alpine dam

as a side note, I don’t know the people in the photo.  at all.  but I passed them, and about 100 other people that were in some type of club.  oh yea, and this morning at the bridge I spotted my homies justin and travis (who works at freewheel, cat2 racer!).  we chatted for a second, and I told him I’d come through the shop for more hammergel.

lots and lots of cyclists out today, it was a mess at some points in fairfax.  but once I started heading towards the coast, I had the road to myself.  perfect weather today, a bit breezy on the way back through mill valley and sausalito.  I didn’t have much of an appetite today, and only 1 gel with me from the 4 samples I bought 2 days ago from freewheel.  the rest of the solid food I had wasn’t appealing on such a warm day, but I still made good time back to the city without feeling sick or overly exhausted.  so I popped in the shop, and chatted with travis for a bit about shoes, positioning, cleats, speedplays, and gels.  I left with:

the flask holds 5 servings.  huckleberry and raspberry tasted the best to me, and I could see myself nomming both whether it was hot or cold out.  apple just tasted weird in the warmth, yesterday – it’d probably taste better in cooler weather…OH WELL.  saying hellooooooooo to a consistent power curve!

255 miles this week, thus far.  let’s gooo 300+!

took 3 gels with me, along with a clif bar to nom on occasionally.  oh, and a scoop of heed in one of my bottles.  I sipped on the heed bottle throughout the entire ride, and popped gels at 3 points – at alpine dam (pictured), then another while getting water at panoramic highway, and the last one in tiburon after riding paradise.  85 miles in 5 hours isn’t too bad.

here’s a funny chat I had with my boy, zain.  it happened today riding:

me:  i want to get some dgaf stickers made
lowercase
for added appeal
sl1mzainy:  haha
me:  wooooooooooo awesome now i’m gonna be lonely in my house
LAME
oh, i actually ran into some old guys on the way up to alpine dam
one guy, i had a history with
mr. vintage bianchi that kicked my ass 4mo ago
and he had another friend with him, riding a vintage bike too, it was sick
so i catch up to them
and i’m trying to pass
but they’re taking up the whole lane riding side by side
so i’m just sitting there looking at 2 old guys
for like, 3min straight
so i yell, ON YOUR LEFT and pass
get to the dam, try one of my new gels
it’s fucking delicious actually
and boom, i feel almost 100% again
toss it in the can, and WOOPS there are the old guys again
i was like
FUCK
now i gotta pass them
AGAIN
sl1mzainy:  wtf
me:  yea
sl1mzainy:  damnj
epic racing
me:  well they were going not TOO much slower than me
so we’re riding on the dam
and the friend goes
shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit that bike must weigh 5lbs
- actually it’s 16.5, but you were close
he was actually cool
the bianchi guy that passed me was dick
anyway
get to the 8-9% grade part, it’s steep
so they’re just puffing along, and i pass them again
i was like, cool, i passed them, i’m good to go
2 miles later
friend catches up
and he’s been trying ridic hard to catch up
and i’m just taking a breather
so he passes me and i’m like
damn, totally jacked your friend on the bianchi
and he goes
psh, men gotta ride
HAHAHAHAHAHA
get to the top
he waits for his friend and says PZ
so again, i’m alone
20mi LATER
i stop and get water
eat a gel
and then start descending
WOOPS THEY CAUGHT UP AGAIN
and the bianchi guy goes
OH GEEZ, THIS GUY
i’m like
dude, watch this shit
sl1mzainy:  LOL
me:  so we start descending
and i’m in the big ring
smallest cog
dgaf
hit 30, 40
first turn, bank that shit
45 on the straight
and i never see them again
ever
/end
sl1mzainy:  damn
owned
crazy ratio status
me:  53×12
it’s like 118 gear inches
LOL
sl1mzainy:  holyfuck
me:  yea, but that’s road bikes for you
you can go so fast
sl1mzainy:  you mean cars
me:  wat
sl1mzainy:  xxravinxdragonxx (1:35:20 PM): yea, but that’s cars for you
me:  me:  yea, but that’s road bikes for you
sl1mzainy:  LOL
me:  wtf is going on
LOL

I was in a bit of a rush to get back though, since I was asked to work at 2pm.  long story short, they didn’t need me to come in anymore.  OH WELL.  I guess now I “have to” enjoy my friday.  oh WOOPS!

opted for a long ride today, alpine dam to paradise loop.  had an awkward chat with some day-touring folks about where mt. tam was.  actually, I didn’t really chat with them, a runner that was passing by on blithdale did.  they asked, “where’s mt. tam?”.  I started explaining it, and the runner goes, “see that mountain right there?” – he points to the top of camino alto.  “THAT’S MT. TAM.”

and then the light turned green, so I just left.  I mean, really though, you’re running in mill valley, someone such as yourself would know camino alto is not the same as mt. tam.  maybe I should’ve told them the real way.  oh well.

clocked in at around 5.5 hours, couple of water stops, and such.  tourists on the bridge…same OLD!

pulled up my blinds this morning to see nothing but fog and wet asphalt.  I was a bit disappointed, but checked the forecast for the rest of the day, and decided to head out.  you know, the usual 85…alpine dam, then paradise loop the normal way.  not too many cars out today, or cyclists for that matter, but surprisingly a lot of cops.  most exciting thing that happened? a crow flew in front of me and almost took out my face.  HAHA – but at the time, I wasn’t laughing.

I forgot to take a picture at alpine dam and tiburon, so the shot above is from the bike path leading back to mill valley.  actually, that’s a lie, I didn’t forget to take a picture.  at alpine dam, I decided to just climb out right away, not stop and take a breather.  then at tiburon I got a message asking me if I could work later in the day.  long story short, now I’m at work.

lit up alpine dam and paradise loop today, that eighty fizzIVE.  I was still a bit sore from threshold intervals on monday, so I took it easy for the beginning of the ride.  there LOTS of fog on the bridge, all the way to the bike trail in sausalito.  then it cleared up on the climb out of fairfax.  on the backside of mt. tam it was cold, a bit of crosswind.  then back in mill valley and tiburon, it was perfect weather.  thank goodness the crosswind was bearable all the way back home.

oh yea, the turkeys.  I spotted about 5 of them chilling at the side of camino alto, the first time I climbed up.  then, I spotted another one running across the road coming out to the backside of mt. tam.  I was just glad they didn’t run in front of my bike, HAHA.

time for foods.