Check out this great video! Talk about inspiration.

more about "Lance Training with Liam", posted with vodpod

This from the Tour de France Stage 20: Final Training Video

Lance writes this on the LiveStrong site:

“Final training video. Ran into 8 yr old Liam rockin’ his LS gear on top of the Col du Columbiere. 8yrs old!”

Go LiveStrong!

At the rate that I’m eating and sleeping more and training less I should weigh 5 pounds more in time for the LiveStrong Challenge century ride July 12th.

That’s 5 more pounds that I’ll have to pedal all those miles and up hills. Ugh.

Actually, Coach Sage Rountree recommend we start the taper this past weekend – two weeks out from the San Jose LiveStrong Challenge century in San Jose.

But you know what? I *wanted* to go on a long ride! What? Is this really me talking?

Wait, it gets better.

Not only did I want to go on a longish ride. I wanted hills. Lots and lots of hills.

Truth be told it wasn’t so much the actual hills I was craving. What I craved was to be on those beautiful country roads winding in and out of the coastal foothills.

Roads that are mostly too narrow to encourage traffic.

Roads with dramatic scenery changes.

One moment you’re in the hot sun surrounded by golden hills dotted with cows. The next you’re in forest so thick that the sunglasses have to come off so you can see.

I’m starting to get the benefit of being a strong and fit cyclist. More route options!

The less a road is friendly to cars, the more fun (and hard) it is for a cyclist. Ah ha!

So instead of a 30 mile taper ride we did a 52 mile ride with about 4k of climbing. And had a total blast.

The bento box continues to be my salvation as I munch along on food constantly.

In other news, my buddy Charisa Wernick WON her age group in the Buffalo Springs 70.3 race this weekend in Lubbock, Texas. And she did it after being sick all week. Congrats Charisa!

Your intrepid SF weathergirl and investigative reporter here.

It’s 8:07 a.m. Friday June 26th and the streets are eerily quiet.

Summer is in full swing in the city.

The fog has arrived. Shows no sign of leaving. [Update at 9:15 a.m. - sky is lightening and tiny points of blue sky peeking through!]

The residents, on the other hand, are leaving. In droves. For sunnier climes and summer vacations.

Here’s a little something to cheer those of us left behind.

I love sunflowers. Are they not just the cheeriest blooms?

It’s not really as gloomy as I’m leading you to believe. Yesterday, as I was munching on my sandwich at lunch on a bench outside the San Francisco Ferry Building the sun was shining.

A nice woman sat next to me and struck up a conversation. She was from Olympia, Washington and in town for a Sewing Machine Convention. We shared a good giggle about the fact that there is a convention for nearly everything.

She was just tickled to be in San Francisco and was asking me where the ferries go and how to get to Ghirardelli Square.

On my way back to the office I passed through a crafts market where a family visiting from Seattle was chatting with the artist.

I’m here to report that while many SF residents have left the city, they’re being supplanted by folks from the Pacific Northwest.

Very interesting.

Cue the theme music from Rocky *humming*

That bike ride that got pre-empted by breakfast yesterday? It totally rocked. Or should I say *I* totally rocked the ride.

Sure, the wind was up. We knew the risks when changed the plan. There’s A.L.W.A.Y.S. wind in Half Moon Bay and it builds as the day goes on. So an evening ride was sure to be full of it.

Our heroine (that’s me!) relished the opportunity to ride into the wind. To double the training effort. Bring it on!

Bert mapped out a 20 mile course that seemed like all hills. Perhaps I overstate. There was a big hill at the beginning (up the hard side of Higgins Canyon) and then we pushed hard on the loop back towards Highway One.

See my pretty orange line? I am so not a designer, but you get the idea. Rudimentary use of fine tools.

I digress.

Once we hit Highway One we turned around returned from whence we came. (See how I drifted into Shakespearean dialect? Clever. Ha!)

Which yes, had us going back up the slightly shorter, less steep side of the hill we’d rocketed down a time before.

The best part? I swear my legs were getting stronger as ride wore on. What a feeling!

Of course every time Bert looked over at me I was eating something. Munch. Munch. Munch.

Followed up the bike ride with a ride on Now Voyager. I think he was glad to see me, though he may be falling for the charms of Paula, my friend who is taking most excellent care of him while I’m keeping busy with a work project.

DOUBLE BONUS! Anke Herbert showed up while I was riding and gave us an impromptu lesson! Oh joy. Both the horse and I carry ourselves better when she’s around. Something to do with pride and wanting to do well for her. She has the effect on her students.

This perfectly fabulous day was topped off by a Little Star pizza. If you live in or near SF and haven’t tried it…go now. I insist. You will be happy.

I set the alarm this morning and rolled out of bed bright and early with *every* intention of getting on my bike.

Then I glanced out the window. Big mistake. F.O.G. A giant wall of it.

*Sigh* That’s ok (I mumbled to myself) I’ll just wear lots of clothes.

THEN, Bert made me an offer I simply could not refuse. I don’t think you could have refused it either.

“How about we try that fun Red Cafe in the Mission for breakfast,” he said with a grin. “Then after work we’ll head down to Half Moon Bay and do a ride. AND you can see your horse.”

Music to my ears. Is it really possible to have a day that packed with good stuff?

Life is good.

The necklace and ring that I’m wearing today are from Venice. Well, to be really factual they were purchased in Venice but made in Murano, an island in the Venetian lagoon. Credit to Wikipedia for that lovely phrasing.

I like wearing this jewelry for several reasons.

It’s pretty. The bright jewel tone colors wink in the light and make me feel a little bit like a princess.

It’s substantial. The glass has a heft that reminds you each moment that you are merely there to ferry the jewels about and show them off.

But mostly I enjoy wearing the pieces because they remind me of Venice. And being there with Bert. And the pure joy of spending 6 weeks exploring Italy. Where every day was an adventure of the senses.

That trip was 9 years ago. Nine. Years. Ago.

Time to go back.

First off, a big THANK YOU to everyone who chimed in about fuel – how much – how often – what types.

The result?

I had a GREAT ride this weekend! Night and day energy-wise. Bert commented several times about how chatty I was and more my normal self. AND I was able to keep closer to him on most of the ride.

HUGE improvement.

What worked?

Well, the Bento Box (mine is actually made made by Fuel Belt) is sheer brilliance. Half the fun of eating was zipping that puppy open and sifting through it for my next tasty treat.

Clif Shot Blocks. YUM! I only bought one to try and was sad when that was gone. Those things are tasty little morsels of chewy flavor that gave me just the perfect boost. Definitely stocking up on those.

Lara Bars. Jen was right. So small and so many calories made from real food. LOVE them. I can personally vouch for Apple Pie, Cinnamon Roll and Banana Bread. Yum.

Sunrise Energy Bars from Costco. Each one is 130 cals of oat and dried fruit goodness. Tasted like a healthy cookie and I ate 3 on my ride. My friend Vikki introduced me to them and I am forever in her debt.

I know how hard it is to find stuff in that giant warehouse of a store so here’s a photo.

Eating constantly. Sarah reminded me to eat every 15 minutes and that – coupled with eating more calories – made the difference. Did not have any noticeable swings in my energy.

We were in Sacramento and the forecasted heat did not arrive. Still, it was about 20 degrees warmer than our usual cycling climate and that made for a very pleasant day. We started at 6am and rode 50+miles up and down a lot of hills. Around Folsom Lake. Across the American River. Through spectacular canyons.

The ride took about 6 hours (we got a little lost here and there) and I ate 1,200 calories which seem like the perfect amount.

So all in all a definite turning point in my cycling development. And gives me renewed hope for completely the Livestrong Ride in 3 weeks!

Oh, and since the heat didn’t really happen I defaulted to my long-sleeve jersey and didn’t try the arm coolers yet. I’m sort of dragging my feet because I really need the medium sized ones and they only had large. So I hope to get to the OTHER Sports Basement in the city and try to do a swap.

So thanks again for all of your suggestions, great ideas and encouragement! Have a beautiful day.

Sage Rountree is coaching me via phone and email to prepare for the upcoming (gulp – less than 4 weeks away) LiveStrong Century in San Jose.

We’re doing a series for the Athleta Chi site and Part 2 was published today!

I went to Sports Basement today and stocked on a wide variety of fuel to test on our ride this weekend. And I bought a bento box so I have more places to put all this darn food I have to eat.

Purchased some *arm coolers* too – they’re designed to wick away sweat and protect arms from the sun.

We’re going to ride in Sacramento this weekend and temps are predicted to be 91 degrees…good test run for the San Jose ride. The weather along the coast here has been quite cool this spring so cycling in serious heat will be a first for me.

If you get a chance, pop on over to the Athleta Chi site and let me know what you think of the series.

Have a great day!

Bert and I went exploring on our bikes early this morning. At first we just headed up the hill from our house. Really, just about any direction from our house is a hill so it was just a small matter of picking one.

Rather than go all the way to the top of Twin Peaks again we decided to skirt the edges and drop down the other side. That put us in Golden Gate Park.

Here’s a map of our ride – we went clockwise starting at the middle of the city.

Even though I grew up here I forget how many wonderful nooks and crannies are in the park. One stretch of road is lined with giant ferns. I mean the size of small redwood trees. I suddenly felt like I was in a scene from Land of the Lost.

As we meandered through the park I could feel the tug of the ocean so we kept going west. And there she was in all her angry majesty. Ocean Beach is one of those riptide filled bodies of water that you want to treat with a healthy dose of respect. Viewing it from the safety of my bike suited me just fine.

We climbed the hill past the Cliff House and Sutro Baths and flew by the Legion of Honor. Then waved to Robin Williams’ house as we zoomed through Sea Cliff. My attention was torn between soaking up the dramatic views of the ocean below and the Golden Gate Bridge and keeping my legs spinning enough to climb the big hill into the Presidio.

The Presidio is another haven of greenery with even fewer cars than GG Park. I filled my lungs with deep breathes of ocean and tree-scented air and called myself a happy and lucky girl. Tired legs and all.

The best thing about leaving on a bike ride from home is that when you’re done, you’re home!

Thanks to everyone who shared their nutrition tips – I’ll be stocking up on fig newtons and peanut butter filled pretzels!