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.

Cyclists Making a Difference: You Can Help Get One of Our Own Back on the Trail!

Two months ago we introduced you to Eric Taylor and told you his story; Eric was an avid mountain bike rider and ride leader for the Hammerin' Wheels Cycling Club who despite challenges of trying to find employment in a rotten economy (made even more challenging because he is deaf) had finally worked up to having a bike that he could race. Eric was looking forward to racing this spring and had signed up for his first event ever.  Then Eric got a nasty introduction to the New Year, his bike was stolen. Just as the cable was cut on his lock, so where his wings and to this day Eric remains flightless, something most cyclists would have nightmares about.

For the last two months the GroveTribe has been trying to find his bike – he filed police reports, we got the word out, craigslist and other sites were scoured to see if someone would try to sell it- and still nothing. We understand what it’s like to experience that loss and it can be so much more devastating than simply the loss of a bicycle. It can mean the loss of freedom, of joy and even sanity for those who use cycling as their lifeline in such a harsh world.

GroveTribe donates at MadCat and checks out some bikes.
Chris talks with MadCat owner Mike Upchurch (right).

We are asking our local cycling community to come together to help get one of our own back on the trail. The GroveTribe has been working setting up a way for folks to donate to help Eric get a replacement for his lost bike. Our goal is to raise $800 to help pay for a Specialized Rockhopper. Mike Upchurch of MadCat Bicycles has set up an account in Eric’s name and has facilitated several ways for folks to donate. MadCat will update us as to the progress of the fundraising and we will update our fancy “RockHopper-meter” on the homepage of our website so you can watch the progress and see your donation raise the temperature!

To donate you have many options:

You can rock on down to the MadCat Bicycle shop at 2645 Marconi Ave in Sacramento (Located in Town and Country Village) and tell them you would like to put a payment into Eric Taylor’s account. You can make the donation anonymously or include your name, if your name is included it will be published in our WE DID IT! Thank You! blog.

You can donate from the comfort of your own home via PayPal using the following address: madcatbicycles@sbcglobal.net.

You can purchase a MadCat gift card and present Eric your donation in person.

Donations can be in any amount; $5, $50, $500… anything helps and it all adds up! We at GroveTribe got the account opened and the ball rolling with our own $40 donation to the cause. Please join us and help get Eric back on the trail!

Performance Roseville Sneak Preview: Bike Shop Series #1

Well gang, we knew we had to get there. We had to start talking shop. Literally. So as we travel our blog journey together we will make stops at the local bike shops and give you a few nuggets, a few pics and maybe some new insight into your local bike shop scene. First stop, the brand spankin’ new Performance Bike in Roseville.

The GroveTribe managed to catch wind of the Roseville Performance shop’s preview night so we decided to go check it out.  As  we entered the door we were met with a table of snack trays and drinks and a second table with give-aways. Yes, we did enter the raffle, we have no shame and we always need another bike! *pause while we fill out entry forms* 

We barely had time to stuff our entries in the boxes when we were met with Sam Felts (Retail Operations Manager for Performance) and we got some highlights of the new format for the Performance shop. My first impression was it had a lot of REI-ish elements. The floorplan was more open (no more bikes down the center) and the colors departed from the blue we are used to and now we are met with soothing earthtones.  Of course, the “soothing” aspect is tempered with the multitude of huge halide lights hanging over-head -but that’s just nit-picking. Sam was pretty excited by the new shop but did say that he wished they could have scored another 1,500 sq. feet to include an interactive trainer and lounge. Well, maybe they can buy out the used book store next door….



Rows and rows of bikes! (There was more behind the camera.) 

This store marks the third location of Performance in our area (there is one in Sacramento on Howe and another in Fair Oaks off Madison) and one of many new locations opening for Performance across the country. I guess the low prices that many folks go to Performance for is why they are able to expand an empire in such a tough economy. I know there were times that we would love to go to our local shops but even with discounts they have a tough time matching the buying power of such a big chain. We were told that this is the first store of the “sixth incarnation” of Performance stores. Sounds like a movie series or something.

So brand spankin' new the paint is still wet! Now that's fresh!

We continued to peruse the store (okay, we could say that we were just there for the blog but you know we were shopping!) serenaded by the sounds of power tools and hammers as the finishing touches were being applied. Store Manager Bryan Stevinson took some time out to share his enthusiasm for the store and its relationship within the local cycling community (we talked a bit about the Hammerin’ Wheels group one we are happy to be members of). I was honestly surprised to hear a lot of mentions of the local cycling groups from the employees of this Performance, heck, even the Sales Manager Joey Larzelere is a SABA board member (more on them in a future blog).  Not sure why it surprised me, perhaps I had a bias thinking that only smaller shops were really community minded. You learn something new every day I guess.

 

Sales Manager Joey Larzelere makes sure Chris is legit. 

How will this store do in Roseville? Not sure. We have been trying to support more locally owned shops but in this economy it becomes harder and harder for folks to do so. This store has the advantage of being a large chain with large chain pricing. It helps that the folks seemed friendly (okay, but who isn’t friendly on a VIP preview night?) and the cool repair shop had my wife wistfully wishing it was in our garage. It makes me wonder, how do our readers feel about big chain stores vs. the “little guy” shops?

Hey! Look at that! There is a comments section down there! Scroll down just a bit… Ye-e-ep! There it is. You may have to log in to sound off but we would love to hear what you have to say. Do you shop big guy, little guy or somewhere in between?

Off To See The Wizard: The Road to Snelling Part 1

Meet Rob "The Wizard" Kopitzke of Body Concepts (right). Meet "RavenWing" Matt's bike (right below me).

A couple of weeks ago, when I got the news that my frame was cracked, my brand new racing world was thrown to the asphalt. Before racing I was living in black and white, life was rich and textured like “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” or “Metropolis” and at the same time constrained to a monochrome existence.  But once I pinned the numbers to my side life exploded into techno-color and Toto was chasing me down the yellow-brick road towards the Emerald City. (Does anyone remember having to twist a dial on your TV to try and tune in a channel? Color wasn’t an option, just trying to get a clear signal was a victory, and then we had color TV and going back was out of the question.) The idea that I wasn’t going to be able to race in Snelling was a sentence of returning to a pallid life of a working stiff; go to work come home, eat dinner, pay bills, help with homework, change a diaper or two and off to bed to start the next work day: I felt as if I was returning to a life half lived.

That initial wave of despair washed over me and I admit that I wallowed in it for a day or two. Then it was time to shake it off and figure something out. My wife always says that, “We’ll figure something out.” So I dusted off my old Allez and hit the trails training on it for the next week. God, it was miserable week. Cold, gray and pretty darn near colorless were those days trying to train for a race on a piece of equipment I knew just wouldn’t cut it. I shared my pain with the few intrepid souls who would hear my mewling cries and Matt –one of my Body Concepts teammates- came to my rescue offering his raven-wing carbon beauty as a loaner for me to use while I figured out how to replace my own steed.  Yes, it was black, but have you ever seen a raven’s wing in the sunlight, it shimmers with a rainbow of colors. Glenda the Good Witch had arrived in the form of a tall, lean insurance guru from Gold River.

The joy in having a carbon-embodied splash of color return to my world was tempered by the knowledge that I had less than a week to accustom myself to the new (to me) bike and it felt awkward and strange. This is where the wizard comes in. (When you are not sure how to get where you’re going, you always have to visit the wizard.) In this case, the Wizard was Rob Kopitzke from Body Concepts and the magic he wielded was in the form of a bike fitting.

I’ve never had a bike fitting before and my primitive idea of fitting a bike was making sure the seat and handle bars didn’t make me look like I was riding a low-riding bmx. What happened within the glass enclosed confines of the Body Concepts headquarters was something much more than I had ever imagined.  The effortless flow and efficient movement as Rob took me through the paces of fitting Matt’s bike to my optimal use was like watching a sorcerer weave a graceful, powerful spell. I surrendered myself to the cadence of Rob’s guidance, mystified by it all and yet feeling like something really good was taking form. If you want to truly know what happened during the fitting, you would have to ask Rob -or schedule a fitting for yourself, you will never see your bike or even yourself the same again- what I can tell you is yet another layer of color had returned to my world and Snelling was once again in my sites.

To Be Continued...

Jax trying for an internship at Body Concepts.

Shaky First Step



A rare pic of me, usually on the other side of the camera, at the BP Crit last weekend.



Watching my husband Chris racing has been a mixed blessing; both fun and frustrating. I never thought I would become a cycling groupie but when I went to his first race in an “official” capacity to take photographs I found myself unable to resist the overwhelming urge to scream my lungs out as he sped by. It was fun and exciting to see him realize a dream and show off all of his work. The second race I was very excited and restless, more photographing, more screaming. Then it all changed as I watched the women’s ride in the Bicycle’s Plus Criterium.

Women's race at last weekend's BP Crit.

Watching them speed by -thrusting powerful legs against the pedals, propelling themselves forward at speeds that the human body was not originally designed to go- I felt such a longing, even envy, and a deep, deep knowledge that I should have been out there with them.  The rest of the day my restlessness grew into crankiness. Everyone was having a blast out there and I wanted in!

I felt frustrated at my limitations and how slowly I was progressing because of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). I spent the rest of the week whining at my husband that I needed his help (childcare, etc.) to get my exercise opportunities increased. With Chronic Fatigue you need more sleep and rest than the average person and are supposed to reserve your energy. Having five kids (the youngest being Evil Kenevil reincarnated who is home with me all day and still likes to wake me up several times at night) and the sole cook and cleaning crew, it seems like I am always running on empty.

Today I had my oldest help watch the youngest while I finally scrubbed the bathrooms, baked, cooked and stored food for the week and a slew of other chores that desperately needed to be caught up with. After five hours of whirlwind cleaning, and a hasty shower to make myself presentable, my husband returns from his ride and invites me to hop on my bike and go for a ride with him. I was overjoyed when all the planets aligned and my oldest had some rare spare time to watch the toddler at the same time my husband had some spare time and energy. My initial surge of adrenaline from happiness wore off once I was finally geared up. I had already overdone my meager reserves and, for those who understand CFS, I should have stopped there and rested the remainder of the day. My exhaustion rose before me like a brick wall, but seeing my husband in his riding gear and having this rare moment in time where I had babysitting and a free husband I ignored it and stepped out into the garage. The second wall, instead of just rising in front of me, slammed me full in the face. The bitter cold.

For folks with CFS, no two people experience it the same. On the plus side I am not confined to a wheel chair or a feeding tube, on the minus side, I cannot bear the cold. It is not just that it is uncomfortable for me it is a full body reaction of pain, tremors and a sudden flare of all of my CFS symptoms. I stood stock still for several moments, trying to figure out how to tell my husband that I just couldn’t do it. The skies were fair and the sun was out but the bitter cold robbed me of any resolve I had to face and climb that first wall.

When I explained how painful the cold was to my husband, leading into telling him that I was going to skip the ride, he assured me that it was warming once I got into the sun. I had to at least give it a try to see if he was right. When the wind blew across my wet hair I knew I was in trouble. The look on my husband’s face was excited and hopeful, he so needed me to take this step and after whining all week about not getting the opportunity to work out I could not back out now.

I mounted the Rockhopper 29er (I really need to name that bike…) and clipped in, scared to death of how I would react to the cold and cursing my stupidity for riding in such chill temperatures with wet hair.  The feeling of a mountain bike is so different from that of a road bike that I was initially distracted as I pumped the pedals. I was surprised to find that I had built up quite a bit of speed and for the space of a minute I was flying down the road towards the trail and feeling great. After about a quarter of a mile my body gave up on me. My legs burned even though my lungs assured me that we were doing great and could go for miles. My arms felt like lead even as my heart pumped away with aplomb. It is a strange affliction, to be a strong woman with CFS; healthy yet weak, powerful potential with so little stamina to sustain it.

I ignored the signals my body was screaming at me to stop and rode on with my husband. We live in a very hilly area and I found great joy and speed in the downhills, leaving my husband behind only to know that for every downhill you had to conquer another uphill. The uphill treks were slow and I was terrified that I would stop on a hill, something I avoided with every fiber and cell in my being.  I stood on the pedals, my legs screaming and shaking and I just…. kept…going. Several hills it took to prove to myself that I had honored my husband’s effort to ride with me. Even my stupidity knows boundaries and I apologized to my husband while explaining that we had to start heading home. He was more than satisfied and as we slowly mounted the last couple of hills we talked about how strong I used to be.

We talked of how the last time I returned from the “Steve Pit” I had lived in a flat area and my initial rides were much easier and on a road bike. He talked to me about how impressed he had been at how I had a “quick first step” and that he had trouble catching up to me. Somehow, as he talked, my disappointment in my limitations turned to hope and resolve. His words made me feel stronger and although I was tired and felt that the first trip out was way too short, I felt good about what I did today.  My legs are still trembling and my arms at the keyboard still move like lead, but I took that first ride, my shaky first step.

-Dawn Grove

GT Chicken Melt

What the GroveTribe had for dinner tonight. Pair it with a nice salad or favorite veggies.

So you may remember our recipe for "Hundred Ways Chicken", well we believe in providing continued customer support here at Tribe Tracks so we thought we would give you a recipe with which to utilize some of that tasty chicken you baked up for the week.

This recipe is our new favorite. I love it, Chris loves it, even the kids love it. (Wow, something EVERYONE will actually eat. Novel.) It is warm, crunchy and even creamy. It is a sinful tasting, looking, smelling and even feeling comfort food that will cook up fast, fill you up and only takes up 400 calories out of your daily allowance. So, if you are watching the calories to lose weight or wanting a protein packed sandwhich for a recovery meal, here is our offering to you. (Note: This recipe is for a single sandwhich. If kids need a slightly smaller sandwhich just weigh out three ounces of chicken breast instead of four. Or just eat part of their sandwhich. Heh.) Here are the nutrition stats for this recipe:

So take out some of that wonderful "Hundred Ways Chicken" (breast) you have stored in the fridge. (I have learned to pre-shred the chicken breast into a large ziploc bag while it has cooled but it is still warm so it is all ready to go when you want to use it.) I weigh out about four (4) ounces of the shredded chicken breast for each serving. If you want to guess then one very large baked chicken breast should get you almost eight (8) ounces or two adult sized sandwhiches.

Ingredients per Sandwhich
4 ounces of cooked chicken breast, shredded
2 slices of Earthgrains Cracked Wheat Bread (you can substitute other kinds and just recalculate calories yourself but you may want to give this bread a try.)
1 Slice of American Cheese
1/2 Tablespoon of Mayonnaise
1/4 Tablespoon of Butter

After you weigh out your desired amount of chicken toss it in a bowl with the 1/2 tablespoon of mayo. It may seem dry but just mix it up as well as you can. When that is ready, whisper some butter onto your warm pan and place your bread on the butter, stack on your slice of cheese (yes, while it is in the pan, just be careful) and place the chicken mixture onto the cheese and top with the second slice of bread.

Let this cook on medium-low heat, this is a thick, dense sandwhich and you want it warm all the way through with the cheese melted (hence the name). When the bottom is golden brown, remove the sandwhich, whisper a bit more butter onto the pan and then place the uncooked side of the sandwhich down to get nice and crisp. Be patient! Maybe slide the sandwhich around the pan a bit to get any stray traces of butter and let the other side get golden brown and crispy.

Serve hot! You can make four of these at once if you have a square griddle pan and have all the ingredients ready to go. Enjoy and please let us know if you try it and what your verdict was in the comments section below.

It’s What I’m Not Telling You That Matters….

My lips are sealed.

So the whole idea of me writing this blog is to share information with my readers. I try to give as much detail as possible so that other folks who are just starting out, like I am, can perhaps learn from my triumphs and foibles. That was all well and good until I learned that the blog is read by the competition. (Honestly, I thought I was more shocked just to hear that ANYONE was reading Tribe Tracks at all!) So I will try to give you a good blog of our latest team skills clinic while trying to keep some of our team strategies under my Livestrong helmet.  

First, I am way stoked that our kits came in. Nothing fluffs a man’s pride nearly as much as when he comes home in uniform and his wife’s eyes sparkle even as her jaw drops. If nothing else, it was worth attending the Body Concepts team skills clinic for that alone. She then insisted on taking about thirty pictures of me from every angle so here are a couple shots for your viewing edification.

As you can see, they are pretty sharp and I like the new details of this year’s design. I am especially loving the vest and arm warmers.  The only real complaint is the fit of the shorts.  They are very awkward.  So far, the padding seems comfortable enough; it is the cut that is odd. 

At this clinic, one of our sponsors, Nike Vision, was there to get some pictures and to talk to last year’s riders about how Nike Vision’s products have performed.  I have heard nothing but rave reviews and look forward to trying a pair out soon.

Once we were done clutching at our loot, squinting one eye and growling, “Arrrrrr!” it was time to get training. Here is where I want to put in all kinds of neat stuff we learned but decide to pare it down so we can (hopefully) kick ass at the next criterium.

We had a classroom discussion about race finishing and how much effort and coordination goes into getting one guy in position to win.  (Or if you don’t have team mates, how to still get yourself in a position to win.) Then we went out and practiced finishes on the Folsom Bicycles Plus criterium loop.  I am not sure how many of us there were, but we must have had 20-30 riders out there. Of course, having us all in our new matching team kits made it interesting when we broke up into three teams. When everyone is in the same clothes, how do you keep track of who’s who?

I also lost track of how many practice finishes we did…  Sometimes the races were between 1 and 3 laps with various scenarios.  Sometimes we were pitted against each other, other times the team ran the course on their own, and we had a few free-for-alls as well.  The variation didn’t stop there…  One legged race, easiest gear race, and small chain ring only. It felt like we did it all.

The most memorable race was when I was the designated sprinter.  Before the race we had talked about my lead out order and when to attack.  Things didn’t quite go as planned.  Our train got splintered and I only had two guys in front of me.  Along with that there was a breakaway from the cat 3 team and we were stuck behind the rest of cat 3 and cat 4.  I was starting to feel a real sense of urgency because we were on the last lap.  As I scanned the field of riders it looked like there would be barely enough room for us to get by the pack on the inside.  I started yelling something like “Inside, GO GO GO GO Inside GO!!!!” to the two riders in front of me.  Todd, who was in front, did exactly what he needed to do and took off like a rocket on the inside.  As we cleared the group and headed to the final turn Rob, the rider in front of me, continued the surge.  At this point we were coming to the final turn hot!  I was a bit nervous about it and probably swung a little wider then I should. (Yep, still working on de-chickening my turns.)  After the turn I just had the cat 3 guy in front of me.  He was too far away to catch but I made a go of it anyway figuring you never know what might happen. 

Even though I came in second, that was a thrilling race!  I was especially pleased that we handled the set-back of our sub-team getting separated well and still mustered a strong finish.  Now I am really anxious to get out there for the next crit, which happens to be the Bicycles Plus Early Bird Criterium in Folsom.  If you want to see what I am not telling you in this blog, come out and watch.

The Dish on MyPlate

Almost a month ago I (Dawn) wrote that I had taken my father-in-law’s advice (from his guest blog on Tribe Tracks) and tried out the Livestrong.com’s “MyPlate” feature.  As of today, I have used MyPlate for just a hair over 6 weeks and I wanted to share what I have discovered for myself. Please note that my observations and non-professional recommendations (have I mentioned that I am neither a doctor nor a nutritionist?) are based on using this tool to help me lose weight. MyPlate can also be used to gain or maintain weight as well.

The first thing that got my attention was the price. It’s free. Dollar-wise you just can’t get any better than this. So now that you know that the price is right, let’s talk about the various tools at your disposal.

Setting up. Your first stop is the “Calorie Goals” tab where you will input your age, height, weight, weight goals (be they losing, gaining or maintaining your current weight) and your activity level. You click the magic calculate button and it tells you what your daily calorie goal is. WARNING! You can get in trouble with choosing the wrong activity level. I did this and I was stalled for a while, I went back and recalculated with an activity level one step lower and that is when I started seeing progress. If you are in doubt about your activity level choose the lower (less active) option. Yes, it’s going to give you fewer calories to work with but that is what you need if you wish to lose weight.

Using MyPlate Daily. You know that losing weight is about dedication. I am giving you permission to develop a new addiction: tracking your food intake. I want you to get shaky if you are more than two meals behind in tracking. I want you to convulse, sweat and curl up in a ball if you miss a whole day. The only way you can get the hit that you need is to go back and fill it all in and stay current. Does this sound like a pain in the ass? At first it may seem so, but after the first week or so you will become very adept at tracking and it will take so little time it is almost anticlimactic.

Harping on Honesty. I will restate the GroveTribe patriarch’s (aka Steve's) advice that you be honest. Time and time again over the last 6 weeks I have had his words of advice ring through my skull (thank goodness *something* is in there now!). I bought extra measuring cups and spoons and I use them faithfully.  We have a nifty and inexpensive food scale. (I used to laugh at my husband for weighing his food. Of course, his body is formed like that of a Greek god so maybe I should have associated that a lot earlier, but remember, before my father-in-law put his advice into my skull it was empty… empty… empty……  [echoing effect here]) Yet even when I had all the right tools I could still stray towards the dark side; I was tempted over and over to fudge the numbers, sneak just a tiny bit more or “forget” to log something but I resisted Darth Indulgence and instead was brutally honest with myself. Now that I see the results of such honesty, I am glad that I did.

I can hear those doubters saying to themselves that same things I used to. “What a pain.” “Life is hard enough; I have to find pleasure where I can.” “I don’t want to have to deny myself.”  My response is this; If you have to get your joy, your comfort, your consolation, your reward or even psychotherapy from food (as I once did) then you need to take a hard look at where you WANT to get your joy from. I would prefer to get my joy riding our bikes on the trail, playing with my kids and growing to a ripe old age walking hand-in-hand with my husband on the beach near where we got married. These things are worth having a little less food and making better choices. It sucks, it’s hard but as these habits evolve from “diet” to a “lifestyle” it will become second nature and if I can do it, you sure as hell can!

“But I’m so hungry!” It happens to me still and I have learned that there is a fine line that I have to walk to get enough nutrition for the calories I take in. There are at least three ways to help with this.

First, choose carefully the foods that give you your calories. Make sure that they are nutritious. I look to make sure that I am getting a reasonable amount of protein, fiber and carbs as well as vitamins and minerals. Look, no one here is stupid, you know what whole, nourishing food is. If you have 400 calories left for the day how will you use it to best serve your fine machine of a body? 

Second, give your stomach a little time and it will get used to smaller meals. Try hard to avoid a large “reward” or “catch-up” meal that will stretch your stomach out again making it that huge pit that wants to be filled with food. After a few weeks of my new discipline my stomach no longer wants a larger meal. For example I have a favorite burger and fries combo at In-N-Out (gasp! Yes, I still go to fast food joints!). I used to be able to eat the burger and a whole basket of fries without blinking. When I discovered that the burger I liked combined with half a basket of fries was only 550 calories and could fit in well with my calorie goals I started eating that amount. After a while, I found that if I tried to eat a whole basket of fries with the meal my stomach would protest. Even if I needed the calories, I would let that fullness be my guide and wait a couple of hours to catch up on calories rather than forcing them into my full stomach and stretching it out.  Yes, this old… dog…. has learned some new tricks.

Be conscious of what you eat. Put down the magazine. Turn off the TV. Put the damn car in park and sit and LOOK at your food. Make conscious note of every bite you put in your mouth and chew the stuff before you swallow it. In our fast-paced society it is too easy to inhale food and have it gone before you even know what happened. “Hey! Who ate the last cookie?” You probably did, without even realizing it. Okay, back to MyPlate…

Fitness Tracker. Here is where I run in to my unique challenges. I have to be very careful because of my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. My good old days of hitting the work-outs fast and furious are over. Although it has been extremely frustrating I have learned that if I am gentle with myself -and increase physical activity with tortuous slowness!- I end up much stronger and healthier.  For the last several weeks my work-outs thus far have been limited by the CFS and this cold winter to mostly yoga, tai chi and some gym ball.  With the days warming up now, I expect to hit the trails and ramp up the level of my work-outs. Now here is the rub, a nifty but treacherous feature of the fitness tracker is that it will automatically adjust your “calories remaining” to eat and give you more. If you are only doing mild to moderate exercise RESIST THE URGE to go by this adjustment. Try your best to stick to your calorie allotment for the day.

***BEGIN DISCLAIMER*** Have I done my, “seek the advice of a medical professional before beginning any diet or exercise routine” wheeze yet? Oh, well, be sure that you do. I did and my doctor  is very excited by my progress and what I have learned with MyPlate.  We did have to talk about my specific considerations with CFS but so far all lights are green. ***DISCLAIMER SECTIONS ENDS***

Tracking Food. My favorite feature is the food input field. You start typing something that you ate and this smart little white space on the screen opens up with lots of choices that are related to what you are typing. You can then select your option from the pull down menu (be sure to read the option that you select carefully to be sure its serving size is accurate to what you understand your serving size is) adjust the serving size and select when you ate it. Be patient as the searching feature can be a bit slow but this is a chance to take a deep breath into your belly. (Old Vedic wisdom says to fill your belly with one third food, one third water and one third air.) You will be amazed at how much is pre-programmed! As far as food tracking goes, I have yet to have to enter anything manually!

My Meals. I always have the same one of two breakfasts in the morning and when I learned that I could “pre-program” my meals once and it would plug the whole thing in I was in heaven! You can select your meal and then click on it to adjust an amount if needed. (Yes, one morning I HAD to have an extra half cup of milk.)

Feedback. The most fun of all of this is watching all the graphs, pie charts and logs evolve as you go. You can start to see the trends, track your water, track your fiber, protein, salt, carb and sugar intake. You start to learn your eating habits and it makes it so much easier to adjust them. I have been able to see where I get my calories and where to shave them off. So much of this is about educating yourself not just about eating habits but learning about YOUR eating habits.

WARNING!!!! One of the frustrating features is that nifty bar chart that shows how many calories you consumed over the past few days and today. I get a perverse sense of accomplishment when I see all those bars under the red line (that indicates your maximum calorie allowance for the day) But when you are a good little boy or girl and update that weight loss you were so happy about MyPlates recalculates your new calorie intake and THE RED BAR LOWERS RETROACTIVELY! Yep, I always turn into a preschooler and pout when that red line lowers and it looks as if I had been bad all that past week. It hurts but just ignore it, we both know we are doing great. (Stoopid red bar….)

So even though there are a few things that I could wish worked better this program is well worth the money… er… time investment. 6 weeks later I have lost 10 pounds. (Keep in mind that this is with my stringent restrictions on exercise because of CFS!) MyPlate can be a great tool to help you lose, maintain or gain weight. What it can’t do is make the right food choices for you and it can’t know if you are being honest with yourself.

With that said, watch out Lance! Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers are going to put a price on your head for muscling in on their territory with livestrong.com and MyPlate. However, I think you took it one step further because instead of telling me what to eat, you have helped me learn HOW to eat.

Next Up… I just became a “Gold Member” of livestrong.com’s MyPlate feature for $45 for a year. They promise that I will lose 25% more weight. I will try this for a while and let you folks know if the claims are true (for me at least).

Until next time, stop talking about it and just do it!

An Image Worth These 871 Words

You may recognize the picture above as one we just used for my blog about the Cal Aggie Criterium, my first road race. There is a reason why I am using it again for today’s blog: it’s because, for me, there is a story behind this picture.

A little over a year ago my wife and I started the journey to get me road racing.  It is something that I had always talked about, but there were always reasons not to do it.  I am not sure what possessed my wife to say it but she told me that I needed to stop talking about racing and get out and do it. 

With a new baby and four other kids, it wasn't easy to get started.  We got lucky along the way when a neighbor was looking to sell his "old" racing bike.  We scraped money together to buy the bike and then entered me into the spring TBF mountain bike series as an introduction to racing. We figured that it would be easier if I entered a race that didn't require team or drafting strategies.  That was a lot of fun but my older mountain bike needed a lot of work going into the race series and continues to need a lot of work.  I decided that I really wanted to focus on road racing and couldn't afford to get (and keep!) my mountain bike running at the same time, so I haven't entered another mountain bike race since.

During this time I was also ramping up my training hours and was looking for creative ways to squeeze the training in despite a full schedule at work and home.  My wife continued to support me and did everything she could to make sure that I could get out for the time I needed to ride.  She did an outstanding job taking care of our baby during this time and I worked hard to make sure that when I was home, I was totally available to help with the baby and kids.  One of the things sacrificed along the way was the TV. I used to have a lot of favorite shows but I found that I wasn't watching a lot of TV anymore. I am too busy living life to sit and watch it staged in my living room (though I must admit to still watching Chuck when I can scrape an hour together).

Later that spring I had an opportunity to ride with one of the local race teams but it involved riding at times that weren't always convenient and occasionally driving a ways to the start point of the ride.  Once again, my wife supported me and made sure that I could get out to the rides so that I could test out the team.  The guys I talked to on the team were cool, but after a few rides with them I realized that I had a ways to go to get into race shape.  Coming into a team after the cycling season is already underway isn't ideal when you aren't ready to race.  So I decided to hold off on joining a team until fall and to focus on training instead.

This fall a friend strongly recommended that I join the Body Concepts race team.  Budget wise, it would be difficult to pull off.  With kids going back to school (endless list of supplies) and Christmas around the corner, we would need to be creative to make it work.  My wife crunched the numbers hard.  She juggled things around and we sold stuff –lots of stuff- on Craigslist.  She pulled through and managed to get everything to work out.

Now, what does all this have to do with the picture I put at the top of the blog?  When I look at this picture it feels like more than just the two of us walking along talking about what happened in the race:  it is the two of us on a journey. A journey that couldn't happen without the love and support of my wife.  I was thinking back to all that we have done: making the tough financial choices and the chaotic juggling of time commitments to make that moment in the picture possible; that moment in time where I had finished my first road race and she was walking at my side, as she has for the last five years.

It would have been easy to quit so many times- to give in to the stresses and roadblocks in our way- but my wife can see how much I love the sport and how excited I get when I talk about a race.  So every time I ride, whether it is an official race or just battling it out with friends or other riders I meet along the trail, I feel very lucky to have such a caring and supportive wife who does so much to make it all possible.  Dawn - Thank you for all that you have done, all of your love, and all of your support.  I love you very much and I look forward to continuing our journey together.

(Special thanks to Robert Hunter for taking this great shot.)

My First Time (Racing) - Part 2 of 2

The race begins and the road grit flies! The Cal Aggie Criterium had plenty of racers and tight quarters.

As we got started off the line I had a slight delay as I missed my first attempt to click my left foot into the pedal.  I have never been good at the road pedals, dating back to when they first came out in the late 80’s (when they were a lot harder to get out of and I fell a lot more). Anyway…  I quickly recovered and caught up to Patrick.  Everything was going fine on that first lap until we hit the first big turn.  According to John, a fellow BC racer, that first left turn is 120 degrees followed by an immediate 90 degree right turn.  With the course being wet and oily, it was tricky to slam on the brakes and negotiate the turn while trying to spring out of the turns as fast as possible.  A mistake I would make more than once going into these turns is that I would forget to shift to an easier gear.  This left me trying to accelerate hard out of a turn while trying to push a gear that was too hard to pedal.  Still, I managed to get out of the turn fast enough to maintain my position behind Patrick, all was well. 




Pushing to rejoin the pack after the crash.

 On the second lap we came to the big left turn again.  Everything seemed to be going fine when a racer to the front left of Patrick went down.  Initially I didn’t think anything of it and thought we were going to miss him.  Then Patrick started to go down in front of me.  I didn’t want to do a big swerve because I didn’t know who was beside me so I did more of a subtle shift to the right and tried to pass as quickly as possible. I remember bracing myself, hoping that I could glide by without getting caught up in the crash. I eked by and found myself upright and my thoughts went back to the race.  I took a quick peripheral glance to my left to make sure I could proceed through the turn without running into anyone.  I saw some riders down, but I couldn’t make out the details.  All I knew was that the path was clear and I had to catch up.  After finishing the turns I got low on the bike, shifted to my fastest gear, and started cranking.  Shortly after passing the start/finish line I was back with the group. 

Now was the really frustrating part of the race.  How do I close back in on John and Randy?  With the slick roads slowing everyone down in the turns, the group wasn’t strung out yet.  During each straight, I would get within range of John and Randy and would back off thinking that I should conserve energy and I could slowly work my way up the last few bike lengths.  However, that backfired because every time we hit the big left turn, the group would bunch up and I would lose the progress I made coming out of the turns.  I tried the right side and then I tried the left side with the same results every time.  This was getting old and even more frustrating is that I thought it would be pretty obvious how many laps were left, but I could never find the person holding the sign.  Maybe I was suffering from “first race tunnel vision”? 

I also did not realize that the bell ringing indicated the primes or the final lap.  From dabbling in mountain bike racing a few times last year, where everyone was ringing some sort of bell on every lap, I just assumed that it was the crowd cheering on the racers.  Most of the final lap was uneventful because I didn’t know it was happening until we came out of the turns for the final straightaway.  All of the other racers jumped out of their saddles and started sprinting.  At this point, it was too late for me to try and counter with a sprint of my own so I just worked on maintaining my position within the group and bringing my first race to a safe finish. I was hit by the wall of anti-climax, my first race was over somehow and my body felt as if it had not yet even begun.



What? The race is over???

 I was left with mixed feelings.  I was happy to have participated in and finish my first race, better yet that I was still in one piece.  However I was also frustrated because, other than making up ground after the crash, I never worked hard during the race.  I had all that energy bundled up, ready to explode, but nothing happened.  If there was another category I could have raced in immediately after, I would have done it. As it was my racing was done for the day.


I did a cool down lap with John and Randy and we talked about the race for a bit.  Randy gave me some tips -I should work the middle more and to try and make up ground between the sets of turns.

My wife -in my big day-glo jacket- and I talk after the race.

At the end of the cool down lap I saw my wife with the camera.  I was happy to see her and pulled over to tell her about the race. As we walked she told me how she had been puzzled that I never looked as if I was attacking, she told me I looked as if I was just sitting back almost the entire race.  I explained the issues I encountered and she pointed out that I needed to trust my strength more. We agreed that next time I need to attack more and not worry about the possibility of burning out and getting left behind.  She could tell that I had not even touched my reserves of strength and stamina. She told me that I was absolutely buzzing with unspent energy.

Jax is not quite sure what to think of my new paint job. "Daddy? That you?"

 We rejoined the rest of the family and I rescued my 15 month old from the stroller only to have him give my road grime covered face a strange look. I think it took him a minute to even realize it was me under my new paint job. After spending a few more minutes with the family I met up with John to talk more about the race and we checked in with Patrick to see how he was doing after the crash.
 

Patrick showed off his war wound but when my wife asked him if he needed medical attention he shrugged it off, showing a lot more concern for any damage that may have been taken by his bike.  I am not sure where Randy went; last I saw he was talking to some other racers that he knew.

I packed up my family and we talked about the race all the way home and it has been our main topic of conversation ever since. My wife found that she enjoyed her day at the races and that she couldn’t be prouder of me for working so hard and finally making it to where I wanted to be.





In retrospect, I am happy I did the race and I can’t wait for the next one. I may have felt unsatisfied at first but now that I think about it, that one race taught me a lot. More than I ever could have learned from a book or from sitting around listening to someone else talk about it. Nope, I had finally stopped talking about racing. Now I am doing it!