total loop was 86 km, and we averaged 25 kph.  I’m sorry about that metric stuff, but I can’t figure out how to set my new cyclometer to miles.  Actually, I know how to switch it, but I am enjoying the larger numbers.  It is fun to climb at 12 kph instead of 7 or 8 mph.  Tomorrow A1 and A2 are coming out and I am going to introduce them to the Chalk Hill loop.  I also have been feeding my sourdough sponge for the last 2 days, and need to make some bread.  I went to Andy’s Market today and picked out some special flours and some stuff for my Killer Granola. The granola is not low fat food.  The recipe originally came from the Cheeseboard in Berkeley.

I went out today and rode 120 km.  That is about 75 miles.  It was quite a ride.  I tried to make a map of it, and maybe I will try again, but I think it is too complicated for Google Maps.  Anyway, I headed out over every hill I could think of from Forestville to Cotati.  It took me about 2 hours to get to the shop where I got some more water and some more energy food.  I then did the wrong thing by heading back out towards Valley Ford via Middle Road.  There was, of course, a terrible headwind, and it was slow going.  I ended up riding up Bohemian Hwy. into Occidental, where, instead of heading over Graton Road and home, I had to go over Morelli and back down Harrison Grade and back over Green Valley.  It was just under 5 hours on the bike.  Tomorrow I will be going out with Eric the Fireman to do Sweetwater and some other hills.  It was cloudy all day and I got sprinkled on a bit when I was out on Jonive and Barnett Valley.  I had a big bowl of pasta when I got home and some buttered popcorn.  I also poured myself the perfect “black and tan”, I had to take a picture of it.  The secret is using a spoon to pour the Guinness over.  Here is a map of the ride from Forestville to Cotati.

Claire and I just got back from 5 nights of camping in the Santa Cruz area.  We camped for two nights at New Brighton Beach, two nights in Big Basin, and the last night in Butano State Park.  We took our bikes, Mathilda, and Mathilda’s trailer.  Of course we packed plenty of firewood on the top of the Hub Bus.  What does this all have to do with training, well, not a lot, but we did ride into Santa Cruz each day and did about 40 km of riding each day with Mathilda in tow.  The first day we piled up the trailer with beach chairs, dog, and a picnic lunch and rode down to one of our favorite beaches in Santa Cruz.  We sat on the beach, and I even jumped in the water for one wave.  

Mathilda and I rode home together last night. It was one of our tougher commutes since we had a good headwind the whole way and Mathilda refused to do any pulling. It took almost 2 hours instead of the usual 1.5 hours. I need to talk with Mathilda about doing her share of the work. She complains that she doesn’t have thumbs, so she can’t shift gears, but I think that is just an excuse. The least she could do is keep her ears down to reduce the wind resistance. Anyway, it is 59 days till The World’s Toughest Half, and I haven’t been running at all. Oh well, I will be well rested.

Claire and I took the Burley tandem out today for a 36 mile ride.  We parked in Duncans Mills, and then headed out to Highway 1 via 116.  We had quite a tailwind heading down the coast.  We were usually cruising at around 30 mph, which made some of those hairpin corners fun.  It was a bit chilly, but we both warmed up quickly as we climbed Bay Hill Road, which is one of Claire’s favorites.  It is quite steep, and the down hill isn’t much fun since it is so bumpy, but the views from the top are incredible.  We then headed past the town of Bodega, where we rode thru town at 7 mph over the speed limit.  We stopped at the Wild Flour Bread Bakery in Freestone.  We had a sticky bun that was incredible and a cup of coffee.  We talked with the owner for a couple of minutes about surfing and bike rides.  We then headed thru Occidental and down Bohemian Hwy. into Monte Rio before taking Moscow Road back to the car.  Both of us were a little tired from a late night the night before, but we were glad we did the ride.