On Bicycles, and.... what else is there?

On Wednesday evening, Cara and I step on a plane, and everything for the next three weeks will be very, very different. Hue, Nov 2005 I was last in Thailand in 2005. In Thailand, I was only in Bangkok, then from there ventured up to Ha Noi, wandered down the coast by train, then by bus to De Lat and on to Saigon/Ho Chi Min city. It was an amazing trip, so many sensations. And so I return, as I knew I would. This time, we're joining Red Spokes Bicycle Tours for a tour from Thailand to Laos. Then from there Cara and I are diverting to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat for three days before flying back to Bangkok. New territory, new experiences, new people, new sensations. A real cyclist. But as I sit here in a cold apartment, the sound of the rain outside penetrating the dark windows, chilled fingers typing on the keyboard, I am very, very excited by this . Yes -- the heat. We all have windows of comfort. Some are biased to hot weather, some to colder weather. I'm definitely in...

On Friday, I took my bike on Caltrain for the first time this week. I've been exploring a new and underutilized transportation mode. Strange it's so rare: it's easily the cheapest of all common modes, essentially no equipment is required. In the city, it's faster than MUNI. Parking is trivial, far easier than even for a bike. The only downer is limited cargo capacity. It's running. And it's such a relief to be able to reach the platform just as a shiny Bombardier baby bullet pulls in, punch my 10-ride, and get on without even a hint of concern about capacity. Then I sit down at a nice table, plug in my lap top, and I'm updating a report, catching up on email I popped earlier, or whatever. None of the creative chaos which is the bike car. Sure, running with the back pack is a bit of a hassle. But using the small pack which I got at ESSDERC in Edinburgh, after I tighten down the shoulder straps it isn't too bad. Nice easy pace. Start really slow...

Monday night... trying to get to the Low-Key awards. I'd run from my office to Stanford to meet Cara at Page Mill and Foothill. It seems that run was the most rapid segment of the trip from there. Cara picked me up at the corner, after a very involved 15 minute exercise in switching from east bound to west bound on Page Mill amidst the brutal evening commute traffic out of Stanford, and we were off for Sunnyvale Sports Basement via 280, 85, 237, and Lawrence Expressway . It's 23 minutes as the Google flies, but it took us almost exactly 60. After somehow missing the exit for 101 on 85, it was at best slow walking pace down 237 until we somehow managed to escape with what shreds of our sanity we could salvage at the Lawrence Expressway exit. Ah, for the good old days of $4.50/gallon gasoline.... It's a fundamental principle of economics that you tax things you want people to do less of, avoid taxing things you want people to do more of. For example, I think we all agree...

Thanks so much to Pat Parseghian and Patt Baenan for doing the heavy lifting last night for the Low-Key Awards Ceremony! The Low-Key Awards are always special, how many other cycling events have something like it? (The California Triple Crown series does, to its credit.) This one, though, was super-special for me, because while I look forward to the chance to give out awards (I am floored at how many enthusiastic volunteers the series attracts), I was totally shocked and very touched to receive an award of my own, from the others. And Patt Baenan, who does amazing work for the Lance Armstrong foundation and serves as the Low-Key series treasurer, gave me a very special gift.... a signed print of Alberto Contador! Oh, my.... this one goes straight to the framing shop!!!! Signed Contador Print Thanks to all who braved the brutal South Bay holiday traffic and sat through an over-the-time-budget ceremony! It was a special event, which I wouldn't have forgotten in any case, but d...

Even though I don't have a car, I rarely take the bus in San Francisco. On its opening night I joined Cara and members of her extended family for Milk , the incredible film about the life of former San Francisco Supervisor and gay activist Harvey Milk. After the film, I left Cara at Filmore and Geary stop for the Muni 22 bus , a popular route which basically runs straight home to Potrero Hill. Wanting to get a run in, I'd changed into my running clothes, handed her a bag with my "pedestrian" gear, and set off. This "race" wasn't even close -- I got back well ahead of her. This Saturday night we took the same bus back to the same location. We were meeting Cynthia and Nathan at Maki, a quite good Japanese restaurant in Japan Center. With the help of NextBus (actually, a bit easier is NextMUNI , a MUNI-specific page) and some favorable luck were able to time our connections. However, after we got home, the web page for our outbound leg was still open...

When I was recovering from hepatitis following a trip to Mexico, I was elated to be out for my first "long ride"... I was with a group which used to meet at City Cycles in San Francisco: Fairfax, Alpine Dam, Ridgecrest, Mt Tam. All told, 60-something miles with a bunch of climbing. Good, long miles. As I finished the climb to Ridgecrest at one of the many regroupment points of the old City Cycles ride, I saw some runners passing by on a nearby trail. They slowly plodded along, each with a belt pouch, while a few gathered spectators/course volunteers clapped. Something was going on! When I asked if it was a trail run, I was told yes, it was the Mt Tam 100k. I was floored.... 100 km on this terrain? Here I was feeling warm and fuzzy about my ride, and these folks were doing nearly the same on foot. I was impressed. Later, A similar experience on Mt Diablo.... I reached the summit of the 3600 foot climb to find an aid station. Another trail race, another sick sum of ki...

An early Christmas present for California cyclists is the annual announcement of the Tour of California route. The 2009 route was just announced, and highlights with my San Francisco area perspective include: stage 2 : On roads I know so well... a climb of Tunitas Creek Road, passing the Bike Hut , past Bear Gulch on Skyline then the fast descent to and of west 84, out to San Gregorio, then the tailwind-aided run to Davenport (watch the tracks). Then it's a personal favorite, up Bonny Doon & Pine Flat, then deviating from my usual route, down Empire Grade into Santa Cruz for the finish. Cool stuff, and a real chance for time gaps, without a lot of distance from the bottom of the climb to the finish line. stage 3 : Of course, they couldn't start a stage climbing Sierra Road.... they were going over Mt. Hamilton Road this year, surely. Wrong . The stage opens with the really tough climb of Sierra Road after all, then down the technical Felter descent, then right on su...

I love to watch Cara race cyclocross -- she's so smooth, so natural. Okay, so not to the level of watching Jonathan Page glide through the deep mud at 2002 Nationals at Domaine Chandon in Napa, that was simply amazing... here's Travis Brown and Todd Wells chasing: Travis Brown and Todd Wells at 2002 Nationals ( CyclingNews ) Okay, that was the best. But for Women's C category, Cara's really smooth. Unfortunately I missed seeing her race at last weekend's Pilarcitos 'Cross Race at Golden Gate Park , as I was awaiting results at the Run Wild for a Child 10km running race, which I had just completed. Usually I really enjoy photographing the women's C race, as they don't get as much attention as later fields. But there were some good photos taken of the race, including one of the start , from which I extracted the following. Also shown in the photo is the best 'cross racer of the decade, Belgium's Sven Nijs: Cara (top), Sven (bottom) Two ride...

The old Run to the Far Side is now Run Wild for a Child . While it doesn't inspire perhaps the same old costume creativity, the costume prize list is still stronger than those for running performance, providing a focus on fun appropriate for the holiday weekend. This was my third competitive run of the year, after the Dolphin Running Club Embarcadero 10km and the Quimby Low-Key Hillclimb . Despite residual fatigue the day before from Thanksgiving's Low-Key Hillclimb , I was hoping to approach my goal of 40 minutes today. As I slowly ran around the start area to warm up, it was hard to imagine how I'd be able to pull this off, as my legs were a bit sore. But a series of loosening exercises combined with light running had me feeling good enough at the start. Road running is so surreal.... each mile has its own character, inspiring a shift of focus on what is such an internally focused sport. A tension between relaxation and effort. Relaxation is the key to efficiency,...

So much violence. Last Sunday, a group of Alto Velo riders descended Skyline toward the intersection of Highway 84, near the Woodside-Skylonda border. A driver made an illegal left turn, colliding with Ileana Parker. She was badly injured, with multiple fractures, and a nearly severed finger. It's going to be a long, hard recovery. A moment's carelessness by the driver, months of pain and tens of thousands of dollars of expense for Ileana. Violence? Well, to me the question is: if the result of a car-bike collision was generally death for the driver, then would drivers be more alert for cyclists before making turns? And if the answer is yes, then isn't the careless driver trading cyclist risk for personal convenience? And over a population, since the possibility of injury becomes a near-certainty of injury, doesn't this mean careless drivers are trading cycling injury and death for expedience and laziness? And isn't this violence? It was a clearer case on...

I did another long run yesterday . Again, no pressure on going fast, pushing it only on the Lyon Street stairs . Curiously, I was feeling a big bogged down going into the stairs, but they seemed to really open things up, and I felt like I was cruising from there back home. That didn't stop me from being tired, afterwards... Rate of improvement needed to reach endurance goal for Austin So the question is: where do I stand with respect to a 15 Feb marathon goal? Pretty good, it seems. If I assume this run was my endurance limit, which clearly it was not, to target race-level endurance 4 weeks prior to race data, I need to improve by 6.04% per week to reach that goal. That's very doable: I've seen a maximum rate of improvement of 10%/week claimed. What do I know about marathon training? Not much. A handful of Running Magazine articles, some web pages, yadayada. The longest competitive run I've done is 10 km. My coach could address these issues much better than...

Saturday... one of those days where everything goes well. First, Cara and I went out to Lomas Cantadas for week 8 of the 2008 Low-Key Hillclimbs . In short, virtually everything went well: the weather, the volunteers, my riding, and the results prep after the climb. After enjoying myself in the Orinda Starbucks, entering results, I had them posted by around noon. Then I met Cara who was sampling the smoothie offerings of scenic Orinda, and we drove back home to meet an old friend of mine who would be staying over while she's in town. Then dinner: a pleasant surprise. We had reservations for Cara's birthday at Sauce , a San Francisco mid-upscale "comfort food" place. It has about the least attractive menu I could imagine: all meat and cheese and, obviously, sauce. I went off-menu, asking for "steamed vegetables". The chefs couldn't didn't want to leave it with that, though, and prepared some mildly sauteed selections, rich in asparagus which ...

Yesterday, after bailing on my tempo run because of leg fatigue, I put in a serious session of foam rolling and stretching. No doubt about it, the front of my quads were sore. That's never happened from cycling alone, yet I've hardly been cycling alone. The first sign something was up had been the Noon Ride. Running has caused me to lose a bit of weight, and I decided to test my climbing, as well as my pain tolerance, on Old La Honda Road , which the Nooner climbs each Wednesday. Although I was able to keep it on the dark side of my pain threshold the whole way up and was alone, first to the top of the climb, my time, 17:59, was a bit disappointing. When I emailed Cara about it, she noted my Mon run. A dose of reality. No, I can't run a near-half-marathon yet without impact. Back two days, to Monday... My excellent coach Dan Smith prescribed a 30-minute recovery run. Yet I was itching for action, energized by Saturday's Low-Key Hillclimb up Metcalf Road , which...

A study in contrast.... finish photos (by Gary Griffin ) from the Metcalf Low-Key Hillclimb : Comparing Gary Gellin's and my foot-falls at finish of Metcalf Low-Key Hillclimb. Now no criticism of Gary; the man wins trail runs with time to spare . Really an inspiring runner. Compare with Haile Gebrselassie, arguably the best distance runner on record. Haile Gebrselassie (left) Haile appears to not strike his heal, although against the principles of Chi Running , he is getting his foot out in front of him. Now this is a full-out sprint on the track, not steady-state. In this excellent video of Haille setting the world record at the Berlin Marathon, his running form appears more Chi-compliant. He is truly an inspiring image of economy and speed: As my friend Nathan said, "I don't think Haile read Dreyer, I think Dreyer read Haile." So I'm happy with my foot-strike, but I've got to find more economy and speed in my form. Okay, I won't be breaking 2:04 i...

It's Tuesday, and I'm coming off two days of contrast: an excellent ride, and excellent run. On Sunday, for the first time in awhile, I rode the Paradise Loop. There's a variety of options on the loop: my personal favorite is to head over Camino Alto, always a great little climb and descent, then turn right onto Tamalpais, cross 101, right on Paradise Drive, ride along the coast with its curiously scenic views of San Quentin State Prison, left at the intersection with Trestle Glen to stay on Paradise, then left in Tiburon proper onto Main Street. Then it's through super-exclusive Tiburon to the traffic circle of even more exclusive Belvedere. Henry Kingman's excellent San Francisco riding guide From here, almost every group ride I've done has born right onto San Rafael Ave, the shortest way back. But dull , dull , dull ! Henry Kingman,in his excellent book, Short Bike Rides of San Francisco , describes a far more scenic route, one which, being the navigat...

The Metcalf Mauler In the spirit of Low-Key, I decided to run the Low-Key Hillclimb up Metcalf Road . I wasn't at all surprised to see Gary Gellin there, as well. Gary also ran nearby Quimby Road, and clearly understands a runner's relative disadvantage is less the steeper the road. Metcalf, with a 12% sustained grade until the final half-mile or so, is an excellent opportunity for a runner to impress. I started a bit ahead of Gary. We skipped the brief "promenade" section, moving ahead to where coordinator Gary Griffin would honk the horn to indicate the start. The rules of Low-Key are the rules of the vehicle code, which means bikes ride to the right, but of course runners are not thus constrained. So we each set off on the left side of the road, I starting a bit ahead. Unfortunately, I retained my lead ahead of Gary for at best 10 seconds, before he came by with an incredible speed differential, leaving me smiling to myself that such a pace on this hill was ...

It is such an enormous relief to me that Barack Obama's electors won, and I look forward to Obama's and Biden's forthcoming victory in the Presidential vote and subsequent inauguration. He's a new face for this failing nation, an intelligent, articulate leader who demonstrates actual vision over tired, lazy, anti-intellectual, self-serving dogmatism. When Wednesday morning dawned and support for Obama's electors was confirmed, I felt a weight which has accumulated over the years lift. It was like the first sunny day after weeks of overcast and rain. Yet, unlike many, I am not ready to celebrate. Our national paradigm must now change, and while Barack has given glimmers of hope that we will now move in the correct direction, the inertia of big money is of unprecedented magnitude in this history of our nation and, I suspect, in the history of the world. For years, the federal government's actions have been virtually indistinguishable from what one would pr...

Well, we're up to week 7, down to the final three weeks of the 2008 Low-Key Hillclimbs . Two weeks of quality over quantity before the Thanksgiving Mt Hamilton Road finale . This week, a classic, and a first-timer for Low-Key, the Metcalf Mauler , 1.8 miles of 12% grade: http://lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2008/week7/ Then next week, it's Lomas Cantadas in the Berkeley Hills. I like this one, as it's BART-friendly, within walking distance of Orinda BART, and while not as relentless as Metcalf, offers a tough finish topping out over 15%: Thanks to all who've supported the series! We're already planning for 2009! Alba , anyone? On the running side, I'm planning on ditching the bike for Metcalf, inspired by Gary Gellin (who's much faster than me) who ran faster up Quimby Road than I often run on the flats: It should be fun! Then, after that, Run Wild For a Child in Golden Gate park. Results from the Embarcadero 10k: It appears I'm on the slow end of the fas...

Since 1995 I've been involved with the Low-Key Hillclimbs , with a silly gap from 1999 to 2005. I really love the concept of low-key events: no high entry fee, no plastic bag of landfill, just friends, fun, and competition. After riding Saturday's Low-Key Hillclimb up Jamison Creek , I attended my first-ever Dolphin Running Club Embarcadero 10km . Wow -- what an experience! This was the first 10km I did since, I believe, 1991, at the latest. I recall doing a 10km while at MIT, maybe as late as 1990, then I did the Dish Dash early while at Stanford in 1991 (less than 10km, but hilly), and another 10km at Stanford. I trained for these events, including speed work at the track, so I produced what for me seemed good times. My recollection was 41 minutes for 10km. Maybe slightly less. Certainly not less than 40 minutes. When my friend Nathan suggested Chi Running to me it sparked in my mind the chance to give running another try. Carl Faulkner, a previous co-worker who s...

Team results after the women's road race, including the men's race, where results go 30 deep, starting with 150 points for first, down to 1 point for 30th. I extended it to 30th due to the strong presence of third-tier cycling nations in the men's RR results in the 21-30 positions, and surely these are still quality placings on this selective course in such challenging conditions. Team USA, I am sure, hopes to improve during the time trials over the next two days. pl team # points 1 Italy 4 203 2 Spain 3 180 3 Britain 2 158 4 Sweden 3 119 5 Switzerland 3 115 6 Russia 3 85 7 Denmark 3 67 8 Austria 2 62 9 France 4 59 10 Netherlands 2 57 11 Australia 3 53 12 Lithuania 4 51 13 Luxembourg 1 42 13 Poland 2 42 15 USA 3 41 16 Canada 2 38 17 Colombia 1 30 18 Belgium 1 27 19 Kazakhstan 1 22 20 Germany 2 21 21 China 1 15 2...

The Olympic Road Race shares an otherwise rare trait with the World Championships in that, as a professional bike race, members of the same team don't each ride the same bike. National teams are typically composed of members of more than one trade team, where riders use the bikes assigned by their trade teams. So an analysis of results by bike goes beyond an analysis of teams. I used the following formula for points for a placing, rounding to the nearest integer: points = 21 - place + 80 [ exp([1 - place] / 2] - exp(-10) ] In other words, for places 1 - 20: 100,68,47,35,27,22,18,15,13,12,11,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 The results: despite missing out on the gold and silver, Cervelo takes the top honors over Orbea. With 4 Orbea-sponsored Webcor/Alto Velo women in the women's race, Orbea has a good chance to take the road overall, but Cervelo sponsors the powerful Cervelo-Life Force team including Team USA's top rider Kristen Armstrong, so could well hold onto its top place. Of cou...