What a beautiful day Sonoma County offered us. I got out on a great bike ride, maybe my new favorite. Thanks to Claire’s suggestion, I have a new “out and back” loop. I have a tendency to do the same ride over and over, probably because of my swimming background, so yesterday, when I suggested going out over Sweetwater Road, Claire suggested that maybe I would have more fun if I was able to climb it twice. So I went down Westside Road, turned on Sweetwater, and then climbed over the hill and turned around at the bottom of the other side and climbed back over. The ride took me just a couple of minutes over two hours. It took 14 minutes for the climb up the backside of Sweetwater, and 20 minutes for the frontside (Guerneville side). The loop kept me off of River Road, which is the dicey part of the ride. I then had a great swim workout at the JC. It was warm enough to ride in shorts and a short sleeve jersey. I got to try out my new Cannondale Lazor Cut Bibs, which were very comfortable, especially the upper half. I really like the fact that the legs aren’t too long either.

The first race of the Grasshopper series was this last Saturday. It was a perfect day for the race, a little drizzle, a little rain, and plenty of good energy. The first 5 or 6 miles of the race is supposed to be neutral, meaning that nobody should be attacking. It was pretty interesting heading down Bohemian Hwy. in the rain. For the most part, nobody’s brakes were working, so everyone was a little nervous about having to slow down in a hurry. At one point a couple of riders went down aobut 10 feet in front of me. I decided that it would not be good to slow down with half the pack behind me, so I swerved around them. As I looked back over me shoulder, there was a tiny bit of chaos as other riders weren’t so lucky. Anyway, after a quick pee break outside of Duncan’s Mills, the race started moving a little faster. Things really don’t start until you hit Old Duncan Road, which is a sweet old dirt road (mud at this time of year). From there you make your way over to Old Cazadero Road. You climb up on pavement, but then you descend on dirt (mud), a quick creek crossing at the bottom, and then you climb back up on dirt (mud). After heading through Cazadero, you head out to Willow Creek road which is a dirt climb that goes up 1200 feet in about 5 miles. A great way to end the race. I felt great the entire time and was very pleased with the experience. I am looking forward to the next race in a couple of weeks.

It has been a couple of days since I last wrote in. The weather has been great out here in Northern CA. I have been getting out on some good bike rides lately. I’ve ridden Sweetwater three times in the last two days. It is a great climb and the loop only takes about an hour and a half from our front door. Tomorrow we will be riding out to the top of Coleman Valley Road to see Stage 1 of the Tour of California. On Tuesday we will be riding up Trinity road to check out the second stage. It is pretty exciting to have a big professional race right in your back yard. I think we will take out some wine and cheese and some lawn chairs to enjoy tomorrows race. I will just load them all up in the back of our Burley trailer. I will post some pictures.

Claire and I went out for a nice relaxing 35 mile bike ride. Claire picked out the loop which was quite flat. I rode my fixed gear and felt really good. There wasn’t much traffic.

Yesterday, I rode the rollers for about an hour. I have my new favorite workout. I warm up for about 10 minutes, and then go 5 hard, 4 easy, 5 hard, 4 easy, 4 hard, 3 easy, 4 hard, 3 easy, 3 hard, 2 easy, 3 hard, 2 easy, 2 hard, 1 easy, 2 hard, 1 easy, 1 hard, 1 easy, 1 hard, warm down. I was able to get my heart rate up into the 180’s on most of the hard sessions. I hit 194 on the last hard one. It is a killer workout that goes by real fast. I made a graph of my heart rate. I just need to make sure I have the right mix of music on my iPod. I then went out and ran for about 20 minutes and walked for about 45 minutes. Then went swimming (3000 yards). My legs were cramping up pretty good on the kicking sets. Then home for some homemade pizza and Racer 5 IPA. Today Claire and I will be getting out for a bike ride since it is a clear, blue sky out there.

I finally got the scoop on the 2007 Grasshopper race series. The first race is Feb. 24. I will attempt to put in a pdf file showing the race schedule. These are very fun, nontraditional races. the entry fee is very reasonable (free), and the atmosphere is all about fun. I’m not saying that they are not fast. These are some of the fastest races you can do. The first one features some great dirt sections and a stream crossing. I’m never fully prepared for these races, physically that is, but I’m only there for the fun and the camaraderie. I think I spelled that correctly. There are plenty of folks there who are in great shape, and really go fast. There are four races and they are great for getting a person in shape.

I am doing this blog mainly for personal reasons. I am hoping that it will keep me motivated in my training for the Vineman triathlon as well as the Death Ride. If you don’t want to read about my personal training, then don’t read any further.