- Are those the same MidPen rangers I saw earlier working some heavy equipments on Skyline? Oh, yeah, and they waved at me again! Oh earlier, a young lady ranger I rode by at Russian Ridge said to me she wish she had been doing what I was doing. Friendly rangers like them make me smile. Life is good!

… A while later …

- Are these still my legs, or are they just wet noodles? I just got down from Kings Mountain Road and now I’m on a flat road, but there is no power coming from my legs. Weird sensation — it feels itchy deep inside, but there is no way for me to get relief. All I can do is shift to low gear and let the pedals take my feet around. 5mph on Canada Road. Good grief! Hey, did someone walking just pass me? Oh, a rollerblader. But, still… how pathetic I am!

- I felt hungry when I was climbing up Purisima Creek, but couldn’t eat my last powerbar because it felt like too much effort. Now, I’m on Edgewood Rd, and my stomach is feeling funny. Am I going to vomit? Okay, take two sips of water, but no more. I hope these are not the last two sips in my Camelbak.

- I’m not holding a straight line. I can’t! Thank god, Crestview Drive is an extremely wide street. What’s happening with my vision? I’m having blackouts! Are my eyes closing on their own, like those of the drivers falling asleep behind their wheels? Shake my head, and now shake harder. Wake up, Mei!

- Still on Crestview Dr… Oh, there, someone just existed his house and is on his driveway. Should I just collapse right in front of him? I can’t go on any longer. He’ll see me, and then he’ll come to my rescue. All the ordeals will be over. But how do I collapse? Just stop pedaling and fall to the side? On this pavement, that’ll hurt and probably break some skin. Or, should I dismount, lay the bike down first, and then lie down? The technicalities are making my head ache. Rat, that driveway is behind me now and I have missed my best chance to collapse. But I have just reached the top of the crest.

- Yet still on Crestview Dr… I just summoned all I had to top out on this crest, and guess what I see? Another steep pitch and another crest in front of me! I want to cry, but without anybody seeing me cry, what’s the point?

- Finally, I’m in Water Dog park, a place I’m familiar with. I’m on a flat section on Rambler. I should be cruising, but why is my bike bouncing from side to side? Did I leave my fork locked out? No. Why on earth can I not hold my line even on the flat trail? My arms are still with me, but have they turned into wet noodles too? Oh boy, something is wrong with me!

- This section of Rambler Trail in front of me is a steep chute. There is an easy way around it, but I think the Tour route goes down the chute. I can’t modify the route to make it easier after having almost killed myself to follow 96% of the route. I’ve gotta go down it even if it means death. I will take it slow and I will concentrate. I will concentrate really really hard. Here I go… Whew, I’m at the bottom of the chute now, and I can hardly believe that I have survived!

- What a relief, I’m back at the car! Every part of my body is hurting now. I’m walking to the gym to wash up. Sheesh, I can’t even walk a straight line. People must think I’m drunk!

- Meeting Erik for dinner in my favorite little Taiwanese restaurant, I’m having my usual order. Well, usually, I can finish my plate very fast, but today, after not having eaten a meal all day, I find myself full after eating only a third of the plate. That does not make sense at all! Did I lose my appetite somewhere on the trails? Okay, force feeding time…

- My head feels warm and my brain feels swollen. It reminds me the only time back in the college days when I finished a whole glass of beer. Am I drunk without having drunk anything?

You’ve guessed it — all those were what went through my mind at different times of the day. Erik told me at the dinner that many of those observations were signs of “bonking.” I had heard the word and I thought I knew what it meant, but my appreciation for that word was taken to a whole new level after this ride.

It was a Friday, but I had to take the vacation day off because of the overflowing accrual. When I woke up to the birds singing outside of the window, I sensed that it would be a good day for some unfinished business of mine. It had been bugging me that I had to bail out of the MTB Tour de Peninsula because of bad timing. The only way to get it over with would be just do it. I had not been doing any long rides for a long while, but maybe that would change starting from this one.

The tour would take me through a few popular parks and Open Space Preserves on the Peninsula: Belmont Water Dog park, Windy Hill, Coal Creek , Monte Bello, Stevens Creek, Long Ridge, Skyline Ridge, Russian Ridge, El Corte de Madera aka Skeggs or ECdM, Purisima Creek, and back to Water Dog. 85.4 miles and 10hr 20min later, I could say this was by far my toughest ride –  tougher than my Death Ride (125mi/15000′) and tougher than the 8.5 hr non-stop pedaling on the dirt at last years Boggs IV (~72mi/8000′).

And it was all of my own making…

When I started the ride, I had my small Camelbak water bladder (2L) filled with plain water and a small water bottle filled with sports drink. In contrary to my belief that real food is essential (for the rider’s sanity at least) on long rides, I packed six Powerbars. Well, I did pack $20 because I knew I would be going through Skylonda (@ Hwy 84 & 35). There is a deli in the market. Erik and I ate there on the Valentine’s Day and it was memorable. However, somewhere along the ride, I decided not to stop, not for food and not even for water. Obviously, I was already not thinking straight, but nobody was there to tell me that. I think it was partly because my lower back started hurting 20 miles into the ride, and almost at the same time, side stitches set in on the right side of my tummy. Due to the discomfort, I just wanted to get the ride done as soon as possible. I ate all my bars (except that last one which I didn’t have the energy to eat) while pedaling. I sucked my water dry just after exiting Water Dog, but that was after having been seriously rationing my water intake the whole way.

I would like to argue that I was not completely insane though. For example, I would never consider pushing my limit like this risking dehydration and bonking at Henry Coe. I do feel lucky that I survived my experiment and walked away with some new knowledge. Regrettably, I had to cancel my plan to go to Henry Coe for trail work the next day because it required a long ride in and out, but my seat bones refused to reconcile with my saddle. Instead, I attended the trail work at Water Dog. Swinging McClouds and axes used different muscles, for the most part.

Links:

Event site: MTB Tour de Peninsula

MTBR thread: 1st annual MTB tour de Peninsula?

GPS tracking sites (each has its own winning points):

• Garmin connect (Playback feature, Send to Device )
• Plus3Network (Send to Device, Comments) — The ride earned $1.02 for the Breast Cancer Foundation
• MTBGuru (Photos positioned on the route, various file formats for downloading)

The bike lying down at her first short rest, at CM08 exiting Skeggs:

The beginning and the end:

What makes it a challenge?

First, here is a rundown of all the obstacles that I considered tough at the beginning of the adventure that are illustrated with photos. Click on the photos to see the bigger versions.

1. The Pavers: No photos can do its justice. It’s steep! If you stall while going up it, what happens usually is either you fall to the left side into the poison oak bushes, or you and your bike tumble down backwards to the bottom. Both happened me, multiple times. The approach to the pavers includes a dam that’s flat followed by a short descent, and then a short bumpy flat section.

2. The Bridge: It’s basically a small step up followed by a short climb. It wouldn’t have been hard if it were not preceded by a little rooty climb after the exciting pavers. And it can also get very slippery when moist. When I went up on the last day of the challenge hoping to break my PR, it was after some very light drizzle in the morning and you could barely notice the effect on the dirt trail, but the wood was moist. By that time, I had been pretty consistent in clearing the bridge, but this time, my rear tire slipped as soon as it got on the wood, so I put one foot down and then my shoe slipped. I got off my bike and now both my shoes were slipping. I had to use the hand rail to pull myself and my bike up that little uphill section, which cost me dearly in time. No PR was broken on that ride.

3. The Log: The step-up is no taller than a foot. The best passage (without hitting on the tree trunk on the two sides) is only about one foot wide though. I can tell ya there is plenty of poison oak there.

4.  The Rock Garden: This is just a variable to the 1st Sister (see below). Bumpy, rocky, and uphill. When you come from Berry Trail, you most likely are already huffing and puffing when you get here. Good luck!

5. The Three Sisters: Some people call them the Three B1tches. That tells you something — they are not the friendly sort. The 1st one is steepest, but shortest. The 2nd one has one good line (better traction and smoother) on the left side, i.e. the hill side. The 3rd one is a two tier climb, not very steep but she is there to greet you after her two sisters.  I remember the 2nd Sister always spooked me until I got on a demo Ibis Mojo last year (in October) and rode up it the first time then. I was so impressed with Mojo that I thought it possessed some magic. Of course, ever since then I have had no problem riding it on my own bike. I did not really see these three sisters as real challenges when I entered this adventure, but thought I should mention them here for people who are not familiar with the route. (Oh, speaking of Mojo, please see my bike search post for my new perception of the bike.) Here they are:

6. The Log Pile: As far as log piles go, this one is a very mellow one, with a good ramp up and a good ramp down. However, it is located in the middle of a right bend with a drop on the outside followed by a climb. Until this challenge, I had never thought of going this way because it was only a side variation to another trail.  It was not very hard, but I did fall into the branches on the hill side once when I lost focus.

7. The Wall, aka the 4th Sister: This is the last challenge on the route. It is steep and with a loose rut in the middle that tends to suck wheels in. Nasty!

So, how did I do?

In the beginning of this adventure, I was in a state that I had to walk the pavers, the bridge, the log, the rock garden, and the wall. Dang, that’s a lot of walking, but that’s what I did on my first time trial on April 2nd: 8′ 59.81″.

During the month, I’ve gone back to Water Dog n times. (I’m not going to tell you the number because you will think I’m retarded for having pretty much lived there for a month yet still not being able to fly up the route with only one foot.)  I cleaned the bridge first time on April 5th, the wall on 10th, the pavers on 15th, and the log on 24th. I have yet to clean the rock garden, and I have a very poor success rate on the log. *A deep sigh* The log is my nemesis! I don’t know what it is, but I’ve had the toughest time getting this one with style despite my countless attempts. But I have been able to get up a curb that high!

My cleanest run happened on April 30th: 8′ 07.36″ — I had one rolling dab at the log and walked the top (two steps) of the rock garden, but I peddled clean the rest of the route. When I topped out on the wall, I almost died, but managed to semi-sprint to the finish with my forehead resting on my handlebar (just like Levi Leipheimer). This was not my fastest run, but I value style over speed. Someday, I will do the whole ride clean. It will come!

But, what’s the price I paid?

Um, I only paid one visit to my doctor, and that was for some steroids…. to suppress my explosive reaction to poison oaks (PO). Till today, I still have a few patches of PO rashes that wake me up in the middle of the night feeling itchy.

Bruises and scrapes? Let’s just say I must avoid changing in front of other women in the locker room; otherwise, I could get Erik into trouble. Oh, and I even got calluses in my right palm!

My drive train was shot during the month and I had to get everything (chainrings, cog, and chain) replaced. I had never sprinted on my bike until this month. To get up the pavers, you just have to sprint. While working on the rock garden, I tried to sprint hard too. My bike went into shock and the drive train just quit on me.

What did I gain?

Oh, the joy, the satisfaction, and the new self-discoveries.  For example, I had never known that I had such an addictive personality. I’m glad that I never got into alcohol. Of course, I never thought the pavers and the wall were ride-able in the uphill direction before. I also get to enjoy the sub-second thrill every time I ride over the log pile now. Plus, I have established a goal to ride that log and the rock garden in style and with confidence. I know when that day arrives, I’ll be a much better rider.

Oh, and the challenge grants some time bonus for sick air shot. I knew I could not come up with one within one month considering how timid I was with any mountain biking tricks. I had too much old folks wisdom — oh, I don’t need a missing tooth or a broken bone in my old body. But it got me intrigued. As a matter of fact, I have started my quest for catching sick air, but I’ll take it my way — a mudworm’s way, that is, I’ll take it really slow. It seems that being able to manual is the base for a lot of bike tricks. Guess what, after reading around for tips, I started off with doing manuals on a trainer. Yep, you heard me right.

What? Manuals on a trainer???

Here is a two minute video that documents the start the my journey towards air catching.

Please do leave me comments if you have any tips that will help me with manuals, jumps, or skinnies.

I could not have done this alone.

That is for sure! Erik endured many dinners from Trader Joe’s frozen packages and the headaches from watching me doing circles around our little house.  The promise that we would go climbing after Boggs IV never materialized (so much for wanting to earn the title of  “a wonderful wife“). Hoping to go to Coe on the occasional weekends he was not on call, but every time he was dragged to Water Dog to beat one trail to death.  And then, there is my weekly lunch time riding partner Bryn, always insisting I pick the route and somehow always ending up on Berry Trail in the wrong direction. Jay and Sterling held a climbing clinic on the pavers and the rock garden per my request, although in the end it was Daryl’s detailed breakdown of sequence of events that got me up the pavers — I think it’s because Daryl and I have similar riding style. You should see him ride up the rock garden in his granny gear! Shawn and Ford at Tread Bikes stayed late at the shop working on my bike upon an extremely short notice that enabled me to get back on the trails with no downtime.  And of course, Krishna, you have to be a genius to come up with the idea of this challenge, and you have to be a super human to pull it off in 5′ 14″!

Now that it’s over…

The challenge ended, but my journey has just started. I’ll be taking it slow, and might actually get my life back for a while.

I did my research. Brian Lopes and Lee McCormack said plainly in their book that front end wobbles because “your weight is too far back, stupid!” I read online and people talk about pulling downward on the bars, scooping the body forward, etc. I thought I tried all those, but still I had no success in attacking those two remaining nemeses.

That was until this weekend…

Passion Trail Bike was hosting a demo day. Erik and I signed up. I got an Ibis Mojo and he got a Specialized Stumpjumper S-works. We took the bikes for a ride at Water Dog. I had the route planned so that we climbed Elevator twice (see my story about Elevator) and the Three Sisters, and in the end, we descended Jack Daniels, a steep singletrack outside of the park. The bike climbed like a goat. The first thing I noticed was how head-steady it was. The front-end wobbling was pretty much gone. Climbing tight switchbacks up, no problem.  On Elevator, it stayed its course very well. Although I did step off once on each of my attempts, I was able to get back on the bike. (For a full disclosure, the rain the day before must have helped pack down the gravels.)  When we got to Three Sisters, I was able to ride all the them in one shot without any trouble. Wow! I could not believe it!  Just then, I fell in love with Ibis Mojo.

So, it’s not the rider after all; it’s the bike!

I shared this discovery with Bryn on own way to Water Dog today on our newly renewed lunch break ride. Per his suggestion, we started off doing our time trial — a ride from the map post at the bottom to the No Parking sign on Finch Trail. Some guys did a time trial on one of the PTB shop rides and there were some crazy good times. Bryn and I did not expect to ever come close to those times, but we use this time trial to gauge our own progresses. The climb ends with my second nemesis — the short steep climb right before the last switchback (and right before the No Parking sign). I had always gotten off and pushed my bike for the last fifty feet. I expected to do the same today. However, one thing I noticed right away was I seemed to have a better control of my front end than I had ever remembered on my bike. That aroused some confidence, so I told myself that I would give it a try. To my big surprise, I did that climb without any trouble at all this time and posted my personal best on this climb. I know that with the rain on Saturday, the trail condition had improved, but I didn’t think the trail condition could have ever been my excuse for not making up that climb. Wow, I did it without riding an Ibis Mojo!

So, between last time I failed on it and my success this time, what has changed? That’s a question I asked myself and I shared my thoughts with Bryn.  I think the mileage in Oregon helped — 40 miles, 17 miles, and 60 miles on three consecutive days. And there was some technical riding in those miles too. I’m not sure the Dirt Series camp had helped me climb because the first day I was in a basic skills class where we practiced braking with front brake only, back only, and both front and back sort of things, and I was bored. Second day was fun, but we spent the day descending in the bike park. At last, I remember right before that last short steep climb, I thought to myself, “Pretend that I’m riding an Ibis Mojo. I’m on an Ibis Mojo. The bike should be able to climb up this slope.” The mind trick worked even though I was actually riding my old Stumpjumper.

When you can trick your mind into thinking any bike you are riding is an Ibis Mojo, who needs a real one?  Um… Wait, I still want an Ibis Mojo though. It sure looks cool!  Besides, it does ride a lot more stable (read: head-steady) than my Stumpjumper in general.

It was 89 degrees outside when I drove to the shop at 6pm. You would think people would like to stay inside and eat ice cream whole evening; however, it was again another big turn out.

I rolled up next to Berry. My first ride this March with the shop to Water Dog was with Berry’s group, and I remember I walked a lot of it causing the group to wait. So, after that I joined the FBG rides for the next two or three weeks and in the mean time, I kept visiting the park on my bike during lunch breaks twice a week, so when I re-joined Berry’s group rides, I had gained a lot more confidence. Since that, I’ve been a regular in his group rides.

Today, Berry said he was feeling feisty on his new 49er, which was a slip that we caught and made fun of, so he decided to climb Elevator Trail today. That’s one of the toughest climbs in the park because it’s continuously steep and despite being a fire road, it often only offers one narrow line that provides decent traction. I was almost happy when I heard that. First of all, I always liked challenging climbs even if I couldn’t clear them 100%. Secondly, I have been on it four times with Bryn for the past couple of months, and I did climb it successfully the second time while being close the third and fourth times, so I might have a chance tonight. “Imagine how impressed people will be if I clear it tonight…” Unfortunately, I came off near the start of the steep climb, worse than any of my previous attempts. I guess that’s the punishment I get for having the wrong motive. As Patty later wittily put it, I wanted to show off, but instead, I was shown off.

Back at the shop, when I asked Daryl if he could take a group up Elevator next week, he said, with excitement, “Deal!” (I do wonder if it’s like cheating if he takes his brand new Ibis Mojo on the ride.)

I brought my camera along to document tonight’s ride.

A big turnout at the shop despite the hot temperature.

Charles and Jen were riding on a tandem, something always fascinating to me. I missed a good shot when they came up Upper Creek Canyon, but my group had started rolling towards DMC.

At the gate with Berry in the front.

Elevator Trail shut many people down.

But as our governor once said, “I will be back!”

============
What: Women’s ride at Water Dog Lake Park in Belmont followed by dinner & drinks at Passion Trails Bicycles
Where: Passion Trails Bicycles, 415-C Old County Road, Belmont.
When: Roll out at 6 pm Friday, August 22

The Friday Female Fiesta offers multiple routes for multiple skill levels at multiple paces:

Fat Bottomed Girl Ride, an introductory/beginner level ride with coaching and minimal miles.
White Socks Ride, a group for advanced beginners and intermediate level riders who want to go slower.
Silly Girls Regular Ride, the intermediate level group mostly everyone else wants to ride in.
Long Legged Ladies Ride, the group for hammer chicas who want to feel the burn and turn out some miles.
=============

It sounded fun, but I would not be able to make it because we were planning to go climbing at Yosemite again. So the email went straight into my Deleted folder and it was not dug back out until Thursday when Erik asked me apologetically, “I need to work this weekend. Would you mind if we stay around?”  I was almost happy to hear that because that would enable me to join this fun event on Friday night and ride Tamarancho the first time with a small group of dirt divas. I was beyond supportive and understanding for my hard-working husband this time.

When Sam asked in an email if anyone was willing to lead the Long Legged Ladies (LLL) Ride in case she could not make it due to family emergency, I took a look at myself in the mirror — yep, legs are long compared to the rest of the body — and answered her calling.  But mainly, I felt some kind of obligation because I had been to Water Dog a little over 50 times by now and thought my intimate familiarity with the park could be useful.  However, when Patty started giving a briefing before the groups took off, I found myself swallow hard at her frequent mentioning of “fast” when describing LLL Ride. That was not in the description, was it?

My “Oh boy, what did I get myself into?” panic did not let up when I saw Kathleen pull up next to me. I recognized her right away even though we had never met because I had seen some photos of her on MTBR. There were some great tales about her. For example, she placed well at TransRockies Challenges 2002 partnering with Keith Bontrager. However, my favorite story was told by BigLarry that at Skeggs, she led a pack of hard ass guys in body armor down Steam Donkey, screaming out in her sweet voice: “Get a picture of me – I’m beating all the boys!!” When our group left the shop, it was me with three others: Kathleen, Chris, Camille, who seemed to all know each other well.  As if that was not intimidating enough, Beckie joined the group when we rolled by her house on Ralston. She was part of the crew who helped build the trails at Water Dog. I just heard Berry, a regular PTB shop ride leader, tell a story last Wednesday about his mountain biking trip to Oregon with a group of friends — 11 of them including Beckie. When they came to a 6+ foot drop at a 45+ degree angle, everyone walked it except Beckie. Berry ended the story with a comment, “I wish I had her techniques.”  Seeing the four of them chatting intimately, at that point, I was almost certain that there must be some great stories about Camille and Chris waiting to be told as well.

As intimidating as it should have been riding with such a group of great riders, it was the opposite. It turned out to be not only a relaxing ride, but also a super fun one. As our group grew bigger with the addition of Angel and Sam, conversations and laughs were abundant. Other groups were not too far from us and occasionally we heard them from all over the canyon. The little city park became very lively. From time to time, we rolled by various vista points where we could overlook the bay glittering in the setting sun. You just could not ask for more, but there was still a lot more this ride was going to offer.  Back at the shop, a few lads had already been busy cooking before we even started riding. When we got back to the shop, the spread was more than impressive, from all sorts of refreshments, to fresh salad, soup, cheese sandwiches, mashed potatoes, pork chops, steaks, home-made wild blue berry pies, cocktails, and more. Catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, and making future riding plans, we treasured this precious evening when we got totally spoiled. Oh, it feels so good to be spoiled once in a while.

Another great turn out
Riding towards the park. Beckie on the left, Camille in the middle, and Kathleen to the right.

Beautiful smiles on the bikes. Chris in the front, Sam to the left and Angel to the right.

The guys started working before the ride started. From left to right: Rich, Michael, and the head chef J.

And they were still working hard long after the ladies settled into the socializing stage.

Because of these guys, there could be a room full of ladies relaxed and joyful. Charles is half hidden way in the back. He is the cocktail mixer.

There was no way I would let Nat’s pink-neon colored hair escape my camera.

Susan showing Reba her birds.

During the past two months, I’ve managed riding at Water Dog twice a week during lunch breaks as well as on Wednesday evenings with Passion Trail Bikes. Although the lunch time rides are short (about half an hour every time), with such frequent visits, I could gauge my own progress easily. And often times, I was encouraged by the little progress I made over the previous time. (Of course, setbacks happened too from time to time.)

However, today was a major milestone that’s worth documenting, for me at least — I managed to ride down Finch Trail, aka 13 Switchbacks, without clipping out. Only two months ago, I was not able to ride switchbacks at all. Practice, practice, practice. It paid off. I hope I can repeat this performance consistently. And of course, I still need to work on riding up all the switchbacks in one shot. Fun!

References:

• Water Dog Park (on live555, whatever that is).
• Water Dog Trail Map (PDF from Passion Trail Bikes website)
• Water Dog Rides from Passion Trail crew

I have to ride my mountain bike more!

But it’s easier said than done. We still want to climb on weekends, so at most I can ride for one day. That’s not enough. But during the week, I need to work. It’s not easy to find people to ride with before or after work. As luck had it, Passion Trail Bikes came to my rescue. They organize MTB rides at Water Dog on Wednesdays after work. Water Dog is a park in the City of Belmont. It’s actually only about 3 miles away from work, but I had never been there. A small park, but surprisingly rich in single tracks. I missed riding with the “Fat Bottomed Girl” ride (as they call it), which left early, and I got on the “Regular” ride. I was hoping that all my recent road biking training would translate to improved mountain biking. Oh, I was being too optimistic. I probably have the fitness to clear all the climbs, but as soon as the trail gets a little technical (e.g. switch backs or obstacles), off the bike I go. I felt bad that the group had to wait for me at every intersection, but they all, especially the ride leader, Berry, exhibited tremendous patience with me.

I had one crash. Nobody saw it because everyone was way ahead of me. I was trying to roll over an obstacle, but something on my bike (possibly a pedal) got caught and threw me off the bike. I only got a couple of little scratches and bruises that are not worth crying about. But I did break the mount of my new $200+ head light, a NiteRider Enduro HID. This was its maiden voyage and it had never even been turned on before. Darn it! But then, the mount is replaceable (screwed on). So, no big deal!

I’m hooked. I just need to make sure to make the FBG ride next week. Actually, I would really like to ride there during lunch breaks a couple times a week. Wish I had someone to ride with though. I don’t want to be late for work in the afternoon because “oops, I got lost in the park.”

More references:

• Water Dog Park (on live555, whatever that is).
• Water Dog Trail Map (PDF from Passion Trail Bikes website)
• Water Dog Rides from Passion Trail crew
• Sea Otter Classic MTB tour course map , Road bike century tour course map (PDF files)