Pictures and Peter's write up about the experience

You can find pictures of the 508 in the following links:

• My Picasa album: A collection of pictures from my camera and the 508 website
  
• Peter's pictures

A a very entertaining write up of the experience created by Peter's

• Peter's write up on the experience

Enjoy

At home

So we made it back home safely. This was a great adventure for me. I enjoyed every step of the way. Once at home by myself I felt a bit sad that it was over and started wondering what should i do next .....

Drive home

Proof that we are waiting

Waiting for Michelle

Jan, peter and I are seating here at the race finish waiting for Michelle to arrive.  There are a fair amount of people here all taking about their experience and such.

And we are done :)

Jessica finished the last leg. She looked awesome :) We are all very happy. The event went without any problem, we are safe and happy to be done. We also won our category and we were 3rd in the overall mix team... Go Cardinals !!!!!!

Stage 7: Kelso to Amboy Turn (Dario)

This was the shortest stage for me, only 33.2 miles with 2,280 ft of climbing. It basically consisted of gong up a hill (fairly moderate gradient) and then a long moderate descent.
Here are the stats of the stage:
- Distance: 33.2 miles
- Time: 1:48
- Total climbing: 2,280
- Avg speed: 18.75

I felt really good during this stage, maybe because it was the last one but I felt that I could continue riding for a while. TS6 was in the middle of nowhere right by some railroad truck, the good thing was that there were some bushes and trees (that help with the toilet situation) and some shade to park the truck. I as soon as we got there I got my road bike ready to go. When Jessica showed up I was ready, a quick pass of the baton and I was in my way. The uphill part felt easier than I thought, it was getting a bit hot but the temperature was still on the 70 I think. I keep pedaling and about 30 minutes into the ride the crew went by me, they asked how I was feeling, I gave them the thumbs up and I asked to meet me at the top. When I was getting to the top I saw the truck park at the distance but no people outside of the truck, they must be inside I thought enjoying some ac. I continued to get closer but nobody is around, they were park well outside of the road so I didn’t want to stop or ride over there. I started waving my arms and still nothing. Finally I was passing almost by the truck I saw Peter struggling out of the truck, I threw my bottles to him (I was out of water) and I told them that I need 2 bottles and kept going. The summit was about 5 flat miles and I was riding as hard as I could there. A few minutes later the truck is beside me giving me some bottles and I told them that I will meet them at the TS7. They speeded up ahead. The next 15 miles are quite desolated and given that we are at the end of the race the support vehicles that were frequently passing me and such are not longer there. At this point I am moving at 30 to 35 miles per hour and I keep thinking: God let this be the right route otherwise it was going to be a long way back. I started to get nervous; I kept looking around and trying to figure out where I am going. A few cars passed me but they are not part of the race. Then finally a support vehicle passed me and I got the must needed confirmation that I was in correct road. A few minutes later I can the intersection with National Trails Highway and the TS. Once again Jessica is ready to go. I gave her the baton and I am DONE, no more riding for me. I washed myself with a bottle of water, changed clothes and jumped into the car to start lead frogging Jessica. It was getting really hot and I started to get concern about Jess getting enough fluids and such so I suggested to the crew if we could stay close to her, we all agreed.
The plan for here onward was to stay close to Jess and wait for her in every turn, then I will jump in my bike and ride with her the last 500 yards of so. It is so nice to be done.

Stage 5: Shoshone to Baker (Dario)

We arrived at Shoshone TS4 at 4:00am. I have already changed in the car and I was almost ready to go as soon as we stop. I needed to change the lights from the route bike to the tt bike (the weapon of choice for this stage) and I would be ready to go. Stage 4 was a hard stage for Jessica and her stomach was giving her some troubles. TS4 was located in a gas station and while I am going behind the building to go to the bathroom, the crew put more gas on the Tahoe and got Jessica and her bike back in the truck. We are ready to go about 4:15 or so.
Stage 5 consists of 56 almost flat miles, I have a small climb from mile 6 to 13, then a long decent and about 30 miles of a really really gradual ascent. I got into the bike and here we go. I was a bit concern that my legs would not be there for me (since I have been cramping a bit in the car and I didn’t feel good at all at the end of stage 3). In any case I started fairly conservative to allow the legs to warm up. Then after 5 to 6 miles I started the climb to Ibex pass. I have been feeling a bit weird until this point, I was pedaling but I was still sleepy (I keep wondering how could I be sleepy if I am exercising) then one of the relay team passed me and stayed in front of me for a few minutes. This woke me up, suddenly I felt awake again and I went after the team that passed me. I passed him and kept going. Now I was in the grub, feeling good, legs ok and spirit high. Since the gradient was fairly mellow I stayed in my aerobars pretty much the whole way.
I got to the top and then I tried to descend as fast as I could, I got to the flat part and I almost didn’t feel the small gradient. I continue to pedal as the sunrise started to approach. Man that was beautiful, what a way to start the day.
Up to this time (7am) the crew has been driving the car behind one of us for exactly 13 hours, I think they were so happy when they could leap frog me again. BTW during the night and on Sunday the crew is allowed to pass drink to the rider from the passenger seat, which makes things so much easier.
The car moved ahead and left me with my bike and this gorgeous scenery. I keep pedaling and the miles continue to tick. I finally made it to Baker around 7am and Jess is waiting to get the baton. This TS (TS4) was setup across the street from the Mad Greek restaurant, not the fanciest establishment but it had a restroom, warm coffee and some really good toast. I was so happy to be there, I have been thinking of something warm during my morning ride, hoping that there may be a gas station or something. The mad Greek restaurant seemed very luxurious at that time :)
We got into the card and we speeded ahead to catch up with Jess. At this moment I was feeling really good, I only had one more stage to go (35 miles) and it is sunny and nice outside. The route between Baker and Kelso is a very deserted-rough-pavement route that climbs at a 2.4% gradient for about 22 miles and then goes down for about 12. We leap frogged Jessica very closely during this stage and it was nice see her doing so well.
I finished my toasts in the car and I changed into my cycling clothes, knowing that I only have about 2 hours to the next exchange (my last stage).

Here are the statistics of the ride:
- Distance: 56miles
- Time: 3:26 (including a pit stop for the crew)
- Total climbing: 2,186
- Avg speed: 16.38

Note: I was a bit disappointed with the time given the profile and the distance of the stage :(

Stage 3: Trona to Furnace Creek (Dario)

Stage 3 was an epic ride. I started riding around 4:26pm and I finished at 10:16pm. Here are the statistics:
- Distance: 99.11 miles
- Time: 5:52
- Total climbing: 7,538 ft
- Avg speed: 16.89

Jessica was flying on the prior stage so my term on the bike came a bit sooner than expected. I was still getting ready when she showed up at TS2 in Trona. The TS was in an empty lot in front of a gas station and some type of store. I decided to do this stage on my route bike since it was pretty hilly and the winds were suppose to be quite strong along the way. I got the baton and I took off while the crew stayed behind putting gas on the truck, getting Jessica’s bike in the rack and who knows what else. The initial part of the ride is the mountain section 4 where I climbed up to 1690 ft of elevation. I had a fair amount of tailwind so getting to the first summit felt pretty easy. Then I have a long decent with some fairly strong side winds (which made the descend a bit sketchy) but I felt good as the sun was setting on top of the mountains. At about 6pm I stopped toput the lights in my bike and then I continue but now with the crew and the truck right behind me. At first I felt quite a bit of pressure, thinking that I was slowing them down and I they would have to pass me but I got comfortable after a while. While riding on Panamint Valley road a guy passed with his sag vehicle right behind him, I decided to let him go and keep him at some distance but I promised to myself that I will have to pass him as soon as we start to climb Townes Pass. The scenery once again was astonishing, the there is such a strange beauty on these desolated places, they make you feel small and humble, I can see how this can be a spiritual place. In any case, after riding for about 50 flat miles with the wind in my back and made the right turn into 190 E/Furnace Creek and I started to go up Townes pass. This climb was about 10 with gradient varying between 6% to 13%. I am feeling good and I had to catch that guy that passed me in Panamint which fortunately didn’t take long because he was going backwards. The climb was long and windy and the weather was getting nastier and nastier but I was still feeling good and I was passing lots of people (including some solo riders). My cadence wasn’t very high (as noticed by the crew) but I was still moving and my 6 mph was faster than most of the people in that hill. With about 3 or 4 miles to go I caught up with Michelle, I said hello and I encouraged her. The funny part was that the crew needed to pee and at night car and rider cannot be separated (otherwise dq) so I stopped for them to go. After a short break I proceeded to pass Michelle again and a few more rider. Finally after an hour and some minutes I was at the top, pretty chili and drizzling quite hard. I stopped, got some drinks and vest and some newspaper and I proceeded to descend towards Stovepipe Wells. I bombed the descent probably reaching speed close to 60 mph, the crew was having a hard time following me behind and in a few occasion and I slowed down to let them catch me. Man I was feeling good. Unfortunately that didn’t last long enough and I still had about 29 miles to go. With about 20 miles to go I started to feel crappy, my some stomach was having issues (I think because I had been taking to many electrolytes) and I didn’t want to eat much, which will eventually cause some bonking. Fortunately the crew was there for me they gave some tumbs, some really refreshing and cold water and they encourage me to keep going (I was felling very disappointed and I little bit embarrassed too). Fortunately the rest of the ride was flat and I was able to limp my way into Furnace Creek (which could not come any sooner). I was so happy to see TS3 at about 10:16 pm. The TS was located in a closed gas station. I gave the baton to Jessica, went o the bathroom and I hurry my way into the truck so she could start riding. I run into Leslie in the middle of this place as she was crewing for Dan who was doing it solo, we chat for a few minutes but I needed to leave to avoid delaying Jessica.
I was so happy to be in the truck. I changed clothes and I tried to get some food and fluid into the system to start my recovery. It took me a while to star to feel normal again. I took a nap and after a couple of hours and I was eating some. From there on I would drink only water (no more electrolytes for me).

Dario

Stage 6 (Jess)

10 AM (Sunday)
Started off less than ideal. My stomach shut down after stage 4. Couldn't keep anything down while Dario rode stage 5. Luckily, my stomach started functioning again an hour into stage 6. Just in time cause I started seeing stars. Had 25 mile climb, dirt and gravel road, then a 10 mile descent. Stats:
- Mileage: 35 miles
- Average: 14.2mph
- Max: 32.6 mph

I think I'm getting more car sick induced stomach upset. At least the legs are still working for now. Saw multiple people standing on the side of the road puking. Thought I might join then at 1 point. Funny, I have a bag of meds in the car, but didn't take any except for 2 advil. But that helped.

Dario is now on his last leg! I have a final 58 miles once he's done.

-Jessica

Stage 4 (Jess)

4AM (Sunday)
Back in the car. Brutal stage! Head wind for the whole first half then a 12 mile climb at mile 48. Stats:
- Mileage: 74 miles
- Average 13.5mph
- Max: 36mph

Legs are shot now. Glutes and piriformis are pretty flaired up. Stomach is not so happy w me. But spirits are still up :-) Pretty cool to ride in the dark in the desert. Ok maybe after 4 hrs, I was ready to be done but still was fun. Gonna try and sleep or rest.

-Jessica

Stage 2 (Jess)

5PM, back in the car.
Great ride! Spectacular views. finished my 71mile leg. Expected to average 15mph. Final stat for stage 2:
- Distance: 71mph
- Average speed 22.7 mph
- Max speed: 50mph (a little scary)

Quite windy, mostly side winds. Gusting side winds + lots of sand = OUCH! Like pellets being shot on my side. Had 2 close calls where the wind pushed me into the side embankment. One time was thrown into the
bushes. But good thing I'm so heavy otherwise the wind would've just picked me up. The last 5 miles I had a killer headwind. Slightly downhill ride, full on headwind to the point I could barely breathe, pedaling as hard as I can go, heartrate climbing, and going a speedy 7mph for 2 miles. Feeling great otherwise.

Dario's back on the bike, looking good. Peter & Jan are ordering me to rest & relax. Maybe they want me to stop talking? Thank goodness for the support crew! I won't talk about the half hour they left me in the desert without water ;-) Other than that they are stars.

7:30PM
We just passed Michelle on Town Pass Climb. Dark and windy now but Dario's climbing really strong. Sunset was awesome! Listening to Maroon 5, entertained by Peter Davies stories. Makes the trip down here all worth it.

9PM
Still no phone connection. 17miles till we hit furnace creek and make our swap. I'm a little car sick, so will be good to get back out there. 70 degrees F out there. Some lightening that we're heading towards. Drizzled a bit earlier.

9:45PM
Passing Dario some Tums, he's having some stomach issues. Got Alka Seltzer ready for him. 7miles left for him. I drank a half a Coke, feel ready to bounce off the wall. Jan is still driving, going strong. I'm trying to feed them chicken I made before we left but they're making fun of it before even trying it. Trying to use the foam roller in the back seat, a little challenging.

-Jessica

Stage 2 - From the back on the car (Dario)

This place is so remote, the scenery is quite impressive (good that the bikes are still there :)

Dario

Stage 2 - Jan and Peter as we leap frog Jessica (Dario)

I am in the back of the truck, lying down in a camping mat that we set up for the resting rider to sleep. It is not that comfy but I need to do some arrangement to make it more comfortable. I am fixing the flat that I got at the end of stage 1 and also trying to take pictures and post some in the blog. So far everything is going well, the weather is great (maybe a bit windy but that is all), Jan and Peter seem to be enjoying their job, the scenery is really spectacular and Jessica is really moving out there.

Dario

Done with the 1 stage (Dario)

It was a decent ride. A bit cold but good. I went easy (at least I think I did). It took me about 4 hrs and 17 minutes to do the 83.6 miles which implies an average speed of 19.52 mph.

The only incident to report was a flat tired 200 yards from the hand off, so I rode a bit on my rim.

This first ride was quite interesting; I was at the start line about around 8:30am, there were people but not that many, everything seemed very informal without any check in procedure. I wait there for a while until I started to get cold and decide to ride around for a few minutes. As we got closer to the start time (9:00am) people started to gather in front of the hotel main entrance. Then a girl singed the US national anthem and at 9:00am on the dot we took off, escorted by the police. Despite the fact that we had 509 miles to go the pace was quite frisky, it remained me of the team Sheeper ride when Tim said that we should start slow and warm up but everyone start hammering right from the get go so given that I have been in more than a few of those rides I imagine I was well prepare for this type of the start.
After a few miles thru the city we made a left on San Francisquito Canyon Rd. and we were finally on our way. As we climbed in the canyon the weather got a bit nastier, colder and foggy (I was glad that I had my vest with me). However the gradient of the climb was fairly mellow so I stayed in my big chain rim all the way. I keep leap frogging a few team, especially the recumbent bikes teams that go up very slow but go super fast on the flat and descents. I was supposed to meet the crew at the first summit (25 miles into the race at 3,330 ft of elevation), since I was moving a bit faster than planned I was wondering if I was going to get here before 10:15am (the crew was planning to be there not before that time), it turned out that I ended up getting around 10:30 so everything workout perfectly. I changed my bike to my tt bike and I started descending and riding with a nice tail wing for the next 25 miles. The plan after that was to meet the crew at the bottom of Windmills climb and see if I would change my bike or not to do this second mountain section. Given the gradient of the first mountain section I decided to stay in my tt bike (to save sometime) and just get some water. I met the crew one more time at the top of the hill and from there they went to pick up Jessica and I descended into Cali City. This part of the ride was fast and with tail and cross winds. Most of the relay team were close to each other so I keep seeing support vehicles everywhere, which was great because I needed to take a few turns and I was glad that I didn’t have to check the turn sheet. Finally I made my left turn into 58N and I had 14 miles of time trialing until the exchange. As I am going thru Cali City and with just 200 yards to go I roll over some rocks getting a pinch flat tire. I decided to keep going and take extra caution while turning into Neuralia where the TS1 was.
As I rolled into TS1 Jessica is there waiting and asking for the baton. It took me a while to get it out from my pocket which generated some anxiety, hopefully I got it out on time and she was in her way.
It was windy in that corner; I washed myself, changed my clothes and got into the car to follow Jessica.
It took us a while to catch up with her; she was moving and moving fast.

Dario

Mile 83.6 (Peter)

Good hand off - Dario arrived with a flat

Mile 34 (Peter)

Bike swapped, weather improving, strong tail wind - looking good.

Morning update (Jessica)

I stayed in Mojave last night. Thought it would be a good idea to stay
at my own riding start to skip the 5 hr drive this morning. I think it
was the right decision though last night I wasn't so sure looking at
my sketchy motel. I asked the front desk guy if it was safe for me to
walk around by myself and he looked at me like I was crazy. I mean, I
needed to get dinner. He said "Oh madam, you should be back before
dark." hmm, not such an encouraging response. Regardless, it's kind of
a vacation. I actually watched TV for a couple of hrs and slept
through the entire night. 2 things I'm sure wouldn't have happened at
home.

I heard from the crew, sounds like they're waiting for Dario at the
first check point. I am figuring out how to avoid truckers when I go
get brunch. Feeling nice and calm so far, I mean, how hard can it be?
It's not like people train for months for this...ok, I am comfortably
under-trained so it will be an adventure.
-Jessica
Sent from my iPhone

Stage 1: Mile 24.4 (Peter)

At Johnson road with all other team support vehicles waiting for Dario
to arrive and grab a new (tri) bike and some warm clothes. It's windy,
occasional drizzle and 51F - like cold.

At the start 15 minutes before 9 (Dario)

This is how the start looks like at 8:25Am, It doesn't seem that much. I asked around and it turns out there isn't any check in at the start which I found quite amazing. They also told that I need a rear light since the canyon ahead is currently very foggy, I told that I my crew have left already and I had no lights with me (they let me go anyway :)

Dario

Ready to roll (Peter)

Dario is ready to go. Jessica staged out in Mojave and the crew is
going ice shopping. B'fast was a very long line (and not comp'd).

What have we forgotten?

Peter

Awake (Dario)

Well I didn't sleep that well. It seems that is going to be a nice day after all with good riding conditions (not hot at all, maybe a bit on the chili side)
The crew is up and running (literally). I am about to hit the shower
and then eat some breakfast. I also need to help Jan and Peter (collectively known as the crew) to load the truck and get in the road early so they can do the necessary shopping and catch up with me at mile 25.

Next post will be from the car after my 1 ride if I have cell phone reception.

Dario

More pictures of the route to here (Dario)

Here are some additional pictures of the way to here. We just finished our last coordination meeting.
The plan so far is to see the crew at the top of Johnson summit (26 miles into) for water and bike change. Then again at the bottom and the top of windmills climb. In the middle of all this they need to pick up Jessica in Mojave. They are going to be busy.
I am a bit nervous, mainly because I need to follow directions and I am not I am very good at. I just want to get in my bike and ride. Also because of the desolation of this place I need to rely heavenly on the crew and letting go of the control ain't easy.
So far things are going very well and I very happy and thankful that Jan and Peter are crewing for us. I owe them a great deal. I am also thankful that Jessica got me into this, it has been a great motivation to train and sharing this experience together has been a blast (thank you Jess)
Well. It is 11pm already. I better go to sleep

Dario

Eating dinner at dennys

Support vehicle 2

Endless pre-race mtg

.. really endless

Car inspection

We passed the car and bike inspection. They didn't think we had enough
reflectors on our bikes, they must know I'll be out there for a long
time. There was a whole lot of talk amongst the teams on strategy and
training. I kept getting asked what my training and strategy entailed?
Well my training goal was to see if I can do this race without
actually having trained on the bike, but I'm well trained with working
sleep deprived. In fact, I'm still practing the sleep deprivation. My
strategy is to make it to the next check point before my crew gets
tired of waiting and leaves me in the desert. I think that's a
reasonable goal. Good thing I have the 3G to get me back to Palo
Alto....

All checked in

We just finished checking in. It was a bit more involved that I expected and tey checked the car completely, including lights, break lights, turning signals, etc. It was a hectic than I expected.
Now I am here at the hotel, the crew went to drop Jessica at Mojave where she will be staying this night. In the mean time I will be preparing for tomorrow. It is warm here.

So far the only dissapointment has been my iphone that keeps acting up on me.

Well I start tomorrow at 9 so I may not be able to post anything else for a while.

Support vehicle at my house

Car ride

Now that the guys finally let me empty my bladder, we're back on the
road.
It's a sad sight to see 4 people all texting in the car. Yes, even the
driver. I feel a little behind the times w only 1 phone. Peter w his
iPhone& treo, Jan w his blackberry and T-mobile phone, Dario w the
iPhone and top secret google phone. We decided to just blog to each
other to communicate. We do have the occasional peter outbursts
outraged by Palin news updates.

Jan is fighting for Abba tunes, Dario is playing Diana Ross since he's
in shotgun. I'm blasting some AC/DC (courtesy of Greg) just to
counteract all the fluffy music. I guess they've found music that
actually puts me to sleep though! Glad to know those guys a sharing a
separate room ;-)
Sent from my iPhone

Still in hwy5

Well here we are driving.  Jan took the driver seat so I can do some blogging, he was a bit nervous with me doing it as I was driving ;)
Things so far are perfect, we are moving at decent speed, no traffic in the way out of the bay, we are all in good spirit. We'll see later
Here are pictures of jessica sleeping

Crew

There's our photographer, driver, aid station, navigator.... Maybe he
can bike for me too?

Getting gas in gilroy

Update - 9:51 AM

Driving - very exciting. Everybody is using their iphone to email and check news (including Dario, the driver). Hopefully we'll loose coverage soon.

Cheers

Jan / BBerry

El Capitan

The 508 (some info)

I posted the website of the event (www.the508.com) on my first post. However a friend on mine was asking me general info about the even so here is some:

• Distance : 508 miles
• Vertical feet of climbing: 36,226
  
• Start at: Santa Clarita on Saturday Oct 4 at 9:00am (for the relay team, solos stat at 7)
• Finish at: 29 Palms sometime before Monday at 7am. We hope to be done on Sunday evening.
• It is broken on 8 stages, i will ride stages 1, 3, 5, and 7 while Jessica is doing 2, 4, 6, and 8.
• Cities that we will pass by: Snata Clarita, California City, Trona, Furnace Creek (hence the name), Shoshone, Baker, Kelso, Amboy and 29 Palms.
  
• No stopping, no sleeping, just continuous riding :)

Well, check the website is you want more information. Our totem is the Cardinal (the bird), initially chosen because we both went to Stanford but later on we found out that Stanford cardinal is due to the color red not the bird.

Friends and I can't believe how many things I am bringing

I jut opened my gmail (I have been in meetings the whole morning, actually just one big long meeting) and it was so nice to see all the good luck and good wishes emails from our friends. It was great. It is a bless to have such a great group of friends. Thank you all very much. Let see if we can get together after the event.

On another not so nice note, I can't believe how many things I am bringing and I need to take care of. Yesterday, I spend the whole day (well except for the part that i spent in the office) running errands. I went to bed at midnight and I wasn't able to workout at all and that my friends is just plain weird.

This morning I squeezed a spin and a core workout and I am going to be at the office until 4:30pm, time at which I am going home to start packing the truck.

The weather forecast for Furnace Creek changed substantially since last week and now the temperatures are much lower than I have anticipated (i.e. I need to bring some warmer clothing now). Here is the hour by hour forecast for Furnace Creek (based on accuweather.com)

FURNACE CREEK, CA Hourly Weather

Saturday Afternoon, October 4

• 7am 56° F Cloudy
• 8am 57° F Cloudy
• 9am 59° F Cloudy
• 10am 61° F Cloudy
• 11am 63° F Cloudy
• Noon 64° F Cloudy
• 1pm 65° F Mostly Cloudy
• 2pm 65° F Mostly Cloudy
• 3pm 64° F Mostly Cloudy
• 4pm 64° F Partly Sunny
• 5pm 63° F Partly Sunny
• 6pm 62° F Partly Sunny
• 7pm 62° F Partly Cloudy
• 8pm 61° F Partly Cloudy
• 9pm 59° F Partly Cloudy
• 10pm 58° F Partly Cloudy
• 11pm 57° F Partly Cloudy

Sunday Afternoon, October 5

• 12am 56° F Partly Cloudy
• 1am 56° F Partly Cloudy
• 2am 56° F Partly Cloudy
• 3am 55° F Partly Cloudy
• 4am 54° F Partly Cloudy
• 5am 54° F Partly Cloudy
• 6am 53° F Partly Sunny

The cardinals

Last week of preparations

Since last Wednesday I have been really busy getting all the logistic stuff ready.

• Finish the sign that will go on the top of the roof of the Tahoe
• Buy food for the ride
• Buy additional lights and reflectors
• Read the rules and learn all stages of the race
• Borrow a nicer bike rack for the truck
• Get an oil change for the Tahoe (and buy a new battery along the way)
• I also got a car wash (so everyone is happy in the way over)
• Bring both bikes to the shop so they are ready (I also needed to fix the front wheel of my Scott due to an almost crash last Saturday)
• Put new computer in my Scott and new lights
  
• Put the reflectors in my shoes and helmet
  
• etc, etc, etc
  

We met with the team on Monday night and we finalized the schedule and last minute purchases. I still need to build our baton and go to the super to buy any additional food. In terms of the schedule, we are planning to pack the truck on Thursday night (tomorrow) startign at 5:30pm (my house) and leave on Friday at 7:30am.

In terms of the training since last Wednesday, I have been tapering a bit.:

• Wednesday pm: 30 min sping + upper body
  
• Thursday am: I felt sick so I didn't do anything.
• Thursday pm: Swim (master)
• Friday am: 1 hour spin + core
• Saturday am: I did the grinder ride to Mt Madonna in the south bay (about 82 miles), it was hot and we get a bit harder than my usual rides. I also crash ion my way back and I was so thankful that the only damage was a untrue front wheel.
• Sunday am: west alpine loop in my tt bike (the Scott was in the shop)
• Monday am: 1 hour spin + core
• Monday pm: 1 hour massage and team meeting
• Tuesday am: 1 1/2 hour ride
• Tuesday pm: swim (master)
• Wednesday am: nothing , i have been running errands the whole morning.
  

Here are a few pictures of our (Mike, Jan and I) ride last Sunday

Well that is all for now. I will be packing my clothes today and preparing the truck for tomorrow.

Another Wednesday Ride (West Alpine)

We (mike, jan and i) did our usual west alpine loop today (Up old and up West) not a bad ride.  It was chili early in the morning but like yesterday it warmed up really quick.

It was a beautiful day, I went fairly conservative and I felt really good the whole way.  Mike took off on west and he put a decent gap between him, me and Jan. Overall another great day. 

It is getting fairly dark in the morning so I imagine we won't be able to do this ride much longer.

In terms of the 508, I don't have any updates except that we will meet next Monday to see if we are ready to go or we are missing some things (that will give a few days to do some last minute purchases).

Note:  I was wearing the company colors today :)

Another beautiful morning in CA. It was a bit chili in the morning but it was nice and warm around 8am. I did a flat ride (~40 miles) in my tt bike training to stay uncomfortable most of the way (i.e. working). it was a good ride, i felt pretty well and the legs while tired responded fairly well. I really enjoyed starting my days with a bike ride. I am planning to swim in the evening and then go home and keep working on my signs.

I rolled into work around 10am (which is not too bad). Tomorrow we'll do west alpine as usual.

Everyone in the team is gearing up for the trip. So far the plan is to meet at my house on Thursday night, pack the truck and leave early on Friday morning.

Well that is all for now

Training for the 508 (random pictures)

1. West Old La Honda (Wednesday morning ride)
2. Mike on West Old
3. Me on West Old
4. Jess during the Epic (2 weekends ago) playing with her new Iphone
5. More of the same
6. Posing now
   

Monday 9/22/08

Well today is sort of a rest day:

• 1 hour spin + weigths (core)
• 1 hour massage :)

Nothing special to report. I am tired but not too bad, my IT band is a bit tied but other than that I am doing fine.
On the logistic side, I am working on creating a sign to put on the roof of the truck. It turned out to be a bit more involved that I anticipated but it is coming along, i think it will look nice.
Jessica was talking about getting t-shirts for the team but I am not sure that any of us have time to do that.
After witnessing the big debacle of the financial markets and the end of the investment banking era (Goldman and Morgan Stanley are now commercial banks), I am glad to have a job that allows me to be in my bike and do the things that I enjoy the most. Go Google!!!

Today, was the last of the very long weekend. Overall was a great weekend: good riding, great weather, even better company. I felt fairly strong, maybe all that training is paying off :)

In the first picture you see Me, Eric and Lennard in our stop in Santa Cruz (good bakery), on the next one I am taking the picture and Jessica is on the right

Since my last posting on Wednesday, I didn't do much riding until the weekend. Here is the week in a nutshell:

• Thursday AM: 30 minutes spin, lift weights (legs)
• Thursday PM: Swim (masters)
• Friday AM: 1 hour spin, lift weights (core)
• Friday PM: 1 hour spin
• Saturday AM: Swim (masters), 6 hour ride (pescadero and half moon bay). I started with the team and then Mike went with me to Pescadero (he came back tunitas via lobitos creek). My legs felt great but I was a bit tired and I got sleepy during the ride, who knows why.
  
• Sunday AM: 7 hours ride (113 miles), similar route to the sequoia century but we climber old instead. Jessica, Eric and I rode the whole way. Mike started with us and didd west Alpine and Lennard went down all the way to Santa Cruz. Everyone felt really good. We were so happy during and after the ride. I think we are getting there. I rode my tt bike and despite the substantial amount of climbing I felt pretty good and on the flats the bike just wanted to go fast. We enjoyed a nice tail way all the way to Santa Cruz.
  

Next week will be a bit easier and the next one even easier.
I have been dealing with last logistic details, sucha as extra ligths, signs, get the truck check out ($1,200 ouch) and suchs.

My first posting

Well, I decided to create a blog to track to progress and record the experience of my first Furnace Creek 508 (www.the 508.com). This is by far the most logistically involved event that I have ever participated on, even in Ironman things are pretty much layout for you. Here I need to have my own crew and my own support vehicle.

I didn't start this on my own. Jessica (my teammate) was the one with the idea. I just followed along. Now however I am pretty invested on the event and I am looking forward to the challenges of the experience. The magnitude of the event has motivated quite a bit and my biking shape is finally coming around.

Training:

• A 3.5 hour ride (old la honda and West Alpine) in the morning. This is such a beautiful ride. We usually meet at Starbucks in Alameda (although this time was just Mike and I) and we go from there. The weather has been definitely changing and it was a bit chili this morning (fall is in the air).
• I am planning to go a 30 minutes spin and upper body this evening (probably around 8:30pm)