CAT Series

The girl who ogled the big banana

March 30, 2009 – 10:45 am
Oh Lordy did we ever have to get up early for this ride.  They were closing the bike lane on the Golden Gate Bridgefor a race so we had to get over the bridge by 7.  We met at 5:45 and left at 6:30.  Which is very early.  Here's the sun coming up over the east bay from Sausalito: We headed into San Rafael and stopped at a swanky grocery store for snacks.  Trevor really seems to be enjoying his banana.  A lot.  A whole lot. Then we went though gorgeous China Camp.  Which I love.  So pretty.  And such nice riding.  Then we headed over to Lucas Valley where I ran into my ex boyfriend Ben Armstrong.  Awkward!!!  Here he is heading up Lucas Valley Road: We stopped at Big Rocks Market for lunch.  Poor vegan Joseph never gets to eat the human food, but the people who got sandwiches there really ...

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The girl whose face went numb

March 30, 2009 – 10:32 am
It didn't look when I went to bed the night before.  The mean old weatherman said hail all morning.  Yikes!  It looked like the worst of it had passed by morning and headed over to Sports Basement.  It was really cold and really windy.  See how happy everyone looks? At least Davida and Courtney seemed to be in good spirits: We headed over the bridge and it started getting a little wet.  And wetter.  About halfway through Sausalito it was pouring down rain on me and my face went numb.  Is this what Botox feels like?  At least there was a rainbow: We took shelter under the awning at Mike's Bikes until it stopped and then started along the bike path.  But it started raining again and just about everybody who hadn't turned around already turned around.  We still had a couple of riders out and I didn't want to leave them and ...

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On Top Of The World

March 14, 2009 – 4:21 pm
Congratulations! Wow, what a fantastic Alpine Dam ride last Saturday! Sunny skies most of the day and epic views galore. We had an even 100 cyclists on the road including our Dedicated (Dirty?) Dozen TRLs, and no major mishaps -- that's always a good day, in my book. So thank you all for riding safely and taking care of yourselves out there.Well, we climbed Mt. Tam a little earlier in the season this year than in the past, and I was frankly a little concerned whether everyone (including me!) would be prepared to face the challenge. I expected to see haggard grimaces, quads bursting into flame, and hateful glares cast in my direction. But face it you did, and surmounted the long ascent to Ridgecrest and all the punishment the Seven Sisters could dish out, with more spirit and positive energy than I could have imagined! You should understand, this ...

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How many calories do you burn cycling?

February 22, 2009 – 9:00 am
You burn a lot of calories cycling. The tables below show roughly how many calories you are burning according to your weight and average speed. The average speed is based on time cycling and does not include time stopping at traffic lights, breaks and pit stops etc. Weight (lbs) <10 miles/hr 11 miles/hr 13 miles/hr 15 miles/hr 17.5 miles/hr 100 181 272 362 453 544 120 217 326 435 544 653 140 254 381 508 635 762 160 290 435 580 725 870 180 326 489 653 816 979 200 362 544 725 907 1088 220 399 598 798 997 1197 250 453 680 907 1134 1360 The following table shows what this translates to on an 100 mile. The relationship is linear so for a 50 mile ride, halve these numbers. To avoid bonking on a 100 mile ride the absolute minimum calorie in take whilst on the road is about 1000 calories less than the number in the table below. Weight (lbs) <10 miles/hr 11 miles/hr 13 miles/hr 15 miles/hr 17.5 miles/hr 100 1810 2472 2785 3020 3109 120 2170 2963 3346 3627 3731 140 2540 3463 3907 4233 4354 160 2900 3954 4462 4833 4971 180 3260 4445 5023 5440 5594 200 3620 4945 5577 6047 6217 220 3990 5436 6138 6647 6840 250 4530 6182 6977 7560 7771 The takeaway from this is that you need to eat a huge amount whilst cycling. For example, if you are of average weight and cycling at the CAT Series speed of 10-12 mph then you need to eat ...

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On Being Functional and (Mostly) Fashionable

February 20, 2009 – 2:05 am
So on Valentine’s Day we braved the fearsome clouds, and a group of twenty-five intrepid souls rode into Fairfax and back via the Mini-Tiburon Loop. It was touch and go at the start, as a squall blew through Sports Basement just as we started going over the safety speech. Fortunately it only lasted a few minutes, and by the time we rode out we could see a few patches of blue sky over Marin. Lo and behold, after years of judging our mercurial microclimates here in SF, my instincts held true this time, and most of us had nary another drop the rest of the day. Whew! Though Laura Lo and I managed to get caught in a freak hailstorm for a few minutes — guess that was my humility training for the day. Meanwhile Deyon Jonson led her group out of the hail into the nearest fire station, where ...

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Ride 4 Recap

February 11, 2009 – 1:52 pm
We had yet another awesome ride on Sunday.  It around sixty riders braved the cold and wet to join us on our trek to Tiburon.  It got a lot drier as we headed into Marin and everybody had a pretty good day.  We added a big new hill this week, Camino Alto!  Paradise Blvd sure seems poorly named the first time you ride it on a bicycle but it quickly become many people's favorite ride.  Everybody seemed really happy when we finally rolled into Shark's Deli and happier still when they realized that we would not be going back the way we came. I talked to several riders who told me that they had a hard time on this ride because they hadn't eaten breakfast or they had just had a small one.  Please eat a big breakfast before our rides.  You'll be happier and stronger all day if you show ...

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The girl who only got a little moist

February 10, 2009 – 5:04 pm
I shuddered when I walked out of my door for this ride because it was cold and wet.  But TV told me it wasn't going to rain until later so I figured it was going to be OK.  Nevertheless, prudent Joseph abandoned his first outfit choice, a thong bikini, in favor of an one that was a little warmer.  We had a pretty good turn out!  Must have been over 60 people, each one of them incredibly sexy.  Beau was our fearless leader.  Here he is giving everybody the low down: Nick: We don't get Deyon  every week so it was a total treat: I remember Yasmin from last year.  She's the best! Kurt showed up.  It's so nice to see that he's keeping so active, you know, at his age. Some of our fabulous riders getting ready to go: Renita's been with us all season.  She's super nice and really, really helpful.  You go,  girl! Deyon ...

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The girl who worked too hard to ogle

February 4, 2009 – 3:07 pm
We had more fantastic weather for our mini loop to Tiburon.  Sunny, warm and generally perfect.  We had quite a group show up as well.  Over sixty, I believe, and each one of them totally hot.  I got a bunch of shots of everybody stretching.  Wilfredo brought speakers and played YMCA. Here are three of our lovely ride leaders getting ready for action (Sandra, Annette, and Sue) We had a surprise visit from my ex-boyfriend Ben Armstrong.  Awkward!  I hope that some day he'll get over our break up and move on with his life. I started off riding at the front of the pack.  Some of those riders be fast!  Then I pointed for a while before heading into Shark's Deli for snack.  Here's my friend Stephanie and I in Tiburon: Then I headed over to Paradise Blvd and Trestle Glen to point people at the easy to miss turn.  It was really, ...

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Ride 2 recap

January 31, 2009 – 9:01 am
Oh boy, sorry for the lateness in getting the ride recap out to you. But this weather has been so e’ffing crazy that I’m losing my mind with the need to get out there and ride. I don’t know if you are like me but I count down the minutes until I’m back out on my bike riding and hanging out with my ALC family of which you are now a part of. So to say I’m excited about this coming Sunday’s ride is bit of an understatement.First you are getting this email because you RSVP'ed for one of the SF CAT 2 rides. If you no longer wish to receive these emails please let me know and I'll be happy to remove you from this list.Okay so this past Sunday was another incredible turn out for the SF CAT 2 rides. We had roughly 60 riders come out and participate ...

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The girl who was scared of cougars

January 29, 2009 – 5:52 am
Ride #2 of the CAT series!  Already!  And my ass was still sore from the first one.  At least that's the story I'm sticking to.  It was a cold but gorgeous morning and everybody seemed in high spirits. Chuck and Sandra: Our fearless leader Beau: Bob and a friend: All of our riders are hot.  Smokin' hot! Wilfredo sitting on his car.  The glamor! Kathi and Kathleen who were my very favorite riders from last year.  They're with us again and I'm totally excited.  They are the best! Beau giving the safety speech: I spent much of the day pointing the riders at an important turn.  I was quite a spectacle for Mill Valley.  I seemed to garner a lot of interest among the divorcee set.  Eek!  We got back to San Francisco pretty early which was nice.  Here are Buzz and a friend at the finish.  Ya did it, baby! I picked up Chinese food on my way ...

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