Yerba Buena

What a beautiful day to ride! We hit the road at about 6:45 this morning...late as usual! Up and over Decker Canyon to Mulholland. Down Mulholland to PCH. They were filming a movie at County Line and Kim almost crashed into a pothole checking out an actor with no shirt on! Classic! Turned up Yerba Buena and readied my mind for the 10.76 mile climb. I have been really sore lately and was worried about hanging with the group but I felt really good! I actually had to stop and wait for Kim a few times. I climbed the mountain 3-4 gears down from the top the whole way! That made me feel really good. We dropped down Little Sycamore which is like a downhill race car track..a total blast! Back down Decker Canyon and then the climb home! Here's the ride stats:
46.92 Miles, 3 Hours 27 Minutes, 4:25 Average Pace, 13.6 Average Speed,
43.6 Max Speed, 132 Average Heart Rate(great Heart Rate for me climbing!) 183 Max HR, 4525 Total Ascent, 4547 Total Descent.
My legs feel great at the moment! I am going to try to hit a mountain bike ride after work....we'll see if they hold up?
Peace,
Lucas

Ride and Ride Some More....

Well, the car is still in the shop! It has been great to ride everywhere yet a little hard when I need to go grocery shopping! I've continued to ride hard through the week. So hard I am having some lower back issues. Sunday morning I had a great shop ride. It was just myself and the shop manager Kim. We headed up and over Decker Canyon to Pacific Coast Highway(PCH). North on PCH to Mulholland, and then up and over, back to Decker and down into Westlake Village. From there I rolled home! I felt really good for most of the ride, which surprised me because I was really sore on Saturday. Other than riding to work today, I didn't get any time in. I am going to hit a long ride in the morning. We are going to go over the mountain to the beach than climb Yerba Buena which is a 12 mile climb that will put our climbing total close to 5500 ft. for the day! I'm looking forward to rocking my legs off! I'll let you know how it goes!
Peace,

It Never Fails

Just as things seem to pick up and run somewhat smoothly, the fit hits the shan! Driving home from West Hollywood last night after an event at my wife's business, my lame lemon of a car decided to stop running! My 2004 Ford Focus has been the absolutely worst car I have ever owned! Problem after problem! They had to replace the clutch after 12000 miles and now at 42000 miles the clutch blew up out of nowhere! Well....the bright side, I get to ride everywhere! Lucky me! Photo shoot in downtown L.A. tomorrow. I better get a ride for that one!
Say a prayer my friends, this will either cost $100 or $1050.
Live Free_
Lucas

Ouch! My Legs Hurt!

O.K. so that's not my blood, or my bike for that matter! I did think it would revoke some sympathy though! So I went in for the power testing this morning and was very stunned by what I learned! First, riding on a trainer hurts my bum severely! There is no shock absorption when riding in place! Second, I was told that I have a great level of power in which to work with. Then came the bad news, I have a pretty deficient left hamstring. I am able to spin a pretty solid pedal stroke under power, yet with a weaker and stronger leg, I will tend to burnout much quicker. This is precisely the information that I was looking for. I was getting a little confused with my training as I didn't really know where to go next.
Andrew at Stevenson Fitness has this technology dialed and is a no shit kind of guy. He lays it out exactly as it needs to be laid out and then it's all on me! Through the evaluation he has devised the beginning of a plan for me to work on my deficiencies, lose more fat, and make me a better endurance racer.
The plan for the next few weeks is to spin 2, 1 hour sessions per week hooked up to the computer, followed by a ride utilizing that which I worked on in the gym. 2, 2-4 hour rides per week, not to exceed a heart rate of 150bpm. Also any other type of riding that will not put me into the threat of over training. I will keep you updated! My legs feel like jelly this afternoon! Riding on a trainer hooked up to a computer, pushing 25+ mph for over an hour was.....awesome!
Live Free,
Lucas

For the Love of Team Green

So at the beginning of the race year I noticed that some of the endurance riders that I look up too started riding with these crazy green grips! They were like a platform and some had bar-ends and some not. I asked about them and they were in love. I took a spin with them, and instantly fell in love myself. When I went looking for them I came across a super dedicated endurance rider named Jeff Kerkove. This insane guy works for Ergon and keeps a great blog that posts to Ride424 almost daily. A Super dedicated rider that stands tall behind his product! I was really stoked to here that he was going to be at Outdoor Retailer and sent him an email looking to meet up.
At the show, I found their sweet booth where they were featuring their amazing new pack. That's when Jeff made my day and hooked me up with a pair of Team Issue Green grips with Carbon Bar-ends. I instantly slapped these things on my bike and reaped the benefits. I climbed 2500 feet that day and loved every minute of it.
I now have over 20 hours on these new grips and have not one complaint! After you set up the bar-ends to the right rise and make sure that the grip is level, you are set to ride for hours on end. I can say with no hesitation that I have not had one issue with numbness or pain in my hands since putting them on!
What makes this even so much better is that when I met everyone from Ergon, they were so freaking nice and knowledgeable! Starting with the guys from the base camp in Germany, to Jeff and his fellow reps. Thank you for believing in your ideas and sharing them with us! I can not wait to put these guys to a more ultimate test when I participate in the 24 Hours of Hurkey Creek next month. I have decided to take the plunge and sign up for the Solo 8 hour race. That puts me in ultimate training mode for the next 4-5 weeks.
Tomorrow morning I will be seeing Andrew Gonzales at Stevenson Fitness for a power test and VO2 test. We will find out where I am at as far as strength and power and Andrew will devise a plan to improve my training, strength, VO2, physique, and power on the bike! I am really excited and will make sure to let you all know how it goes.
Make sure that you check out the Ergon grips, they will change the way and length that you ride! Promise.
Live Free,
Lucas

In the Home Stretch

Future Gramicci Buyers


Handling the Masses


Ready to Be Done


Laying Out The Plan

Well, as I sit here with swollen feet, I can only imagine how those who hit the Industry Parties last night feel! As I walked the floor this morning the pain on the faces of the guys and gals was apparent! As I strolled past a kayak booth I heard girl ask a co-worker, "So, was she still as cute this morning as she was last night?"
I almost stumbled as I was laughing so hard! I looked back and the guy just had his head in his hands!

We watched the Bouldering Championships last night on top of the Shilo Inn, and it was amazing. We watched the women compete and I must say that I have never seen anything like it. Afterwards our VP of Sales took a couple of us to dinner at Cocina Tuscano. Mighty fine! My favorite food though has been the breakfast every morning at the Armstrong Mansion where I have been staying. They make a different flavor of cobbler every morning. Yesterday I asked if they would make me blueberry for my last day and the amazing staff had it hot and ready for me this morning! The service at this Bed and Breakfast has been amazing! If you ever find your self in Salt Lake, I recommend this lovely place!

Well, I can't wait to get home and see my lovely and my four pups! I am sure they miss their papa!
Peace

O.R. Day One in the Books!

Well, now that I am finishing this post, day two is actually in the books as well! It's been a little crazy but my feet are hanging in! We had a great time Wed. night. We went out as a group to the Red Iguana. There were about 20 of us so it was cool! Afterwards the group split and a few of us went to a place called Monk's. Kind of crazy when Raphael walked us into a hallway that led to a staircase that went underneath a 24 hour Kinkos? When we walked in everyone in the bar had a tattoo and looked like they were straight out of LA. It made me a little less homesick as most of the people at street level were pretty country bumpkin looking!
It was Kareoke night and their were a few in our group that were raring to sing. They ended up singing Bon Jovi? They somewhat forced me onto stage and I sang a 30 Seconds To Mars song. It was bad, but everyone kept screaming and clapping so I acted like a rock star and belted it out something awful!
Thursday morning came way to soon and we hit the ground running! Everything has gone very smoothly and I am having a blast. I have met some really cool people and seen some really sweet stuff. I am looking forward to Saturday and Sunday as I will have a larger amount of free time and will be able to check out a lot more! The big world championship climbing competition is Saturday night and I am looking really forward to that! I'll keep you updated!
Peace!

Off to Outdoor Retailer

Just a quick note that I am off to the big Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt lake City! I am sitting in the airport now waiting to take off and I will be there until next Monday. I have sent the Homewrecker out there and plan on doing some riding every morning! I can use the altitude training for the finals in Big Bear next month.
My friend Scott Davis who is an Iron Man athlete is training there right now and invited to take me for a ride or two! He is a freaking machine though! I have never ridden with him so I am a little worried about keeping up. He just got back last week from riding in, Italy, France, Switzerland, and anywhere else in Europe that has huge mountains! He caught a couple stages of the Tour while he was there and rode some of the mountain stages in the Pyranes. Tough life huh? The guy is crazy gifted though, he places top five in Iron Man events. Crazy!
Well, I will send pictures during the week and keep you all updated!
Peace,

32:35

Thirty-two minutes and thirty five seconds! That is the time I completed my first road race in! It was a time trial and I entered the 28+ public class on my new Madone 5.2! My friend Bill told me last night to shoot for 40 minutes so you can see my joy in the finish time I posted. 32:35 was good enough for second place in my class! I have to say, I am hooked. The course was on a country road out near Filmore. Just a little over 12 miles.
With the work week I had which included way to much Taco Bell and pizza, I did not expect to do all that great. The start was rough like most of my mountain bike races. No matter how much I warm up, I always start a little cold and it takes me a minute to warm up. Once I got going I felt pretty strong. The course rolled up and down for six miles and then you turned around and went back. When I hit the 10 mile mark I hit the wall! I was still traveling about 16 mph, but it felt like I was going 5 mph. When I saw the marker for 1km left I found the reserve tank and hit it hard!
The crew at the shop are have been instrumental in my progress so I just wanted to give a shout out to Westlake Cyclery and Team Fast Friday! Thanks guys!
Peace