Riding To Live

Promises....Promises....

2010-01-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

Wow. I sure made good on that promise! I have been off the bike due to injury for the last couple of months. I am dying to get back at it. Not bring able to ride has made me a pretty dull boy! I seem to be on the mend though and hope to be slowly getting back to the pedals in the next few weeks so stay tuned!

It's Been A While

2009-11-09T10:08:00.000-08:00

Posts coming soon....promise...

Speed.Suicide.Carnage

2009-08-15T22:26:00.001-07:00

I wish that I could say that the picture above is me! You can't really tell from this view but that is a total drop of about 12-15 feet! And that would be my friend Drew Rohde making it look easy! Last Sunday the boys from the shop took me downhilling! Drew has an extra bike that he let me borrow, so he, I, Jordan and Twig went to Suicide! Suicide is a trail that is right above my house and I had rode/hiked up it once. It is definitely a downhill trail. They decided it best that we push the bikes up the actual trail instead of the easier way to the top so 1. I could see it and 2. Drew could teach/show Jordan the faster lines down. Seeing the trail on the way up had me a little freaked out! I starting to wonder if I could do this? We finally made it to the top and I said a prayer and I was off. It was so NOT as scary going down! The big rock gardens and drops were totally smaller as you flew down them! I did get off at one drop that I did not feel comfortable with. A quick remount and I caught up with Jordan. I was able to then match his speed the rest of the way down! It took us over an hour to push the 35+ pound bikes up the hill and only about 10 minutes? to get down! It was so much fun. Drew and I hiked back up a quarter of the way and hit the bottom section again. He is scary fast! As much fun as it is...I don't think I will ever get too deep into it. Too much risk and way too much money!!

So are you ready for the carnage story? Thursday one of our reps brought us in two SWEET demo bikes to use for three weeks! I will write a review in the next week or so! So Mike and I decided that Sycamore Canyon would be the ideal place to put these bikes to the test. I text messaged him yesterday that I would be bringing both bikes so all he needed to bring was his pedals and a pedal wrench. We were set to meet at the trail head at 7:30 and when he showed he did not bring his pedals! He jumped back in the car for his 20 minute each way drive! Once he finally arrived we set up the bikes and were off down the trail.

It being Saturday it was pretty busy and after we dropped down the "black ?itch" we watched a lady in front of us EAT IT HARD! She seemed to of just slightly get off the edge of the trail and WHAM! We stopped and tried to help/comfort her and her husband whom seemed in shock as well. She took the brunt of the crash to her right elbow and may have possibly broke something? They told us that there was nothing more that we could do so we took off. We headed to the Sin Ombre trail and luckily (or maybe unluckily?) passed a very large group of slow riders into the beginning of the roller coaster of a trail. Everything was flowing great (famous last words) and on the last swooping left downhill turn into the next trail...it all went horribly wrong. In hindsight I believe it was a mixture of way too high of tire pressure and a little too much speed. I started to drift and I drifted right into an off camber rut that twisted me. It seemed like it was slow motion as it happened but to be honest I only remember drifting than hitting the ground HARD.

I hate to admit that the first thing that I was scared about was whether or not I ruined my brand new Chain Gang Kit? As I looked down I saw the blood...everywhere. OK maybe not everywhere but there was enough! I screamed to Mike and he headed back towards me. I picked up the bike and quickly realized that it did not roll! I had pretty much taco'ed the wheels! Luckily Mike had some mad skills and after about 30 minutes of spoke tightening/loosening, rim pounding and bending, I was able to wobble back onto the trail. Again, I will review the bikes later next week but for a little info Mike was riding the BELT driven singlespeed 29'er and I was on the 1x9 29'er but rode it as a singlespeed in order to level the playing field!

My body was pretty sore but I was able to push hard! We climbed Sage Trail then dropped into Wood Canyon. Guadalajasco was the next climb and it was awesome on the singlespeed! We passed a few people as we had no other choice than to push the only gear we had! We made it to the top and I was ready for some downhill! We dropped Backbone and these bikes just flowed down that! It was a stoke for sure! We headed back up 2 foxes to Sin Ombre than up the paved road to the bottom of the "Black ?itch." Mike and I were both dreading this climb as it's a doozy! I REALLY wanted to beat Mike so I stayed with him most of the way up. I felt that about 3/4's of the way up would be a good time to "go" and I tried. He must of been anticipating it because he turned it on as well and gapped me by about 15 feet. I put absolutely everything I had into catching him and as I locked onto his back wheel he hit the gas again and I......had nothing left. With about 200 feet to go, he dropped me! UGGGHHH! So close! He chuckled and had a good laugh!

I took the bikes back to the shop and begged Tony (the mechanic) with lunch in order to get him to attempt to fix the wheels! One half of an amazing pastrami sandwich from Rhineland Deli later...he fixed them! I got the other half of the sandwich! Then I was on my way home to be with the dogs and endure the intense pain of washing the dirt and rocks out of my trail rash. When all was clean I have trail rash on my elbow, shoulder, back, side(love handle), hip, and knee! I am just glad that it wasn't my other elbow! Thank you Lord!

My body is pretty sore as I sit here and type this. Kind of like I got hit by a truck....I hate crashing!!! I do think that if I can spend three weeks on this singlespeed...I might be able to beat Mike....someday!

Keep Climbing
Lucas

Susan Nelson..A Hero

2009-08-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

I was heartbroken to read of the loss of Susan Nelson this evening. Grace and strength to your family Elden. Thank you for sharing your deepest with us.

Why can't we as a people focus on things that REALLY matter, like cancer. Susan, thank you for fighting.

169 Miles. Oak Park to San Diego. Done.

2009-07-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

You can't tell but these waves are 8+ feet!

Mike and I had lately been discussing a two day ride to San Diego. He has done it once and said that it was pretty awesome! So when Kristen said that she needed to head down there to do some work..it got me thinking...
A one day ride? Could I do it? How would I map it out? Yep..I'm gonna go for it! I stopped by the shop on the way home from work and picked up a few supplies and the butterflies were swarming in the stomach already. I also washed the bike and overhauled the drive train. (thanks for the help Chuey! I owe you a Frappaccino.) Then it was on to home to spend some time with the pups and have some dinner. The plan was to start at 5:30am. I was a little worried that I would not be able to fall asleep I was so excited/nervous. I bagged up all my food and prepared my bottles then laid down with the pups.

5:05am came and I was up! After a little breakfast I took the dogs for a walk then got dressed. I felt pretty weighed down with all my food, sunscreen, electrolytes, and other necessities. It was just getting light out and I needed to wear some arm-warmers as it was pretty cool. I rode out of town and I was pretty worried about how my legs were feeling! Friday morning I had ridden with Fast Friday and a few of the Chain Gang. With that being a race ride, I gave a lot! I pushed on over Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon hoping the legs would come around. I knew that if I was going to make it all the way to San Diego, I was going to keep a careful eye on my pace.

I hit Malibu and was amazed by the huge waves. I stopped for a moment and snapped a couple of pics. It's been awhile since I've seen such great surf and i knew that I was in for a treat all the way down the coast. I even saw one guy shoot the Malibu pier! It was insane! I was quickly off and trying to keep the heart rate in the 130's. I bit after mile after mile and made my way into Santa Monica and Venice. My directions were starting to look a little "catty wonkus", as they sent me to a dead end! I kept on pedaling and soon rolled into El Segundo. I left my wallet in El Segundo! Great song!

Santa Monica Pier

Chain Gang..Party Time!

If you look close enough you can see the planes!

Next I was passing Los Angeles International Airport and trying to find the right street to turn on! I followed my map but that took me about 2 miles out of my way and I turned around and rode back! Once on the right road I found myself spinning a pretty good cadence. Manhattan Beach was nice and luckily still early enough where there was not too much traffic. Next was Hermosa Beach and then Redondo Beach. It was time for a bottle refill and a "nature" break! I'm pretty glad that I found a place to do this in Redondo Beach because I next rode through Torrance and Long Beach. One word, S-K-E-T-C-H-Y! I was definitely the only Lycra clad guy on the road for about 15 miles! I already needed another bathroom break so I stopped at a bike shop. A quick application of sunscreen and I was off! Get me the heck out of this town!

Bicycles and colonics! What a pair!

I pushed pretty hard and made it to Seal Beach where I stopped at the next bike shop that I saw. Bottle refill and another nature break. This shop had tons of really cool fixed gear bikes and parts. They must do a pretty good track bike business being close to Carson Velodrome. Next was the never ending stretch of Huntington Beach! It was truly beautiful and there were a zillion people! I found it very int resting that it seemed as if ALL the people of Orange County take EZ-UP tents to the beach with them?! Strange. I made it to the Huntington pier and there was some action sports event going on. It was a pretty large X-Games like set-up with ramps, surf, exhibitors and all. I think that everyone in the state of California was there..yeah..it was crazy! That stretch of beach was miles and miles long and I hooked up with a couple different groups of riders.

Surf City Hunnington Beach

I rolled into Newport Beach next and was feeling pretty darned good! It was definitely warmer than I expected being beach side but not too bad. Another bottle refill and off I went! I'll go through my nutrition plan at the end of this post but I carried three bottles for the ride. 1 with water, 1 with electrolyte mix, and one with Hammer Perpetuem.

Fashion Island Newport Beach

I paired up with a rider after a bit of back and forth with him. We talked about the HUGE waves and how we were both stoked to be out on our bikes! I finally dropped off his pace and slowed. Next was Emerald Bay. There was a huge set-up for some big triathlon that was supposed to be going on, but they had cancelled it because the waves were to big for the swim! I almost stopped for some free goodies but I was in a spot o bother and knew stopping would be a bad idea. I think I was about 73 miles in at this point!

Next was Laguna Beach and the little seaside city was pretty awesome. So many food places that I passed smelled WAY too good! My liquid food, though it was working, has nothing on the aroma of fresh Mexican food! Traffic was a little hairy riding through town but I made it unscathed!

Dana Point then Capistrano Beach and San Clemente! SO amazing watching surfers charge the big waves as I rod along the highway. The miles clicked off and I made it through my rough spot. I couldn't find my next turn, so I asked a guy on a bike and he pointed out the entrance to the road. He was very concerned that I was going to ride the whole 17 miles to Oceanside! I thanked him for the directions and assured him that I would make it! :) I hit Old Highway 101 and the famous Trestles beach break. It was about this point where I saw the legend Johnny O'Mara. Then it was onto Camp Pendelton property where signs to watch for Marine Vehicles were all over the place.

Bike path forever in Dana Point

This is where my directions failed me again and I was at a loss for where to go. Then I saw a rider ride up the 5 Freeway on ramp. I reluctantly followed but figured it was OK when I rode past a CHP without incident. I rode about 4.5 miles before the freeway rest stop and as soon as I pulled off I heard it...tick, tick, pshhhhh. Flat tire! Thank God it happened as I pulled off of the freeway. A tire change and a phone call to my beautiful wife and I was back onto the freeway praying for no more flats! I had no more tubes! I rode the next 5 miles on the freeway at about 22 mph. and finally rolled into Oceanside!

This was a ghost bike memorial on Old Highway 101 at Trestles Beach

Up to this point I had done better than expected physically.For my nutrition plan for the day my food was Hammer Perpetuem as I shared earlier. For my body weight the suggested serving is 3+scoops per hour mixed with water. I like to run two hours worth per 24 oz. bottle. Lately on 3+ hour rides I have used 1.5 scoops per hour and has worked well. With the length of this ride I decided to do 2 scoops per hour. I should have stuck with the 1.5. It is really easy for me to eat this way. With a two hour bottle I take a drink every 15 minutes. Easy-peasy! With the stronger mix I had a few instances where I was hurting in the tummy. As I've learned I just skip a drink when hurting and I usually come back around quickly. Rolling into Oceanside I was feeling it! Knowing I had 2+ hours left I slowly entered a mentally dark place.

I found a bike shop along the highway and stopped in for a couple tubes. With the flat I was now worried about getting another. Back on the road again I pedalled my way out of the funk and started to fly high and quick again! Next I entered Carlsbad which was beautiful then on to a really cool looking town called Leucadia. This beach town seemed to stretch on forever but was pretty neat looking with lots of historical looking buildings that were very well kept. I had hooked on to the wheel of a triathlete and pushed myself a little harder than I had been. I think we were averaging about 24 mph over about 12 miles. He turned off as I dropped down a superfast descent (I hit 57 mph!) toward Del Mar beach. This beach was PACKED with people as all the others and the waves were still HUGE!

Then I saw it! THe start of the Torrey Pines Climb! I was a little worried as I couldn't see the top! I hit the bottom picked a pace and pushed myself up it! It was actually a great climb. Long, steady, long...did I mention long? Once to the top I was a pretty flat roll by the golf course then another superfast descent down Genessee ave. You know the thing about decents? They usually mean another climb is looming! I crossed back over the 5 freeway and was for a moment stoked that I was in Northern San Diego! I still had a distance to go...but I had made it! Yet, there was some unknown major pain to come!

Torrey Pines Climb in such a spot off bother I took the picture sideways!

As I passed Scripps Hospital then UC San Diego I made my way into University City. I would drop down a high speed descent only to encounter another huge climb! After about two of these I stopped halfway up one to take my last emergency gel and 4 Endurolyte capsules! I started back up and pedalled away! I was getting texts from Kristen every 10 minutes as she knew I was close. She and her cousin were concerned and I was determined to finish!

You can make ot a bit of my stats if you look hard enough!

Finally I made it to my next turn and was stoked that the road pointed back down towards the water. My directions soon took me down another dead end street and I was starting to enter that dark place again! I found my way back to the right road and kept pushing. Another 20 minutes and I found myself at another dead end! I called Kristen and asked her cousin Lizzy where I was. Good news! I was two blocks away! Bad news, It was 2 blocks of straight up San Francisco style hilly streets! I pushed like Alberto covering a Schleck brother attack up the Ventoux in the queen stage of this years tour and then heard the most awesome thing of the day...my wife and her cousin CHEERING ME IN! It was SO AWESOME! As I pulled up they were clapping and screaming and had a huge glass of ice cold water waiting for me! Thank you ladies!

The view out of Lizzy's apartment window in Old Town

This was epic! I feel like everything came together better than it ever has for me. Another fear I had is that I would wake up the next ay sick. In the past, most large cycling efforts would attack my low immune system and leave me with a cold or sore throat. Not this time! 2 days post ride and I feel like a million bucks! I cannot thank Dr. Lisa Wong enough! She has taken my horrible immune system that has twice left me with Epstein Barr Virus, and strengthened it to handle this kind of abuse! Thank you! I can't wait to do something like this again! Where will my next adventure take me? I would like to try a multi-day ride with each day over 100 miles?! We will see? Hope you guys enjoyed the write up and few pictures!

Ride stats:
Miles: 169.25
Ride Time: 10 Hours 23 Minutes
Total Time: 12 hours 30 minutes
Average Speed: 16.3 mph
Max Speed 57.2 mph
Calories burnt: 12,820
Average Heart Rate: 136 bpm
Max heart Rate: 165 bpm
Average Cadence: 79 RPM
Total Climbing: 5588 ft.
Total Descent: 6398 ft.

Nutrition:
Breakfast: Egg McMuffin!

5, 2 Hour bottles of Hammer Perpetuem
3 Bottles of Hammer Heed Mild Melon Electrolyte mix
4 Bottles with 1 each Camelback Elixer tablet Verry Berry Flavor (electrolyte mix) (I alternated the Elixer and Heed)
2 Rasberry Hammer Gels (I used these in the last two hours of the ride)
8 Hammer Endurolyte Capsules (these were also used in the last two hours to scare off any cramps!)
10 plain water filled bottles

Dinner when ride was over: 2 of the most amazing fish tacos ever! I also consume another 50-60 ounces of water post ride.

Keep climbing...
Lucas

Please pray for Elden Nelson and family as things have started to drastically change.
Susan we will be praying for you!

Ride.Ride.Ride

2009-05-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

The riding came in a coupe of large chunks this week and last! Legs felt pretty darn good after the 100 miler a couple of weeks ago so I have taken pretty good advantage of that and the weather! Other than those two 100 degree days the weather has been great for riding. A week ago today I had the ride of the week! Mike and I along with our friend Evan (the East Coast Demo Truck Driver for Giant Bicycles) rode in Simi. We rode from Mikes house and climbed Chumash. Then climbed to the top of Rocky Peak and descended to Hummingbird Trail. I hadn't been on Hummingbird for about a year and was looking forward to the ultra technical descent. I have NEVER descended HummingBird without getting off at a point or two and walking a crazy section. Well I am happy to report that I cleaned it! I was so stoked! After descending HummingBird we climbed another steep hill and headed home! So much fun!

Tuesday of this week I went on a road ride with Drew. He needs to start some serious training for the BC Bike Race that he is racing in July. He needed to spend about 4 hours and we hit that right on the head. We left the bike shop and headed out Hidden Valley. We dropped Portrero to Camarillo and then headed out to PCH. We had been discussing which canyon to climb back to Thousand Oaks and got the CRAZY idea to climb Latigo Canyon. Latigo is a 10 mile climb with about 3000 ft of elevation gain. Pretty great climb. The crazy part was that we would be starting this climb at about mile 45! Even crazier is that there is still a lot of climbing back home once you finish Latigo! I felt pretty darn good during the climb and even better once we finished! 65 miles. 4 hours and 2 minutes. 5000 feet of climbing! Sweet!

Today was another 4 hours on the bike. On tap was a ride with my younger brother and Mom. I rode down Sycamore Canyon and met them at the beach. I totally time trialed the 2 Foxes trail and it was a blast. Once meeting up with them we climbed out Wood Canyon and then the paved road climb and hooked up with the 2 fox single track at the very top. It seemed like they really enjoyed the pay-off of the descent! We even stopped a couple of times to take pictures on a couple of jumps. (I'll post once Stephen sends them to me!) We headed back out to the beach and they took off. I filled up the bottle's and headed back towards the hills. I decided to climb Overlook and wanted to try to keep a good pace. I decided that I would not drop out of my middle ring and pushed pretty hard! I was able to push pretty hard the whole way which made me HAPPY! I dropped down the awesome Backbone trail and headed for the horrible climb back to my car. That one hurt a bit but still middle ringed the whole thing! 3:50 minutes. 38 Miles. 3200 ft of climbing!

Sweet!

Early morning ride with Mike tomorrow to close out the week!

Word!

Keep Climbing!

100.15

2009-04-12T13:40:00.001-07:00

100.15! That's right race fans...I knocked off a hundy yesterday and it was awesome! I drove up to Oxnard and parked at my parents house with the thought of heading towards Santa Barbara. I had all intention of making it as long as a ride as possible but you never know how brutal the wind can get heading up the coast. After a brief visit with Ma and Pa, I headed out and was pleased with how the body was feeling. I had to make a quick stop in Ventura and get some additional nutrition and then tried to pick up the pace a slight bit. There was a small cross wind but it wasn't too bad. There is a point where PCH ends and you actually have to ride on the freeway for a bit. It wasn't as bad as I thought and the road was super smooth. At one point the traffic was all backed up and I was riding faster than they were driving!

I made it to the Montecito Polo Fields and snapped a picture of them practicing. Pretty crazy watching them!

Up a short climb I passed two recumbent riders and as I started the descent one of them latched on to my back wheel and wouldn't get off. I tried riding at about 30 mph and I even slowed to about 12 mph and he just wouldn't come around or drop off. After about 4 miles he just turned around and took off the other way?! Weirdo!

I rolled into Santa Barbara feeling pretty good. The temperature was perfect being a little cool with lots of sun! I encountered this guy below on a modified electric skateboard with trailer in tow. There was a dog in the trailer! Sweet. The guy had these big wheels and the board was on some kind of axles that let him carve back and forth! All the tourists in the pedal cars just loved what they saw! It was pretty funny!

I made it t the pier and rode a bit past looking for a place to refill the bottles and stretch. I snapped a picture and sent it to my wife and my parents to let them know that I made it and got a "you're nuts" response from Kristen!
Stats for way out:
39.87 Miles-2 hours 26 minutes- 16.3 Average MPH- 145 Average Heart Rate
3/4 of a 3 Hour Bottle of Perpetuem- 3 Bottles of Water with 1 Elixer Tab each- 1 Hammer Gel- 1 Bag of Orange Wedges (Thanks Mom!)

Heading out of Santa Barbara I was happy with the way my body was feeling! Nutrition and hydration seemed to be spot on and though I was having some straining in the muscles I could hydrate and and it would go away. I seemed to be in the zone with the tempo that I was carrying and other than the few short climbs out of Santa Barbara I kept the tempo pretty quick.

It was already on my mind that if I wanted to go for 100 plus miles that I was going to need to change my route up a bit. My body was still feeling on task and I ran over 1000 route changes in my mind. I stayed on PCH heading back to Ventura and went through some pretty heavy cross wind sections. Once off the freeway section I stopped at the campground for a bottle refill, pee break and a stretch. All taken care of and back on the road. I rolled into Ventura and stayed on the bike path. I swerved through the gangsters and tourists and almost hit a few long-leashed dogs! Back to the road and a decision needed to be made! I started to work my way through the marina and headed towards Port Hueneme. I picked up a really fun bike path along the beach that was super smooth with twists and turns!

Once I got into the Channel Islands Harbor I was speeding through the neighborhoods, reached down to grab my bottle as I passed an empty lot between houses and ALMOST got blown right off of my bike! Funny thing is...5 minutes later I did it again! Though my body was hanging in, my mind was definitely starting to meander! I hit a couple dead ends and decided to head back into Oxnard. By the time I made it back to my parents neighborhood I needed 7 miles to hit 100! I wasn't going to be done until the odometer hit that number! I made the first lap around and it was about 2 miles. I decided to see just what my body had left so I punched up the volume on the iPod and hammered out 4 laps at an average speed of 21 MPH. There was a quarter mile stretch that was directly into the wind and it HURT! So good! Awesome ride and body is stiff today but not destroyed! Can' wait to ride again!

Stats for way back:
60.28 Miles- 3 Hours 35 Minutes- 16.8 Average mph- 155 Average heart rate- 1- 3 hour bottle of perpetuem- 6 bottles of water with 1 NUUN tablet each bottle- 1 bottle of water- 2 hammer gels

Keep Climbing!
Lucas

Holy Freaking Bee's!

2009-04-04T19:03:00.001-07:00

So Giant Bicycles had a demo in my local hills today. Mike has a cousin looking for a bike so HE HAD A PLAN! Yikes! A little extended test ride was the goal that they shot down as soon as we arrived. Our friend Evan is the normal Demo truck driver but he was out of state with the other truck so we were out of luck. Not to worry, Mike had his wife drop off his bike and I had brought mine with me. After a loop on the Anthem X2 we turned the bikes in and said goodbye to the cousin. We mounted our trusty steeds and hit the trail with big climbing plans.

We headed out from Simi Valley and kind of hugged the edge of the lower mountain as we made our way to Thousand Oaks! We hit the trailhead off of Avenida De Los Arboles and started our long first ascent! This is a somewhat technical climb that I have done only once with Mike before and all I could think of was this one pitch that is over 30% grade! I did well as long as I kept a steady pace. The climbing loop we had done on the demo bikes was already weighing on my legs and I realized that I had forgotten to bring any food! When we finally hit the steep pitch I made it about halfway up before bailing. Mike made it all the way up as he usually does! Jerk! From there the descent pretty much started and it is a great technical descent with rocks, drops, water breaks, and other craziness! We got to the craziest part and Mike dropped it after taking a good look. I started to drop in and freaked a little. Mike yelled that I better turn around and try again so I did. I swallowed hard and rolled down it with no problem!

This trail drops you into the backyard of many of the rich and famous. The houses are unreal and the trail was in great condition. We made it to Lindero Canyon Road in Oak Park, (right above my apartment) and then made our way to Dead Cow. I was hurting pretty good and was really starting to worry about what we had left between us and my car back in Simi Valley. I suffered 3/4 of the way up Dead Cow as I watched Mike fall into a groove and ride away from me! When the trail turns less technical 3/4 of the way up, I found a pace and cruised right up. We made the loop at the top and I was really in the hurt worrying about the climb home.

We made the decision before dropping Albertson Motorway that we would follow the same lower mountain trail back to he car. That left only about 300 ft. of climbing and made me feel a little better! Once we hit the top of the steady climb we were home free and started flying towards the car. About 300 yards before the parking lot it happened....WHACK! Right in the forehead! It looked and FELT to big to be a bee and I was stunned! I could still feel it moving in the hole of my helmet but I was going to fast to take my hand off the bars. Then it bit/stung/scratched me and I hit the brakes. I ripped off my helmet to see this fall out:

Ummmm... I was a little freaked out. I kept touching my head to make sure that there wasn't major swelling. The "Thing" could not fly away because he was obviously injured. He was about as large as 50 cent piece and not pretty! Mike finally realized that I wasn't behind him and rode back to see what was going on. I felt better when he said that my forehead looked okay, just a red mark. Pretty crazy! We hit up The Hat for lunch and destroyed a Roast Beef sandwich and Chili Cheese Fries! I was decimated! Great ride. I won't ride without food again!

Parentals, God's Beautiful Green Earth, Deer, 3 Flats All in a Great Week

2009-03-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

Overlook

Holy smokes! Tons to report! My riding started last Sunday with an hour in the brutal wind! Legs were a little tired after the day at the Fillmore skate park opening! Monday I needed some solitude and headed out to Sycamore Canyon for a 3+ hour ride. The goal was to not cook myself early and shoot for 4 hours. Legs felt really good, there was a slight cool breeze and there was almost no one out! I dropped into the hill, flew down 2 Fox trail and then headed up Guadalajasco then down Backbone trail. From there I headed out to the beach for a look at the waves and a refill of fluids and Hammer Perpetuem. As I started up Overlook I was surprised that they had been bulldozing it and it was as wide as the 405! Overlook is a 6.8 mile fireroad climb that is a nice steady grind. The bulldozing was about 5.5 miles up and it made some sections BRUTAL. It was like riding uphill in sand! After a while, I was at the top and had the reward of descending Guadalajasco! So much fun! I started out Wood Canyon and headed up the backside. I was entering the pain locker after the deep dirt climb and decided to head out instead of the one last climb I had planned. So dropping the last single track trail I came around a corner a little to fast and almost washed out! When I looked up I had two beautiful deer were staring me in the face. Cool! I still had he gnarly witch to climb back up to my car and I was quickly deteriorating. I made it and I had logged 3 hours and 40 minutes with 4025 ft. of climbing over 31 miles! Close to the 4 hours! I was a blast and I was destroyed. I had stopped by a bike shop to get a packet of recovery drink and they had no packets! Hmmmm, In and Out is in the parking lot! Double Double was on tap and it was GOOD! About 5 minutes after inhaling that I started to feel a serious rumble and thought, hmmmm, maybe not the best idea! It passed!

2 Deer

Tuesday I headed up to Oxnard to go on a ride with the parents. With the heavy wind at the beach we decided to ride to Ojai and back! Mom took off like a rocket as usual so Pop and I tried to keep up. Legs were tired but fared very well for the 30 mile ride! At one point my Dad through down a little speed challenge so I took off only to watch him BLOW by me moments later! What?!?!?!?!?! He hammered me! We hadd a greeat ride and it was awesome to spend some time with them!

Mom and Pop

Wed. was an early morning photo shoot for Honey at the new skatepark! The grand opening was so crowded we decided to hit it early in the morning on a weekday! It was a blast!

Fillmore Skate Park

Mike had been dying to ride so Thursday morning we hit an early loop in Simi Valley! Legs felt suprisingly good and we HAMMERED up Lajas Canyon and then I suffered up the connecting climb to Chumash! Another great ride with beautiful weather!

Friday I did not expect to ride but after arriving home from a funeral (Welcome Home Mitsu Lankford!) I had about an hour to spare and decided to do a race loop through Chesebro. I managed to keep a pace that was at about 90% to 105% effort! I was pleased with the pace and the legs felt pretty good! I can't say that they felt all that great later in the evening though!

Guadalajasco

This morning Mike had the idea to get in a 3 hour ride in Sycamore Canyon. Now I loves me some hours in the saddle but I know that Mike was going to want to climb....a lot! I was a little worried but of course down to give it a shot! We met at the trailhead at 8 and there were probably 30 cars! Mike waited until we had dropped into the canyon before telling me what he had on tap! First trail was normal...but then...he uttered two words that I hate to hear! Coyote Trail! Ohhh crap! Coyote trail is about 900 feet of gnarly technical climbing with some short rises that are about 30% grade! Then after all the climbing there is ultra tech downhill that opens up into a GREAT flowy section that drops out onto Two Foxes. From there we headed up Sage Trail (more climbing) then down into Wood Canyon. They had done some bulldozing so you had to pay close attention! Next we climbed Guadalajasco at a great pace and then started our FLIGHT down Backbone. Right after passing two slower riders I heard PHSSSSSHHHHH! Flat! Bummer. Put in a new tube and jumped back on the bike only to hear PHSSSSHHHHHH 100 yards later! Two flats in 100 yards! Yikes! The mosquitos ate us alive as I changed the flats! From there we headed out both pretty destroyed! Up the witch and we were back at the car! Chipotle to refuel and a beautiful end to a great week of saddle time!

Grace and Peace.

3 Days

2009-03-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

3 days of riding! So awesome! Thursday afternoon I climbed Dead Cow Trail spending a little over an hour on the mountain bike. Friday was finally a day for some hefty mileage. I drove over to Pacific Coast Highway with the road bike and parked at Leo Carrillo State Beach. The plan was to ride to Venice Beach about thirty miles down the coast and then back. It was a little chilly but that worked to my benefit I'm sure! The beach was beautiful and the waves were pumping pretty good! There was a slight headwind (I thought) and I was looking forward to turning around and having a tail wind. (I wished!) From where I parked there is about 900 feet of climbing on the way out and 1100 feet on the way back.... after 50 miles!

It was great to get to Santa Monica and pass the pier and finally get on the bike path! Lots of interesting people! Venice was also an eyeful! I finally turned around at the end of Venice and I had traveled a little over 30 miles in 1 hour and 39 minutes. As soon as I turned around I knew that I was in trouble! The wind had picked up considerably and was coming off the ocean directly at me! Holy smokes! About 5 miles into this I started feeling cramps form! I said a few prayers and stopped to fill up my bottles. I downed a bottle and after refilling I headed back out. I was able to keep a pretty steady pace but the wind had dropped my speed by about 3 MPH. Whenever I was right along the water the wind just drilled me. So much so that my first big descent that should have been 40+ MPH, was like 25! I tried to stretch as I rode and just continued to pray that God would help me make it the 20 miles I still had left!

I was feeling OK and got to the last 6 miles that I would have to climb close to 1100 ft. As I hit the first big hill passing Zuma Beach I stood up only to have BOTH of my legs lock up so bad that I almost fell over! I sat/fell back to my seat and picked an easier pace. Another prayer and I managed o make it up the hill. I was really starting to worry about getting back to my car and having to step off of my bike! Slowly but surely I came around the corner from my car and was relieved! As I stepped off of my bike I had no issues (thank you Lord!) It had taken me 30 minutes longer to ride back than it had to ride out! Super fun! A little over 3 hours and 45 minutes. Sweet!

This morning I felt better than I thought that I would which was good because a ride with my Dad and Justin was on tap after the mens breakfast at church. My Dad and I rode from the church out to Malibu Creek State Park where we met up with Justin. It was pretty freaking cold but we had a blast. On the way back to the church my Dad and I rode up Mulholland to Cornell which was a great climb! Another two hours on the bike and it felt great! Hopefully I can keep it up! It felt good to ride for so long yesterday!

Climb Hard,
Lucas

Honey On The Hill

2009-03-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

Tour of California Time Trial Solvang

2009-02-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

Tour de France 08 Winner Carlos Sastre

My parents invited me to go to the Amgen Tour of California time trial stage in Solvang yesterday and I jumped at the chance! It's just a short drive for us and we hit very little traffic through Santa Barbara for a Friday morning. We arrived and caught a shuttle into town. We arrived about 2 hors from the start time and the town was already filling with spectators out to see the race and or Lance Armstrong. As we walked down Team Row we first came upon Team Saxo Banks TT bikes! Beautiful Specialized Transitions. Then we walked up on the Garmin camp and were treated to Christian Vande Velde getting ready to pre-ride the course. He's definately one of my favorites!

Christian Vande Velde

Next was the "Rock is not Dead" Rock Racing area. Tyler Hamilton was being interviewed by someone and then was very gracious to sign some autographs for the crowd. It was kind of funny the dress of the crowd hanging around the Rock Racing area. It was very Hollywood!

Tyler Hamilton Being Interviewed

We had walked by the Quick Step area a couple of times and there was always a group of ladies waiting for a look at Tom Boonen. When we walked up again he had just finished warming up and was heading into his RV with a gaggle of ladies in tow! It made for a great pic for me though!

Tornado Tom Boonen

We finally walked into the Astana camp. Johan was out doing interviews and Levi's wife and parents were also walking around with his little chihuahua. The team cars also pulled up with Levi and Lances TT bikes. What a sight!

Levi's Family and Beloved Dog

We walked through the expo area and then went and found a great spot about 125m from the start house. It was cool to watch my parents experience the race. They were so big eyed and full of joy! I felt the same way but it was inspiring to see their excitement. We watched the first 20 or so fly by at full speed and snapped a few pics. Here is a great one:

Tyler Hamilton at the Start

We then took off towards the finish to try to find a good spot. We found a great spot on some stairs and decided to eat the great lunch that moms brought! I took tons of pictures as the riders flew by to the finish. We were about 300m to the finish. We tried to get a little closer but just couldn't find as sweet as a spot so we then headed back. Floyd Landis was open mouthed as he passed by. Hurting. Ouch. Get it?

Floyd Landis Hammering it Home

As it was about time for Lance to come through and the crowd started filling in! It was getting pretty intense! There were even folks climbing into trees to get a good look!

People Waiting for a Glimpse!

We could sporadically hear the crappy announcers and we knew that Lance was a little over a minute behind the Zabriski. But when he came by the crowd went TOTALLY INSANE! Awesome!

The Man..The Legend..Lance Armstrong

Zabriski was on pace to beat Levi's course record but we knew at the time split Levi had 8 seconds on him. Barring a catastrophe a course record was coming! Zabriski was flying so smooth as he passed.

David Zabriski Briefly Setting The Course Record

At one point they had reported that Michael Rogers was 2 minutes ahead at the time check and the crowd was BUMMED! A few seconds later they came back on the radio and said that there was a mistake and there was no way that could be right! He was totally moving when he flew by us! He ended up 4th on the day.

Michael Rogers 300m From Finish

With Zabriski on the board with a record time we only awaited Levi! As he came over the hill the crowd got louder and louder! He was in the zone, opened mouthed but smooth as he FLEW by! 1st place! Levi Strong! Just as Lance said!

Levi 300m From Winning

We were all on a high of what we had just witnessed and the whole crowd was buzzing. We headed over towards the Astana bus and were treated to Lance cooling down as he downloaded to his coach Chris Carmichael and Johan. Chris Horner was signing autographs and the crowd was a little crazy. Everyone (including myself) wanted a peek at Lance! It was cool!

Lance Cooling Down

Our very amazing day was capped off by an hour wait for the shuttle. Only to be topped by an HOUR 4 mile ride back to our car! Only yet to be topped by a horrendous drive through Gaviota, Goleta, Santa Barbara, and finally Carpentaria! It gave us all a great chance to go over all the amazing things we saw and experienced through the day! Thanks Ma and Pa! I had a great time! Way to OWN it Levi!

Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Sonic Boom

2009-02-16T10:32:00.001-08:00

Looking Down Into Simi Valley from Rocky Peak

After some crazy rain this last week, we saw a possible riding window on Saturday. Mike and I knew the dirt on Johnsons/Chumash would be great and the views beautiful so that was our poison! Dean decided to come along and we headed up the pass at about 10:30am. The climb up Santa Susanna Pass was a little easier than last week and I ALMOST kept up with Mike. We pulled away from Dean as this was his first ride in a pretty long time! It did feel good to actually pull away from someone! The first part of Johnsons really sticks it to you with 15 to 18% grade for a 1/2 mile. Once passed that I found a steady pace and just tried to stick with it. I picked up a nail straight through the tire and had a quick stop to change out the tube. I managed to climb really well with no bobbles until the last little technical section! Mike and I had regrouped and decided to sprint the last 150 yards. He stuck it to me being one gear lower than I. Dean experienced the sonic boom and walked the last section! Poor guy. The drop down Chumash was perfect! The berms were awesome and the trail smoother than ever. We met Mikes wife and kids at Chef Burger for lunch and it WAS GOOD! Sourdough Melt...MMMMMM!

Looking Down Into Los Angeles from the Top of Johnsons

After church Sunday I thought I would take my chances with the mud in Chesebro and do my loop. Legs were not doing so hot after yesterdays effort but it was so beautiful out that I tried not to concentrate too much on the pain! The first part of the trail was in decent condition and I was having fun. I was about 3 miles from home when I hit the MUD! Somehow I missed seeing that it was coming and rode right through it. Chesebro mud/clay is not cool! It was great to get out and I can't wait until this rain is gone. I really need to spend some hours in the saddle building my base and dropping a this extra weight that I am carrying! It's pouring as I type this....poor guys racing in the Tour of California. Must be miserable!

Above Sulfur Creek in Chesebro

Mattahorn Birthday Goodness!

2009-02-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

Ocean Beach

2009-02-07T16:57:00.001-08:00

Kristen and Lizzie at the Ocean Beach Pier!

MMMM In and Out

2009-02-07T14:06:00.000-08:00

God's Beauty

2009-02-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

San Diego Bound

2009-02-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

Hadti get out of the house with my beauty so we called Grandma Jan to
dog sit and we are heading to San Diego to visit Kristen's cousin
Lizzie! Once we made it out of the SFV the rain broke and the clouds
are freaking beautiful! I will try to upload some more photos!

Not Ready

2009-02-01T22:56:00.001-08:00

Mike was riding from Simi to Malibu today and asked if I wanted to
hook up with him in Thousand Oaks and climb Decker Canyon? I
unfortunately said yes! The weather on this Super Bowl Sunday was
amazing! (sorry to all you who may be in a deep freeze!) I headed into
Westlake to meet him and he had made really good time as I was late.
We headed towards the canyon and Mike blew a tube. I should have taken
that as a hint but no, I pressed on!
Decker Canyon is about 1400 ft of climbing in 1.7 miles. The
hardest part if the climb aptly named "The Wall" is right in the first
half mile! I was not ready for this climb. I have climbed this road
over 100 times probably and it is never easy! Even at my top form
it's hard. I had to stop on the wall for about 15 seconds to catch my
breath. It hurt bad! I definately for the first time felt my extra
weight as I was pulling my fat butt up the hill! We did make it up to
the top and I wishes him safety and fun as he headed down towards
Malibu, and I was back down the way I came! I thought that I would be
thrashed on the way home but other than the stupid headwind, I felt
decent. As I sit here I am feeling it though!
Super Bowl was awesome! Such a great game! Way to go Steelers,
and amazing job to the Cards who almost pulled it off!
Thats Mike in the picture as we climbed the canyon. He took it like
a champ with a 12-23 sprocket! Freaking animal!

Keep Climbing(as for me I will work on some steady base miles I think!)

Lucas

Oh My!

2009-01-30T17:46:00.001-08:00

What an amazing day for a ride! I have been able to get in a bit of
riding! Yesterday was my first real test of climbing! Mike and I hit
up Chumash. We rode from his house and climbed Lajas Canyon which is a
steady 1000 ft. Fireroad climb. In the 40 mph winds funneling down the
canyon...it was tough! When we turned off towards Chumash there was
1500 ft if climbing over the next two miles. As we crested one hill we
got a little freaked out when we saw a herd of bullhorns! We
proceeded slowly and realized they were not mean angry bulls! As we
got closer to the top the wind got INSANE! The gusts had to be over
60 mph! It was a bit scary! The ride was awesome and it was great to
get some miles and climbing in.
Today I hit the road with the mission of more climbing and another
2 plus hours in the saddle. It has been MONTHS since I rode Rockstore
and I was feeling the call! My legs felt good on the way out and I
hit the bottom of the hill and headed up. My goal was to not stop and
just keep a steady pace. I did it! I was stoked! I was WAY in pain
at the top! Next hill is Power Climb and there is not much recovery
between Rockstore and it. That was a killer for me today but I made it
up loving every minute of it! Then as I crested the hill I saw two
cyclists stopped and kind of looking around. As I pulled up and they
stopped me to ask directions. IT WAS GEORGE HINCAPIE!!! So freaking
cool. He was with Steve Blick from Oakley and they were trying to get
back to the valley! After giving directions I told him that he was
awesome and wished him luck for his season and took off with a little
extra pep in my pedals! So cool! Once I dropped down into Westlake I
had absolutely no power left! Riding the last ten miles uphill into
the wind was horrible! I felt like I had been out for 4 plus hours!
All in all I was pretty stoked with the ride! It feels so good to be
back on the bike!

Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Riding in the Winter Sun!

2009-01-15T15:03:00.000-08:00

I've been on the bike a bit in the last two weeks! I actually rode
for 2 hours in the dirt on Monday! I felt great afterwords to which
is very inspiring! I need to get some steady paced miles in to rebuild
the base but the wind has prevented that! I finally got out on the
road bike for the first time since the crash! Let's just say I took
that corner pretty slow!

Keep Climbing,

Lucas Crawford
http://riding-to-live.blogspot.com

Bath Time!

2009-01-13T21:43:00.000-08:00

Finally a day warm enough to give the pups a bath! I forget how small
Bean is until he gets wet!

Time Has Come

2008-12-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

Now that the back is feeling better, (thanks Dr. Wong and
accupuncture!) it's time to start rebuild version 3.0! I decided to
get my chubby Lola involved! We took a hike in the hills and she did
pretty well! I had to carry her a little bit but she will make the
whole loop in no time!
Also got in a ride yesterday which was awesome. Legs felt like crap
but it was amazing to be on the bike! Stay tunes for some Christmas
pictures!

Early Morning Hike

2008-11-25T21:12:00.002-08:00

Monday I went on an early morning hike with my friend Justin and his dog Indy! These were the views that we were treated with once we made it above the fog! It was absolutely amazing! By the time we got back to the bottom, all the fog had burnt off! It was a great way to start the work week!

Sunday after church I took my dad out on his first "real" mountain bike ride! I had a really great time! We hit the Chesebro loop and he took it like a true champion! The first 20 times that I did this loop I had to walk large portions of it! Besides a couple bobbles on the two most technical parts...he rode the whole thing! I am way proud!

My health seems to be getting MUCH better! My back seems to be finally coming around as well. I am really anxious to get back to riding on a schedule but WILL NOT over do it. I am looking forward to a turkey day ride if the rain stops! Until then, I will be praying for the people in the burn areas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've Never Crashed My Road Bike...

2008-10-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

Until now! I feel like an idiot! This was the first time I have been on my bike since Sacramento and I think I forgot how to keep the rubber side down?
I have been lacking in the post department because I got some bad news a few weeks ago. Rebuild version 2.0 has been put on hold because my worries were finally diagnosed. For the second time in my life I have been diagnosed with Epstein Barr Virus.(EBV) The symptoms that come along with this, complete lack of energy, no immune system, depression, muscle aches and pains, put me in a bad place a few weeks ago. I was shattered with fear and frustration of how I was going to make it through. My last bout with this virus lasted about 9 months, saw me gain 60 pounds, and was very difficult to come out of.
The first time I contracted EBV my Dr. put me on medication that would give me energy so I was able to make it through the work day. This medication was an anti-depressant and had tons of side effects. This was a rough 9 months for sure! If you go back to the very first post of this blog you can read more about it! I decided to do things a little different this time. I have to give a big thanks to Mom and Dad for their prayers and encouragement over the last few weeks. It's such a blessing to have parents that understand sickness, fear, depression, and ENCOURAGEMENT! I scheduled an appointment with Lisa Wong who is a Holistic Doctor. I have seen her change the life of many of my family members and even some co-workers. I have been saying for months that I was going to go see her for preventative care...should of, would of, could of?! I saw her a week and a half ago and she did a full evaluation and an acupuncture treatment. She put me on a few supplements and told me that I will be well in no time! This first course of supplements are to detox my body. I will follow that with tons of anti-oxidents to build my system back up. She believes that we can keep this from happening again! It seems very possible that training and not allowing my body to recover may have caused all this. I was also not filling my body back up with nutrients that kept my immune system strong and present.
I WILL be back. Stronger and faster than ever!
Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Senate Floor

2008-10-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

Stopped by the Senate to give them a piece if my mind but they were
out to lunch! What's new?

Visit to the State Capital

2008-10-08T12:58:00.001-07:00

Maybe lunch with Arnold... We will see!

Riding the River

2008-10-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

On a little vacation with my lovelie! Luckily she let me bring my
bike! We are stating in west Sacramento with some family and I took
off this morning along the river! Long and flat suited me just fine
for what my body is going through! I followed the river for about 15
miles and then turned back towards home. Super beautiful weather and
very amazing time for me! All I want is to be on my bike and have my
body feel healthy.
Keep climbing
Lucas

Couple of Hours in The Sun

2008-09-23T21:15:00.001-07:00

Still in rebuild mode. Not riding as much as I need/want but am working on a consistent riding schedule. Great ride in the sun today. Around Lake Lindero and then Lake Sherwood. Up and over Hidden Valley and back home! Looking forward to Lance's big announcement tomorrow. Maybe he is going to announce that he wants me on his team?

Rock on,
Lucas

Oh the Dirt!

2008-09-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

Took a loop through the DIRT today! Not a long one but it was so awesome to get into some dirt with no back issues! Rebuild version 2.1 in full effect! Maybe there will be an end to my season? 8 Hours of Hurkey Creek? 12 Hours of Temecula? Please Lord let me stay healthy!

Climb Hard,
Lucas

Turf and Surf

2008-09-13T21:24:00.001-07:00

Awesome day! 30 mile shop ride and then an afternoon of surfing!
Legs seemed to have a little more life in them and the heart rate is
going down little by little. Just what I needed after a long week at
work!
When your surfboard is longer than your car you know that gas prices
are high!

Is Winter Coming Allready?

2008-09-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

Easy ride this morning in the very cool and overcast weather! It was
pretty nice!

Ghost Racers

2008-09-10T17:21:00.001-07:00

I snapped these pictures last Thursday night during our weekly Fixie ride. I was not participating in the psuedo cross-race because I am still struggling with some health issues. I want this to be a positive place to read so I have decided to quit talking about my lame health issues. Time to remain positive!
I took these pics with my iphone so the quality at night is not to high. They came out really trippy! Hope that you enjoy! I got out on the bike today for a short spin and it felt great! Hopefully a little longer tomorrow!

Lance...making a comeback? Freaking awesome!
Livestrong,
Lucas

Rebuild Version 2.0

2008-08-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

There is a reality that you face after being off of the bike for a period of time due to illness. Especially if you have to put your body through a bout of antibiotics. That reality is that your first few rides are powerless with a heart rate of a bazillion and the endurance to match a 4 year old an hour after eating a cupcake! The psychological aspect of this can hurt. My last few months on the bike I had gotten stronger, faster, and leaner. I felt as if I had really improved my training. Now I am just scared about how much of that I have lost. Today was day one of what I will call Rebuild Version 2.0. It felt so good to be in the saddle (except for the pain of actually being in the saddle!) I got in an hour at an easy pace and look very forward to another ride!

North Americans Fall Short at Olympics

2008-08-23T08:50:00.001-07:00

The men's XC race at the olympics happened late last night as most of
us were sleeping and the North Americans fell horrifically short. I
have personally seen our racers in action and am amazed by their
speed, talent, and endurance. I understand not having a good day. It's
as simple as sometimes you have it and sometimes you just don't. I
would love to hear from anyone via the comments button below, why they
think the Europeans are that much more dominant? Like I said, I have
seen these guys race and they are fast. I have even seen them beat the
euros on USA soil. What is it about racing overseas?

Lucas Crawford
http://riding-to-live.blogspot.com

Can't Seem To Shake It

2008-08-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

We arrived home last Friday night after a great two days ok the
island! I felt relaxed and was ready to get out ok my bike Saturday.
I had taken the whole week easy as I was not feeling so hot at the end
of the previous week. I woke Saturday feeling a little lazy and
unmotivated to ride so I waited until about 11am to take off. I wanted
to shoot for a three hour climbing session in Chesebro so I stocked up
on cold water and food and hit the trail. The first hour was
good, a little hot but exactly what I expected from my body. Entering
hour two I started feeling pretty powerless. I pushed on at a lower
cadence hoping that I could push through it but never seemed to
recover. I was about a quarter of the way up Powerline when I decided
that I as going to need to turn around. That still put me with about a
1000 ft. To climb and 45 minutes from home.
When I got home I drank some Recoverite and jumped into the pool. By
the time I got out I could tell I was I'm some trouble. I woke up
Sunday feeling like I had been beaten with a very large stick.
Wouldn't you know I seem to have another infection. This has not been
my year health wise. Tuesday night I had a temperature of 100 degrees.
Off to the doctor I went on Wednesday and a round of antibiotics was
the result. I am done with these health issues! I think it may be
time to talk to a sports physician and figure out where my threshold
for overtraining is. It seems that these weeks that I lay down huge
numbers, I end up over taxes. Hang I'm with me I'll be back on the
bike soon.

Lucas Crawford
http://riding-to-live.blogspot.com

Back Home to the Kids

2008-08-16T09:08:00.001-07:00

On Our Way Home

2008-08-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Boo-Hoo!

Where did Hannah Go?

2008-08-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Someones A Sleepy Head!

2008-08-15T10:08:00.001-07:00

View From The Room

2008-08-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Looks like another beautiful day in Catalina.

Lounging!

2008-08-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

Great friends, amazing weather, wish it would never end!

Tracks of a different kind!

2008-08-14T12:13:00.001-07:00

We saw a blue whale and it's calf on the way to the island! The boat
driver slowed and stopped so all could get a good look! It was pretty
amazing!

On The Boat With The Youngins!

2008-08-14T12:09:00.001-07:00

Hannah and Edan

No stress express!

2008-08-14T09:09:00.001-07:00

The girls getting ready to jump aboard the no stress express to
Catalina! Fun pictures to come over the next two days!

Get ready!

2008-08-13T11:57:00.001-07:00

So I figured out how to post pictures and text from my phone! Get
ready for post galore!

Lucas Crawford
http://riding-to-live.blogspot.com

Why I ride!

2008-08-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

>
>

> If I didn't ride and had to sit in this EVERYDAY....I would be a
> little suicidal! Do yourself a favor...get out and ride!
>

Check this out!

2008-08-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

Bony Pony Ranch

2008-08-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

Mission: 4+ Hour ride in considerable heat at an endurance pace. Make it through without blowing up or getting cramps.

Variables encountered: 15-20 mph headwinds. No breeze on exposed mountain roads. Closed road in the middle of ride due to a large murder investigation.

Left the house around noon and headed out towards Moorpark. Once I dropped down Pleasant Valley the headwinds hit like a truck! No matter what gear I put it in I couldn't seem to get my heart rate below 150. I slowed way down with my end goal in mind and tried to push through. Once I made it through Camarillo and was heading towards the beach I started to encounter police galore. Once I got to the road I was to turn on I realized that it was closed and there were news vans everywhere. With not many other options I rolled up to an officer and asked if i could go through. He said that they were just finishing up and let me ride on!
Once to the beach I was hoping that the wind would be at my back and it kind of was! I was feeling pretty good as I hit the 2 hour 40 mile mark. So good in fact, I made the call to climb Yeurba Buena! Probably not the brightest decision that I had ever made, but I thought I could keep a manageable pace. Soon I turned away from the ocean and started the climb. Yeurba is a 8.5 mile climb with about 2600 ft of elevation gain. What makes it worth it is the 2.5 mile descent down Little Sycamore! It is bar far one of my top three road descents.
A little more climbing before dropping down Decker Canyon into Thousand Oaks. Once back into town the heat was high again and I was feeling some pain in my foot. I took my shoe off and shook it out. I was at the 60 mile mark at about 4 hours and was feeling the effects of the ride. No cramps and not blown up, I pushed my way home!
Ride Stats:
Distance: 65.79
Time: 4 Hours 24 minutes
Average Speed: 14.9 MPH
Max Speed: 47.2 MPH!!!
Average Heart Rate: 151 BPM
Max HR: 179 BPM
Ascent: 4279 ft.

Mission: ACCOMPLISHED

Ride Hard,
Lucas

Ride, Work, Bee's, and a Lesson For and From My Moms

2008-08-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

What a week! I did just as I had planned and rode to and from work Monday and Tuesday! 106 miles in 2 days! I started Monday morning with the idea of it being a "recovery" week. I rode pretty easy that morning and felt pretty good the whole ride. I headed home at about 6 PM and decided to try to hit it. As the weeks of this high gas price year roll on it seems that there are more and more commuters everyday! That meant one thing for me on the way home... rabbits to chase! I dropped about 5 minutes off of my fastest time! The best part was that I felt pretty consistent and in control. Tuesday I awoke and was pretty thrashed. I was having second thoughts about riding but dragged my lazy butt out of bed and took off! Once I got warmed up my legs seemed rather snappy and I decided to push it at about 95%. Once over the hill and into the valley I had one of my customers from the bike shop ride up on me. He was on his Gary Fisher Superfly outfitted for a daily road commute. He was running some narrow street tires and keeping a pretty good pace. We talked and rode at about 80% and I ended up about 30 seconds off my fastest time! I had a long day at work and ended up not leaving until about 6:40 PM and that sure did not leave me much time to get home! So I gave it my all and hammered at about 105% the whole way home! I didn't feel as strong as the day before but I felt pretty freaking good. I definitely feel as though I am riding at a quicker, stronger pace! I had to wake up at 3:45 AM Wed. morning for work and I will say that I was feeling pretty thrashed. I took the day off from riding and hit the sheets early! Another early day at work on Thursday and I was hurting from the 345 AM wake up call! I was excited about the Thursday night Fixie ride. We had talked about doing Hidden Valley so I was a little freaked with the lack of energy that I was feeling! We ended up not doing Hidden Valley but we rode about 20 miles through some pretty hilly parts of town. We ended the ride with a test run of the first half of the "Tour de T.O. Blvd" race course. After all the climbing I managed to get the lead but when we hit a yellow at Westlake Blvd...Sammy blew through it and that was it! I hung in for second and figured I could make a pretty good run at the actual race if I am feeling good!
Friday morning I hit the dirt and wanted to push pretty hard. I picked a climb heavy trail route and hit the gas! I felt pretty snappy and then I came across this sign:
ACTIVE BEES IN AREA!
Let's just say that I slowly pedaled through Sulfer Springs. This sign wasn't there last week! I pushed at about 90% for 1 hour and 15 minutes. THe heat took it's toll and I blew before hitting the top. I found a pace and then recovered a bit on the way home.
Saturday brought a ride with the parentals. We loaded up the new ride with the bikes and headed to the harbor. A little ride halfway to Santa Barbara was on tap!

Check our Pop's HUGE Hoops!

The fog was pretty socked in and it was cool. Mom took off like a Jack Rabbit and said that she needed to warm up a bit. It wasn't long until you could tell that my mom was feeling a bit of pain. She was having some cramping trouble and was trying to push through it. We made it to the turn-around point and she stopped to take a rest as I jumped on my Dad's new Gary Fisher Cobia to try it out! I am very envious of the big hoops and really, really, really starting to fein for a Siren Song!
We made it about 5 miles back before Mom had to make the very tough decision to call it a day! We decided that I would ride back to the car and bring it back so Mom could drive it home. I thought that this would be a great opportunity to do an 8 mile time trial! Legs were feeling good so I pushed it all the way back to the car at 105%. Once we got Moms bike on the car she high-tailed it back to the house and my dad and I pushed on.
The Ventura County Fair was going on and getting through Downtown was a little freaky even for me! We made it over to the Boardwalk and headed back towards Oxnard. When all was said and done we had done about 40 miles and got to spend some great time together! My Ma was pretty bummed and I tried to explain that sometimes your body just doesn't want to cooperate. I know that that doesn't really help to hear...it just pretty much sucks! Oh yeah...what I learned from my mom is that Eggplant is full of nutritional value! I had read in a book a couple of years ago that it has none and told her that. She quickly printed some stuff off to prove me way wrong! Thanks Ma.
Sunday morning brought another mountain bike ride with my buddy Mike. We had decided to hit up some trails that we don't really ride all that often. I rode from the house to the trailhead about 5 miles away and when Mike showed, we decided to do a trail that I had never ridden. It was straight up from the beginning and it was awesome! Killer trail I had never ridden in my own home trail system! Great ride..Great week..time to recover!
Peace,
Lucas

BIONICON Demo

2008-07-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Mike, Rory, and Jenn after climbing to the top of Rocky Peak via Stagecoach Trail and Johnsons.

I picked Mike up at his house and we headed over to Corriganville Regional Park for the Bionicon bike demo. My friends Rory and Jenn met us there and we all picked out the bikes that we wanted to ride. I chose one of the only ones that they had left in my size, the Edison LTD. I knew that we had a tuff ride with over 2000 ft of climbing planned so I was a bit worried about taking out a bike with 6 inches of travel, adjustable or not! Not many other choices so we were off! We headed up Stagecoach trail which was Tuff (with a capital T!) Its about 800 feet of climbing in two miles! I would like to bring up the fact that Rory picked the Iron Wood which is a downhill bike with 8 inches of travel! He kept pace with us the whole way up Stagecoach! The way the adjustable travel works on these bikes is they have a handlebar mounted button that you push to move the travel more or less. If you want less front travel you push the button as you lean forward on the front end. Then before heading downhill you lean bag and push the button and the travel extends. It only took about 1 quick descent to figure out how to be ready for the changing terrain. I had absolutely no trouble with quick adjustments after the this!
We were soon climbing Johnsons and I was feeling some muscles that were not usually utilized. I was in a different position than on my bike and I was feeling it! Mike was climbing like a freaking Billy Goat and I was having a hard time keeping up...as usual. There was a couple times that he just rode away from us! About a quarter of the way up I was able to pass Rory and separate myself from him. I should have been ahead of him considering he was on a 35 pound bike with 8 inches of travel. I still can't believe that he climbed as quick as he did!
As we hit about 2 miles to go we just seemed to be baking in the 100 degree sun! I was really enjoying the bike but was so ready to be at the top! We started to descend and I could not believe how FREAKING AWESOME it was to descend with 6 inches of travel! You just float over everything! We were very quickly at the Hummingbird trailhead. Hummingbird is one of the more technical descents around here and I could not wait to drop in! Usually on my bike there are a few spots that I have to dismount and walk down...on the Edison...not so much! The only time that I (purposefully) dismounted was to edge through two rocks that were not wide enough to ride through! I was so stoked! I was FLYING down this hill! And then it happened....almost! We were literally 300 ft. from the end of the trail and I ALMOST bought the farm! I somehow started to nose wheelie down the trail and off the side...it's all a little fuzzy from the shock but I somehow was able to get the back end down but when I did my foot and leg drilled into the ground as the pedal pounded into the back of my leg just above my ankle. It felt as if it had broken in half! I think I was still in shock that I was not 50 feet down the side of the trail but once at the bottom of the run I jumped off my bike to inspect the damage. Other than a pedal mark in the back of my leg and some immense pain all seemed to be intact! We pedaled back to the parking lot a cuple miles away!
I REALLY enjoyed my ride on the Bionicon Edison LTD and really enjoyed spending time with my friends! When we got back to Mikes he was showing me how to slide on his new Drop Board! It was super cool! It was also really hot so we didn't last long. Mike called me later in the day to make sure that I was OK because I looked like a zombie when I left! It was a sweet day!
This week I hope to commute Monday and Tuesday then I have two days of having to be at work at 5 and 6am! I will definitly get in some afternon rides and I think that we are doing Hidden Valley on the fixies Thursday night! Yikes!

Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Ride Ride Ride

2008-07-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

The new ride with my baby on the back! Mad thanks goes out to Mike Mahoney for the blessing of the bike rack! No bikes in the car!!
It's been a great week so far! My plan was to ride to work monday. I usually wake at 515 am in order to give myself time bit all of a sudden it was already 6! So I rode to work at 95% of my maximum heart rate! I actually felt really good for the ride and was stoked on my average speed of 18.6 mph over the 26 miles! I also beat my best time by 3 minutes! I was worried about the ride home since I had expended so much and then kristen reminded me that I had promised to take her to the movies when I got home! So I figured what the heck let's smash it! I was stoked to find a only a small headwind as I headed through the valley floor. I was maintaining 22 mph and pushing a 172 average heart rate! As I approached the North end of the valley and the start of the climbing I found the missing headwind. I was starting to go into debt and wondered where I was going to find money to pay the banker! I settled into a smarter pace and pushed myself up the hill into Calabassas. The pain cave was starting to swallow me whole as I continued to climb. Finally at the top of the grade I started my descent and almost to the bottom I saw a bumble bee coming towards me! I sees that in slow motion he stopped in mid-air, turned around, and dive bombed me stinger first! Oh it hurt! He got me on the hand between the thumb and first finger! Freaking rascal! After about 5 minutes of trimg to scratch and squeeze the poison out I took off. I made it home in just 10 minutes more than what it took me to make it to work which I think was another personal best! I was definately thrashed!
Tuesday was a rest day as I woke up and just couldn't get my legs moving! Wednesday I hooked up with my buddy Mike and we hit up La Haas climb and flew down Chumash! I realized as I almost flew off the cliffside a couple times that I need to spend some more time on my mountain bike! My bike handling skills seemed a little off!
For our Thursday night fixie ride tonight we are supposed to do Potrero! This is a 26 mile loop with about 1800 feet of climbing! I'm a little scared as this is a tuff ride on a geared bike! Tomorrow, if I'm alive I will me riding to work again! Then Saturday I will be hitting a mountain bike demo with Mike. Bionicon is in town and I am looking forward to giving their bikes a try! I hope to get 4 plus hours in the saddle that day one way or another!
See if you can pick out the climb...it goes up, up, and up!
Ride on,
Lucas

Hammer On

2008-07-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

The last week in the saddle has been pretty freaking good! After a few frustrating post antibiotic rides, I felt my legs start to come back! I also got my mountain bike back last Saturday! I've been having a great time in the dirt since then! I'll leave to with this thought, Ricardo Ricco, how freaking lame!

Health....Sometimes Doesn't Cooperate

2008-07-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I have yet to post a pic of the SWEET new ride as promised...I'll try to get it up this week.
I am typing this as I sit in the doctors office yet again. I finished up 15 days of antibiotics on Monday and my body has definately paid the price. I have been riding a bit since Thursday of last week but with no real power or endurance. Just trying to spin lightly to work my fitness back up and deal with the sore joints and muscles.
Bummer is, after 15 days of medicine, the cold is gone but I still have some sort of blockage in my sinus. Hopefully I will find out what that is here today and how to fix it? Hopefully no more meds!
My awesome parents had given me a ten day supply of vitamans to combat what the meds were doing and boost some energy levels. They really seemed to be making a difference but I ran out and need to now order them! My mom went through the trouble of sending the links to me so that I could order them from iherb.com. I just need to wait until payday...:(
I hope to continue to spin lightly for the rest of the week and maybe be ready to start commuting to work via bike by this weekend. I just don't want to put my body into a debt that it can't repay! I have already been sidelined too long this season. I think that my focus will now be on three races for the rest of the season. 1 day state championship XC race, 12 hours of Temecula solo, and 24 hours of Hurkey Creek 2 man team with Rory. We will see!
Pray for Health,
Lucas

PS...check out www.fatcyclist.com his new jersy's will be pre-ordable next week! Hint..hint..sure would make a great christmas present for me...or anyone! (XL!). They will go quick again! They sold out in one day last month!

Ellings Park XC Race Report

2008-07-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hot, hot, hot! Did I mention that it was hot? I guess this will always be the case when you are racing in SoCal in the middle of summer! They changed up the course for the better this year! They had us start on the beach side of the mountain instead of on the opposite side. They had also cut some new single-track that kept us from having to climb the horriblw fire road each lap. There was actually more climbing with the new course but it was better!
I really did not know what to expect on race day considering that the two days prior I had been experiencing horrific allergies. I actually felt OK when I woke up but was still worried! It was a little foggy when I got up to santa barbara and that excited me! With each passing minute it seemed to get warmer and warmer. I ran into some friends and had some nice conversation that kept my mind off of the impending pain!
When we lined up there was a pretty good bunch of guys that were towing the line! The gun sounded and we were off! I quickly went into oxygen debt and found myself near the back of the pack halfway up that first climb. I kept my eye on the ONE guy that I wanted to beat and when we neared the top of the hill he attacked hard! This is his home course and I instantly new that he had a statagy. I rode a little harder than I wanted to that first lap because I was at the back of the pack and that put me into some serious hurt as we finished lap one.
I backed off the pace(so I wouldn't die!) As we started the opening climb. I figured that I could try to recover and hope everyone else would blow at some point. By the end of lap two, it started to pay off as I passed a good number of ridersd that were suffering in the heat. I had also passed 2nd place at this point and tried to create a gap between us. There was no sign of first and that hurt a bit! I took it easy for the first half of the last lap and then tried to turn on the burners. I settled into a decent pace and just rode my race. As I got near the finish I tried to stand up to sprint but quickly realized that my muscles were screaming HECK NO DUDE!!! So I sat right back down and cruised across the line!
I finished in 2nd about 6 minutes back! That second lap had really killed me! I was pretty stoked with my performance all things considered!
Well I started this post three weeks ago and never got around to finishing it! In the mean time I have been off the bike for two weeks(finally back on for the last two days)because of a bad sinus infection. We moved last weekend! We only moved about 150 yards but it still took four days! My mountain bike has been in the shop with fork problems for the last two weeks! I hope to get it back from Fox on Monday! The most terrific news to report though is that I spent most of the day yesterday(4th of July) getting rid of the Death Mobile!!!(Ford Focus)
That car had almost killed me in numerous ways and I thank the amazing Lord for removing that pile of evil from my life! I was able to take full advantage of people trading in their larger cars, and picked up a fully loaded 2007 Chevy Trailblazer with 35000 miles on it for under $13500!!! Definately not the best gas mileage, BUT the car is in amazing condition and will be the perfect "race mobile!". I will post a pic here by the end of the weekend!
My friend Mary Collier (wife of Siren Bicycles madman Brenden) is getting close to finishing the Great Divide Trail Mountain bike race from Canada to Mexico! It has been such an experience just watching her do this, I cannot imagine what it's been like for her! I will post a link to the site later tonight when I get home. Hang in there Mary! You are almost home!
I am trying to ease myself back into training since I just finished 15 days of antibiotics. I need to go see the doc again this week as I still have something wrong with my right sinus. Hopefully getting it taken caree of will not require more medicine?! I hate what that crap does to my body!
Peace,
Lucas

$4.28 a Gallon!! How About $3.00 Every 50 Miles!

2008-06-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

It seems as if the prices are not stopping! $4.18 one day, $4.28 the next! I have now committed myself to commuting by bike everyday that it is possible. From my door to my store it is just over 25 miles. The plus of the ride to work is that the majority of the climbing is all in the first 10 miles. That being said , coming home, all the climbing is in the LAST 10 miles! No complaints because it is definitely helping with my fitness level and weight loss! I eat an energy bar before leaving home and then one more before heading home! Thats three bucks instead of the millions it costs to fill up my tank!
Saturday morning I took a slightly different route once I got into the San Fernando Valley. With the light traffic I thought that I would ride Ventura Blvd. the whole way down. Do you know how many restaurants I passed that were cooking some sort of breakfast food? Let's just say that it was enough! I will NEVER take that route again unless I have some time to stop and partake! On my way home Saturday I saw this crazy fire burning next to the road!

Saturday I overdid it a bit. I did not bring any lights since I usually get out before 5PM. Well...it was nuts all day on Saturday and I didn't roll out until about 6:15! I pushed at about 95% into a headwind the WHOLE WAY HOME! I pulled up to home just a the sun set. I was thrashed! I can't wait to see how I improve on my riding time? With that jaunt home I set the bar pretty high. Another benefit is that I am carrying about 15+ pounds on my back so when I go out on a regular ride, I'm feeling pretty light!
It seems like I see more and more people commuting by bike everyday! Maybe if enough of us ACTUALLY drove less, prices would go down! Thursday night rides are getting bigger and bigger and so much fun! Here's a picture from last week! (notice the police escort on the right!)

Ride on,
Lucas

SWEET RIDE!!!!

2008-05-31T09:44:00.000-07:00

What a great experience I had on Thursday! I mentioned in my last entry that I had given my dad my old mountain bike and that my mom had just bought a bike. They were so excited like little kids at Christmas that you couldn't help but be overjoyed with them! They had already laid down the gauntlet by doing a 30+ mile ride for their first ride in...oh I don't know....25 years!
I had the EXTREME pleasure of taking them on their first ever mountain bike ride! I told them to meet me at Sycamore Canyon and Pacific Coast Highway at 10:30 am!
I had ridden down through the canyon from Thousand Oaks and ended up being a couple minutes late after finding that 5 of the creek crossings were still running! My dad was kind of pacing around trying to find a cell signal so he could call me and find out where I was! It was 1033! They were so excited and that was awesome to see!
We headed into the canyon and my mom took off like someone had just screamed go! She was quickly 100 yards ahead of us and I asked my dad if he had ever heard the expression,"don't burn all the matches in your book!" He said that that's how fast she rides! I asked him if this was the pace that she kept on the Ojai ride and he said yes! I told him that he was in trouble!
I caught up with her and realized that she was in her BIG RING! After noticing that she wasn't shifting for the little hills I asked her why not and she said that she wasn't to comfortable with shifting yet! I gave her a quick lesson and she exclaimed how much easier it was to pedal! She then increased her cadence and took off again!

On their long first ride she had started to cramp up near the end and I had told her about nutrition and hydrating! They had brought all kinds of goodies with them including fresh cut pineapple and nuts! About halfway towards the turn around I led them off the double track onto some sweet single-track! You could tell they were a little nervous at first..ok..for most of it, but every time I glanced back they were right on my tail eating it up! Once back on the fire road moms said that she didn't know if she was ready for that. I told her that she did awesome and she just grinned from ear to ear!
At the turn around we chowed down on bars and fresh pineapple! We headed back towards the beach and my mom just hit the gas again! It was a little slower as we had a bit of a headwind but she was still pushing it hard! The second time through all the water crossings they seemed to have it down...choose a line and pedal through!
When we got back to their car and I we talked about how far we had gone(12.5 miles) my moms next comment was,"that's it? Let's go home, wash the bikes and go for another ride!" FREAKING AWESOME!!!
This was definitely a highlight of my life! I couldn't of asked for the experience to be any better! I look forward to many rides with them! Oh yeah...the next day they did the 30+ mile Ojai ride again! Then they called this morning and asked where they should ride today!

Ma and Pa...Ride On!

Thursday Night Fixie Fun

2008-05-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

As we are coming out of the cold winter nights, Thursdays are getting better and better! When I asked for a Fixed Gear bike for my birthday back in January, I had one thing on my mind...Thousand Oaks Chain Gang Thursday night rides!

Drew (The Pirate?) Guarding the fleet!

As the weeks roll on, there are more and more people showing up to ride! We meet at the bike shop around 7PM and start rolling at about 7:30. All kinds of folks show up. Guys, gals, and youngsters. Most have fixies but some show up on geared road bikes and occasionally something crazy like a tall bike! We usually head down Thousand Oaks Blvd.(The main street in our community) towards Moorpark Rd. The larger the group gets the safer we all seem to feel riding on the busier roads. We usually get lot's of honks and waves. People get a kick out of seeing us all riding down the road. We also get the occasional jerk that wants to give us grief! Whatever! Once we hit Moorpark road it's a climb up to Toppers Pizza! Some of the best pizza ever!

After salad and pizza we have been lately heading out trying to find a place to race. Some weeks it's drag races, other weeks we map out a course. The last two weeks we have been going to the park behind the Thousand Oaks Library. We figured out a CRAZY figure 8 cyclocross type of race track. The first half-lap is on a 4 foot wide sidewalk that has twists and turns(even a bridge crossing) that are hard to navigate on a fixed-gear! Then it gets even CRAZIER when you hit the second half as it turns to a sandy path that also twists and turns! People were even crashing as we slowly rode the course pre-race. It then turns off the sand path onto the grass where you have to duck under some tree branches! A mushy jaunt over the soft playground surface and you finish the lap! 3 laps was the call and the first week out was NUTS! There was crashing and banging from the start, (no injuries) and I couldn't even hang with 3-4 of the guys! After that race we decided to do a gate to gate drag race. The road through the park is shaped like a big U. There are closed gates at each end and I would say that it is about 1/2 of a mile or a little more all the way around. We had someone yell o and I got a pretty good start. I was 3rd at the half-way point and I think we had pretty much dropped everyone else. As we approached the finishing gate it was slightly uphill. I looked up to see Bobby Langin Jr. and some other racer guy hammering with their heads down. In a flash Bobby screamed OH SH...and next thing you know he was flying over his bars! He did he pretty good tuck and roll and came right up to his feet screaming' "Did I win, Did I win?" The other guy had locked up into a skid that was no less than 25ft! Yeah...they were flying! I locked into a skid(I have no brakes, this is a complete lock up of the legs) and barely missed crashing into the fence! I guess we should have checked the end of the course first! The whole way back to the shop all we talked about was Bobby's Superman over the fence! He's got a pretty good talent for crashing onto his face!
We had about 20 people this last week and hope that it continues to grow! We will have to start reserving the party room at the pizza place! I also got to do the Ride of Silence this last Wed. This was a memorial ride that was held all over the country last week. Thousand Oaks had about 300 riders show up! It was pretty cool as some bike police also showed to ride with us. We rode up Thousand Oaks Blvd and made a big loop back around to the start. It was about 12 miles and there were all kinds of riders there! There were a couple really young kids that did the whole 12 miles on BMX bikes! There were old folks, racers, tag-along's, and even a few tandems. It was kind of funny when we were sitting in the parking lot waiting to take off and there were people eating GU"S and Shot Blocks! We asked each other if we missed the invitation to the race? It was a great time! We rode to Taco Bell afterwards and managed to eat a lot!
Sometime in the next couple of weeks will be the big Chain Gang Race that we have been planning for over a year! It will be from Agoura High School to the Jann's Mall parking lot! Straight down Thousand Oaks Blvd! There are a couple tough hills in the first 5 miles so correct gearing on the fixie will be key! I will definately have some pics!
I HAVE TO GIVE A HUGE CONGRATS TO MY MOM AND DAD! They have been looking to buy a bike for my mom and actually went out and rented one to try. So any regular Joe would go to an easy short bike path to get a feel for the bike! Nope! Not my parents. They decided to ride from Ventura to Ojai and back!!! Ummm yeah...that's 15 miles each way! It climbs 1000ft from Ventura to Ojai and then when you head back to Ventura it's all downhill, but usually a headwind right in your face! Though she started to have a little cramping, they made it the whole way! Awesome! Way to go guys! I am dropping off my old mountain bike to my dad tomorrow! Next up for them, a ride through Sycamore Canyon! They want me to go with them but I am not sure I will be able to keep up!

Ride On,
Lucas

National Race Report

2008-05-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a race! I am really glad that I pre-rode on Saturday in the heat as I think that it helped my body adjust...or ready itself for the hell I was about to put it through! After a rough nights sleep on the hard farmland, I awoke to cool air and a touch of fog. I new that it would get hot quick but I just couldn't decide on what jersey to wear? I definatley made the right choice with the short sleeve.
We lined up with a fairly large group and a lot of the usual suspects. There are some real powerhouses in the 35+ clydesdale class that are really fast and I even notoced some new guys to! We started at about 817 am and it had heated up quickly! We were off at a really quick pace so I tried to jump on to the front group as best as I could. I held on pretty well for the first climb even passing a few guys! Legs felt good but I knew I had a long way to go. The had us do this weird quarter lap twice. It included the hardest climb of the course so the second time up I backed off a touch so I wouldn't blow up! I continues to pass slower riders and then I hit the descent! I just let go of the brake and flew down the hill! When we rounded the corner by the dual slolom course to start the next climb, I found myself staring directly into the hot sun! I was sweating so much that I gave my bike below a bath! It was SOOO hot! I settled into a pace and started sucking down the liquids!
I really felt this climb as it felt like every rotation of the pedals I got closer to the sun! Soon I was at the top and really just blasted down the hill! I knew the corners to slow for from the pre-ride the day before and I was really able to open up some gaps on the guys behind me. As I rounded the landfill and started that climb I realized that there was two guys from my class right ahead. This is a rolling climb with 3 levels before it tops out and drops into the valley back towards the finish. I got close to the two guys and waited until the third roller to make my attack. As we approached I stood up and hit the turbo as I climbed! I blew past them and I think caught them by complete surprise. Knowing that I had a big downhill for recovery...I was pretty much going at 170 percent! At the bottom of the descent I looked back and saw no one! The next section of single-track is hard as it's slightly up-hill and a little technical. I kept my effort at about 130 percent and was able to put more time into the guys! As I hit the next short and steep climb I had to dial it way back! Once over that it was another fast descent that leads you to the last climb.

Right at the begining of this monster...I saw an angel! There was a man with a cooler and bottles of ice cold water! He sceamed as I approached asking if I wanted it dumped down my back? I screamed back that I wanted it on my head! He warned me that it was ice cold and I told him that I didn't care! Just dump away! That was SO WHAT I NEEDED to get up this hill! As I was about 1/2 way up I kept feeling as there were people closing on me and I tried to push as hard as I could! Once to the top (totally blown) I got ready for the last descent. I caught two more guys on the way down and found a way around them! Once at the bottom it was 2 miles at a 1 percent grade to the finish! I dropped through the creekbed and hammered it the last 1k to the finish!
Not only did I win my class...I beat EVERYONE that I started with! I can't tell you how much this win stokes me! Though XC racing is a total blast, my focus is longer endurance events. Winning XC is like butter on a warm muffin!
Peace,
Lucas

PS: this was once again typed on my blackberry during lunch...please forgive any spelling errors!

Santa Ynez National

2008-05-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

I woke early today in order to get the dogs walked and to get Kristen ans I some breakfast. Then it was off to get a BADLY needed haircut! My chops were so long I was afraid that they would slow me down! I then stopped by the bike shop to pick up my trusty steed! I blew up my rear wheel yesterday for the last time and decided to just get a new one. It seems that I always need to replace something vital a day or two before a race!
I hit the road only to realize that the good ol' 101 freeway was a parking lot due to the Oxnard Strawberry Festival was going on. It also did not help that it was 11am and already 95 degrees! Everyone seemed to be headed for the beach. Before long I had made it through Ventura and it was pretty smooth sailing until I came up on an overturned SUV near UCSB. That took a b it to get through but I arrived to the venue just in time to watch the Pro XC guys take off! I felt really bad for them as it was 102 degrees!
They had a great showing with most of the big guys showing up. After the end of lap 2 there was a group of about 10 off the front and they looked pretty freaking strong in the heat. The finish was an odd one! The first guy came in and there was no one with him? I couldn't tell you his name as it did not sound familiar to me? Geoff Kabush came in about 2 or 3 minutes later. Then the next 8 to 10 guys came in seperated by a minute or more. I had never seen it so strung out? Weird!
I then got dressed and headed out for a lap on the course. it was still over 100 so I filled up a bottle and my camelback and was off. I find this course pretty tough as far as the fact that there is not a lot of recovery. You are either climbing or descending a very rough very narrow singletrack! Me being the fat belly that I am....I have a hard time on the climbs. There are a couple steady climbs that I may be able to hammer up and make some passes on...we'll see!
When I got finished I went up the hill to watch the dual slalom races. This was pretty intense! It's so cool to see all the pro's that you read about! These guys are so dialed it was fun to watch the fly down the hill!
I went into Buelton for dinner and then headed back to the course to settle in for the night. It's cooled down considerably as I sit here and type this out on my Blackberry in my tent! Please forgive any spelling or gramatical errors as there is no spell check on my Crackberry! I will send a full race report tomorrow night! I really want to win this one....
Please don't forget get about www.fatcyclist.com ! I would ask that you please continue to pray for the Nelson Family. Susan has had some better days since radiation started and the blogosphere keeps pouring out support for them which is awesome! He's had some cool and touching updates this last week...
Keep climbing...
Lucas

Oh man...I think I'm gonna Ralph! 8 hours of Hurkey Creek Report

2008-04-28T21:01:00.001-07:00

I had been looking forward to this race all winter! We were supposed to race the 24 hour as a 4 man team, but each and every one of us had to work on Sunday! I was just as stoked to do the 8 hour race and started training pretty hard about 4 weeks ago. I started commuting to work through the valley on my fixed gear in order to get riding time in on days that work would not allow regular rides. I found a bike path that runs from Woodland Hills to Sherman Oaks and is pretty much as flat as a pancake.

Monday the 14th I woke up with a devastating cold! I had been training really hard and was worried that I had overdone it. I went to the doctor that day and he told me that the nasty cold was going around. He wanted to put me on antibiotics and I said NO! I did not want to risk the side effects of that on my body!

Rory, Jen, and I drove up on Friday. We arrived a little after two and it was HOT and DRY. We set up camp and rode around the venue a bit. I wanted to ride the course to loosen up the legs but Rory wasn't feeling it so we just hung out relaxed, told stories and laughed our heads of.

It heated up considerably as 12pm approached and the wind was gusting pretty hard. Soon it was time to line up for the Le Mans start and Rory and I found ourselves in a sea of racers. We had a huge field of 48 sole 8 hour riders! The biggest ever at this event! The gun sounded and we were off! Rory and I had agreed to briskly walk as we are not big runners and did not plan on being out in front on the first lap!

The first lap was slow and steady. You start with a an amazing technical two mile climb up through the edge of the canyon. It was slow with all the traffic, but that helped us keep a manageable pace. When you hit the first aid station at the top, the fiirst roller oaster section shoots you around the mountain into the back valley. Once in the valley it turns to double track which is the first and best opportunity to pass people. The only problem was that as soon as you turned into the valley, the wind was blowing 20-30 mph right into your face! This made it really hard to not exert too much energy early on! I think that we over did it a little on the first and second lap. The descents are AMAZING at Hurkey Creek! Like fast downhill roller coasters! We rolled through the finish line with a time of 1:07. Jen had our bottles and food ready for us and we were off on lap two.

Lap two was a little quicker up the opening climb and we again pushed it to pass some slower guys out in the windy valley. Things got a little crazy as we descended into middle of the course we were following some slower riders. Rory went for a crazy pass on an even crazier line and ALMOST pulled it off! Next thing you know Rory's body and bike were turning sideways and looking like death was imminent! But no! He was stopped by a very large bush! He was a little torqued but like a champion was right back onto his bike and behind me in just a moment! As we were finishing up this 2nd lap my stomach was really starting to bother me and that was making me not want to ingest any of the liquid that I had on me. That had the side effect of cramping! We came through lap two at 1:05! New bottles and a pep talk from Jen and we were off on the lap of disaster!

With every pedal stroke I felt as if I was going to hurl my insides out! Rory was starting to cramp pretty bad and we continued to ride ourselves deep into a pain cave. We took a break at the second aid station and drank lots of water. That seem to make me want to hurl even more! It did help with my cramping though. We rode through the finish line with a lap time of 1:34! Hideous! When we stopped at the pits, Rory started to self-destruct. His muscles went haywire and he passed the point of no return. I drank some more plain water and managed to get a banana down and spent over 10 minutes stretching. After a 15-20 minute break I took off for lap 4.

It wasn't an easy lap for sure but I put one pedal in front of the other and pushed out another lap. I was actually passing some slower riders which gave me the confidence to push a little harder. I really opened up on the downhills since that did not require pedaling! I managed to make up a lot of time on the descents. I rolled through the finish with a lap time of 1:47. My actual ride time was 1:15 minutes! I had spent 30 minutes trying to recover between laps and one stretching stop during the lap.

After some heavy praying during lap four, my stomach was no longer hurting and my legs seemed to regain some of there snap. I climbed steady and strong and managed to ride the whole lap. About halfway through I came upon another 8 hour racer and he looked back and saw my plate. He took off like a rabbit and I went on the chase! I pushed as I hard as I could and came within a bike link going into the final limb but blew up as soon as I started the ascent! Once at the top I flew down the whoop section and into the finish line. Rory and Jen were standing just under the finish holding a beer for me. I was undecided about one last lap. I had peeled off a lap of 1:09 and realized that I could probably get one more in.

As I looked at Rory, I asked him how he was doing and you could tell he was having trouble just standing there. I decided against the lap and opted for the beer instead! The crowd gathered at the finish line seemed happy with my decision as they roared with applause as I took a drink! Kind of funny.

When I was said and done, I was really happy with the way that I rode. The heat was definitely not helping in the cramping department. I also learned a valuable lesson in the nutrition department! I had mixed my drink very concentrated in order for each bottle to last longer....not a good idea!

I ended up in 14th place!!! That's out of 48 8 hour racers! I am super stoked with that result. Not a bad way to start my endurance season! Back to training!

Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Enjoyment

2008-03-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

My First Fixie!

Beautiful Day

I apologize that I left you with the statement that I would try to write more regularly and then I wait 15 days to post! I have continued to work some insane hours yet see the fruit of my labour. It's truly amazing to watch the cement poured into a foundation and then move it around a bit trying to level it out. I find gaps and cracks but work quickly with the crew to smooth out the roughness. It is so close to setting that I am running out to buy the lumber for the frame!
When I have a free moment I try to first spend it with my lovelies(yes, that's Kristen and my doggies, not my bicycles!) I find myself not wanting to spend a ton of time on the computer after a day of work. I have barely been able to keep up with all my favorite blogs, let alone find time to get to mine!
I have been able to get a fair amount of saddle time in! I also raced the first California State XC race last Sunday. It was a pretty crazy race! My friends and I were smart enough to set our clocks before bed on Saturday...not the case with everyone else! They pushed the start of the race back an hour because there were so many people showing up late. It was an AMAZING turnout! Men, women, kids, it was nuts. Definitely the largest turnout to a state race in a long time! It was also great to see all the usual suspects that I had not seen since winter. I felt great during warm-up and then went over to wait for my start. This is one of the things I dislike about XC races. You warm-up before the race and then you start 17 minutes after lining up! I am always cold and sore for the first 10-15 minutes. Endurance races are a little different as I don't warm up much and start much slower. XC races are like a Japanese Bullet Train from the sound of the gun. I need to experiment a little more with the XC warm up. We had a decent group that we started with and the pace was fast. I was able to lead out the group to the first climb and then started dropping back into the pack. I managed to stay ahead of the guys in my class about 1/2 way through the first lap. That's when I was overtaken. I stayed close until the long climb towards the end of the lap and then he just rode away from me. It is very apparent that I need to drop this extra weight that I am carrying around. I feel very fast on everything except the climbs. Carrying my fat butt up these climbs is tough! Midway through my second lap I was passed by a pro that then broke his chain right in front of me. I stopped an offered my chain tool and a quick link. In the end I was about 14 minutes behind first place yet still managed to pull off 2nd. The results of this race were a little crazy as some of the big names did not do to well. Most people had set up their feed zone in the wrong spot and missed getting fresh bottles on all their laps! There were a lot of crashes too! My friend Bobby Langin Jr. went down pretty hard onto his face! He pulled out after the crash.
Mike Mahoney and I did a 4.5 hour MTB ride yesterday and it was amazing! I don't get the opportunity to blow him up very often and feel so great when I do! I had another hour at least, in me! I won't talk to much about the fact that when he pulled his bike out of the car at the trail head, his shock was completely broken. He rode the entire 40 miles with 4700 ft of climbing in "Lockout" mode which totally changed the geometry of his bike and pedaling! I don't think I could have done it! When we were climbing Overlook in Sycamore Canyon which is a 6ish mile climb, he rode away from me and stated later that he decided to put the "HURT" on. I gave him mad props then laughed at him later when he was suffering! Good times!
As you can see from the pictures above, Kristen and I took the bikes up to Ventura for a little sun therapy. We rode the bikes along the beach path then headed into town to see an old friend. It was a really great day! I love when Kristen gets on a bike and enjoys herself!
I am hoping to do 3 long rides in 3 days at the end of this coming week. Wed-Friday I hope to get in 4+ hour rides. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!
Please keep Kristen and I in your prayers over the next couple of weeks as we may have an opportunity that would change our lives forever!
Keep Climbing
Lucas

Catch Up

2008-03-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

I have been playing catch up in every way the last few weeks. Not a bad thing, there has just been so much to do! Work is going great as far as the shape that we are starting to take! It hasn't been easy...but it's been fun. I have been finally catching up on my mileage! No trainer! Actual mileage!
I don't remember if I told you all what I got for my birthday? Well if not, let me share! My lovely wife heard my birthday wish and got me a fixed gear Limited Edition Specialized Langster "London"! This thing is so freaking sweet! I have been having a blast on it. Riding twenty miles on this is like riding 40 on my regular bike! No matter which way I ride from home, it is so hilly! This makes for a non-stop ride of pain! The Chain Gang, which is the my friend Drews fixed gear bike club here in Thousand Oaks, have been teaching me a few tricks when we ride. I have learned how to do a pretty good skid. When we rode this last Thursday night, they taught me how to do a 1 footed 180 skid! I'm also getting better at track stands. When I have an hour or so to ride and the dirt is out of the question, I have been grabbing this bike. I can get a pretty intense hour in!
I had the ride/hike from hell last Saturday. I got home about 3:15 and decided to hit the dirt before the rain started again. I took off into Chesbro Canyon and went for a climb! I climbed Palo Comado and the technical single-track that parallels it. As I got up to China Flat it started to rain a bit. Luckily it was all downhill from there...or so I thought. I was about halfway down when my rear tire blew. I was cold and wet but knew that I could change my tire quickly. Tube, check, CO2, check, CO2 adapter....crap... where is my adapter? Say it isn't so! Well, it was so! I was about five miles from home! The light of day had just gone and the rain was picking up. I started jogging down the hill with bike next to me but that didn't last long! By the time I got home I was a meat popsicle! You only forget your CO2 adapter once!
I have been squeezing in rides almost daily! Thursday I went on a great ride with my friend Mike and his friend Evan who is the Giant Bicycle demo coordinator. He just started in the position and was sharing his travel plans for the year during the ride. We rode out in Simi and I was a little tired from my fixed gear ride the day before. As we were climbing up Stage Coach Trail, I managed to fly over my bars and land on my face! Yeah...it was great! I must have hit my knee either on the bars going over or on the top tube as I face planted because I have a bump on the inside of my knee that looks like their is a golfball under my skin! It's a little freaky! It was a great ride and much needed after the long week of work!
That same day I did a ride with the Chain Gang through Thousand Oaks. It was a blast!
This morning Mike and I hit Sycamore Canyon. The fog and the moisture were super thick but it was great! We held probably our fastest pace through our ride ever! It felt great! It was more like a race ride. The trail was excellent with the moisture.
I have to work tomorrow but plan to get up early and get a three hour ride in. Next Sunday is the first California State race. It's a course that suits me well. Hopefully I can make it!
I will post some pics of the new FIXIE soon and try to blog a bit more regular!
Peace,
Lucas

Meltdown...Marathon Race Report

2008-02-18T21:20:00.000-08:00

After a long week of work and very little training I awoke at 4am to head out to Santa Ynez! I met up with Rory and Jen at their apartment and loaded up the car. Our race time was 7:30 am and we arrived to the course at 10 till 7. As we rolled up to the venue which was at the Firestone Vineyard we were a little freaked about the FROST on the ground. Our fears were quickly realized as we stepped out of the car and walked over to registration. It was FREEZING! We registered and suited up. Knowing that it would warm up once the sun rose higher, I opted for the short finger gloves. Bad news for the first lap! We had 8 total for the marathon race. Not a big crowd but pretty much what I expected with the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo going on at the same time. This was an open class race which means that Rory and I were way out of our league! Then the ball was dropped...The race announcer told us that there was 1700 feet of climbing per each 11 mile lap! That's almost double the norm of an average cross country course. I just wasn't expecting that much! The gun sounded and we were off! The start wasn't too crazy but within the first mile 3 guys were gone! About a 1/2 mile in there was a water crossing! The layering meant nothing as my feet were soaked with ice cold water!
Rory and I managed to pull away from a couple of riders and settled into an average pace. As we ended the first lap there was even a larger water crossing! We came through the start/finish and got new bottles. All the XC racers were showing up and started t cheer us on. The second lap, Rory and I both started having chain suck issues. Between the creek crossings and the dust, our drivetrains were making sounds that you would here in a haunted house! About 3 miles into my second lap I took a pretty good fall on a descent. I had put about a minute on Rory so he missed out seeing this spectacularly lame crash! I drilled my whole left side into the side of the mountain! I was up quickly and just a little dirty and maybe a little embarassed!
By the end of the second lap I was starting to worry about wether or not my legs were going to loosen up. Usually this is where my endurance starts to kick in....today, not so much. Rory and I yelled to Jen to hook us up with some lube and she than met us over at our bottles. Chain was sounding better as we headed out but that all came to an end as soon as we crossed the water again! We should have taken the bottle with us! When we hit the steep climb about three miles in...it started, cramps...oh crap! I tried to keep up with Rory but told him to ride on because I was going to need to slow it down. He took off and I was instantly in no mans land! I knew I still had two guys behind me so that kept me motivated to press on.
This lap hurt. I was off the bike stretching out cramps for a good 10-15 minutes total. I was able to push good on the last climb and then push hard through the valley back to the finish. I was having mad trouble breathing from all the dust and new that if I tried to go on that I may end up hurting myself. I called it at the end of my third lap. I was bummed that I did not have it in me. On the other hand...I really enjoyed myself. Rory had gone out for lap 4 and when he came through the finish they stopped him and would not let him do the final 5th lap because the winner had already finished. He was bummed because he really wanted to finish. Usually he has the problem with the cramping, not me.
This was a great first race for me. I had a blast and so look forward to the season getting underway! Final stats for my race:
Lap 1: 1:18
Lap 2: 1:27
Lap 3: 1:44
33.4 Miles
5100 ft. of climbing
1 Funny Faceplant
1 not so funny crash
1 hammered drive train

Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Good. Great. Grand

2008-02-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to leave a quick update. I have been enjoying my training very much! Lot's of work but also have been sneaking in rides almost daily. I had a great ride on my birthday Tuesday. Woke up early and hit the road for a 30 mile tempo ride. Legs are really starting to come around. Went to Disneyland after the ride and had a blast! Two days until the Firestone Vineyard Marathon race....60ish miles....pain....sweet. I can't wait! I'll post again soon with some pics of rides.
Peace,
Lucas

Bean Update-Chumash Ride-Sycamore Canyon-New Job and the Longest Blog Title in the World!

2008-02-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

This is Such a Welcoming Sight!

As you read last week, I took Bean to the vet on Thursday. We thought that he was going to need A tooth pulled. All was well when I dropped him off and I headed to the shop for a day of work. I went to pick him up at 5PM and walked into devastating news. I was told that they had to pull 11 of Bean's teeth! My heart sunk even as they told me that he was doing OK. Chihuahuas are known to have bad teeth.(When we adopted Pippin he had just had all his teeth pulled.) I waited for what seemed like a lifetime for them to bring him out, it was probably 5 minutes. When they carried him over to me he was visibly HIGH from all the drugs and his tongue was hanging out the front of his mouth. I lost it and was overcome by emotion. The vet came out and told me that he was surprised that Bean had been eating for the last few months as his mouth was really thrashed. He had exposed roots and broken teeth. He also stated that Bean would probably be a brand new dog. I wrapped the little guy up in a blanket and headed back to the shop. I held him for the next two hours and he stared off into space. When I got home I laid him down in his bed and he didn't move for an hour. When Kristen came home he got up and tried to walk but fell over like a frat boy during rush week. It was so sad! I had to give Bean pain medication via syringe every 8 hours for the next couple of days. I am proud to say that little Bean has really started to come around and actually has become very active in the last two days. He has always been the only of our four that never gave us kisses. Last night he started giving Kristen and I little pecks! Thanks to all who sent prayers and good thoughts are way. I am confident that they made a difference.
Last Wed. I went for a ride with Mike in Simi. We headed out from his house in the middle of town and went towards the valley. We climbed Santa Susanna Pass and hit the trail at the base of Johnson's Motorway. It was probably 35 degrees when we left and didn't seem to get much warmer. The scenery was beautiful with waterfalls and green everywhere. It took us about an hour and a half to reach the top of Rocky Peak

and were then treated with a super fun descent down Chumash trail. The wind had picked up extremely to the point that I aired over a peak and was pushed about two feet sideways in the air! Scary! We headed back to his house and finished a great ride!
Friday I woke up with "The Crud" and I was not happy! I really wanted to get a couple long rides in but was unable with the way that I felt. Finally, Monday I went for a two hour spin down to the beach

but kept it very light as I had very little energy. It was pretty muddy with a few water crossings as you can see from the pics below.

The Shoe Cam!

The Head cam!

Today brought the beginning of my new job with Restoration Hardware. I was pretty nervous to begin this new chapter in my life, but after my first day I am proud to report that I am stoked with my new job. I spent the day with my new boss and he is really cool. I know that I am going to learn an amazing amount from him and really enjoy his leadership. We match up pretty well. I have a big job ahead for the next couple of months as I need to completely rebuild the structure of this store. This is the kind of thing that I am really passionate about and look forward to the challenge that is ahead. I will be training in Santa Barbara for the rest of the week and am looking forward to the drive up the coast. I was thinking about the days that I work later, taking my surfboard and getting in some riding on the way. I want to also take my bike and lights on the earlier days and hit up some of the great riding. I spent an hour on the trainer tonight and am still not feeling very peppy. I hope to lay down some time in the saddle over the next five days as I need to get ready for the
Marathon race at Firestone Vineyard next Saturday. 60ish miles! Good times!
Keep Climbing,
Lucas

I Need Butter for My Toast

2008-01-29T21:08:00.000-08:00

The sun decided to show it's face yesterday! I was so excited! I grabbed the road bike and new exactly the ride that I wanted to do. I layered on the clothes as it was very cool out. As I headed down the road towards the mountains, the wind hit me like a mack truck. The funny part is that no matter which way I turned, the wind was either hitting me head on or from the side! I suffered my way up Mulholland and as I crested the top I was greeted by freezing cold 40+ mph winds! Yippee! I was on my bike outside though so I didn't care. I crossed the ridge line and dropped down Decker Canyon. Things got crazy as the road was like a waterfall all the way down. I have never descended this road so slowly. The best part was crossing the lake that had formed at the bottom! From there I turned left into Hidden Valley with a round by Lake Sherwood. Hidden Valley was brutal as the headwind was blowing so hard I couldn't get my average speed over 15 mph. I usually average about 22 mph across this flat section. I climbed out of the valley and made the turn towards home. I noticed some dark clouds coming from the ocean and got a little scared that there was rain coming. My legs were TOAST, yet I found a good pace that I was able to hold all the way to the mall. A few miles of rolling terrain straight into more wind and then I stopped by the bike shop to refill the bottles and put my feet into the microwave! Didn't work so I just stayed long enough to warm up and then hit the road towards home. I was pretty hungry and wiped out from the wind. I tried to sprint up a couple short hills on the way home but would crumble before the top of each one. All said and done I got in 43 miles at about 3 hours and 3500 ft. of climbing.
I tried to get on the trainer this morning but only lasted about 35 minutes! TOAST!
Legs felt like anchors and I just couldn't spin! I am going out in the freezing cold tomorrow morning with Mike! We are hitting the trail in Simi Valley. We are going to ride over the pass into the valley then climb Johnson's Motorway figuring that we will see some crazy cool waterfalls! I will take photos if we find any. We will than bomb Chumash Trail and head home. Hopefully legs will feel better! Work at the shop again tomorrow...Good Times.
Oh Yeah, I passed(or they passed me) the Rock and Republic Race Team as they were on a team ride. Led by a Cadillac Escalade and followed by a Hummer H2. Kind of a surreal sight. Some of the shop team guys came in today and said that they saw Rock out on Mulholland today filming a video or commercial. They had a helicopter filming the team from above! Sounds cool. It will be interesting to see what happens with this team this year.
Keep Climbing,
Lucas
Keep

1st Race of 2008

2008-01-27T20:42:00.001-08:00

After a week of rain and the beginning of my rebuilding starting to take place, I decided to do a XC race. As much as I wanted to suffer through the 12 hours of Temecula, the dire forecast for the week and my current level of fitness had me choose the XC race instead. It has been since November that I last raced and I was missing it very much!
Friday the forecast stated that this large storm would not hit until the late afternoon so I figured that the race would be dry. After arriving it was great to see many of all my old friends from last year! There was a few of my competitors that had obviously raced cross all winter and were ready to race! Even though I am still over 200 lbs. I decided to race my age group in the sport division. I know that this is the choice that will make me a faster, more competitive racer. As I lined up with 7 other guys in my class, I knew this was not going to be easy. As much as I love to be challenged...I also love to win! I won almost all of my XC races last year and I am not that accustomed to losing! It was a new scary feeling to line up next to guys that were close to half my body size! The start was great and I hung with the pack until the bottom of the paved road climb.(I was racing at the Southridge Winter Series) Then 3 of the little guys took off like a Japanese Bullet Train. I decided that I was going to just race my race and see where I would end up. There was 1 guy that I HAD to beat though.
When I raced my first race ever a little more than a year ago I remember the start line vividly. We had a group of about 9 guys in the beginner Clydesdale's class. There is this one cat that had a $7500 Epic S-Works, a full team kit, and was talking a great game. I thought that this guy was just going to take off and leave us all in the dust! Not the case! I think that I smoked him by ten minutes in that first race! It was the same in all the races last year. Just not the fastest dude. Well at the November race a couple of months ago, homeboy showed up and had dropped about 50-60 pounds! That was the race that I (tried) to race expert. So as I was finishing lap 2 of 3 at that race, I noticed he was trying to beat me to the line. He told me later that he really wanted to race again because he wanted to beat me! I told him that I would see him this year!
Back to this race...
After the three leaders took off there were four of us in a group and one other that dropped off into oblivion. This course has a lot of climbing and that is where I was having some issues! Carrying my extra weight up the mountain was tough. Every time we would hit a sustained climb a couple guys would pass me including Steve.(the one I was talking about above) I figured out pretty quickly that I could descend and hammer the flats way quicker than all of these guys in the group. With that realization I decided to stand up and quick sprint at the last part of any climb to try to pass those who passed me. Being caught behind a slower descender on tight singletrack downhills would keep me from pulling away. Other than putting me in the pain locker, this was working for me. At the end of lap one I thought that I had put a good gap on Steve. Then at the top of the paved climb I saw him coming up the hill. I was able to keep a little distance until we hit hurl hill on the backside of the course. I popped! I popped and he rode past me midway up the hill. I was surprised that I actually caught sight of him at the bottom of the hill. I kept him in view up the switchback climb and then made another mistake. There is a little rocky technical section at the end of the climb that slays even the best of riders, and I decided to jump off and run through it. About halfway through the 20 feet, both of my legs cramped above the knee! If I was going to be pedaling this wouldn't have been that big of a deal but I was at the section that is like a roller coaster track! This requires use of those muscles! The next 2 minutes was spent in agony! I pedaled as much as possible and worked it out! I pulled up behind Steve and planted on his wheel. An expert on his third lap had also caught up and when we dropped the drainage ditch he passed me. And wouldn't you guess, it was a teammate of Steve. All of a sudden Steve grabbed his draft and put 300 yards on me! I couldn't believe it! I thought that this was it. I was crushed. I did not have much left but put it all on the line and spun it out. There was a small climb and a run up hill left along with a descent. I thought if I could catch him before the run-up I might have a chance. I bombed the downhill like Steve Peat and caught sight once again! About 150 yards from the run-up I caught his wheel! He started to up-shift and I had an idea! I left my bike in the big ring and jumped off at the base of the hill. He jumped off at the same time and I yelled at him," Come on man, let's do this!) We both hit the top at the same time but as I jumped on my bike I hammered off towards the finish and he jumped on and had to shift to a better gear! I ended up beating him by 45 seconds!
I wish that the fight was for first but never the less it was a great fight! When I finished I couldn't breathe! I love at the end of a race when I can look back and say...I gave it my all! I ended up in fifth place..just at the bottom of the podium! That's me on the left in the black shirt. I won't even say how much faster first place was! I just know that i have my work cut out!
With my new job I will not get to race most of the Southridge Series but my training seems to be back on track and I have a great test coming up in three weeks. February 16th is the marathon mountain bike race in Santa Ynez. 50 miles. If I can stay on track with my training and really get my diet back in line...I will be ready!
Congratulations to Mary Collier for her 2nd place in the 12 hours of Temecula. Todd Carpenter also placed 4th in the Pro men's field! Siren had a great day at the races! I believe that they will all be at their first 24 Hour race of the season when I am in Santa Ynez.

***I know that this has been a long post but I have one more thing I would like to tell everyone. One of our dogs, Bean, woke up with an infection in his gums this morning. It has the right side of his face all swollen. We went out to see Jane from BARK Rescue from whom we adopted Bean 2 years ago. She had some tooth work done on Bean when we first adopted him so we went to see if she could direct us to the same vet. Little Bean will have his tooth removed this Thursday so please keep him in your thoughts. This is a picture of him...

So we met her at the pet store where she was holding her regular Sunday adoptions. I have purposefully stayed away from these adoptions as this is the whole reason that we have FOUR chihuahuas! We walked into the store and it took only a fraction of a second for my wife to latch onto a scared precious little pup! Laying curled up with 4 other dogs was a young, beautiful, very scared chihuahua/italian greyhound. We stood and held this amazing guy for about an hour. If we had a house and not an apartment I would be telling you that we had brought him home. I just don't find it fair for our other pups to bring another into our place! It was very hard to walk away because this little guy took to us very well. I can tell you that my wife REALLY wanted to take him home! So I bring this all up because I would love to help find this amazing guy a home. If anyone is looking for a small dog please let me know and I will give you any information that you like. I warn you now...if you meet this guy...it will all be over! He is amazing!

Keep Climbing,
Lucas

It's Raining It's Pouring and It's Not Stopping

2008-01-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

I was super excited on Friday when the decision was made that I would not have to go to Salt Lake City this week. All that I could think was, wow, I am going to ride all week long! Saturday morning I got a morning ride in that hurt like a mutha! I knew that I hadn't ridden much over the last two weeks, but it felt as if it had been 2 years! **Note to self #3, when you haven't had much saddle time in the last couple of weeks, don't pick the biggest, baddest hill to climb!**
I had promised to work at the shop Sunday and also do the shop ride which starts at 8am. It's just a quick hour and a half road ride over Rock Store. I thought that I would get a little extra time in and head out for a 12 mile loop at 7am and then meet up for the ride. The temp when I started was around 37 degrees! I had enough clothing on to keep me warm in all ares except my face and toes! When I got to the meeting spot at 10 till 8 my toes felt as if they had frozen and had a heartbeat of their own. A throbbing heartbeat! I decided that I was not going to be able to stand this pain and headed home! I know that I am a big baby, but man!
Monday I slept in with my lovely and we spent a nice day off together! I had some shopping to do for my new job and was able to find some amazing deals! I hate spending money on clothes when I could be saving it towards THIS. I spent an hour on the trainer Monday night. I wouldn't mind the trainer so much but it hurts my ass realllly bad! There is no forgiveness! An hour is about all I can take because of the pain. I would love a pair of THESE rollers! This would take care of that non-forgiving feeling that puts such punishment on my backside. I would be willing to do a century on these in order to raise the money to buy a set! I would then follow the lead of Fatty and bet you all that I could do a second 100 miles THE NEXT DAY in order to raise money for one of my favorite charities. Any takers? If only I had 160 readers that would all donate ten dollars?
Back to my week...
Tuesday the rain was supposed to hit so I slept in and than headed to the bike shop to get another days work in. I got home and hit the trainer for an hour again. Wed. morning I got up and grabbed the mountain bike as the rain had stopped for a moment. I climbed Dead Cow and came back down as it was getting muddier and muddier the higher I went. I then made a mad dash around the city as the clouds started to roll in. I logged about 25 miles in an hour and a half. As I got about a mile from home, the sky opened up and started POURING!
I got up this morning and did another hour on the trainer before another day at the shop. I came home and with the intention of getting another hour in on the trainer but my garage door would not open? I tried with no success to get it open and now must wait until 9am to get a key from the office to open it. Bummed! As soon as I am done I think that I will hit the Gym.
I had planned on going to the 12 Hours of Temecula race on Saturday but it seems that the weather is going to stay. I don't feel to hot about driving 3 hours in this kind of rain! Hopefully I will be able to log some hours next week but it looks as if the rain is going to be steady until at least Tuesday! I usually love the rain but this is crazy!

Changes..

2008-01-16T21:51:00.000-08:00

I want to apologize to the millions that read about my adventures! OK, so how about the 5 people. I feel that this blog started off so great last year and was exciting to write through the race season. But as the season came to an end and my job started to take over every aspect of my life, I feel that it has become a little depressing and stale. Just like my (lack of) training.
My job as a Director of Marketing for a clothing company was life-changing. I felt as if I had fallen into the perfect carreer for myself. My co-workers were amazing and I thought that I was going to gain an immense amount of knowledge from the president. I definitely learned a lot. But my time at this company has come to an abrupt end. Though I usually experience only 1-2 colds per year, In the last 4 months it seems that I have been sick non-stop. Because of my drive to be the best that I can be and not just do things right but do them amazingly, I have physically and mentally worked myself into the ground. I have allowed old habits to resurface which end up depressing me in more ways than one. It has been really hard giving what I have given with no real payoff. I strongly realized a couple of weeks ago that I needed to make a change. I miss riding...I miss being happy...I miss being healthy...I hate making excuses...
Well friends, change is in the air! In more ways than one! As I started off in this post, I want to say that I am sorry! Sorry for the depressing, angry posts. Sorry for bailing on plans. And I am sorry that this blog became more about self-loathing and less about MY QUEST TO BECOME AN ENDURANCE RACER! That will all change starting now!
I have just a few days left as a Marketing Director and will soon attack a new challenge. I will get back to my passion. I have accepted a position to manage another retail establishment. The exciting part of this to me is that my passion is putting together teams of people then leading, coaching, mentoring, and learning from that team. The position that I have taken is with a company whose goals and morals are on track with mine and believes that success comes through its people. I am stoked! The store that I have been offered needs to be totally rebuilt as far as staff. The challenge is huge and the first 2-3 months will be long hours and lots of pain...(kind of like an endurance race) but the experience is what I will enjoy..and the payoff will be a great chance of growth both personally and professionally.
I am also excited that I will be able to get my training back on track! I am so happy! So I give you my promise that I will increase the happiness in my posts and get back my goal of becoming a competitive endurance mountain biker! I still anticipate a rough training schedule for the next couple of months as most racers seasons get underway, but come mid-spring....watch out Southern Cal...I will be back..lean..fast..on my game!
Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Sitting in the Airport

2008-01-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

So I decided to bring my laptop. It's kind of crazy when you are sitting at your gate next to a security checkpoint and all of a sudden everything comes to a loud screeching halt. Security and police filled the gates and demanded that everyone stop moving! They sent someone into the "tunnel" to seal off the gate and everyone just sat somewhat in awe of what was going on. The "tunnel I am referring to is a long 1/4 mile white hallway that I assume goes under the runway and leads to the gates where I am at. As I walked through this long white tunnel, I wondered if this was the hallway people speak of seeing as they are brought back from the dead?
About 1 and a half minutes later they screamed all clear and quickly went back to work. No explanation or anything! Whatever!
I will try to post some pics tonight after arriving.
Peace
Lucas

Florida Bound

2008-01-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

Just have to make it through the day and off to Florida I will be! I got in a little saddle time Monday night. Took the road bike out with lights and every piece of warm clothing that I could find. I got about an hour and 15 minutes of riding in. When I got home some of the lesser covered areas of my body were frozen! I hope to get a mountain ride in tonight as my home trail should be a little dried out! It will be cold but good!
Tomorrow morning I will fly to Florida. As I have stated in prior posts I am super excited. Mike called me from the Orlando Convention Center and said that our booth is right across from the mini halfpipe where the Volcom mini ramp contest is being held! I will take lots of pictures and post as soon as I can. Still not sure if I am taking my computer on the road but if I do I will for sure post updates. The only thing that I am not looking forward to is the jet-lag. Escpecially when I come home! It might make it easier to get up early and ride though!
Keep Climbing
Lucas

Rubber Ducky

2008-01-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

I sure blew it this week! I took that short ride on New Years Eve and that ended up being it until today! New Years Day was so windy that I made the stupid decision to accept an offer to go running! Not just running down the road...no...that would be to easy! My friends wanted to run up Dead Cow! Sure I said! Well we ran/walked quickly up the 950ft of elevation in about .9 miles! Than we turned around and ran down! This is what proved to be fatal. I felt great for the rest of the day. The next morning when I woke up...not so much! I have two flights of stairs at my office and lets just say that I had to waddle up and down those for THREE days! My ass muscles, hamstrings, and calf muscles were toast!
With that pain I wasn't able to get on the bike at all. Then on Friday the rain hit. It rained heavily here in Thousand Oaks through the night. It was supposed to rain all day Saturday as well so I worked at the shop. It did not rain until Saturday night. Today I couldn't stand it any longer so I put on all my gear and took the Mountain Bike out on the road. I was about an hour in when I noticed the clouds coming over the mountains into the valley. They were scary looking! I was about 40 minutes from home so I hit the gas and the buckets started coming down just a I got home! Close call! Legs are pretty sore but I hope to get in some saddle time over the next three days. I will be off to Florida on Thursday and don't think that I will have the opportunity to ride while there. Our hotel seems to have a nice gym so I will need to get in some spins on the stationary bike if possible. It's time to turn up the training and turn down the bad eating. I am a little behind where I wanted to be as far as my fitness goes. I will also be off the bike for the week I am in Salt Lake City in a couple weeks. More gym workouts...yuck! Hope you guys are all staying dry!
Lucas

1/2 Day and Last Ride of the Year

2007-12-31T15:10:00.000-08:00

I had to go back to work today. I was one of three! Everyone else decided not to come in. So...I filtered through the emails, did a little work and then took off at noon. I thought that I would take an easy mountain spin to loosen up the legs. Well the Red Flag Wind Event made that a little difficult! I did my Chesebro loop backwards which makes it a shorter steep climb and long flatter section as opposed to a long steady climb and steep descent. I cleaned the technical climb for the first time and it wasn't easy with the 50 mph+ winds! I was stoked! Flying down the mountain I ran into single speed Vince and his friend and stopped for a quick chat. Once my legs loosened up I felt pretty good! It was a nice loop to end my year with! It looks like I am not going to make it to Santa Ynez for the big ride tomorrow. I will have to start my year off with a long shop ride. Hopefully my legs will hold up! I attached a couple pictures from my Disneyland trip last Friday! Happy New Year and please stay safe tonight!
Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Screaming Good Time!

We Saw These Scary Pirates in Line

Poor Planning

2007-12-30T19:32:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to do the 50 mile Project Rwanda with Brendan on Saturday. This is a ride that you know I was super excited to do. But because of some lame planning for the month, I had to bail. Brendan, Mary, sorry. Hopefully we will all ride soon!
I slept in a little with the dogs and once they were all walked and fed, decided to get in another long road ride. I toiled about the route since I was pretty sore from my previous two days of riding but decided to go the way of pain anyway! I did Rock Store over to Decker Canyon then down to the Pacific Coast Highway. The weather was perfectly cool and I tried to settle into a steady pace. I crossed Ventura County Line and made a right back into the mountains. I had decided to climb Yerba Buena which is a 10 mile climb at an average of 8-10%. I realized about 3 miles into the climb that I was in some serious pain! Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse I was passed by two guys that were probably in their 60's and carrying on a full breathed conversation! Demoralizing! I set my mind towards a hot tea latte and was able to push my way to the top. The payoff on this climb is an amazingly fast and smooth descent down Little Sycamore. It's like a Grand Prix race track with twists and turns but an average speed of about 35 mph. Then it's just a bit more climbing before dropping back down Decker into Thousand Oaks. I rode over to the shop for a bottle refill and a little moral support for the end of my ride. The guys tried to talk me into a Midnight Ridazz ride that night. More on that below! After a bottle of water and some chit chat I took off for home. When I got back I had traveled 51 miles and climbed 5100 feet in about 3 and a half hours. I was destroyed! Climbing up the hill to home was tough! After walking the dogs and a nice hot shower I went to meet my beautiful for some dinner! I never had my tea latte!
I asked the wifey if she minded that I go on the Midnight Ridazz end of year ride and she gave me the approval. Free ride close to home equals yay! Midnight Ridazz is a group that has grown all over the country into different groups of people that love to ride. I believe that they are born from fixed gear riders that started holding after dark rides. Soon they had over 1000 people showing up for the rides through Los Angeles and the surrounding cities.
My guess is that there were about 200 people that showed for this ride last night. I think that the cold kept people away. It was amazing riding through the streets of Studio City, Burbank, and North Hollywood with 200 or so other people! People were dressed super crazy like Lucha Libre masks, onesie flannel pajamas, and all kinds of other craziness! At points the police would pull up into intersections and block traffic for us! They seem to be cool with these rides as long as no one does anything stupid. Like...at one point the ride went into a 5 story parking garage and the cop that had just blocked an intersection for us wasn't digging that decision! I had held back and watched the cop zoom into the garage. After a moment had passed a police helicopter was above shining his light onto the top of the garage!(Video Below) After two hours of riding our group broke off to head home. Did I mention that I did this 14 mile ride on my wife's beach cruiser? Basket and all! This will definitely not be my last one of these! I am attaching some pictures below! That's my friend Drew on the double beach cruiser! He's crazy.
I would of scrapped both of these rides in order to do the Rwanda Ride instead. I really need to start financially planning my race season! I would hate to miss a big race because I wasn't paying attention! Back to work tomorrow and then off for New Years Day.
Keep Climbing,
Lucas

This is The Indian at the Top of Decker that Keeps a Look Out for the French

Down There Lives Wayne Gretzky On Lake Sherwood

Looking Back Towards the Ocean

Not The Sign You Want to See When Your Hurting

This is What Pain Looks Like

High Tide at County Line

Lake Malibu

Drew Rolling in High Style

I'm Being Followed by a Skeleton

Bik on the Brown Bomber

Pit Bull

2007-12-28T10:13:00.001-08:00

Just as hoped, I scored a new camera for Christmas! My new riding buddy! Kristen had to be at work in Sherman Oaks at 4am the day after Christmas and I drove her down as she has a hard time driving that early. I needed to get in a long ride and the only way that I could work it out was to take the car back down there after a little sleep and ride home. The air was cool, the traffic was OK, but the wind was demoralizing! I headed down Van Nuys, left on Burbank, right on Balboa, and took that all the way up through the valley. I almost took a spill in a pothole that was as deep as a well! Once I got to Rinaldi I took a left and headed towards Simi Valley. Up and over Santa Susana Pass and down into town. I opted for the long way around so I hugged the East hills. As I made my way through a neighborhood I got the scare of the day when a pit bull charged me! I made like Tornado Tom Boonen and sprinted my ass off! I almost had to change my chamois! I made my way back into Thousand Oaks via Olsen and Erbes Road. The Erbes climb was painful 40 miles into the ride! I somehow got a flat halfway down Erbes. That sucked. I made my way to Westlake Cyclery after changing the flat. My front wheel was a little out of true and Tony fixed me up. From there it was on to home! I finished the day with over 55 miles and 3200 ft of climbing in 3 and a half hours. I then ate more Sushi than I ever have and may have single handedly wiped out the spicy tuna and eel supply! My goal was to do a 4+ hour mountain bike ride the next day...I did it..barely! I will post pictures of that Sunday. I am off to Disneyland with my lovely for the day and then tomorrow is the Project Rwanda 50 miler. I'm a little scared!
Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Short Reprieve from Traffic

101 to the 118 Via Balboa Blvd

Looking Back Over the San Fernando Valley

Climbing Santa Susana Pass

Pushing it in the Wind

Looking Down on Simi Valley From Rocky Peak

Back Home in Westlake

View From Above

Merry Christmas 2007

2007-12-25T00:18:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from the land of plenty! Lucas, Kristen, Pippin, Lola, Finnagin, and Bean(that's me...pretty good looking huh!)
We wish you all a wonderful, memorable day.

2007 Cycling Memories

2007-12-17T20:49:00.000-08:00

I just can't believe that this year is almost over. I am not complaining, time has just flown by. I mark 2007 as a year that my life changed drastically. I had raced in my first mountain bike race November 2006 and from that point on...I knew 2007 held some immense challenge and fun!
My racing year started on a FREEZING cold and SUPREMELY windy day in January at the Southridge Winter Series. I think that I weighed around 245 pounds. I took second place that day in the beginner class and was stoked. Over this 6 race series I met some amazing people that helped me in many ways, and some I have built great friendships with. Rory, whom I raced with in the first race of the season, became my greatest challenger of the season. The last race of the series proved to be our best as we battled it out to the end! He almost caught me at the end...almost!
The California State Series started the day after the Southridge final and I was feeling great. After winning the overall at Southridge it was time to move up to the Sport division. Moving up to the Sport class meant doubling the mileage and faster competition. I was flying through this course. My first lap was so great..then on lap two, disaster struck! I was 9 miles into the 12 mile lap when every muscle in my lower body balled up like a twisted phone cord. I spent the next 7-10 minutes on the ground in agonizing pain! I was still able to finish in 2nd place about 2 minutes back from 1st. That means I had well over 10 minutes on 2nd when I came near death! OK so I am exaggerating a little. The rest of the Cal State Series was great and I was able to take the overall in this as well! State Champion...good times!
In April I also raced the annual Sea Otter Festival in Monterey. This was an amazing experience getting see all the pro's and racing in a field of over 60 riders. I placed 21st and learned a great deal in this race. I also learned not to speed on the 101 driving through King County! 1st Speeding ticket in a long time!
One of the highlights and goal changing events of the year came in June. I headed back to Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey Ca. for a 24 hour mountain bike race. I was part of a four person team with Rory, Jenn, and Heather. I instantly fell in love with the atmosphere and commraderie of this discipline called endurance mountain bike racing. After my first lap I was hooked! We managed to pull off 10th place in the Co-ed open field! We were stoked and an endurance inspiration was born!
The end of Sept. brought my first endurance challenge! 8 hours of Hurkey Creek. I thought that I was super ready for the race until I got a cold the week before and my wife(whom was going to be my support) got scheduled to work. About 5 days before the race the weather forcast was calling for freezing rain! Every day the forcast seem to change a little...and it was always for the worst! Well, we never got more than a light sprinkling for a couple of hours! The race was great. I was able to stay with friends in their R.V. and they also helped a little with support between laps. I was able to ride all 8 hours of the race and came in 13th out of 31 racers! I had an amazing time and couldn't wait to do it again. I had every intention of doing the last 12 Hours of Temecula of the season...but could not work it out.
I finished my race season with the Southridge Challenge. I decided to give the expert class a try! Just as I expected...I came in 6th place. That was out of 6! I really got everything out of the race that I desired and know that for any XC races I do in 2008, I won't yet be at the expert level! My ending weight for the race season, 214. From first getting on my bike after the sickness a little over a year and a half ago until now I've lost about 75 pounds. If I could lose about 20 more I think that I could compete with the little skinny guys! Pulling my fat ass up all the mountains would be much easier if it were a skinny ass! If I could lock into the right eating regimen, I think I could do it.
I have one last ride before the end of the year and that is the Project Rwanda charity ride. This is a 50 mile endurnce ride that will test my limits. Please check out the website as this is a great cause that I stand behind fully. Brendan from Siren Bicycles and I decided to partner up for this ride and suffer together! We both have not spent much time in the saddle lately and this will be an amazingly painful ride! I can't wait!
For the few of you that have been reading my race stories this year, I aprreciate your thoughts, support, humor, and love! If all goes as planned on Christmas, I will be getting a new camera that will become my cycling buddy! This will make my blog a little more exciting as I will be taking mad photos of most rides in order to share what I see as I enjoy this love called cycling!
I am still not sure what 2008 will bring. I would love to say that I will be racing every weekend and by the end of the year ready to go pro....but then I would wake up and realize that I need a job! My goal for this season is to race a solo 24 hour event. Right now my eyes are set on the 24 Hours of Hurkey Creek in September. A lot would need to fall into place for this to happen but I figure that if I train my butt off over the season, when and if all falls into place...I will be ready. In the mean time I will be cheering on some of the amazing people that I met this year:
Mary and Brendan Collier, Josh Smith, Bernice P., Jeff Kerkove, Ernesto(Solo Goat), Eldin(Fatty),The Langins, Rory, Jenn, and a few others! Good luck my friends! For those of you whom I met this year, thank you for your support, advice, and friendship.
May you all have a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Lucas

Brrrr!

2007-12-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

Is it ever going to get any warmer? I was finally able to get out on the bike Friday afternoon. I hit Chesebro Canyon at about 3:30 and did 2 reverse loops. I had strapped on the light for the second lap as it is getting dark at about 4:30 now. As soon as the sun went down it dropped about 20 degrees! I had enough clothing on but with the strong wind it was giving me a brain freeze headache! My legs felt pretty good after not riding all week. They did not recover all that well though! Saturday I slept in a little and then worked at the bike shop all day. Christmas in the bike shop means lot's of crying kids! The parents bring them in to size them up and then drop the bomb that they are not getting the bike right now. Once that happens...all hell breaks loose! It's a blast though.
Bill let me borrow his trainer again so when I got home I spent a little over an hour spinning. I did a couple intervals as well! It hurt a bit.
Today was the Southridge Racing awards banquet. It was all the way down in Riverside but worth the drive. I received the 1st Place Champions Trophy and Jersey. I will try to post a picture tomorrow! It was a fun ceremony. When I got home I put all my warm clothing on and did some time trial pace laps around the neighborhood. I wish it wasn't Monday tomorrow...
Keep Climbing
Lucas

Sidelined

2007-12-13T10:53:00.000-08:00

I haven't been on the bike since Sunday. I seem to have caught a form of that flu that is going around. My biggest symptom is absolutely no energy. Very much like when I had Epstein Barr Virus. It doesn't seem to be fading either. I am bummed. I wanted to start bike commuting again this week.
I have been trying to put together my race schedule for next season but it hasn't been easy! There are so many Southern California races that are double booked it is making it hard to decide which ones to do! Then there is work conflict as well! I think that in January and Feb. I could race every weekend if....(wife approval, work approval, body approval, pocket book approval!) I really wanted to start putting in some base miles this week and not being able to will definitely affect the start of the season!
I am going to the Surf and Skate Expo in Orlando in a couple of weeks with Mike and his company Honey Longboards. I have never been to Florida and am looking forward to the trip as well as the opportunity to meet more pro surfers and skaters! I will keep you updated on this and definitely take lots of pictures! I will miss the first race of the season at Southridge but I think that it is worth it.
Pray for health,
Lucas

Thar She Blows

2007-12-10T10:44:00.001-08:00

Another weekend and another Southern California wind event! The 35 degree weather kept me off of the bike on Saturday. I was pretty bummed about that but planned a great ride for Sunday. Myself, Mike and Rory met up at the Sycamore Canyon trailhead Sunday at 9:30. It was still in the high 40's(which is freezing for us SoCal kids) when we dropped into the canyon! We FLEW down the 2 Foxes singletrack and decided to give the Goat Trail a go from bottom to top. Note to self...probably never a good idea to ride UP a trail called Goat Trail. Still being pushed by the adrenalin from our screaming descent I took off a little quick! I quickly found myself in the pain locker with Lactic Acid rushing into my legs like Niagra Falls. When we finally got to the top of the trail, even Mike said he never wanted to do that again! Going down this trail is much better! Going the opposite way there is still a ton of climbing but you get the payoff of a great descent at the end! After arriving at the top we dropped into Wood Canyon and headed up Guadalajasco. Mike took off like he was Tinker Juarez and left Rory and I in the hurt. Rory even managed to put about 3-4 minutes on me! I was ready for a great downhill. With all the rain on Friday, the trail was tacky and perfect! We dropped the first part and made our way to Backbone and flew down like Freeriding pro's! The wind had really picked up and was gusting in the 50 mph range. We decided that climbing up the covered canyon was better than the exposed fire road. It hurt but was definitely the better choice. When we reached the infamous Black B*$@h to climb back to the cars we all looked like broken men! We found a little extra steam until halfway up we hit the wall of wind! Pedaling into a 50 mph headwind....well it's demoralizing! Mike tried to make a jump and I let him get a few yards on me. I waited to the last turn and dropped the hammer! I was able to pass him about 25 yards from the top as my heart rate hit 190! That was my last little bit of juice and the last 2 miles back to the car was extreme pain!
We loaded up and hit the local Chipotle! Perfect painful ride followed by a great burrito! Hope to get in some great rides this week...
Keep Climbing
Lucas

Super Funny Post

2007-12-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

Check out today's post from the Fat Cyclist...it had me "shredded" with laughter! The comments are just as funny!

Fat Cyclist

Finding the Long Way Home

2007-12-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

Rode to work yesterday..(still no car or hope of getting it back before the rain hits tomorrow) It's a quick 5 mile shot to the office via Chesebro Canyon. Staying out of the crazy school mom traffic is the only excuse that I need to hit the dirt on my way here! I left work at 2 yesterday in order to ride over to the Ford dealership to see if they could get me out of my crappy money pit. That tacked on another 7 miles. No luck with them..although I am not to upset as another Ford is the last thing I want at this point. So I thought that I would find the long way home!
I headed for the hills. After an uphill seven miles, I hit the trailhead. Dark was starting to fall so I strapped on my light and began the 3.5 mile climb from Avenida De Los Arboles up Albertsons Motorway to China Flat. I had only ridden this trail a couple times before and I started to get worried that I had missed a trail turn? Worst case scenario is that I would end up in the Valley! Right after worrying I reached the top and my turn! My legs were feeling pretty good even with my 20 pound bag on my back! I decided to drop down into Chesebro Canyon and extend the ride a bit. There were a good number of folks out riding as well! About 5 miles from home the Red Flag winds started to get pretty nuts. At one point I was standing trying to pedal into the headwind...and I really wasn't moving forward!
When I was climbing out of the canyon towards my house my legs were letting me know that they were really pissed off at me!
When I got home the Garmin read 31 miles, 2.5 hours of ride time, 2800 ft of climbing! Not a bad way to sneak in some saddle time. My legs are still a little pissed this morning! Not the easiest ride in to work! Maybe take a long route home again tonight..we will see, Kristen's off today and I still need to figure out what to do with the car.
Keep Climbing
Lucas

Lesson Learned

2007-12-04T11:38:00.001-08:00

So with the car in the shop, I have been riding to work! I of course bring my lighting set-up, as it is dark when I get out of here! Last night on my way home I learned a valuable lesson! I use a Chrome Messenger Bag and of course stuff it as full as possible. Last night I had my laptop, clothes, and some papers that probably weighed close to 15 pounds. I am lucky enough to work at the base of my local trail Chesebro Canyon and I can do a great 12 mile loop home. It is about 900 feet of climbing at a steady rate except for a couple steep rocky sections you have heard me refer to as the "Chesebro Challenges."(This is where I clipped a deer last week) All was well and I was trying to push a heavy pace. Legs were sore from Sunday but doing a great job. That is until I hit the Challenge...Lesson Learned....When you have 15+ lbs. on your back, it's a little hard to balance up steep sections! As I rode up the rock face, I rode myself right onto my back! Luckily my clothing cushioned most of my fall! There I lay...on my back staring up at the black night! It was actually very peaceful for a moment..than I heard some critter noises in the bushes and jumped up! I think that I will pick a slightly different line up that hill tonight!
Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Oh Boy

2007-12-03T16:41:00.000-08:00

Not a super amount to share..Work was long and difficult last week. I had the opportunity to get in a few short rides...one of which was a night ride that I collided with what I hope was a deer! I was shooting down Chesebro Canyon when I came around a corner and went to drop through one of the "challenges" (it's a rocky steep section) when I saw something huge dart up the rocks and across right in front of me! I managed to catch its ass with my bar end! Luckily I was going fast enough to stay up! I wondered whether I should turn around and look with my light or make a break for it? I decided to turn and look...but all was gone. I am assuming it was a deer because it was to large to be a coyote and I am pretty sure that I heard what sounded like hooves scammering across the rocks! A few moments after that i rode through a small flock of bats and I am sure one tried to bite me? OK maybe not...but that was two scares within five minutes! Great ride though!
Friday brought a heavy rain and no opportunity to ride! The rain was supposed to start late but was pouring when I woke.
Saturday I rode early before the shop and it was 39 degrees F. My toes have yet to thaw out! Saturday night on my way home from the shop....MY CLUTCH BROKE AGAIN! Not two months old. More on that in a few.
Sunday was great. After recieving VERY STRICT after riding rules from the wife..(I had to driver her car to and from my ride! She no want's a stinky car!) I was off to meet Mike at his house in Simi Valley. We headed out towards the valley around 11 and rode to the trail head. Nice warm up in the cool air! We climbed Chumash and it was in great post rain condition. Only bummer was to realize that some goofballs had gone up and did some "trailwork" recently. Maybe someone can clue me in on why you would fill fun technical, but very ridable sections with dirt? Mike was pissed as this is his favorite climb that he rides a few times per week. We made it to the top of the 2.6 mile climb in about thirty minutes and headed over towards Rocky Peak. We looked for a trail that Mike had heard about and finally found it. It was a super fun, really technical downhill that had some sketchy areas. We then climbed up Stagecoach Trail to Rocky Peak Church and headed for Johnsons Motorway. By this point we had climbed about 2100 feet in 11 miles and I was feeling the pain. When Mike told me that we had about 2000 feet more to climb I about melted! Johnsons was really cool. It was really rocky and technical all the way up! I managed to clean every bit of it except for one toe tap. This made me pretty happy because I was having some balance issues earlier.
Once to the top we worked our way back to the top of Chumash and FLEW down! This is one of my favorite descents because it has everything! YOu have to be on your toes or you's in some trouble! We made it out to the road and dropped back into town. We had brought some money and stopped at Taco's Jalisco for a Super Burritto that was like gold! All in all we had about 28 miles, 4004 ft of climbing, and a ride time of 3:20 minutes! Just what I needed!
I won't enrage you in my car details. Ford, please take mercy on me?!
Ride On and Keep Climbing
Lucas

Is it Christmas Break Yet?

2007-11-26T17:46:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful four days! Food, Family, Food, Riding...did I mention food? Turkey day started off with a great mountain bike ride with Mike Mahoney. We rode Chumash in Simi Valley which was a blast. From there I headed to my mother in-laws and got ready for the feast! Usually they say that we are going to eat at 1 and ends up being more like 4 or 5! This year we were face first at 1:05! Stuffing, ham, stuffing, Kristen's amazing creamed corn, stuffing, turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn bread cakes, stuffing, gravy, and I think some more stuffing! One of the doctors that Kristen's mom works for kicked down a mega expensive bottle of Cabernet that was amazing! I am not really supposed to drink red wine for reasons that I will not tell(let's just say that there is something in red wine that makes me blackout) but one glass is usually OK. The one glass I had was very enjoyable.
We had a couple drinks and played some games as the day passed. I even beat my high score on Wii bowling!
Friday brought another cool and very windy morning. As the ladies went out at the butt-crack of dawn to shop, I stayed at home asleep with my four little heaters cuddled around me!(My pups) I ate a nice breakfast and went out on a mountain bike ride in Chesebro Canyon. This decided to do a few hours of climbing and rode for about 3 hours in the wind! I learned that when there are 60 mph wind gusts, you should ride as far away from the edge of the cliff as possible! I came around a couple of exposed corners that the wind literally blew me over a foot or two! All in all I had a great ride! Then it was just an afternoon and evening of eating and relaxing!
Saturday I awoke to the smell of smoke and just as all had feared there was another fire raging in Malibu! This one was a little closer to home. As I headed down my street on a road ride I could see the flames at the top of the hill! They were HUGE. I had planned on riding up that range of hills but decided for more weekday road route. Other than the wind, the ride was great. I dropped about 4 minutes off of my time on this 30 mile route. I was impressed with this as the wind really slowed me down for a majority of the ride. Then it was off to the bike shop where we watched the fire rage all day as we worked. I think I have said this before but working at the shop on Saturdays is really fun for me.
Sunday morning was time for a group ride and I was excited to ride with some new people. One of our long time customers at the shop started working with us on Saturday. Drew is a CRAZY fixed gear talented rider in all arenas of cycling. He is part of a cool fixed gear group that holds impromptu races in town. He is also part of the Midnight Ridazz which is a really cool group of cyclists that hold these late night rides through Los Angeles and the surrounding cities. Drew has a Jesus style beard, a complete tattoo sleeve on one of his legs and showed up to the road ride in a pair of Dickies cut-offs and a Vegas t-shirt! The only thing out of place on this guy is his super nice S-Works road shoes! He wanted to try to ride Rockstore on his fixed gear but bailed out when his buddy did. He brought a geared bike and hit the road with myself, Kim, Danny Luphold and his girl Dee. As we headed out Mulholland to Rockstore we saw the fire helicopters picking up water in Malibu Lake! This was about 50 yards from us! It was amazing to watch as they had to drop into a very tight space to pick up the water. Once we got up near the top of the mountains we had one of those HUGE water dropping DC-10's fly over us! That was a sight. Only along the top of the ridge did the smoke become an issue as the wind was blowing it away from us at every other point. I had a blast on this ride as well! Once back to the house I took a great nap with my dogs and then relaxed for the rest of the day! Then, just like that, my four days of paradise were over!
Back at work on Monday I found out that one of our employee's lost their home in the fire and our owner almost lost his. Poor guy lost everything.
Monday was a rest day and I hope to get in a ride this afternoon if I can sneak out of work early! We will see!
Peace,
Lucas

Joy and Thanks

2007-11-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

As I contemplated all morning what I would add to this list, I was beat to the punch by the Fat Cyclist If you have not already done so, please check out the post below this one as it is an amazing read!
What am I thankful for this year? Well in no particular order after the first two:

My wife Kristen. No matter how sarcastic, crazy, happy, tuned-out, grumpy, sleepy, sullen, excited, or whatever I may be at the moment, she loves me. The woman that I fell in love with instantaneously back in 1995 only to marry 4 months later...still gives me the same heeby-jeebies in my tummy when I look at her! I am so thankful for you babe!

My 4 Chihuahuas Pippin, Lola, Finnagin, and Bean. These are our kids. Every single time I walk in the door...I feel loved. Whether I have been gone for thirty seconds or 3 days, my pups jump all over me giving me endless kisses and all the attention I could ever want in this life! There is absolutely nothing like coming home from a crappy day at work and walking in the door to the most exciting welcome! One of my favorites is coming home from a ride and laying down to stretch only to have all the sweat licked from my face! Pip, Mama, Ginnies, and Professor....I love you all!

My Family I am thankful for my family! I am definitely not the best son or brother but I am thankful that my family loves me anyway! Mom, you taught me about sensitivity and compassion. Dad, you taught me about hard work and humbleness. Thank you for never giving up on me! My older brother Micah who teaches me about family through his example. My younger brother Stephen who has followed God's heart in his life. Thank you guys for not only loving me unconditionally but teaching me in everything that you do.

I am lucky enough to have two families! I give thanks for Kristen's mom, Jan. She has loved me like a son since the beginning. I am also thankful for our niece Kailey whom I have been lucky to be an uncle to. Kacy and Clint, thank you for being such cool in-laws.

My friends Mike and Karen Mahoney, Bill, Rory and Jen, Tom, Kim, The Langins, Mike G, Andrew, and Jeff and Talina. Thank you all for everything.

Pizza. I am thankful for pizza! Toppers is my favorite!

Cycling.I have had many obsessions in my life. Some have come and gone and some become a little less important. Kristen has said for the last two years that she thinks this too shall pass.. I say...Cycling is here to stay with me. Whether I ride with a group of friends for fun, pedal around Catalina Island with Kristen, hammer my way through the hills, ride out my stress of the day, or spin leisurely to recover, I am hooked and hooked for life. The views, the competition with others and myself, the feeling of accomplishment, the battling through lactic acid burn just to go a little longer, and the dream of riding a 24 hour solo. These are just a few things that stoke me about riding. Also, the thought that I can do this until the end...

My online cycling friends I am thankful to all the cycling friends that I have found. Some I have met at races, some I have met through those whom I have met at races, and some I have met through searching the blogs! I have learned so much from each and every one of you. Thank you for always answering my questions and allowing me into this amazing community!

And not to be missed, I am thankful for ALL the things that I have been blessed with. I am so lucky to have all the necessities and extras like a home, food, water, clothing, health, and the like! I thank the Lord for all His provisions!

Happy Thanksgiving
May you eat, ride, shop, and eat some more!
Lucas

Check this out

2007-11-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

Everday I read the Fat Cyclist blog. Elden, better known as Fatty, often makes me laugh and has even made me tear a couple of times. His blog is most often hilarious and sometimes sad. Elden's wonderful wife has been fighting cancer and they have opened up their most personal fight to all his readers. I believe that there are many reasons that he would do this, but I believe that what has come from it is an ever growing army for the battle against cancer. Fatty so beautifully put his Thankgivings in todays post that I thought I would share. Mine will come tonight or tomorrow.
Enjoy the read!
http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/11/21/gratitude/

One Heck of a Weekend

2007-11-18T17:52:00.000-08:00

So grab a hot cup of cocoa and a blanket cuz this one may be long! Other than some work drama, I am having a great weekend! First off, I have to give mad props to Brendan, owner of Siren Bicycles. Brendan raced his first 12 hour solo race in Temecula yesterday and pulled off a 6th place! I haven't heard the whole story yet but read that he pulled a 1:20 minute lap to finish the race with only 10 minutes to spare! Way to go man!
Well, Saturday morning came quick considering I was at work until about 9pm on Friday night. I thought I was going to finish my day up at about two and get out for a ride. Yeah...didn't happen. I headed out to Fontana(or Fontucky as I like to call it!) at about 6:30am and was feeling pretty good. Once arriving it was cool and foggy which made me pretty happy.
I was told that if I wanted to move up to expert, this race would not count towards the #1 plate and jersey for the season. That brought forth a problem because Rory was on his way and he was only 40 points behind me in the standings. As soon as he arrived I asked if he would move up to sport and let me keep my hold on the season. He said that he planned on that anyway, so I was all good to go with my plan for an ass whoopin!
A quick warm-up and it was time to line up. Great thing about the expert class is they are one of the first to start and in today's case, we were the first group to start. As soon as the gun went off these guys took off! I thought to myself, Oh man, what have I done? The Fontana course has most of it's 1100 feet of climbing per lap packed into the first 3 miles. By the top of the paved road climb I was already about 45 seconds back! I just settled into a pace I was happy with and stuck it there. When I came through to start my second lap I still felt pretty good even though I knew I was in last place. My plan was coming together! Lap two was good. It was about 4 minutes slower than the first. With about 4 miles to go in that second lap I noticed one of the sport guys that I used to race with apparently trying to chase me down. Other than the fact that he had started about 6 minutes after me and he was on his last lap, and I still had one to go, I was not about to be passed by this guy. Now I will tell you that even though I always blew this guy away, he has one the same as me in the fact that he has dropped about 65 pounds this year and been putting in some mad time on the saddle. I was very impressed with his speed, yet I was not going to be passed! This chaser helped me push like mad through the last 4 miles of the lap. Lucky for me, the last 4 are rolling and flat. I have really improved in this type of terrain with all my road riding. I think I managed to put about a 4 minute gap on him in that last section. He told me after the race that he had been chasing me for a while and finally, with about 2 miles to go just blew up!
My third lap was...uhh..pretty sad! My last lap saw me post an identical time to my first race ever at Fontana exactly one year ago! The hard part was that about half way through the lap I passed what would be the last person I would see until coming in to the finish! With about 2 miles to go my legs started to seize in a way that scared the poo out of me! I threw it into the granny gear and pedaled softly for a few. I was able to make it all the way without stopping to stretch. Well my time was 2 hours and forty-two minutes! Are you ready...drum roll please...dead freaking last! Or 6th place....out of six! I was only 40 minutes behind 5th place! Just as I thought, I am not ready or able to race at that pace! Wow! These guys were so stinking fast that it was amazing! The better news is that I had a freaking blast! I would do it again if someone asked!
On my way home, I stopped off at Bonelli Park in San Dimas. My friend Mike who owns Honey Skateboards had a booth at the Downhill Skateboarding Championships. It was qualifying for downhill skateboarding, luging, and gravity bikes. This was truly amazing. His booth was right at the bottom of the course where the racers had to make a 90 degree turn at speeds of 30 to 44 miles an hour. (There was a guy with a radar gun standing in front of me.) Let's just say that about every third person turning the corner slammed spectacularly into the hay bails! It was really cool. No one was injured which was amazing after seeing them just hammer themselves into the wall!
Today I got to sleep in with the pups and Kristen! This was much needed in many ways! Kristen is working late today so we got to enjoy breakfast together this morning and even some time just hanging out!
My legs were pretty tight but I decided to take a risk and hit the road bike. I planned on a long ride and prayed that the cramps would not come back. I got on the road at noon and felt like a long ride was in store. I headed out towards Newberry Park and dropped down Portrero to Camarillo. I rode through the produce fields towards Pacific Coast Highway. I learned today that fields of red bell peppers smell a little like marijuana. Anyways, when I hit PCH it was socked in with fog and getting pretty cold! I worked my way down the coastline at about 20 mph. I stopped at Sycamore and refilled my bottles with all my Hammer Nutrition that I had brought in plastic baggies. I had filled up with Heed and Endurolytes in hope to stave off the cramps. I was back on the road and stopped to watch the surfers at County Line for a few minutes. Got back to flying along the coast and decided that I would climb up Encinal Canyon. I knew that this 7.76 mile climb at 6% the whole way was going to hurt! 50 minutes and 2000ft of elevation gain later, I was flying down the twisty, turny Decker Canyon Road. I rode over to the bike shop once back into town and filled up my bottles as they were closing up for the day. After about 10 minutes of chat I headed home. I was surprised how good I felt as I took the long way home. So all said and done, I had traveled 68.36 miles in 4 hours 10 minutes. Average speed was 16.4 with a max speed of 47 mph. Average heart rate was 150 bpm with a max of 175 bpm. Total elevation was 4126 feet of climbing and 4168 feet of descending! The only part of the ride that sucked was about 2 miles into it I had an old lady pull the dreaded left turn in front of me. Had to slam on my brakes and still kissed the car! Lady sped off too! Whatever?
All in all I had a great weekend! If you made it all the way to the end of this...thanks! Now the stress of tomorrow is falling upon me. Can't wait until Wed. night! 4 days off baby!
Peace,
Lucas

Getting Ready

2007-11-16T08:23:00.001-08:00

So it's been a good week! Wed. I hit the road for the same ride as Tuesday without the intervals. I did the same Time Trial pace around the lake and shaved 9 seconds off the day before! It was a great 30 miles with unreal weather for early in the morning! I hit the trail that night with a 13 mile Mountain Bike ride! It was really warm and a great dark night to be out. I think I passed 4 other riders that had the same idea as me! I love seeing lights coming out of the darkness! I even saw a couple bats...one may have tried to bite me?! Legs felt OK being my second ride for the day. It was about 1500 feet of climbing so it got me pretty good by the end.
No riding yesterday because I was at a photoshoot all day. I am headed back now but hope to make it out of there by 2 today. If all goes to plan I will get a good longish tempo ride in. Tomorrow is race day and I still plan on racing in the expert class! It will be a great butt-whoopin, but well worth it to me! Happy Friday.
Peace,
Lucas

Happy Tuesday

2007-11-13T14:50:00.001-08:00

When I took my dogs out late Sunday night I made the decision that it was going to be to cold to ride in the morning! With the rain and the wind...I just figured. I slept in a little which was very nice then took the dogs out front only to realize that a Santa Ana windstorm had heated up the air considerably! I was kicking myself as this would have been nice conditions (other than the wind) for a ride!
I jumped up early this morning to get out and was greeted by a slight chill that ended up being perfect for a flattish 30 mile road ride with a few intervals mixed in. Legs did not have the snap that my head did but was able to push pretty hard. I did a Time Trial pace around Lake Lindero which took just under 15 minutes. I also did a 5 minute all out with 5 minutes of easy followed by a 4 minute than 3 and so on. After the time trial pace...let's just say that I was hurting!
I had a great ride and look forward to another in the morning! If I can get up a little earlier I can tack on another 10-15 miles...We'll see.
Peace,
Lucas

Relaxing End

2007-11-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

Ride Friday was great, Saturday ride with Mike was fun! Today I was supposed to go on a long road ride with Kim. We planeed on heading out to Piuma in Malibu but about ten miles into the ride it got a little wet. We climbed to the top of Mulholland and decided to turn back instead of getting caught in a downpour in the middle of the Santa Monica Mountains! All day I waited for it to dry up......no such luck! This will all probably pay off though as it is the first day in a long time that I actually rested! I got to watch the Steelers in a great game...then watched the Colts battle back from a huge defecit only to blow it in the last few seconds!
Back to work and hopefully a week of fast tempo training to get ready for the Fontana Fall Classic on Saturday. Last race of the year...this race last year was my first race ever! I was thinking about going big and racing in the Expert catagory. I think taking a horrifc beating going into the off-season will give me the inspiration to train like a madman through the winter and ready myself for the jump to the next class next season! We will see!
Peace,
Lucas

Sweet Friday

2007-11-09T21:43:00.001-08:00

6:15-Wake-up
6:45-Shower
7:00-Walk the pups
7:30-Go to Work
1:00-Run by the bike shop and pick up new saddle and 24 Solo DVD
2:00-Head Home with the bike on the brain
2:10-Walk the Dogs
2:30-Hit the trail
YIPEE!

I'll try to let the pictures do the talking. My body was not feeling as good as my brain was...but who freaking cares! I was out on the bike! My new Specialized Phenom saddle was pretty good! I'll let you know how it holds up. I have been looking for the right mountain saddle for a while and it's hard to take a risk when they cost $100-$150. It felt good today! I hope to have a full weekend of riding, I hope you do to!

So happy together!

Quick climb into the canyon

I can't believe I am actually riding!

Spinning in the flats getting ready for the pain

The 100 mph+ winds that blew the fires out of control left lots of damage!

If a tree falls in the forest...does it make a sound?

Hey look..Another climb!

Short steep ascents put me n the pain locker today

Second to last climb

I love that this is my back yard

Last Climb

It's all down hill from here!

Home Sweet Home Bottom Left

Better Day

2007-11-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

Bean aka The Professor

Pippin, Lola, and Finnagin doing what they do best.

Kristen and I on Thunder Mountain at Disneyland 2 weeks ago!

So I decided to delete my entry from yesterday. It was a little depressing! I am sorry to any who may have read it. I really just needed to vent! Thanks to Brendan from Siren Bicycles for his words of encouragement! You are stand up brother. I did want to repost the pictures of my sweet family!
Tomorrow is Friday and I can't wait...it's been a way long week with absolutely no time to ride! That all changes tomorrow. I hope that you all have a great weekend!
Peace,
Lucas

Saddle Sore

2007-10-31T15:45:00.001-07:00

Finally got back on the bike yesterday. I haven't been on since last Friday. Needless to say...it hurt. Went on a 20 mile road ride with very little climbing. One of the few things keeping me off the bike this week has been that daybreak is not until almost 7AM. With as unusually cold as it has been, it's hard to get out into the freezing darkness! Afternoon rides have been shot as well since I have been putting in 12 hour days since last week. I have also been experiencing migraines for the lst couple of weeks and this week they have been really bad. Not sure what is causing them? I started on some new vitamins a few weeks ago and of course that is about when the headaches started. Went back to my old vitamins today to see if it makes a difference. My prescription medicine is not even taking these things away! Enough complaining for now...sorry.
Legs were not very cooperative on ride yesterday. Still feels like I have no juice in them. Not sure what the cause of this is either...it's been this way since the cold/flu a couple weeks ago? Maybe the round of antibiotics I was on? Hope to put in some heavy time on the bike this weekend. We will see.
Peace,
Lucas

Smoke Filled Haze

2007-10-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Luckily most of the fires around me are out! Our prayers and support go out to all those in Orange and San Diego counties that are still under evacuation and those who have lost everything. Stay strong, it can only get better.
The large Castaic Lake fire that is still burning near us is now just supplying us with enough smoke to keep us indoors. Without the heavy winds the smoke is just floating into our valley and sitting. I actually got out yesterday morning for the first time since Saturday(between the smoke and work being insane) and it was pretty bad. If you do not live in Southern California, let me put the wind from this event into perspective. I rode into Chesebro Canyon (which is the local loop outside my house) yesterday morning. Once dropping into the canyon I realized that there was no loose dirt anywhere on the trails! This area is famous for having a loose topsoil most of the year and very deep sand in parts. Even the sand was mostly gone! The wind was so strong that it blew all the dirt away! I saw parts of the trail that I had NEVER seen before. There was also trees down everywhere. At the beginning of my ride I was removing large pieces of tree from the trail but quickly realized that I did not have enough time to continue doing this! One area through Sulfer Springs (yes it smells just like it sounds!) had a huge tree down blocking the trail! Detour!
When I woke up this morning, the smoke was already really bad so I skipped riding. I couldn't take it anymore so I went home at lunch, put on my riding gear, filled my Chrome Bag with my work clothes, put a bandanna around my mouth and nose(like a Bandito!) and hit the hills! I won't lie, the air was horrible even through the bandanna. But it felt good to ride. And the bonus is, I get to ride home...back through the hills. I probably will not get to ride this weekend as we are headed to the Happiest Place on Earth for Kristen's birthday! Some of K's family are coming down from Northern Ca. so it should be a great time! I hope everyone else has a great weekend!
Peace,
Lucas

Fire Storm

2007-10-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

We have found ourselves in a Ring of Fire. The wind hit about midnight last night like a hurricane (60-80 mph gusts) and it was loud. When it gets like this I always start worrying about our cars getting hit by downed trees. So when I finally got out of bed at 6:15am to get ready for my ride(yeah, like I would ride in this wind) and I walked outside to see the downed tree on my walkway, my heart sunk. I had to climb over it to get out to the parking lot. Cars were good. Other things like the homes in Malibu...not so much. After smelling the smoke I came back in and turned on the TV. News did not start until 7 so I was watching Sportscenter when the news started scrolling across the top. Malibu was on fire! There was also another fire out behind us that started last night, and they started talking about a third that would be right on the hill behind my house. 100% of the shitty newscasting was about the fire in Malibu. As horrible as it is if I hear that another multi, multi, multi, million dollar home caught fire, I was going to throw up on my TV. Are these houses more important than a less expensive house? Do we really care how expensive the house was?
Sorry...It just makes me sick. Something that was horrible was watching Malibu Presbytarian Church burn to the ground. This is a church that I have driven by 5000 times on my way to go surfing. Thank God that the fire hit early instead of later while church was in! The other pictures I just took fom outside my house here in Oak Park. It looks as if there is a fire coming over the hill?! Can't find any news about it though?! They are still concentrating on Malibu. I will try to keep you updated as the day finishes out.
Oh yeah...I heard Britney Spears may have started it to smoke out the Paparazzi since she was arriving home past her court appointed curfew...
Peace
Lucas

Riding with Tinker

2007-10-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

Today I again received affirmation as to why I love mountain biking. Whenever I go on a ride or to a race or some other MTB event, people are just stinking cool. They make you feel at home and they make you feel welcome! I met up with Mike Mahoney out in Simi Valley for the Cannondale demo. Mike and I got bikes and went out for a quick loop to get loose. I rode the new Team Edition carbon fiber Scalpel. I was quickly impressed with the climbing ability of the bike and the acceleration was amazing. Once we hit a technical descent it was a little different. I had a really hard time getting comfortable with the super short top tube. I felt really sketchy on the downhills.
We rolled back to the parking lot and met Tinker Juarez and his wife Terri. They were instantly aprreciative of US haveing THEM there. From the get go of the ride Tinker old his his stories and training tips. He answered everyones questions with excitement and concern. What I thought was more cool than anything was that he more than once commented how he knows how good he has it to have this as a job. As we were all suffering up each steep climb Tinker had it in his big chain ring and I don't think he ever broke a sweat!
Needless to say, we all had a great time. Tinker and Terri, thank you!
I would highly reccomend that if you ever have a chance to meet Tinker and his wife...jump at it!
Peace,
Lucas

Tinker Juarez

2007-10-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a tough last seven days as I woke up with a sinus infection and stomach flu last Friday. I finally went to the doctor yesterday as I have not been able to shake the congestion. He told me that I needed less stress in my life! As long as it's not the training that is making me sick...!
The picture that you see above is Tinker Juarez. Tinker is a legend! Please take a moment to check out his blog and from their make sure to link to his homepage and read about his past! Tinker is the 2007 24 Hour World Champion. One of the most impressive things about him is that he is 46 years old! Through my friend Mike Mahoney I actually get to do a ride with him tomorrow! I am so stoked to meet this guy! Tinker has been a mainstay in the cycling community since his BMX days in the 70's. I look forward to sharing my story and some pictures about the ride.

I have gotten out a few times this week regardless of feeling under the weather. Monday I rode and felt like it helped me a bit. Thursday as I hit Chesebro canyon I ran into some of my racing buddies and was invited to follow. Everything was going great until we hit the first big climb and my legs had nothing! I haven't felt bonked like this in a long time! It was very embarrasing as these guys quickly put about 5-6 minutes on me and then waited at the top! As I approached, I thanked them for waiting and told them to not wait as I really had no juice to keep up. I rode on with them and because of some mechanicals of one the guys, I ended being able to hang for most of the ride. We rode about 16 miles and climbed close to 3000 feet. I loved the ride but was bummed about my performance. I also went out this morning with Kim for the Fast Friday ride(our version anyways) and it was another ride in the pain cave. 20 minutes up Rock Store was pitiful! As we approached the Power Climb, Anthony (Pro class rider from Fast Friday) blew past us, smiled, laughed and took off! We were really worried that the rest of the group was going to catch us but we never saw them. Thank goodness because that would have sucked!

My legs are just hurting at this point. The beummer is that they did not feel like this before I got sick. I need my boys to come back on line if I have any hopes in competeing at the 12 Hours of Temecula!

Ohhh Yeah, I forgot to tell you about the HUGE stressor that happened the night before I woke up sick!
When I was walking Pippin, Finnagin, and Lola on Thursday night, I did something that I have never done...I stepped on Pippin! When we were almost home a large dog was walking up the road. I reached down to pick up Kujo..I mean Lola, and Pippin just started yelping. This was one of the scariest moments of my life. I quickly picked him up(I never felt him under my foot so I am just assuming that I stepped on him) and his leg was just kind of hanging and his yelping did not stop. After the longest 2 minutes of my life he stopped. I sat him down to see if he could stand on it and he limped across the way. I picked him up again and took him inside. Lola was so scared when he first started yelping that she tried to bite him? It was a very sleepless night for me. Once morning came I was sick and Pippin was limping around. Kristen was working later in the day so we decided that she would keep an eye on him and then make a decision wether or not we should take him to the vet. I am happy to report that Pip is doing great! It's just me that feels like an ass!
Peace
Lucas

Picture From Piru Time Trial

2007-10-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

My good friend Bill Knapp of Knapp Photography shared this picture with me today! This was when I was flying WITH the wind!