Protein On The Go! Yet Another Recipe for "Hundred Ways Chicken"

We promised you more recipes for use with your Hundred Ways Chicken so here we go...

We are on the road a lot and fast food is expensive, the quality is hard to control -or just a scary unknown- and easy to get tired of. When I am done with a race and I am driving back home I like to have my own recovery meal packed instead of stopping somewhere. It's also nice to be able to have a grown-up bag lunch for work after I do a lunch ride.

 

 

When we bake our big batch of chicken we usually bake several boneless skinless breasts with a few bone-in skin-on thighs. The thighs go to our toddler who loves thigh meat and we shred the chicken breast for ourselves. When the chicken breast has cooled enough but is still warm is the best time to shred it. I like to place several breasts in a gallon freezer ziploc bag and seal it closed with a bit of air and then shred the breast through the bag. It's a lot less messy that way. We will often get out several sandwhich sized ziploc bags and pre-weigh 4 ounce portions of chicken breast into "on-the-go" baggies. One of these bags will make a perfect size GT Chicken Melt (400 calories) or you can use it in a sandwhich or a wrap. Here is one of my favorites:

Packable BBQ Chicken Wrap
One 4 ounce bag of shredded chicken breast (130 calories)
2 tablespoons of your favorite BBQ Sauce (I like Bullseye for this. 50 calories)
One tortilla (White flour is what we use for the kids, I like wheat. 120 calories)
Add a desired "extra" (For ease of packing I like to use a slice of Kraft American cheese (at 60 calories) but I will often use fresh avocado when I am eating this at home.) 
Nutrient totals for this version of the recipe...
Total Calories: 360
Protein: 34g
Fiber: 4g
Carbs: 32g
Sugar: 13g
Fat: 9g
Sodium: 847mg

That morning pour two tablespoons of bbq sauce into your baggie of chicken and work it through. Slide a packaged slice of cheese and a tortilla into a gallon ziploc and you are ready to travel. When you are ready to eat just dump everything into the tortilla and enjoy. Pretty darned easy and I love the taste. Depending on what I put in the wrap I can know exactly how many calories I am taking in.

The Peanut Blogger: Natural Jif Creamy Episode

Making a PB&J with experiment brand #1 and Smuckers Apple Jelly.

Peanut Butter (PB for short) – It goes with just about anything.  At least it does if you are a peanut butter junkie like I am.  I don’t do the crazy stuff like I used to do when I was younger – PB on popcorn, potato chips, Doritos, cereals, burgers, etc. – but I still have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich almost daily.  I know (and know of) a lot of athletes who regard PB as one of the “Super Foods” because it is filled with protein, vitamins, and healthy fats. It is a quick and easy way to plug NUTrition into the diet.

While many people claim that the amount of hydrogenated oils in peanut butter are too insignificant to cause issues (less than 1%) I figure that with the amount of peanut butter I take in, I should start looking at peanut butters that don’t contain hydrogenated oils.  So I introduce to you my new blog mini-series: The Peanut Blogger. I will share with you my adventures in testing out new –and hopefully healthier- peanut butters.  Usual Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist; I am just stating my opinions on different products as I go.

My favorite peanut butter is Jif.  So I thought a good place to start is the Natural Jif Creamy peanut butter.  As an added bonus the label claims that there is “No Need to Stir” like most natural peanut butters.  Awesome, I can have my peanut butter cake and eat it too. (I hate stirring back in the separated oils every time I open a new jar as well have having to refrigerate it. Spreading cold peanut butter is a pain.) Seeing as I am such a Jif fan, I thought it was going to be awesome but I got a rude surprise when I first tasted it. 

I had to double-check to make sure I was eating peanut butter and not some weird Nutella hybrid.  The peanut butter has a sweet taste but very little peanut flavor. While it did remind me of Nutella, it wasn’t nearly as sweet as that.  As I scanned over the ingredients I see that sugar and molasses is used.  There aren’t any more grams of sugar in this jar versus the standard Jif, so that doesn’t explain why it tasted sweeter. Did I mention that it was weird?

The other thing that throws me off is the consistency.  I know I got creamy but this seems unnaturally so.  I am not sure what kind of processing they went through to get it so smooth, but it has me worried.  Perhaps this is a result of the molasses. Creepy, unnatural, wrong; it says it’s peanut butter on the jar but this just ain’t PB.

As much as I love the regular Jif, I would not buy this product again.  There must be better alternatives out there.  As soon as I finish this jar (I am not one to waste “food” and as I am sure you know well by now, we are on a budget.) Next, I have a two pack of Kirkland Signature Organic peanut butter lined up.  I hope I like the first jar, if not it is going to be hard to work through two of them…

Bariani Road Race Report

Tonight, we are just getting right to the meat on the bone and I am posting this in "Race Report Format".

The pace of the first lap started out brisk and I didn’t feel ready to race yet.  I think my legs were slow to wake up because I did the Land Park Crit the day before.  On the first few inclines I lost ground to the lead riders but I wasn’t fretting too much.  Rod had excellent position in the top 3-5 riders and Rob wasn’t too far behind.  Patrick was also in the area as well, occasionally shifting from the back to the front. 

As we got to the second lap I started to feel ready to race and started to be more active in moving towards the front and staying close to my teammates.  A couple of attacks went and I thought that they were all reeled back in until some guys started talking about how one guy is up ahead on his own.  I wasn’t sure if they were serious or if that was a ruse.  I thought everyone was caught and I conferred with Rod who was also up front.  Rod agreed with my assessment.  It turns out that we had confused stragglers from the two launches before us (there were a LOT of them in this race) with the guy that was out on an attack. 

We were debating whether to chase or not when Rob makes the key decision to chase him down.  At this point Body Concepts took over the pace of the peloton and started the chase.  Unlike Snelling, other riders came up to continue to drive the pace.  However, while Rob and I thought it was a good idea at the time, we realized that we made a tactical error.  We started the chase right before the base of the KOM.  As other riders came up to take over, we were over-extended as the climb started.  Rod stuck it out and managed to be the first one up and I wasn’t far behind.  However more riders came up to continue the drive and Rod started to fall back.  I came up to close the gap and told Rod to grab my wheel as I went by. 

At this point, the pace was furious.  I was doing everything I could to hang on to the wheel in front of me.  I was towards the back of the massive pace line that had formed so I was constantly in on/off mode trying to stay on in the back.  I couldn’t take time to look to see if teammates were behind me or not until we were approaching the last KOM.  At this point I was scanning the jerseys around me.  Several Victory Velo guys were there, 2 Folsom Bike, 2 Rio Strada, 3 Pen Velo, and I thought there were 2 Golden Wheelman.  (Looking at the results, there was really only one. Maybe there was another jersey that was similar.)  With that many riders with teammates, I thought I was going to be in trouble.  Going up the last KOM turned out to be pretty tame as everyone knew that the finish line was coming up shortly after the KOM and no one wanted to burn themselves out. After the climb, some riders shot out.  There were at least two, maybe three gaps in front of me (hard to tell exactly because we were catching the tail end of the cat that launched before us plus I had to focus a lot on the road because between puddles and pot holes, that final stretch was a mine field).  I was debating if I should stay in the group and conserve energy until the finish or if I should start bridging the gaps in case they don’t get closed.  I decided I didn’t want to finish the race with anything left in the tank so I started bridging the gaps.  It worked pretty well as I was able to separate out from the group and got an 8th place finish.  I was in the running for top 5 but ran out of gas.  John Metzger, from Folsom Bike, edged by me right before the finish line.  Interestingly, even though there were plenty of teams with numbers, it didn’t appear that they were working together at the finish. 

In thinking about this the next day, there is one thing I could have done a little bit better when I was bridging the gaps.  The last gap was one guy from Taleo Racing.  As I caught his wheel I saw the finish line coming up and went around him even though I was exhausted.  I should have stayed back there a few more seconds to get a brief recharge before the final sprint.  Even though I passed him, I ran out of gas and he passed me to finish 6th. 

So there it is folks. To sum it up, I had two thoughts that I took away from this race: 1. I felt that it was better to be aggressive and put myself in a position to win than to be conservative and hope that I would be in a position to win. 2. Even if you aren't feeling good at the start of the race, hang in there. I felt like crap at the beginning of the race but after the first ten miles I felt stronger and stronger. I felt pumped after this race.  Even though I did finish higher in another race, this is the first race where I felt like I was in a position to win and put it all out on the line to make it happen. It's a great feeling and reconfirms that I am doing the right thing by following my life's dream to race.

Land Park Crit Strikes Back

A river runs through it... our race that is. Water poured from the skies and ran as rivers in the gutters.

There is no pretty way to say it, our weather has been sucking. Training has been a tortuous choice of indoor rim-trainer hell or risking flooding, hail, and wind gusts that have even gone so extreme as to spawn mini tornadoes. We had looked forward to this Land Park Criterium being another fun family outing and instead found ourselves agonizing the night before if the family should even go. The morning started out with rain but as we started packing up it all seemed to lull and we decided to pack everyone up and hit the road.

Todd toughing it out.

We arrived that morning at about 6:40 and we soon located my only fellow team member joining me for the race. Todd was alone and with an injured leg he had been unable to train the week leading up to the race. The crit would be his return to the bike. I have to say that I admire his grit and determination. Many folks bailed on the crit for the weather forecast alone but here he was braving all kinds of nastiness with an uncooperative knee and only one other teammate to race with.

Returning to Land Park was full of memories of my first ever road race just a few months back. Back then, I hadn’t known what to expect. The course was cold and wet with some nasty turns and my wife described my look as a deer caught in headlights. I didn’t feel like I could handle the turns well.  Every one of them felt too fast.  Coming out of the turns everyone else was in a full sprint and I wasn’t able to keep up.  I wasn’t sure where I should be and when I should be there.  I would start working my way up the pack only to pull back in too soon.  I also had no idea where the lap counter was and I didn’t reset my computer so I didn’t know how much time had elapsed.  I didn’t know when the race was going to end until it was over. Essentially, I was clueless.

I felt more confident this time out but my focus quickly dissolved as within 15 minutes of our arrival the winds kicked up with a vengeance. My wife and oldest daughter had practiced setting up our canopy the night before but even that could not help us when the wind kept ripping the walls out of our hands. We had hoped to have had a windbreak set-up for me to warm up in but we had to abandon walls and rim trainer as the weather began to batter us. We left our 18 year old in charge of the two younger kids in the warmth of our vehicle while we fought to get the shelter up. We were finally successful with the help of Todd and a strong little sapling that we anchored to but time was running out. I ended up having to leave my wife alone to set up camp while Todd and I warmed up on the course.

As we gathered at the starting line the wind battered at us, driving the needles of rain into our faces. My wife got the kids back from the car and under the shelter, arriving just in time to see the start of the race. At the start the pack took off at a pretty good pace but nothing I couldn’t handle. I was expecting things to slow down a bit in the second lap when I noticed two Rio Strada riders working their way to the front of the group.  I wasn’t sure if they had a plan for an attack or not so I moved my way to the front of the pack so that I could keep an eye on them.  Just as I got within range a San Jose Bicycle Club rider takes off on a sprint on the left side of the course.  At first no one flinches but then a train of riders shoots off the left side as well.  At this point, the race is on.  The pace did the opposite of what I thought it would do and it picked up significantly. 

I was nervous about the turns before the race but being able to ride several practice laps got me used to them. Between my experience gained from the last time I raced here and the warm-up laps I felt able take the turns without being concerned about whether or not I was going too fast.  If anything, I wanted to go faster but couldn’t due to traffic.  Considering that the course was even wetter today with more slippery grime on the road, I take that as a major improvement, if nothing else at least in my confidence level.

I will admit that I was initially having trouble with sprinting out of the turns.  Before the race I had decided that at those times I needed to jump out of the saddle to make sure I stayed on the wheel in front of me.  During the race I struggled for a while when I realized I didn’t follow my own pre-race instructions.  Next time around I hopped out of the saddle and had no problems keeping up with the group.  From then on out I was active in getting out of the saddle coming around the turns and it showed a marked improvement in my performance.

This time around I also knew exactly where I wanted to be; towards the back of the main pack unless there was a break forming.  With the wind gusting I didn’t want anything to do with the front of the pack.  I thought that I would stand a much better chance if I hid at the back of the pack for most of the race.  There is a risk that the person in front of you can fall off the peloton and you could have a gap, but I was on high-guard for this and instantly went around anyone that started to lag.  With two laps to go, I started to make my move and work my way up the peloton.   With one lap to go I found myself sliding back in the pack a little, but no big deal.  I got right back in front and was in perfect position coming around the final turn. That was until what I like to call “The Curse of the Squirrels” struck.

(Excerpt from the GroveTribe Sporting Dictionary)
Curse of the Squirrels – n. The misfortune that befalls Category 5 riders when riding with other inexperienced, nervous, jittery, panicky, unable-to-hold-the-line racers who in fact resemble the behavior of neurotic frightened squirrels. The only known counter to the curse is to get in Cat 4 as soon as possible. (end)

I was on the outside of the final turn with a rider next to me on the inside.  Someone further inside took a REALLY bad line on the turn and shot out wide towards the rider next to me.  The rider next to me went wide towards me.  Initially I wasn’t too concerned because the road was plenty wide.  However, the rider next to me continued to drift wide while looking (and I believe saying something) to the rider that almost ran into him.  He continued to go wide until I was about to be knocked off into the gutter.  At that point he finally got his head back into the race and straightened out his course but not before my bike and I had to struggle to escape our crash-course with the gutter.

I am not a happy camper.

I started to go for the sprint.  The only problem is that I was in my “sprint gear” just before that near-collision took place.  Dodging “squirrels” had killed my momentum and I found myself in too hard of a gear to sprint from.  I still gave it a go but as the riders in front of me pulled away and I started to get passed by a few others and I could see that top 5 spot that I had felt was within my grasp just slip away. At that point frustration got the better of me and instead of trying for a top ten I could only see that my race for top spot was over and I gave up. I was livid and as I crossed the finish line I took my glasses off and was about to throw them down to the pavement when common-sense took over – after all, cycling glasses aren’t cheap!- and I decided to save that frustrated energy  for tomorrow’s Sacramento Golden Wheelman sponsored race, the Bariani Road race.

Other brave and supportive families come out to cheer for their racers.

My wife met me at the finish line after my cool down lap (which had a double meaning this time around) and she looked soaked to the bone. She was splattered with mud, her pants drenched from the knees down and her shoes unrecognizable balls of mud. Her hat had blown off and her hair was plastered to her wind-reddened face. When we got to our shelter I saw that our kids were gone, after a few minutes in the miserable weather she had sent them all back to the warmth of the car, and in their place we had a small adopted tribe of racers’ families under our canopy. My wife had offered our shelter and our seats to the moms and their rain-drenched children at least until we had to leave. She began to break down camp while I got changed and Todd and I checked the race results. My emotions got the better of me and I placed 17^th while Todd did a respectable 21^st out of a field of 30 even with his injury.

Jax and Morgan cheering for me.

When we got home we didn’t even bother to unpack the car we just headed straight for the showers. The kids weren’t too bad from the experience, I was told that my toddler was cheering me on with his cute little wolf-howl he does now, but my wife took it hard and had to rest the remainder of the day. Running around, unprotected taking pictures in the nightmare weather is not the best thing for someone dealing with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome yet there she was for me; setting up camp, taking pictures, shouting encouragement to Todd and I knowing that she would pay the price after wards. As we were leaving Todd was helping us pack up and we talked a bit. He complimented my family for being “hard-core” supporters which made me thankful for having such a dedicated wife.

Here we now sit at 9:30 at night, blogging and prepping for tomorrow’s race. I pray that the weather is better and the notorious winds of Zamora are a lot less punishing than what we endured today. My legs are tired and I can only hope that I am of some use to my team tomorrow. The wife and kids?  Their assignment for tomorrow is to stay home, cuddle into some warm blankets on the couch and watch Bollywood movies.

The Decision to Sell Angus

On the eve of a weekend that is full of races for me, my wife and I sit trying to make tough financial decisions. Have you ever noticed that in all the romantic comedies there always seems to be some factor of almost unlimited wealth? It makes it easier to come up with interesting solutions to challenges. Well, our lives are certainly comedic and I would say that my wife and I have romantic in spades but we seem to be missing that “unlimited wealth” factor that should be helping our story along. And so here we sit trying to figure out how to afford even more needed equipment (does it ever end?) and our conversation turns to Angus (the Big Blue Bike).

Angus has been in my life for years, he was built by my father for me and we have had so many of our cycling adventures together. We have ridden together in Annadel, Whiting Ranch, the trails outside of Palo Alto, Auburn, Granite Bay. Angus was my first official race bike (I rode him in the TBF series last spring). My wife even wrote a holiday story about him. Heck, she even named him (I never named my bikes before I met her.) In the naming, he became a person, a part of our family, with his quirks and components endearing if sometimes frustrating. Yet, we needed funds to support my racing and with all of the mechanical problems he had been having, he had been “out to pasture” for almost a year taking up room in our recently downsized garage area. He would need to be sold.

Saying goodbye to Angus was initially difficult, and then we thought of what we could do with the funds from his sale. I decided that I would sell him at Sea Otter where we could expose him to the largest amount of target buyers who would know just how special Angus is. We hoped that he would go to a good home with an experienced mountain-biker who would know how to treat Angus the way he deserved to be treated.  We had made our peace with the decision and had moved on.

Or so I had thought. My wife -the keeper of the family budget and so usually the one to push us to sell off old stuff if we want to buy new- came to me not long after we had made our decision with her brow furrowed up in sadness, “We aren’t selling Angus.” She stated. A hundred thoughts crossed my mind, I think I may have even uttered a few of them: he is a money pit, he is not the racing bike I need, he is taking up space, we don’t have the money to get him back in shape, etc. But I knew what I wanted; I wanted to keep Angus too, even if it wasn’t the most financially viable decision.

My wife continued her explanation, “We spend way too much money on taking the bikes in to be worked on and even then we don’t always get them back in working order like they should be. We both want to learn to fix bikes but we don’t want to work on a bike that you need for racing in case we screw something up. We need Angus to learn with so that we can work on bikes ourselves." How could I argue with logic like that?

And so Angus was not to be sold, just his purpose in our family changed. He has gone from downhill demon and racing buddy to venerable and revered teacher. He will teach us to clean, to fix, to upgrade, to alter, he will teach us how to love and care for our bikes as we should. Welcome back, Angus. We love you.

Gear for Rabid Cyclists

When someone asked me if my husband was an “avid cyclist” it only took me a moment to respond with, “No… He’s a RABID cyclist!” I don’t know about you but we are the kind of people that if we see something bicycle related we go a little goofy. Nothing excites us more than finding a onesy for our toddler that has bicycles on it. (Thank you again Grandma May!) So when we had all these ideas for cool designs that no one was making… well, -we are a proactive Tribe- if we can’t find the gear we want to buy, we’ll make it! And so we gave birth to yet another child: Gear for the Rabid Cyclist.

I (Dawn) sat down in front of the computer with sketchbook in hand and got to work. (You may remember a while back when I blogged about my creative process.)  The other day my husband asked me to do a cyclocross design (a future endeavor he hopes to tackle) so I had him sit down with me at the computer and together we did a few new designs that I wanted to share.

So here is a brief introduction to a some of our latest designs…

Click here to see more gear with this design

“Cyclocross: Get Carried Away.”
Those familiar with this up-and-coming sport know that cyclocross is a mix of road racing, obstacle course running and a hell of a lot of carrying of bicycles. A few weeks back at one of the Sierra Nevada High School Race Series events we met a gorgeous woman in a MadCat shirt and we ended up talking. She talked about her family’s participation in cyclocross and “if you think these races (the high school mountain bike racing) are fun for the family you HAVE to go to a cyclocross race!” Her enthusiasm was infectious and ever since then we have had a blossoming interest in learning more about cyclocross. In fact she was so “carried away” with her praise of the sport that she inspired this design.

Click to see more gear with this design

“Blood or Mud?”
This one was pretty easy. It was inspired by my husband when he came home from riding one day and he had something red on his shin. From first glance we weren’t sure if it was blood or mud. I am always the one ready to pounce on any scrape with a cotton ball and peroxide but he shrugged off my question, unconcerned with an injury as long as it didn’t interfere with his riding. Rabid cyclist indeed.

Click to see more gear with this design

“Cyclocross: Ride Hard. Run Fast.”
This one we just completed. My husband envisioned the design of the chainring being used to make the “C” and the crank arms to make the cross or “X”. The motto, “Ride Hard. Run Fast.” Actually came about because the design was off-balance and I needed text to balance out the large “Cyclocross” on top. We ended up liking the motto so much that we added it as the motto for our website.

Click to see more gear with this design

“Find Your Balance”
Another design inspired by my husband and his cycling philosophy. Riding is not just a physical exercise to my husband; it is his therapy. When he rides, he finds peace and... balance. We have since met many others who say the same: that cycling centers and balances their lives, their emotions and how they see the world. Where else can your therapy give you great legs? (I also like to think of the design as encouragement to young kids just learning how to ride.)

Click see more gear with this design

The GroveTribe Logo
Ever since marrying my husband and taking his last name I have been obsessed with “Tree of Life” designs. I wanted to incorporate the tree into our cycling logo. One of my top criteria was “If we ever got a tattoo of our logo, it has to look cool.”  Yeah, I know… but it helped me decide that I wanted the tree to be “tribal”, I like the look of tribal tattoos and it fit with our nickname of “GroveTribe”. Next was incorporating the cycling part of it. The chainring is the “root” of power for a pedal stroke so I thought it should be part of the logo as the roots of the tree. Both of our families also have “roots” in cycling.

Well, now you know how a few of our designs were born. If you like any of the designs and want to help a stay-at-home mom bring in some much needed income while showing the world that you are a rabid cyclist, please visit our shop and get geared up!

Getting Pumped Up: Body Concepts Skills Clinic

Sharon and Dave (aka "Gracie and George") get pumped up at the skills clinic.

So it finally happened. After months of waiting and a failed initial attempt: the Tool Goddess (in training) learned to change a tire. (And found out she is pretty darned spiffy at it too.)  Of course she had to be a smarty-pants and use all the nuggets of tire-changing gold imparted at the Cycle Folsom tire clinic so long ago to make it look as if she had a clue. To give her the benefit of the doubt, she does have some fix-it skills after being her own handy-woman for decades – yes, she insists, you can use toothpaste to patch tiny holes in walls but not tires.

TGIT finally changes a tire!
(Thanks to Karen for taking this shot!)

Although learning to change a tire was her greatest joy and accomplishment that day there was a lot more great stuff she gleaned from the Body Concepts Skills Clinic for Cyclists held on March 12, 2011. This was the first clinic in a series –don’t worry, they tend to be stand-alone so you can pick and choose which clinics appeal to you, the Tool Goddess (in training) obviously needs them all- and it covered the “basics”. Yet again, it was apparent that Rob “The Wizard” Kopitzke has a gift for imparting a ton of information in a short time without you even feeling the needle go in.

While awaiting the beginning of the clinic the Tool Goddess (in training) (TGIT) was gratified to have someone recognize her from her blogging adventures and found a fast friend (and a partner in crime) in a witty lady named Karen. They were joined by a young at heart couple -obviously newlyweds from their witty repartee- and Body Concepts’ own Linda Bailey (who insisted that her cycling basics needed some work as well). Like a Shakespearean play, the stage was set with its players and there was much ado about cycling for the next four hours.

Actual TGIT notes from the clinic! Will go on auction soon.

Rob began with explaining the different types of bicycles and their anatomy. The TGIT eagerly scribbled notes and sketched, because until that moment the only skewers she was aware of were made of bamboo and belong inside of grilled food until it was time to eat. Better yet was figuring out chain rings and cogs with the helpful reminder that the chain ring on the left hand made the biggest change in gears because, as many of us know so well, getting that ring on the left hand (marriage) is the “biggest change of all”.



Rob (and what looks like the floor on
my husband's side of the bedroom)

Riding gear was also covered in detail, from how to choose and fit a helmet to proper layering technique (mom would be so proud) to those fantastic clippy shoes that reminds the TGIT  of her childhood obsession with tap shoes even though she never took a lesson in her life.  But nothing gathered TGIT’s magpie-like interest as much as the tools portion. (Dear Santa, please, please, please send me that nifty tool pouch full of goodies from Park Tools. Cobbler and cocoa is one the counter. –Love, TGIT.) We even learned how to give our bikes a quick check-up and Rob impressed upon us the importance of checking your equipment before each ride. - Insert story of when TGIT’s brakes stopped working and she was so clueless that she spent her pre-teen years using the Fred Flintstone technique to stop her bike. -  

Karen has the power to check her tires with telepathy!

The most fun was when we all got to get on our knees and get dirty in a room full of windows: otherwise known as time to learn how to change a tire. This is where the antics of the TGIT took a back seat to the Gracie and George Burns antics of the loving couple also known as Sharon and Dave.  I cannot possibly write all that was said and done by those two, suffice it to say I HOPE AND PRAY that they come to the next clinic. That alone is worth the price of admission. All I will reveal at this time is that it became firmly established that Sharon was now her household’s “tire-changer” with her husband Dave donning the heavy ermine mantle of “dish-washer”.

Brush your teeth between every ride!

The hours flew by as we were all having such a great time and before we knew it we had to play catch-up and work on other important skills like mounting, clipping in and dismounting as well as learning to clean our bicycles properly. TGIT is ashamed to admit that other than a quick hose-down once in a while she has never actually cleaned her rides, which may explain why her brakes fell off when she was a kid and she learned to ride her ten-speed as a single gear.

Just as the class was ending the TGIT’s road warrior husband arrived back from his trip to Monterey with his BC teammate Todd and gave us the gory details (literally) of their race on the Central Coast. It was amazing that after four hours I found I was sad to see that the class was over and I had to say good-bye to my new-found friends and partners in mischief.  The information imparted and the company were top-drawer and the Tool Goddess (in training) is eager for the next class.

Information about upcoming clinics...
Skills ClinicsCOST: $60 4-hour clinic
Must RSVP to: nrobyn@bodyconceptsinc.com or (916) 939-6800 only 15-spots available

UPCOMING DATES:
April 2nd
Braking and Cornering (El Dorado Hills Business Park,1-5pm) Learn to slow your bike 5-different ways and fly through corners with ease

May 7th
Climbing and Descending (El Dorado Hills Business Park, 1-5pm) Learn how to tackle any hill and handle your bike downhill with confidence

June 4th
Balance and Agility (Body Concepts, 9am to 1pm)
Learn how to save energy, avoid obstacles and just feel more confident on your bike

August 6th
Group Ride Skills (Body Concepts, 9am to 1pm)Learn how to ride safely and efficiently in a group of riders...pace lines A-to-Z

PRESENTER:Robert Kopitzke has been an Orthopedic-Sports Physical Therapist for over 23-years, he obtained an "Elite" USA Cycling Coaching license in 1998, is a Master Pilates Instructor and certified Neuromuscular Reprogrammer. He has worked with hundreds of cyclists throughout the Sacramento region since 1994 as Peak Cycling and established Body Concepts in 1998.
For more information about Rob and Body Concepts: www.bodyconceptsinc.com

Register no later than one week prior to scheduled clinic. Clinics with less than 5-participants will be cancelled one week prior to schedule date...rain cancels clinic and will be rescheduled. If emergency prevents participant from attending, entry fee will be credited towards future clinic.

BE SURE TO VISIT THE GROVETRIBE SHOP FOR YOUR AFTER-RIDE GEAR!

What the Hell?!?! (Central Coast Circuit Race)

My expression says it all,"What the?!?" (and a bit o' the green for St. Patricks Day) Photos taken by Lisa Jaramillo.

Nothing can royally screw up a perfectly good race course more than incompetence. I figured that out talking with my teammate Todd during the ride home after racing the course twice during the third race of the Central Coast Circuit series. At first I thought I didn’t like the course itself, I had the impression that the course was unsafe, but then I realized that the course was actually a really good one and it was how the race was run that made it unsafe.  The race had all of the components to be really enjoyable (closed roads, roads in good shape, fun downhill, nice weather, pretty scenery, good course layout) and it should have been but when a lack of planning, communication and appropriate action puts the racers in harm’s way it can really put a damper on the fun.



We titled this one, "Naval Punishment".



The fun came in the formidable form of the Naval Postgraduate School Cycling Team -this race was on their turf and they were organized, powerful and committed- and the San Jose Bicycling Club –chock full of young, fresh, strong  riders that reminded me of a pack of rabid energizer bunnies.  These two teams kept us on our toes launching attack after attack in a frenetic wave of energy that threatened to wear my old legs out.  For the first time racing this year, I felt like I got a real work-out during a race. I would like to tip my helmet to these hard-driving folks and thank them for the ride.

The first lap started off at a very aggressive pace with the Naval team setting a punishing speed right off the jump. Early in the second lap there were a couple of attacks that formed a single group of three or four riders out in front of the peloton. As we neared the end of the second lap the group of riders had been reeled back in when a rider behind me crashed out on the big descent of the circuit.  We were going somewhere around 40mph and I couldn’t see what happened because I was too focused on what was going on in front of me.  This is where the mayhem began…

The race official’s response to the crash was to send a few cars out to the scene of the accident; one of the cars had the EMT in it. At the top of the descent on the next lap, no one is signaling that there is anything wrong up ahead at the bottom of the hill.  We had no idea that the cars where there.  As far as we know, the accident had been cleared.  As we descend again at 40mph we come around a turn and find the two cars (one of which had a door left wide open) taking up space on the right and left sides of the road.  The group slams on the brakes and everyone starts swerving to avoid each other and the cars.  I can sense that at least one other rider went down but, once again, I am too focused on surviving to see what is going on.

On the fourth lap around the race still hasn’t been neutralized and there still isn’t anyone at the top of the hill warning riders of danger.  We begin the descent again but with a bit of caution.  As we approach the scene there are now 6 or 7 riders down on the course.  As the race hasn’t been neutralized yet, we pass through as quickly as possible and get back on to racing.  Finally as we approach the start/stop line the officials bring the race to a halt. 

As I look around at the remaining riders I see that my two other teammates aren’t in the peloton.  Some of the other racers ask the officials what is going on with the accident scene.  They have no information to offer as they have no communication with the other race officials spread around the course.  With all of the cell phones out there, how do you not have communications set up???

As I wait to see if my other teammates come around I finally see Felix ride up and I ask him if he has seen Todd.  It turns out that Todd is putting his old EMT skills to use at the accident scene.  The EMT on duty was un-prepared to deal with an accident that large and was overwhelmed. I was shaking my head in disbelief, figuratively at least, I have entered races with equivalent race fees and all the other races had an ambulance with paramedics in it.  Why don’t they have that at this race?  Todd finally comes back around after the paramedics are called in and make it to the accidents. 

The race finally restarts with only a single lap to go and with all the chaos and waiting my legs have turned to Jello. The young pups made the most of the final sprint, really it ended up being a one-lap race, not what I had really signed up for but so are the vagaries of cycling. What I will not chalk up to as “the vagaries of cycling” was the unnecessary injuries sustained by one racer that had to be life-flighted out because he ran in to the open door of the car that was left on the field with no one warning us of its presence.

Road racing can be dangerous by its very nature; speed plus asphalt plus humans balanced on feather-light two-wheeled machines mean that we take our well-being into our own hands, to a point. What we do not expect is for those running the race to be the X Factor of danger; if I had wanted an obstacle course I would have taken up cyclocross (and at least then you know they are coming!). To the organizers of this race, you have a lot of lessons to learn and I can only hope you get some things in place before you run any more. Get some walkie talkies or at least share cell phone numbers, get some paramedics and an ambulance, train your staff and get a warning system in place. Our lives are in your hands and our families depend on you to keep us as safe as possible when we are in your care.

To get more details of the race read my race report on the Body Concepts Race Team Blog.

Todd, Felix and I at the Central Coast Race Series #3 representing Body Concepts.

Who Does Lance Armstrong's Laundry?

Being inundated with sick kids (ladies and gentlemen, the flu has arrived at GroveTribe Estates...) and a backlog of household chores it makes one wonder: Does Lance Armstrong wash his own laundry? Does he strip down and fling his soggy shorts and jersey into a waiting washing machine at the end of a long training ride? Does someone in his family handle that chore or some domestique? Does Lance even have to have his gear washed? I mean, he must have everybody and his brother slavering to have Lance don their gear, perhaps he never has to wear the same jersey twice. Just wondering as I load a wad of sweat-soaked black and yellow gear in between taking temperatures and refilling OJ glasses....

He Said, She Said: Body Concepts Cycling Presentation Series

Body Concepts owner Rob Kopitzke teaching the first of his Cycling Presentations series.

Usually GroveTribe blogs are written by Chris or Dawn and then they help each other edit their articles, today’s blog is a departure, an experiment if you will. On March 10 they both attended a presentation, the first in a series by Body Concepts’ Rob Kopitzke (aka “The Wizard”). In this blog they will present a “He said, She Said” version of what they took from the presentation without consulting with each other.

(He Said) On Thursday night I attended the Body Concepts Presentation on “Testing…  What are Your Strengths and Weaknesses as a Cyclist?”  My primary goal was to get my wife there so that she could learn more about cycling.  For myself; I wasn’t sure if I would hear anything new but figured it would be good to go to be reminded of things I should or shouldn’t be doing.  My wife is going to tell you what she learned in the “she said” section, so I will cover what I picked up in the “he said” section.

One of the things that stood out was when Rob mentioned that you don’t get stronger by working hard, you get stronger by recovering.  In other words, you do the hard work out to tear down the muscles, but you don’t get stronger until your muscles have a chance to heal.  Working out again before you recover only works to tear down the muscles farther.  It isn’t that I hadn’t heard that before.  I have heard it before and have got much better this past year at taking recovery rides.  However, there are many times that I am still doing too many hard rides in a week, I am not going easy enough on recovery rides, and I rarely recover for more than two days.  Sometimes it is good to give your body a longer stretch to replenish and heal.

Rob also talked about pedaling strokes in a way that I finally understood what people are talking about when you are told you need to work on pedaling efficiency.  Rob drew up the ¼ of the stroke where you get more power, the ¼ of the stroke where your legs are coming back up, and then the two ¼ top and bottom parts of the stroke that is where your legs would stall out.  After the power part of the stroke, you want to get your leg back around as fast as possible for the next power stroke.  In doing so, visualize that you are on cross-country ski’s (or an elliptical trainer) where you are pushing your legs forwards and backwards.  Don’t worry about focusing on pushing down, that will come naturally and doesn’t require that you think about it.  I haven’t applied this to my riding yet as I had a race coming up in less than 48 hours and didn’t want to do anything different than what I have been on such short notice.  Now that the race is done (I will blog about that later) I will put this knowledge to action on my next ride.

We also discussed flexibility to go faster.  Essentially, the more flexible you are, the farther and longer you can tuck down into an aerodynamic position.  Unless you are climbing, fighting the wind is your biggest enemy. I have already been working on my flexibility and trying to increase the time I can hold an aerodynamic position. This lesson reminds me to double my effort.  The more energy I can save the higher the chances of winning are.

While my primary goal was to get my wife to the clinic, I must admit that I got a lot out of this presentation.  Rob does an excellent job explaining the nuances of cycling and I feel motivated to do what I need to do to be a better rider.  I can’t wait for the next presentation!

-Chris Grove

(She Said) It’s About the Engine.

Lance was right; “It’s Not About The Bike” it is about the engine. If you take nothing else from this blog -or the Body Concepts presentation that spawned it- it is simply that maximum performance is so much more about the engine, namely YOU. You can spend thousands on a bike trying to wrest every last ounce of performance out of a more and more brittle frame but dollar for dollar your investment is better spent on your performance. Spend an extra thousand to lose a few ounces off your bike or invest in your health, maybe shed a couple of POUNDS, and end up a lot better off not only in performance but in your entire quality of life.

The presentation touched on many concepts from the need to understand your fuel, how your cadence and spin can win or lose a race to how your physiology affects performance. I took pages and pages of notes and by the end of the presentation I looked down at them and realized that trying to impart the entire presentation to you not only would become a massive undertaking but it would be a disservice to you. My eyes were opened and I was energized by the presentation and all I can say is that you need to see the Wizard in action to appreciate his knowledge.

Rob not only understands how the human body works but he has a special focus on how the cyclist works and how to help that cyclist be their best. Learning basic human physiology and anatomy is as easy as looking it up in a book (wiki, google… whatever)  but understanding your own individual workings and how they apply to your performance as a cyclist is much more complex and you could spend years trying to figure it out with no guarantee of success.

I knew that Rob and the Body Concepts Team had exponentially increased my husband’s ability to tap into his athletic potential but until I had the chance to sit and experience the magic of the Wizard I could only see the tip of the iceberg. Now I am left to re-examine my priorities and my own dreams of better equipment have been supplanted by a desire to learn more about and improve my greatest piece of equipment, the engine that is me.

-Dawn Grove

If you would like to attend one of these cycling presentation classes here is the information sent out by Body Concepts. See you there!

Please RSVP to: nrobyn@bodyconceptsinc.com  or (916) 939-6800 ... only 30-spots available per presentation 

DATES:

All presentations 7-8:30 pm at Body Concepts

March 10^th   Training #1- testing: what are your strengths & weaknesses

March 24^th   Training #2- principles of training

April 14^th     Training #3- what and when

April 28^th      Injuries- how to prevent/recover from them

May 12^th       Flexibility- a less painful performance enhancer

May 26^th       Core Strength- turbo charge your leg power

June 16^th      Bike Fit- a balance between comfort and performance

June 23^rd      Biomechanics- optimize your efficiency

PRESENTER:

Robert Kopitzke has been an Orthopedic-Sports Physical Therapist for over 23-years, he obtained an "Elite" USA Cycling Coaching license in 1998, is a Master Pilates Instructor and certified Neuromuscular Reprogrammer. He has worked with hundreds of cyclists throughout the Sacramento region since 1994 as Peak Cycling and established Body Concepts in 1998.

For more information about Rob and Body Concepts: www.bodyconceptsinc.com