10/20/06: Foothill Expressway (20 Miles)

I rode Foothill to Chain Reaction.

The ride was 20 miles on the dot.

10/19/06: Foothill Expressway (20 Miles)

I rode Foothill to Chain Reaction.

The ride was 20 Miles on the dot.

10/18/06: Part of Page Mill & Foothill (24 Miles)

I rode to Chain Reaction and headed up Page Mill to Moody Road on the way. I was tired and probably climbed more slowly than yesterday, but I felt a little bit better. I took Moody back to Foothill.

I road about 24 miles.

10/17/06: Part of Page Mill & Foothill (24 Miles)

I rode to Chain Reaction today but I wanted to put a little bit of variation into the route and I wanted to test my climbing so I decided to take Page Mill up to Moody Road on my way.  Frankly, I felt terrible on Page Mill and after having basically taken 2 weeks off, I’m not sue that I could have made it to the top.

I rode about 24 miles.

10/13/06: Foothill Expressway (20 Miles)

I rode out to Chain Reaction today on Foothill today. My hamstring was still sore but I feel that I am ready to ride again so long as I take it easy. However, I felt very out of shape, which is frustrating because I put in a lot of work climbing to get back in shape.

I rode 20 miles on the dot.

10/7/06: Foothill Expressway (20 Miles)

I rode out Foothill Expressway to Chain Reaction and my hamstring felt pretty bad despite taking it easy and having done a lot of stretching this week. I rode slowly, but my hamstring would occasionally/randomly twinge with pain or lock-up of for a brief second. I’m going to wait another couple of days before I get back on the bike again.

The ride was 20 miles on the dot.

10/1/06: Pulled My Hamstring Playing Soccer

Today I played in my second PAASL Soccer game after having taken two weeks off because I pulled my hamstring in the first match.  I felt a lot stronger running on the field today but unfortunately, I reaggravated my hamstring injury in the second half and this time the injury was much worse.  I’m having serious trouble walking and I suspect that I won’t be able to run or cycle again for at least a week.  I clearly didn’t take the first injury seriously enough and I’m kind of mad at myself because I don’t want to loose any strength after having felt so strong on Kings Mountain yesterday.

9/30/06: To Huddart Park w/ Susan (30 Miles)

Today I rode with Susan up to Huddart Park on Kings Mountain Road.  We started out up Sand Hill Road, went right on Whiskey Hill, then left on Woodside and right on Kings Mountain.  Huddart Park is about 1.5 miles from the beginning of the Kings Mountain climb, which starts at Tripp Road.  It is a climb to Huddart Park, but its not as steep as the second half of the climb.  Susan is a very strong rider but despite the fact that she has done every major climb on the Peninsula, she lacks confidence in her climbing ability.  After resting for a couple of minutes at the park, Susan headed back down to Tripp Road and I climbed up another .75 miles and then met back up with her.

I’ve never actually felt better climbing that I did today on Kings Mountain.  If I had been climbing on my own today, I think I would have put a blistering time on Kings up to Skyline.  I felt so strong that the road just seemed flat.

After meeting Susan back at Trip Road, we took it out to Woodside Road, went left on Portola where we stayed right and headed back down on Alpine Road.  We turned on Junipero Serra and then coasted down to Page Mill to North California Avenue where we had lunch at Izzy’s.

I didn’t save my ride stats but I remeber that it was about 30 miles.

A Little Inspiration… In Case You Needed It

Here are video clips of two of Lance Armstrong’s greatest climbs that always fire me up before riding. If your struggling for motivation to get on your bike just watch these two videos… You might just convince yourself to do an extra hill.

Lance Armstrong’s Sestriere Climb – 1999 Tour de France

This is the climb where Armstrong arguably won his first Tour. It is stunning to watch him blow past the competition.

Lance Armstrong’s Alpe D’Huez Climb – 2001 Tour de France

Another amazing climb, where Armstrong gave Ullrich “The Look” and then blew the field away after having spent most of the stage pretending to be on the verge of bonking.

9/27/06: The Portola Loop (17.6 Miles)

I was pretty tired after riding out the coast and back over the last two days, so I just took a quick lap around the Portola Loop.

Here are my stats:

1h 4m 58s

17.55 miles

16.7 avg mph

34.0 max mph

129 avg heart rate

166 max heart rate

403 calories