Wanna Ride The Death Ride With Me?

Hey there! I'm Beth and I'm riding my bike a lot these days. Why? Because of three words, "The Death Ride". It's an event on July 14, 2012, and I'm riding it for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, San Francisco chapter. I'm doing this to raise money to fight cancer, to get in better shape, and to find out just how far I can actually push my body to perform.

How far, you ask? 129 miles. 15,000 vertical feet. 5 mountain peaks. One day.

I never thought I'd do something like this. Heck, two-and-a-half years ago I didn't even own a road bike. Doing a Century was a "bucket list" item. Used to be I never wanted to be in touch with my body. Well, geez, look at me now!

And I'm training. A lot. I'm learning a tremendous amount, too. About how to be a better rider: to ride smart, eat right, ride in a paceline, maintain a bike - all fantastic lessons.

So with all the lots and lots of stuff going into the void between my ears it occurred to me - why don't I share what I learn and experience with the world? Maybe it can help somebody else! And maybe I'll actually remember some of it myself.

So anyway, here's a link you should check out:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/touralps12/bdaggert

That's my LLS donation page. Did I mention I have to fundraise to participate in this event? I do. So if you can and you haven't, please give to a great charity and help wipe out blood cancer. Thanks SO much in advance! Plus you'll be funding this blog and that's a good deal too, right? Right? Bueller?

So now that the introductions are out of the way, I'm going to take a crack at something that might pass for a regular blog entry. Enjoy!

The Cinderella Classic 2012

So what adventure did I have with my bike today? I did a training ride of sorts, something called the Cinderella Classic. Coincidentially, I bought a Garmin 500 yesterday. Put the two together and bam! I can now share my ride maps and stats and other juicy data with you, yay!

The conditions today were pretty miserable. It was rainy and downright windy for a big chunk of this ride. Not exactly primo princess material, though I think I did see more than a few princess' being SAG'd in their royal coaches to the finish line when they gave up early. In fairness, I wussed it a bit as well - I'd originally intended to do the Cinderella Challenge, which would've added in a couple thousand feet of climbing and some good mileage. Conditions (rain/wind) cautioned otherwise, especially since I have to leave some gas in the tank to ride a bigger ride tomorrow!

Today's Fun Point: Laura (my long-suffering ride buddy) and I ran across Bob (a coach I know from Silicon Valley LLS) going the other way. See, the Cinderella is a women's only ride. All the guys man the rest stops, run SAG, dress up like princes and hand out gumdrops as the ladies go by...it's cute, fun, and the way things should always be (cough). Guys that want to ride the ride can and do - they just do it in reverse. They call it...wait for it...the Allerednic. Cute, guys.

This was not my Cinderella
ride costume!

So anyway, Bob is riding the route the other way and we eventually cross paths. Stopping, of course, to exchange pleasantries. Somehow, between the rain, wind, excitement, and my natural feline grace I fell over in a tangled heap right in front of him. From a dead stop to stunned on the ground. Yay! Another fine fall in front of a coach, about my seventh in the last couple of years. The good news here: I only seem to fall in front of coaches, so there's always somebody to pull me up again. And yes, mom, I'm okay. =)

Bruised ego and shoulder couldn't stop me, though! Laura and I completed the ride. Which brings me to the promised Garmin graphs. For your perusal, I uploaded both to Garmin Connect and to Strava. I haven't decided which I like better yet. Does anyone have any opinions? Which do you think I should link to going forward? Do you love more data? Less data? Let me know!

Garmin Connect:

Strava:

Okay, that's all for now! I'll update more soon, check back at least weekly to come along for the ride!

- Beth