Training for the Stagecoach Century and a few New Year's goals

I like to do the century rides in the desert more than training. In early December Mike questioned why my name was not on the list for the Stagecoach. So, this allowed 6 weeks or so for preparation and training. My bike still had two wheels, but my legs were small from inactivity and my normal steel will was diminished from the holiday preparations and my proclivity for rest and party activities.

So, I made a plan. It involved rides from my door to Willow Road and then out Dehesa. Eventually, it would include rides up Harbison Canyon to Alpine. I usually just ride the five cities ride (around the San Diego Bay and back by ferry) on Sundays as a penance for Friday and Saturday self abuse experiments. Bike riders from all over San Diego come to Rancho to ride the Willow access to the hill country around where we live, so bikers are familiar if not respected members of the community and surrounding roads.

During the weekdays, Willow is populated by over caffinated commuters, nervous gamblers and native Americans. Armed with my 1 inch bike mirror and an assumed air of invincibility, I try to appear nonchalant about the apparent disparity between the automobile mass and speed versus mine. Any sign of excessive speed, intoxication, cell use or apparent ineptitude are met by my moving over to the right of an already diminished bike lane area. The weekends provide the additional composition of automobile test pilots, tourists, Harley riders and Ninja thrill seekers. Each ride to better my ability to complete the Century has at its completion a sacrifice to the lucky gods for my good fortune to survive another day and solid proof that I live a charmed life.

I started with 20 mile flat rides and at one week before the ride am up to a five cities ride in the morning and a ride to Alpine from my home soon after. This is about 60 miles, which should put me in a good position to complete the 100 miles in the desert. The desert ride will be completely safe in relation to the training rides. I look forward to the beauty of the desert and the companionship of my four partners on the ride. All are experienced riders and we will be probably be "drafting", which will make the ride easier if there is wind. Drafting involves riding within inches of the next person in a row while peddling at speed. It assumes confidence in your friends and full concentration on not touching wheels. If you do touch wheels, bad things can and usually do happen. The payoff is that you are "pulled" along with 10 to 20 percent free propulsion, during the time you are not the leader.

My training rides are quite boring and all that breaks the monotony is the road kill, trucker pee bottles, broken vodka containers and avoiding obvious road hazards. Lately, my thoughts tend toward ruminations on where things are going in America, especially in light of some books that I have been reading lately( The Limits of Power and The War for Wealth). When I spout off on our mountain bike rides, my friends listen patiently and sometimes are sympathetic. Carl realizes my profound concern about current trends/events and has the good sense to suggest that our part in this big machine is indeed quite puny and thus offers some sense of proportion to my dismay. My goals for the coming year center around trying to keep my concerns a motivation for action rather than a negative emotional reaction.

The retired lifestyle that I am fortunate enough to enjoy in relative good health offers almost complete freedom of action. I can make good on my moral values by concrete action. We live in a desert (San Diego), so this year am going to shift to succulents for landscaping. Going to get more diligent in using buckets to capture water otherwise wasted waiting for warm. I will endeavor to buy American where possible and support stores that pay a living wage. Want to continue to communicate with elected government reps on policy matters, especially my willingness to pay more taxes for education, medical care and infrastructure that will make my country a more humane place now and for the lives of my children and grandchildren. I will try to drive at a fuel efficient speed if it is all safe. It probably won't change the world in the grand scheme of things, but it will hopefully make me feel better about my part and make me a little more positive around my friends.

The last few days I have been experimenting with conversion software to transfer DVD content into a more web and pc friendly format. Take a look at this video that I uploaded to Vimeo. If you want better resolution, the 65 megabyte file can be downloaded to your computer. Click vimeo on the bottom tool bar to get text summary and download possibility.


Toroweap 2006 with Friends from John McFrog on Vimeo.