And Then, There Were Ten

We are now down to 10 riders in the XX1090 Scott and BR Show radio contest. This week's rider that was cut from the team hits close to home for me. Kris McDaniel works at American Specialty Health, Inc., the same company that I work for. Even though we are in seperate areas of the company, I have worked with Kris on many occassions and can tell you that he is an outstanding guy. It is hard to see him go, but I know he is fundraising for QMDC/CAF and I am sure that we will see him still on the training rides and eventually in October on the ride down from San Francisco to San Diego.

Kris, take care and we will see you soon.

Sunday's Training (Recovery Ride)

This week was recovery, and we were all very happy for it. We are going to ramp up in distance and endurance again soon, so it is these rides that I value the most when you can spend some time chatting with fellow riders and learning more about them. It is making us grow closer as a group.

We had another immunity pump challenge contest in the form of a quiz. This week, it was an Olympics-themed quiz with one question. "What are the 4 cycling events in the Olympics?"

That's easy right? Road, Time Trial, Track, and other :)

The actual answer was Road, Track, Mtn. Biking, and BMX

Scott Bailey (who also won last week's immunity challenge) won this week. Congratulations Scott. Scott works for Qualcomm, is a very strong rider, and is a fantastic guy. He is always positive, upbeat, and you will usually find him heading to the front of the group towards the end of the ride with lots of energy.

The ride was cut a little short this week, but no one seemed to mind. In fact, it was nice to stay a little after the ride and chat with fellow riders Mike H., Deeanna, and Dan Plummer of WOW. Mike H. and I are planning a Sushi Silent Auction and we needed to discuss some details. Deeanna and some other QMDC riders are putting together their own fundraiser and Deeanna gave us some good tips that she has learned along the way. Thanks Deeanna.

The Sushi Silent Auction will be held Sept 29th from 6-9 PM at the Southwestern Yacht Club. Mike H. and I are working with a good cycling friend of his, Lan Tran. Lan is very energetic and has a heart of gold. More to follow on the Sushi4CAF Silent Auction event including a list of some of the silent auction items and sponsors.

CAF Fundraising Update

These past few weeks, I have been busy with more fundraising efforts in the form of a raffle and selling nachos at work. The raffle last week included a pair of Chargers tickets to the Monday night football game against Seattle, another pair of Chargers tickets to the Dallas game last Saturday, some gift cards, and a hair styling certificate.

Then this week, a few of my fellow co-workers decided to sell nachos to our staff and donate the proceeds to CAF. I am very fortunate to work with such great individuals and a company that fosters creativity and innovation.

Next week I hope to have another raffle and perhaps sell some other food item at work. We'll see what happens. It is easy to come up with the ideas, but a lot of work to pull everything together.

Help me support CAF by clicking on the link below.

http://mdc2008.kintera.org/northup4CAF

Thank you.

Tuesday Morning Cut

We are now down to 11 riders who have all been putting in a lot of hours training, listening to the Scott&BR Show, fundraising, and helping to raise awareness for the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge and Challenged Athletes Foundation. I am sure this week was a tough one for the judges.

Kevin Davenport has been eliminated. Kevin is a seriously strong rider, has a great attitude, and I am sure we will continue to see him out on the training rides and perhaps even on the ride in October. We all wish you well Kevin.

None of the radio contestants have any idea on how the judges are basing their decisions. I think that adds to the excitement and mystery of the competition.

For a list of the final 11 riders still in the competition, visit the Scott&BR Show.

Coors Light, Lollipops, and Second Base?

This week found everyone ready to tackle the 11th week of training and pass the half-way point to the big ride in October. The day started off with a challenge with Jim Crowley distributing a quiz to the Scott&BR Show radio contestants. Scott Bailey (pictured right) had the most answers correct and received the Immunity Pump for this week. Congratulations Scott! Kevin Heil had the pump last week and cleverly added a bicycle water bottle holder with a can of Coors Light. Coors Light is a sponsor of the Scott&BR Show and is a fitting touch to have as part of the Immunity Pump. Nice going Kevin.

During the morning introductions, Kristine Entwistle announced one of the riders, David Lee, that we will be riding with in October from San Francisco to San Diego. David is also competing in the handcycling event at the Paralympics in Beijing in a few weeks. We all wish him good luck and look forward to seeing him compete in Beijing.

After the morning introductions were finished, we all split off in our separate groups and then we were off. Today's ride was titled "Oceanside Ranger Lollipop" because that is what the route looks like - a big lollipop. The route takes you up north to Oceanside, then east along the bike path and finally out towards northern Escondido. You then do a large circle and come back to the same bike path towards Oceanside, then back down the coast to Solana Beach. The ride was 85 miles and is the last of our long rides for this build-up phase. Next week will be a recovery week, with a 40 mile ride on Sunday.

The weather promised hot conditions and we were not disappointed. It could have been a lot worse however, because temperatures the day before reached 98 degrees and in several places reached over 100 degrees in Poway and Escondido. It was still hot, but there was a slight breeze and it was a little cooler than the day before. Thank goodness.

After heading north up the coast, the Group 2 riders found ourselves on the San Luis Ray Bike Path heading east. Early in the morning this path is pretty deserted and we found ourselves pretty much all alone with the exception of a few cyclists. Later on in the day, this path gets a lot of use by other cyclists, runners, joggers, hikers, baby strollers, dogs, and just about anything else that rolls on wheels. The QMDC Group Leaders (Bryon and John) split us up into two groups to keep us safer as we rode along the bike path. We soon found ourselves sailing along smoothly at a comfortable 20 mph and covered the 7+ miles of bike path in no time at all.

After exiting the bike path, we soon found ourselves riding up a dirt hill and doing a little bit of cyclocross. I am not sure what the name of the road was, but it was a nice steady hill and soon had us coming down a pretty steep fast descent. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the hill wasn't that long and we had to turn right at the bottom of the hill after stopping at a stop sign. This brought us to Olive Hill Road, a nice winding road through the oak trees. After crossing an intersection, we arrived at our first (and third) SAG stop. This is the start of the lollipop loop and we would end up back here after another 20+ miles of hill work.

Tina Perez was providing the SAG at this stop and what a welcome relief it was to see her again. I first met Tina, a volunteer for the QMDC and CAF, during the Kitchen Creek ride a few weeks ago. She has a great attitude and is really friendly. Today, Tina greeted everyone with a warm smile, lots of food, and a cool H20 sprayer. It is pretty nice eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while getting sprayed with cold water after being in the saddle for 30+ miles. I actually didn't want to leave. But this was only the first stop and we had a lot of riding to do.

After leaving the SAG wagon, we headed up W. Lilac Rd, a grueling 4.5 mile climb that comes out at Old Highway 395. After regrouping at the top, we headed down 395 at about 40 mph. That was fun. It was then pretty flat until we hit another hill, turned left, then rode up more hills, and finally, made it to the top of another hill. This brought us to CR S13 (Reche Rd) and we regrouped again. Then it was left towards Live Oak Park a hundred or so yards to the second SAG wagon where Dan of WOW had the water on tap, the goo handy, and the shade welcome. Thanks Dan.

Our group got much larger because there were some Group 1 riders who I think took some wrong turns here and there and wound up at the SAG stop about the same time we did. We all took off together and rode through the oak tree-lined, winding roads. It was pretty amazing and offered everyone a lot of shade during the hottest part of the day. After being promised no more climbing, we turned right onto Reche road again and proceeded to climb - again. It wasn't too bad though and we soon found ourselves cooking along down Green Canyon Rd which had a lot of riders sprinting for the lead. It was a blast. Everyone was pushing each other to come and take the lead and we all traded off.

We soon found our way back to the SAG wagon (stops 1 and 3) again where Tina was still spraying people down with her H20 sprayer. We were all pretty tired at this point. It was at this SAG stop that a rider suddenly realized what Tina's shirt meant (“Save Second Base”). This got a few chuckles from the riders. All in all, it was a pretty short stay as we had to head back towards Oceanside and then south. This stretch of ride is not too difficult, but when you have already been on the bike for several hours and 50+ miles, it can seem like an eternity. Since our group had grown in size, Bryon and John split us up into three groups on the bike path this time. I was up near the front, so I went along with Bryon, Mike H., and Jeffrey Essakow.

Bryon took the lead pull and soon had us sailing along. When it came to be my turn to pull, I suddenly realized how strong the headwind was that Bryon was battling when he was pulling. I was hit in the face with a pretty strong wind and couldn't keep the pace that Bryon had set for very long and soon found my way to the back again. After another few pulls in the front by other riders, I soon found myself in back of Jeffrey and he was pulling. We reached about 22 mph into the headwind and all I could think about was come on Jeffrey, just a little bit farther. Please don't let me pull in this headwind, please. :) Well, Jeffrey did an awesome job pulling us into Oceanside.

By this time, I was really spent and it was a relief to stop and wait for the other two groups of riders. After downing a goo packet, and drinking a lot of water, we were off south and we pretty much stayed together as a group the entire way back. Some of the riders had some trouble with cramps and the group split into two with less than 1 mile to go. After we rolled into the parking lot back in Solana Beach, I took a couple quick self-snap shots of me with fellow radio contestants and QMDC fundraisers, Mike H. and Scott B. My family was waiting for me back home to start our camping vacation, so I had to get out of there pretty fast and wasn't able to stay for very long.

Below is a video I put together of some footage taken on this week’s ride. Enjoy!

Tuesday's Cut

This week, it was Greg Ramos who was cut from the Scott&BR Cycling Team.

Sorry to see you go Greg.

Training Week 9 – Only 11 Weeks to Go!

Sunday’s ride found us out along the coast again. And what a beautiful day it was. This is why we live where we do and pay the high cost of living. It was a picture-perfect day for the 82 mile ride up to San Clemente and back.

There was a pretty good turn out today for the ride. Some people that couldn’t make it last week during the Kitchen Creek ride for various reasons were able to make it for today’s ride. It was good to have them back. This resulted in pretty much all of the groups being pretty big. I decided to ride at my level again and stick with Group 2. I’ve suffered enough at the hand of Group 1 and wish them the best, but from here on out, it’s Group 2 for me. At least until I get overconfident again and try Group 1 J.

We started the morning out with another immunity challenge. As I started wracking my brain for the answers to Scott and BR trivia, I realized we were in luck. Today was a different challenge that required the contestants to guess the amount of total calories of Power Gels that were crammed into a large jar. We were allowed to see how many calories were in each packet, but we had to guess the number of packets in the jar and then figure out the total calories the jar contained.

Even though math is my forte, at 6:45am in the morning I find that my brain can only absorb data and not process data. I guessed that there were 150 packets in the jar, then proceeded to do the math and multiplied 150 packets x 110 calories. I came up with 6,500 calories and handed it in to Scott, the QMDC group leader and substitute for Jim during this week’s challenge. I felt that I had a pretty good shot at winning the challenge. After all, I am great with math.

On the way over to the morning announcements I realized my folly. I quickly double checked the math in my head and realized that I had made a huge mistake. I forgot to add on the one at the end. Instead of 6,500 it was 16,500. When Scott announced the winner, he said that there were a total of 155 packets in the jar and that the total calories were 17,505. I had missed it by 1,005 calories or 5 packets. Oh well, better luck next time. Maybe the next challenge will be another track stand.

Congratulations to Kevin Heil who won the immunity challenge this week. Well done. This is Kevin’s second round of having control of the idol. He added on the top hat during his last weekly reign as Immunity Pump winner and I have no doubt next week we will see something just as good. Since I had the pump last week, I had the opportunity to add my touch to it which was in the form of a cape with the Scott & BR logo on the back along with the QMDC and CAF logos. I must say that it turned out better than I had expected and this Immunity Pump has taken on a life of its own.

Immediately after the announcements, we soon headed out in our respective groups and rolled north up the coast for a change. Typically, we head south and then east on our rides, but this week we went north and it was an odd, but great feeling. North is where San Francisco is, the starting point for our 600 mile, 7 day event in October. Everyone could feel that this was a turning point in our training and after last week’s Kitchen Creek ride, we were all looking forward to riding along the coast on relatively flat terrain.

Since we were such a large group, they decided to give us three QMDC group leaders (Pat, Kevin, and Lisa) during this ride. At first it was just Pat, and I think they soon realized that it would be pretty tough for one leader to keep the lot of us all in line. I am sure he would have done a remarkable job, but seemed releived to get the extra help. The group leaders kept us all in line and pretty much on track the entire ride. With the exception of a few of us missing a light and getting split up at the beginning, we all pretty much stayed together as a group the entire way.

I have to hand it to all of the QMDC Group Leaders, they work their tails off and often have to back track and pick up the stragglers to make sure everyone stays together and gets back safe. They not only lead by example of fitness, but also lead by patience and integrity. Thanks again to all of the QMDC Group Leaders for keeping us all safe and getting us back home at the end of the ride.

The scenery along the coast was spectacular and at times I wanted to stop and watch the surfers ride the waves in. The air was cool with a slight breeze and made for a great day of riding. When we got almost to the half way point, we all decided to turn around early and bypass riding through a residential neighborhood with lots of stop signs. We rode through this section during the Southern trip from Anaheim a few weeks ago and you don’t really get much out of it other than stopping, and starting, then stopping again, the starting again through about a dozen or so stop signs.

On the way back, I decided to try and ride ahead to the restroom at the San Onofre State Beach. I told Kevin what I was doing and that I would hook up with the group at the SAG stop. Well, I misjudged the distance to the restroom because after a while of being out in front all alone and expending all of my energy, the group rolled up next to me. Oh well. Better luck next time. Luckily, a few others had to stop too.

We soon found ourselves back at Camp Pendleton and fighting a head wind. I don’t know how I wound up out front, but it was a struggle to keep up the pulling. It felt good though and I soon got into a good rhythm. Dee joined me at one point, as did Andrew. Once we got to Oceanside, it was pretty much cruise control the rest of the way. I drifted to the back and cruised home with Debbie. We were able to chat a little about her upcoming auction and I told her that I would post it on my blog when she has the information ready.

At the end of the ride I dug my chocolate milk (good tip Carl) out of Mike Jennings’ cooler and chugged it down. It went real good with Mike Henderson’s chocolate chip cookies and CAF-decorated cookies. Mmmmm. I had to take off pretty quick since my wife is consulting on a project and usually works weekends. I realize that I have not thanked my wife, Britt, on my Blog for being so supportive of my goal to raise awareness for CAF, QMDC, and challenged athletes everywhere.

I love you, Britt.