Are You Living It?

What a weekend. The Elkhorn Classic in Baker City, Oregon was a blast. It was definitely the hardest race I have ridden. Beginning with the hot, dry 70 mile Oregon Trail Road Race in stage 1, we were treated with difficult races throughout our 3 days in Eastern Oregon. Each stage seemed to be designed to fulfill every bike racer’s constant need for suffering on the bike! :) 

Since my little abrasive episode last week, I have been healing up pretty well. I am now free of those pesky bandages that bind every movement and can finally stretch out my sore muscles. A few days into the healing process, I developed a low grade fever and and the inguinal lymph nodes were swollen and sore on my injured side. I had to decide whether to take antibiotics, or let my immune system chip away at the infection.  If the infection gets worse, I take a 10 day course of broad spectrum antibiotics and kill the infection along with my normal intestinal flora. If I continue to fight it off, I don’t have the energy to ride until the infection is gone.

This week was my first Southern Oregon Thursday Night Race. The race is held at the Champion Drag Strip in White City, Oregon. It is a mix between a Criterium and a Circuit race with the course taking you down the Drag Strip and circling back on an access road for a lap of just over a mile. As we were riding warm up laps, I went into a corner and suddenly my front tire decided it was tired of turning and slid across the road. I of course was not yet ready to give up on the turn and continued to lean in the opposite direction until I was stopped by the very firm pavement.

This was on Road Bike Rider Weekly Newsletter RBR and reminds us that aging is not the same as getting old. The following is a comment on a story about sudden coronary artery blockage in a fit cyclist.

This Wednesday I was privileged to give a brief introductory talk on nutrition and training for our local cycling club, the Mount Shasta Pedali. They have initiated a Friday ride for beginning and low key riders that gives the social benefits of a group ride, without the intensity of the regular rides. It has been well received and new riders are getting the chance to experience cycling as part of their lifestyle. As an extension of the new ride, the Mount Shasta Pedali and The Fifth Season presented an evening of basic cycling knowledge. The new, and many experienced riders as well, were able to review the basics of bike fit, regular bike maintenance and tire repair. The event was well received and everyone in attendance felt they were able to take some new knowledge home.  Give a helping hand and treat someone you know to a taste of the Live Your Passion lifestyle.

As we are inundated with dour reports on increasing cost of living, increased fuel prices, increased cost of food (ouch that’s gonna hurt), it can be easy to change our focus and let ourselves get caught in the whirlpool of doubt. Don’t forget to keep your health as a number one priority. As costs go up, we have to make some changes in our budgets for both time and expenses. Your good health will let you weather the increased stress and keep your mind at ease with the changes to come. Now more than ever you should be living your passion. Staying sharp and following your heart along the path that appears before you. In living your passion you can keep the vibrancy of life intact and flourishing.

 Summer snuck in last week and gave us 100+ degree weather on our Sunday ride ( I was corrected on my report last week, it was 106 degrees on Sunday afternoon in scott valley, not 95!). Today, Rain, chattering teeth and a stop for hot coffee! Our ride took us on a 96 mile tour of the Shasta Valley. We found ourselves feeling lucky though, the forcast was for 30% rain showers and it only rained for 20% of our ride! The rain caught us as we turned down Hwy 97 and all the way to lake Shastina. Then out came the sun, well sort of as we could see a shadow now and then, we were all dried out when we stopped for water in Montague. From there to Hornbrook, and the rest of the way to Yreka, had no wind or rain. What a mixed bag of weather today, fairly warm 50 degrees, then shivering cold and wet, then sunny and dry. Happy Spring time riding everyone! Keep that rain coat handy.

At 7:00 AM we bagan a great 100 mile training ride here in Northern California. The morning began in Yreka, and we rode through the towns of Gazelle, Callahan, Etna, Mugginsville, and Fort Jones, then up over Forest Mountain back to Yreka. Riding up over Gazelle Mountain we dropped into the upper reaches of the Scott River and through some spring green pasture land that was high enough to still be comfortable and not too hot. As we rode down through the Scott Valley, the temperature began to climb and finally hit about 95 degrees. The climb over Forest Mountain was HOT, but the 50 MPH descent on the other side cooled us down all the way back to Yreka. The heat keeps you burning calories, as well as water, and my 200 lb body used over 4700 Calories over the 5 1/2 hour ride. Well, gotta go, its time to eat, for the third time tonight! If you are interested in this ride, in the reverse direction, check out the Siskiyou Century Ride in Yreka, September 2008.

Just returned from the Tour of the Unknown Coast (TUC) in Ferndale. A beautiful victorian town on the California coast. The towns history is mainly dairy farming, so lots of rollong hills and pasture land to ride through. The TUC Century is said to be one of the toughest around, not because of the amount of climbing, but because the gradient of the climbs is so steep. I must admit that the two steep sections made my legs cry for mercy. I seem to have lost that third little front sprocket and this was the one day over the past few years that it would have come in handy.

Bike fitting is more than just plugging in body part measurements and asking a computer to tell you the correct dimensions of the seat, pedal, handlebar geometry. This type of fitting sounds very scientific, because it uses a computer, but those measurements don’t tell you how your body mechanics will relate to the bike. And remember, your comfort and efficiency on the bike are all about ease of movement or lack thereof. This type of formula-based set up, while appropriate as an initial match of the bike for a given rider, should not be considered a true bike fit. I have clients complain that they have discomfort while on the bike, even after they have had the bike fit to them at the bike shop. This is usually because the bike has been set up for their measurements, but not truly fitted to them.