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

The key for me in having a good week, fitness-wise, is Tuesday. The ideal week begins with a tired Monday. If I feel like riding on Monday, I didn't ride/run/whatever hard enough over the weekend. Tuesday I typically either ride to work, go out to do some intervals, or get a good run in. Actually, it's been awhile since I've actually done any intervals. But I've been fairly reliable on doing one of the other two options. Wednesday can be ride to work, do the Noon Ride up Old La Honda, or go off and do a lunch ride on my own. Some weeks I've run on Wednesday instead. Thursday is then an easy day. Just ride to work and back. But some weeks I've also ridden to work on Thursday. Friday I typically recover if I rode in on Thursday, or else try to get is little ride in. The Apple lunch ride is a good option, or I just ride on my own around Mountain View. Then the weekend: During Low-Key Hillclimb season, I was doing the climb on Saturday, then some sort ...

So, while this weekend was largely consumed with The MegaMonster Enduro , my quest to become a Java master continues. The Megamonster went okay. It's a long trip down to Paicines: I am in Howard's debt for the ride. And since I have the Low-Key "stuff", it made for a full car. I didn't really help much while there: this year I rode. I did the 100-miler for the first time in 3 years, the preceding two not having the fitness for it. I felt fairly good, but I was slow, taking 5:35 for the course. It's not easy: wind, hills, and this year light rain. I don't think the rain was much of a factor but the wind always is. Anyway, the big deal is doing the results after. I always have a hard time with Megamonster results: for each rider we have three checkpoint times, a start time, and a finish time. I'm prone to making typos, and my scoring scripts only get used once per year, so it's never as smooth as I want. I think things are in fairly good ...

Almost every year, I've helped Kevin Winterfield put on his " MegaMonster Enduro Ride ", which goes back to 1996. It's a sort of unique event: a timed 100 mile (actually 102 mile) ride with checkpoints along the way. It's either a very short Paris-Brest-Paris or a very long time trial, depending on how you view it. The goal was to formalize the competitive side of "century" rides, which are typically inappropriate for "racing" since the courses are not well controlled, but allowing riders to keep a healthy emphasis on endurance and success-in-finishing, unlike the "fast-or-total-loser" culture of bike racing yet without the massive distances of the more serious brevets. The course is simple: out 51 miles, back 51 miles. There's a checkpoint @ 32 miles on the way out (Bitterwater), another at the turnaround @ 51 miles, then back at Bitterwater @ 70 miles, then of course the finish, at 102 miles. Since it's not a mass-s...

Saturday was the 2010 MegaMonster Enduro , a fun 102 mile time trial which is the invention of Kevin Winterfield, with course assistance from Bill Bushnell. It really is a unique event for the greater San Francisco Bay area: ride 51 miles out on a road (Highway 25), turn around and ride back. Not that there haven't been wrong turns... Low-Key Volunteers @ the MegaMonster ( Cara Coburn ) This year we were sponsored by Hammer Nutrition , who sent us some great gel and Enduralytes and Heed. We supplemented this with an additional order of Gel and Perpeteum "liquid food". We were ready! Unfortunately in a bit of a snafu the stuff didn't make it to the checkpoints, which thus featured cookies, pretzels, and water, similar to previous versions of the MegaMonster. Since it looks like the MegaMonster will be back for 2011, I figured it would be fun to analyze how people did on the incoming versus the outgoing leg, so next year we can see the effect of Hammer Product. ...