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

The narrow lanes typical of the Spring Hill Road Race course ( Bo Hebenstreit ). Cross that line and the official runs you down in her SUV. Well, Spring Hill is done. I lasted two laps, then ran out of gas. This past week I hurt my eye with my contact lens (a scratch, perhaps) and haven't slept well as a result. Perhaps that affected my endurance. But really things weren't any better at Hamilton last week. I've just got to hope that these hard miles, something I've been sorely missing in my riding so far this year, will pay off. The Alto Velo A Ride. The Roaster's Ride. The House of Pain. Solid investments which I haven't made this year. But I admit that on days like this I find myself questioning if there's better things I could be doing with my time. Bike racing is merciless. You come prepared or you get chewed up and spit out, left on the side of the road to rot in the sun. The course is mostly a single lane (center line rule strictly enforced...

500 meters to summit ( Veronica Lenzi ) After a crash truncated my Berkeley Hills Road Race , Mount Hamilton would be my first full road race of the year. After being off the bike Monday and Tuesday after Berkeley due to my bruised ribs, I had a solid 5 days and 240 miles of training, including Bike to Work Day on Thursday and one and a half repeats of Diablo in the East Bay heat last Sunday with my teammate Noe. But something was wrong. I've just not been feeling good on any rides this year. A solid recovery block was in order. So Mon through Thursday was Z1-Z2 only, with a 90-minute massage on Thursday. For the first time this year, I wasn't either tired, sick, or (other than residual bruising from that crash) injured. I felt good for the first time this year. Saturday, the day before Hamilton: a blustery ride in the gusting chill of fog-shrouded San Francisco. So much for heat acclimation.... but the forecast for Sunday was chilly-to-moderate temperatures. I was as ...