It was a Cold and Windy Day!

Ahhhh... hello friends! If you've actually clicked on whatever link led you here, we really appreciate your visiting! And, we appreciate your interest in our ALC training... Because, let me tell you: it's VERY EXCITING!

 So, what to say about yesterday's training ride? Let's begin at the start of the day.

First things first: it was COLD yesterday. Yes, that's me up there on the left, in about 12 layers of spandex (why my legs look so "thick.") On the right? That's Greg Sroda, the Director of AIDS Life Cycle giving our training group a little pep talk before we headed out. This was at like 8:15 am and it with wind chill factor was about 38 degrees. (But seriously, we love Greg and all he does!)

Anyhow, yesterday was all about hill climbing (it seems that is true every week, but yesterday was no exception). In this order, yesterday we climbed:

+Wildcat Canyon

+Grizzly Peak

+Skyline Blvd.

+Pinehurst Road

+Canyon Road

+Moraga Way

+Castro Ranch

+The Three Bears (Bear Creek Road)

All of that was 57 miles and several thousand feet of elevation. And there was an incredibly strong headwind for much of the ride. Clay even got blown OFF HER BIKE descending Castro Ranch Road! But she is okay. Whew.

Anyhow, back to the day. 

 

Here's Clay, posing for a photo at the top of Grizzly Peak (which, for those of you who don't know is in the Berkeley Hills. We say "Hills" lightly. This is a mountain).

The views that day really were stunning. Which, sort of, half way made up for the fact that it was so cold and windy. There was some steep climbing that day, but the worst thing was the wind. Even descending down a hill on a windy day can feel like climbing up hill. 

The ride was a "figure 8"...which means we started in Orinda, rode 30ish miles, stopped back in Orinda for lunch (at a Hofbrau, so you can imagine what was on the menu the day after Saint Patrick's Day), and then back out for a loop in the other direction for another 26.

Both Clay and I actually love hill climbing for some twisted reason, so we loved most everything about the ride yesterday. But it was exceptionally cold and windy (did I say that already?), so it was definitely a challenging day. 

What makes us smile on even the most treacherous days is the sight of cows or sheep or goats or even turkeys.  We saw plenty of all four yesterday, and I was so grateful that Clay had the sense to stop and snap some photos of the beauty around us.

We are known to shout to each other: "Wait, look at the COWS!!! They are so CUUUUUUTTTTE" ... as our fellow riders look at us like we are crazy. Oh well, at least we have each other! ❤

Thank you to all of you who have supported in various ways us as we train. We are especially indebted to our donors. I am nearly at my fundraising goal of $3000 and Clay is almost there!! Donate to Clay here to help her reach $3000!!

Again, thank you for visiting our blog. We ❤ you.

-Lisa (and Clay)

UPPPPS and DOWNNNNS

 

{We saw cows on our ride!!}

Today Lisa and I headed out to the East Bay again for another Sunday ALC training ride. This training ride group has some of the nicest people we've ever met; they always help out, make us laugh, and bring batches of cookies! We've been really into the training rides over there, despite the extra drive over the Bay Bridge. There are fewer cars and riders than on the Marin training rides, so we love it. The rides have been increasing by 10% each week, so this week the mileage was up to 53 (Lisa did 56 miles, but we'll get to that in a moment!)

The weather today wasn't the best. It was 50's and brisk most of the day, with a threat of rain that luckily never came. The winds were quite hellish for the last 75% of the ride. It was daylight savings time too, so our meet time was 7:45 am which was actually 6:45 am. All in all, not the best conditions for riding.

Right at the start, we headed out from Orinda and north via San Pablo Dam Road and Castro Valley Ranch towards the infamous "Pig Farm Hill," which I have tackled in the past, but this was Lisa's first time up this climb. I think I really built up this monster in her head to be much worse than it actually is. She flew right up it and said she thought it was pretty easy! I trailed slightly behind, but I actually felt fine about it, too. It's really, really steep, but it was early so our legs were fresh.

 

{Riders ascending Pig Farm Hill}

After climbing Pig Farm Hill, Lisa went ahead and ended up going a bit too far by 1.5 miles. She became lost and couldn't find the rest stop! Luckily we were able to text back and forth and she finally found us. We were way out in the middle of nowhere with poor cell phone reception.

The ride then moved on to the town of Martinez, which is a place I've had trouble before. Five years ago while training for ALC, I ended up lost and alone myself in downtown Martinez (near the train tracks). I rode up to a man to ask him directions and he looked at me up and down and shouted "Niiiice!" I made sure to stick with a group this time around, needless to say!

As we continued through questionable territory known as the Carquinez Scenic Loop (this is what I would call semi-urban; semi-country off road style cycling) we wondered when we would ever reach our lunch spot. My legs were killing me and I was starting to fade a bit.

Lisa and I ate a quick bite, chatting with fellow female riders over lunch. We didn't want to get too cold, so we moved on quickly, but the weather turned for the worse. The headwinds were brutal, and it was an unending climb out of Crockett and through Rodeo, Hercules, and finally, to Pinole. Lisa shared with me later that she was miserable through that part of the ride, and that she felt like quitting ALC and never coming back.

I was also hurting all over at this point, and was not feeling as strong as last week. And then the next thing you know....a flat tire. I shouted ahead for Lisa to stop and at the same moment found that my friends Mark and Mo were right behind me! They stopped and changed my flat tire! I am so grateful for this moment, because I think if I had to change my tire at that low point I would probably have broken down crying.

After this short rest, Lisa caught a second wind, and I wasn't feeling so bad myself. It took us about another hour to get back to our car. What a workout. Totally spent, we headed right home and then out to chow down on the yummiest Vietnamese vermicelli bowls we've ever tasted. Needless to say, we'll be back out riding next week, but this is not getting any easier!

We are each getting closer to our fundraising goals but we each have a long way to go. Our hope is to be at well over 2/3 of our goal by the end of this week. Will you help us? Donate to Clay here and donate to Lisa here.

90 days to go!

Hello friends!
Thank you for visiting our ALC fundraising and training blog.

As of today we have 90 days until the AIDS LifeCycle takes off from Fort Mason in San Francisco!

Yesterday we rode 52 miles, which is half a century ride. 100 miles (give or take a few) is the longest distance we'll ride on any given day on the 7-day ride from SF to LA. So, in a sense, we are "half way" done with our training.

Our training ride yesterday was spectacular.

The weather was gorgeous from start to finish (it even warmed up to over 70 degrees by the time we finished!). We started in Orinda, headed to Danville and then out to Bollinger Canyon Road in San Ramon. We turned around at the Las Trampas Open Space and rode back to Orinda via El Nido Ranch Road.

Bollinger Canyon is a treat. Clay saw an Ostrich and sometimes you can see a zebra (no such luck yesterday)!

 

Sometimes when we are out riding, even on such a beautiful day, we think "WHAT ARE WE DOING?" because climbing hills and riding such long distances can feel so painful. But it's all worth it when you are finished. Yesterday we enjoyed a beer and veggie burgers after our ride with friends Christopher and Stephen.

Clay and I are getting closer and closer to our fundraising goals. If you haven't donated, we'd love your help today! You can donate to Clay here and Lisa here. We appreciate every donation large or small!

Thank you again!

Help Us Get to $2000 each by March 15!!

Hello friends!

Thank you for visiting our training and fundraising blog! We both must reach 2/3 of our $3000 goal ($2000) by March 15th. PLEASE HELP US GET THERE!

Donate to Clay

Donate to Lisa

This weekend Lisa and I rode our first official AIDS/Lifecycle training ride together, and it was great. We joined about 50 other riders in the Marina District in San Francisco at the brisk hour of 8:30am on Saturday. We were as rested as we could be and ready to take to the roads of Marin County. As we kicked off the ride, we immediately hit the Golden Gate Bridge to lead us up a steep climb to the top of the Marin Headlands. For those of you who aren't from the Bay Area, the Marin Headlands are the hilly peninsula at the southernmost end of Marin County as it meets the Golden Gate Bridge (which leads to San Francisco). It's an absolutely gorgeous spot that looks down over the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline.

We both made it to the top and managed to smile for this photo, but I can't say this climb was an easy feat by any stretch! It's a pretty tough way to start your day!

After our rest at the top, we descended down and through the Headlands hills, down to Rodeo Beach, then out through Sausalito, and from there, we rode to Tiburon. Lisa says she's done this "Tiburon Loop" ride about 25 times in the past (but not anytime recently), but I had only done it once and had no idea where we were going. At one point we got a little lost. Luckily a really nice ALC rider named Brian helped us find our way. Thank you, Brian!

We briefly took a break, meeting some nice fellow riders over a "mini lunch," and quickly set off to finish this ride as quickly as possible.

The Golden Gate bridge is under construction so only one side of the bridge is open. Normally cyclists take one side and pedestrians the other. Currently pedestrians and cyclists share one side together, so crossing the bridge during the middle of of a weekend day was pretty crowded and stressful. Thankfully we made it, and both made it back to the car in around 4 hours. We rode 46 miles! That's our longest ride yet this training season. This ride was a reminder about how physically and emotioally challenging training can be. Today I am pretty sore and Lisa is suffering from a cough that started as she climbed the Headlands.

It's easy to feel like you just want to throw in the towel when you feel so exhausted. But we are resolved! We are going to just keep at it and we'll be increasing our mileage each week. We can do this!

We need your help! We're not training for ALC  just for the love of cycling. We're doing this to raise funds and awareness for the SF AIDS Foundation, to reduce new HIV infections, and reduce the stigma of the HIV virus. We are doing it in memory of our friends who've died of AIDS and in honor of our friends who live with HIV everyday. We're very commited to this cause and can't do it without you!

There are less than 100 days left until our bicycles depart San Francisco and head to Los Angeles. We ask you donate to us today. We both must reach 2/3 of our $3000 goal by March 15th. We dare you to donate $1 for every mile we rode this weekend. That'd be $46!

Donate to Clay
Donate to Lisa

Thank you, friends and family!

Wine Country Ride {and a BIG surprise!}

Yep, this past weekend Clay took me to the wine country. It was a surprise trip. Until the day we left, I had no idea where we were going. I only knew to bring my road bike, and that the weekend would include a training ride in a beautiful place!

We went to this really awesome B&B in Cloverdale and it was soooo pretty there. On Saturday morning we woke up and ate the yummy vegan breakfast that they made for us and headed out on our ride. We decided to do a loop from Cloverdale to Healdsburg and back around. About 37 miles.

It was truly a beautiful ride! On the way out we had tail winds and lovely blue sky.

After we turned around we (of course) caught a big head wind (duh), but the scenery was still pretty, so we powered through, including a Category 5 climb at mile 30 (OUCH).

When we arrived back at the car we had each burned a healthy 1475 calories and we were HUNGRY. Fortunately we brought some delicious lunch with us to the B&B and we ate every bite.

After lunch we decided a little cable TV on the fluffy bed was in order. After a couple hours Clay kept trying me to go out for a walk with her, and I kept declining. Little did I know she was trying to get me out of the room and out for a walk SO SHE COULD ASK ME TO MARRY HER!! I am such a dork.

Finally, I agreed to get up off the bed and turn the TV off, and before I had a chance to throw her plan off again, she got down on her knees, presented me with a stunning ring and proposed! I could not be more thrilled.

You can read more about what our engagement means to me on my personal blog.

We are still working hard to raise money for ALC. Please help us reach our fundraising goals if you are able! You can donate to Lisa's fundraising efforts HERE, and to Clay's HERE. We can't do it without you!

THANK YOU!!
xoxo
Lisa (and Clay)

And we're off!

Hello and welcome to our AIDS Life/Cycle 2012 training and fundraising blog!

From June 3-9, 2012, we're riding 545-miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles to benefit the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and make a difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. We'll be training from now until then to prepare. Lisa did the ride in 1999 and Clay did it in 2007. We are both avid cyclists and are really excited about embarking on this challenge together.

Today marked our first joint training ride. We loaded our bikes onto our new racks (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and drove out to Orinda. From there we rode to the town of Hercules and back to Orinda, which is about 30 miles. It's a ride we've done many times, so there were no surprises. Clay's been training since early January, but this was Lisa's first major training ride (she was traveling for most of January), so we decided to do something easy.

It was so cold when we first started out, but we managed to warm up as we approached Pinole and by the time we climbed back up Castro Valley Ranch Road we even took our jackets off (see photo above).

We're really excited to be training together (finally). We'll be posting weekly updates on our training progress and adventures.

We both continue to fund raise as part of our effort, and rely on your support to meet our respective $3000 goals. You can donate to Clay here and Lisa here. Thank you for your support.

112 days to go!

Clay and Lisa