79 Riders for East Bay Wildcats ALC Training

Distance 57.4
Moving Time 4:21:27
Elevation 4,449ft
Avg Speed 13.2mi/h
Max Speed 37.8mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 135bpm Max 176bpm
Calories 1,974
Temperature 57

Many thanks to our wonderful, volunteer Training Ride Leaders, Mary Vencill, Guru Swamy, Ron Marshall, Steve Wedgwood, Deanna Tanner, Jane Maxwell, Sam Kimbrel, and Steven Shum. You all make training with the East Bay Wildcats an utter delight.

Awake at 5:15 a.m. and ready to start the day with another great ride to Orinda for East Bay Wildcats 7 - Three Bears. The ride from Orinda BART took us up and over the Three Bears to BearClaw Bakery and Cafe in Hercules. After riding almost 30 miles, I decided to try a bear claw. I'm so glad I did. It was warm and a gastronomical pleasure. If you're ever in Hercules, stop by, they've got other pastries and lunch, which I'll have to try the next time we have a rest stop here.

I spent most of my ride with Sam Kimbrel, Joe Carlin, Mike Sims, and kinda, sorta Christine Ho. Christine was so fast - as soon as I blinked, she was gone, way far ahead. I helped Mike cycle through his knee pain by offering my knee straps, which he says helped - I know they help me tremendously. I use them just in case, so I was able to force Mike so that he could somewhat enjoy the end of the ride.

The route through Three Bears and then San Pablo Dam Road is so scenic offering views of Briones Dam, San Pablo Dam, barns, wild turkeys, cows, and unfortunately, road kill (three skunks and one raccoon). Actually, my ride to Orinda up and over Grizzly Peak via Wildcat Canyon was so filled with wild turkeys that I lost count after twenty. One actually flew from the road up the hill about twenty feet.

Upon returning to Orinda BART, I was hemming and hawing trying to figure out if cycling back home or taking BART was in my near future. Since a train had just left the station, cycling was the option and I'm so glad that Joe asked if that was going to be my choice because he wanted to join me. The route back was a toss up between going up Wildcat Canyon or Pinehurst. I initially said Pinehurst and my legs were so happy that Wildcat Canyon won - less steep. Thanks, Joe, for motivating me to cycle back home. I truly enjoyed the ride through the Berkeley campus, something I have never done (walking or cycling). Until the next ride ...

Group Warmup

The Wonderful Steve

Tony and Blaine

Man in Blue, Tanner, Dan, & Joe

Claire and Diane

All things Asian, almost - How'd that happen?

When Mary speaks ...

Christine and Steven

With Mike

I come back home after a 57.4-mile ride welcomed by Po-Ling Loh's generous donation

Thank you, Po-Ling for your continued support of AIDS/LifeCycle -- riding and fundraising for ALC 2013 and 2014 and now donating AND being Traffic Roadie for ALC 2105!

More donations from wonderful supporters

Thank you Jay, Bok, Cindy, Anita, Maria, Loida, Vic, George, Vera, Sharon, William, Patricia, Theresa & Pere, Vanna, Niello Infiniti, and Scott for your recent support for AIDS/LifeCycle.

Why donate early? Simple ... because the money raised goes to work RIGHT NOW to help people in need.

AIDS/LifeCycle's Mission Revisited and Sunday Resolution Training Ride

Distance 42.9
Moving Time 3:09:53
Elevation 1,020ft
Avg Speed 13.6mi/h
Max Speed 28.0mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 112bpm Max 144bpm
Calories 1,071
Temperature 54

We have Hugo Sosa, Angelica Sosa, Jeff Adamus, Rachel Sandoval Carl, and Greg Nicols to thank for volunteering their time to be motivating Training Ride Leaders for Sunday's Resolution Ride Del Norte.

As you can see from the map way below, the ride was artfully mapped out (almost Italy upside down) and, thankfully, relatively flat (especially after yesterday's ride which was full of climbing).

This morning my original alarm was to go off at 5:30 a.m. so that I could have the same morning ritual as yesterday's. I did get up at 4:45 a.m. and quickly determined that I was not going to need 1 and 1/2 hours to cycle from home to El Cerrito Del Norte BART because I would not take my original route up and over Grizzly Peak, down Wildcat Canyon, and San Pablo Dam Road west. I took the 45-minute route along the Bay Trail and my body, especially my legs thanked me.  I woke up "for reals" shortly before 6:00 a.m. - big difference, but about an hour more of sleep.

I started the morning along the Bay Trail where Snoopy welcomed me. I realized the red plane was the Red Baron only after I uploaded the picture. When I got to Del Norte BART, Lisa Mccarty was right there for us to scream in delight. She introduced me to her friend, Melissa - "The loud one" - Lisa's words. We all laughed. Lisa, I'm sure shared the story of when I first introduced myself to Lisa last fall. I'm paraphrasing below.

Art:  Hi. I'm Art. Are you new to AIDS/LifeCycle?
Lisa: Hi. I'm Lisa, Yes, I am.
Art: You cut hair, right and ...
Lisa: Ahhh, yes. (looking very afraid) How do you know?

Long story short, I mentioned to Lisa that I was the one who asked her and Lisa to keep the volume of their conversation lower. With earbuds on and music full blast, I could hear every gossipy detail Lisa and Melissa were inadvertently sharing with everyone around them. All said with love ... who would have known we'd be AIDS/LifeCycle BFFs.

Jared Paul joined us to reiterate the importance of what we do to help those with AIDS/HIV and how those who donate help fund the resources and organizations to meet AIDS/LifeCycle's mission to ...

1. Raise funds to support the HIV/AIDS services of the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation;
2. Increase awareness and knowledge about the services and programs offered by the benefiting organizations;
3. Increase awareness and knowledge about HIV/AIDS among participants, their donors and the general public;
4. Increase AIDS activism and volunteerism among the participant and donor communities, inspiring them to become ambassadors in the fight against AIDS;
5. Provide a positive, life-affirming experience for people affected and infected by HIV;
6. Contribute to an increased understanding of the disproportionate impact HIV has had on the GLBT communities in SF and LA;
7. Encourage an environment of dignity and improved quality of life for those affected by HIV and AIDS.

Before we rode out, Julie Brown took us through a meditative preamble reminding us of the lives we've touched, we've helped, we've lost, we've not yet met or would never meet - reasons why we ride.

While today's group of 30 riders was much smaller than yesterday's whopping 84 riders, it was still full of fantastic fun and energy.

Resolution Ride 2015 Del Norte

Snoopy

The Red Baron

Foggy Emeryville

More Snoopy

Seabreeze - a great eatery

Hugo go over the route

Lisa and friend QUIETLY listening :)

They are excited, really

Greg

Rachel being her cute smiley self

We're a good group of listeners

The Boss - Jared Paul

Angelica thinking

With Julie Brown

Ari riding into the first rest stop

With Ari

Angelica in her glory - cheering, with cow bells in hand, riders as they finish

Can you tell the difference? Ari finishing the ride.

P finishing the ride - I'll have his full name when he emails me :)

Ramona (still a BFF) saw the camera and this is the best I could capture - MY FAULT

Saturday Resolution AIDS/LifeCycle Training Ride for 2015

Distance 57.9
Moving Time 4:12:56
Elevation 4,587ft
Avg Speed 13.7mi/h
Max Speed 34.7mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 137bpm Max 174bpm
Calories 2,078
Temperature 55

This Saturday was certainly much warmer than last week. Thanks to Mary Vencill, Andy Fyfe, Aaron Lewis, Steven Shum, Dawn Tso, George Head, Rex Gordon, and Sam Kimbrel -- all wonderful, volunteer Training Ride Leaders.

My alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. and I was up and getting ready for the day and ride. By 6:00 a.m., I had my mom's needs taken care of until my return and a hot breakfast to keep me nourished and warm on today's ride. I rolled out my glutes and legs by 6:30 a.m. The rest of the time until 7:15 a.m. was literally getting prepped and dressed for the ride.

On my bike about 7:20 a.m. to go up and over Grizzly Peak to Orinda BART for the 8:15 a.m. AIDS/LifeCycle Fundraising Mini-clinic. We took time to introduce ourselves to newly-registered and potential riders and talked about what worked for those of us when we fundraise. I shared what I do to get friends and family interested in AIDS/LifeCycle and the great take-away I got from Mary Vencill is that I was reminded to reiterate that we're not riding and fundraising for ourselves, we're doing this for an important cause - a Ride to End AIDS.

Alf Victorio and I were the first to ride out with Sam Kimbrel and Joe Carlin soon joining us. At about 8 miles out Joe had a flat, but Sam was already ahead and didn't notice. Alf and I helped Joe with changing his flat and when Rich Lagunte reached us after about 40 other riders passed, he exclaimed, "Are there thumbtacks on the road? You're the 7th flat in the group." What a nice way to start.

We caught up with part of the group at the first rest stop in Hercules and after a quick pit stop, Alf and I hopped onto our bicycles and continued the ride with Sam and Catherine (a new rider). At about 23 miles into the ride, we came across a detour. Unbeknownst to us, that was our turn. We ended up in the oh-so quaint town of Porta Costa (sorry no pictures), but found our way back onto the correct route to Martinez.

SO, I've gotten used to putting butt butt'r on anytime, anyplace. I'm not flashing, no skin is shown when this acrobatic act is done, and I make sure I'm at least hidden away from the public (on the 7-day ride, that's another story). The way I slather it on isn't as bad as the way some men are always groping or adjusting themselves. Well, today, in Martinez, as soon as I was done applying the precious butt'r where I thought I was tucked away from Starbucks outside sitting area and the public's gaze, I heard - "You know, you shouldn't be doing that in public. I live here. Geez." I swear with the bushes and all, I couldn't be seen, but I guess someone, instead of looking at the creek and view, he was more interested in the amateur entertainment. Yeah, he was right. So no more public display of butt butt'r application for me - during training rides.

All-in-all a great, tiring ride. I'm glad Alf talked me into hitching a ride with him to take me home. What was I thinking when I wanted to add 42 miles more so that I could log-in a century for today????

Now, off to the gym ... just to stretch and sit in the jacuzzi (if it's clean - it's 24-Hour Fitness Downtown Oakland).

7:20am Ride Out

Big Group

More of the Big Group

Bob Katz

Group at 8:20 a.m.

Chorus Line Rejects

I love Mary

I think Mary likes that I love her

And, here's Ron

with Sam

With the effervescent Tanner

Schools provide educational and mental health support to influx of undocumented teens

The PBS Newshour featured Oakland International High School, which is one of the six Oakland public schools I'm helping through Ride 4 A Reason.

If you'd like to donate to raise essential funds for school enrichment programs for six public schools in our very own districts of Glenview, Rockridge, Temescal (3 in our neighborhood), and Uptown Oakland. Donations will go to Brewer Middle, Claremont Middle School, Emerson Elementary School, Oakland International High School, Oakland Technical High School (John's parents' alma mater), and Westlake Middle

To donate, please visit:

http://rideforareason.dojiggy.com/artdesuyo

Baby it's F'in Cold Outside for Us West Coasters

Distance 64.0
Moving Time 4:48:12
Elevation 4,770ft
Avg Speed 13.3mi/h
Max Speed 33.8mi/h
Heart Rate Avg 136bpm Max 175bpm
Calories 2,203
Temperature 50 (started out with 33)

I always like to start any training blog by thanking the volunteer TRLs who help all levels of riders train. I appreciate Mary Vencil and co-TRLs George Head, Aaron Lewis, Rachel Carl, Sam Kimbrel, Don Brown, Dawn Tso, Andy Fyfe, and Rex Gordon.

Many of us born and raised in the Bay Area are wimps when dealing with what we think is cold weather. BUT, but when one cycles in 33-degree weather with frost lingering on some roads waiting to welcome cyclists, I shall be the first one to don the King of Wimps Crown. When I got up at 5:00 a.m. this morning to get ready for the Orinda ride, I didn't realize how unprepared I'd be for the BRRRR day.

I layered, but when I put on my "Windstopper" gloves only to be met with freezing fingertips, I was in for a rude awakening. My fingers never warmed up until late morning. I felt as if I were skiing in the Sierras.

The group was large and fun. I cycled out with TRL Sam Kimbrel, Joe Carlin, and Christine Ho - I tried to keep up with these fast riders. Met Christine Ho (Po-Ling's friend) and Suse Lee's GF. Most of the crowd cheered when Tea Dough showed up.

The best thing that happened because I decided not to cycle back home, I got a ride from Sam which let me take a goody bag from Richard Lagunte that included a jar of jam made by Edna - this delight is for those who donated $50 or more.