Cycling in June

261.732 Miles June was a great month and I squeezed in as much cycling as possible in between traveling and the rain that just kept on coming!

100 Miles of Nowhere: On the first Thursday of summer vacation, I joined Team Fatty in the 100 Miles of Nowhere.  The idea of the 100 Miles of Nowhere is this: ride 100 miles on the shortest course you can come up with.  The registration fee went to LiveStrong, so it was an obvious yes for me.  Besides last year I took first place in the "32 Year Old Teacher/Writer Cycling In My Living Room In Redding" category last year.  How could I not come back for a second year?
I chose a relatively flat three-mile section of the river trail and I rode it out and back 17 times.  It was as much of an exercise in mental fortitude as it was in physical strength.  But that's kind of the point because when I think of my loved ones who have battled cancer, without exception they have all had mental strength in quantities I can only dream of.

So early that morning I set out in the good company of That Laura and our friend Mike.  I'm a pretty lucky girl to have friends who will do these crazy things with me.  The first few laps were boring, so boring that I wondered if I was going to make it.  Then I popped in a book I'd downloaded and I'm telling you, I think that's the secret of riding long distances.  The miles flew by and I was happy as a clam.

Until I crashed.  Wait, can you call it a crash if you just sort of fell over?  Probably not.  Anyway, I was having a great time until I fell over.  About 65 miles in, I was making the turn around on the out and back and turned too tightly and didn't clip out of my pedals in time.  I turtled myself and was relieved to see that nobody was around to see my graceful move.  I hopped back up with a bruised tush and a slightly more bruised ego and finished up the ride.  And wouldn't you know it, I took center podium in the "33 Year Old Teacher Who Only Fell Over Once" category.

20 Donors With a month left until my big ride, I'd like to say thanks to Adam & Suzy C., Anita J., Betty C., Chris F., Christine W., Heather F., Janice L., John P., Joy G., Kathy V., Katie L., Kelly B., Krystle J., Laura G., Lynn J., Marie P., Nick W., Sue H., and Tracy H. for donating to the LiveStrong Foundation on my behalf.  You've donated $660 on my behalf and I'm touched by your generosity.  Take this message that was painted on the River Trail to heart because you've done a beautiful thing this year by donating to LiveStrong.

$340 to Reach My Goal  If you'd like to make a donation on my behalf to help fund cancer research and treatment, please click here.  There are only 8 more days until my big ride in Davis, so if you've been waiting to donate, now's the time.  It's my honor to ride in support of and in memory of your loved ones.

I look forward to telling you all about my big ride later this month!

Fondly,

Alicia

30 Days of Celebration: Day 5, Gracefulness Or Lack Thereof

[caption id="attachment_4201" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="It's appropriate that my number ended in 57 because I was Heinz 57 slow."][/caption]

Yesterday was my 100 Miles of Nowhere ride, which is exactly what it sounds like.  I rode 100 miles without really going anywhere.  Specifically I rode a 3 mile section of the river trail out and back and out and back and out and back and out and back some more until my odometer showed 100 miles.

[caption id="attachment_4203" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="A teensy snack to tide me over."][/caption]

The night before the ride I packed a small snack for the ride.  1 full-sized Clif bar, 4 mini Clif bars, 2 PB&J half sandwiches, 1 baggie of almonds, 1 pack of Shot Bloks, 1 banana and 1 baggie of Mike & Ike's and Sour Patch Kids.  Along the ride I ate everything except the full-sized Clif bar and the almonds.  Although I didn't eat the candy until I was finished, sort of like my little trophy for completing surviving the ride.

At the river trail, I met up with That Laura and our other friend, Mike.  Laura and Mike weren't registered for the 100 MoN, they just came out to ride with me because they're cool like that.  Mike gets extra cool points because he brought a chest full of ice for our water bottles and later his mom showed up with cold watermelon.

Most of my conversations with Laura prior to the ride went something like this:

Me: "This may just be the worst idea we've ever had."

Laura: "Yep.  So do you want to start at 6 or 6:30?"

Me: "Seriously, this might just be the dumbest thing we've ever done."

Laura: "Probably.  I'll meet you at the trail at 6."

Me: "To the pain."

[caption id="attachment_4205" align="alignright" width="271" caption="To the pain!"][/caption]

Laura and I rolled out about 6:05 with Mike following shortly thereafter.  The trail was beautiful and mostly empty in the cool of the morning.  We rode the first few laps together and then separated as we settled into our own rhythms.  On one of the early out and backs, Laura and I saw two bucks bounce across the trail.  Later on I also saw 2 king snakes stretched out across the trail, soaking up the sun.  I was less excited about the snakes and each time I rode by one I looked them in the eye and in a voice that wasn't wavering at all, I'm sure, I pleaded "Don't bite me, don't bite me, don't bite me."

I'd wisely purchased a book to listen to and a handful of laps in I started Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees.  Don't tell me how it ends because I'm not finished yet.  So there I was happily pedaling along, listening to my book and stopping for snacks every now and then.  Before I knew it, I'd already ridden 50 miles.

At around mile 55 the wind started to pick up and didn't quit until mile 80.  This meant that heading out was into the wind, but heading back was followed by a blessed tailwind.

I should take a minute to say that at one end of the trail, there's a spacious parking lot in which to turn around.  At the other end, I had to make a tight turn around on the trail itself.  I'm laughably bad at turns and so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to practice, since I'd be encountering that turn 17 times.  And this is how at mile 61 I wound up sprawled out on the trail.  I entered the turn and started to topple over, only getting my inside foot unclipped after it was too late.  I landed hard and bruised my...bruised my, well, let's just say I bruised my ego pretty badly.  I scrambled up and looked around.  Much to my delight nobody else was around to see my display of gracefulness.

At mile 80, my friend Abby showed up to ride a handful of miles.  Mike and Laura had peeled off to ride other portions of the trail and I was getting tired of my book, so I was really glad to see Abby.  We rode out and back, chatting and just having a good time.  Abby's timing was impeccable because when she hopped off her bike to run the trail a little bit, I only had 14 miles to go.  14 miles is nothing!  My legs were tired, but I could feel the finish coming.  I started up my book again and pedaled the last few miles.

[caption id="attachment_4206" align="alignleft" width="216" caption="All done!"][/caption]

At the end I was pretty tired, but pretty happy to have completed 100 miles.  I even finished about an hour sooner than I'd anticipated.  That never happens.

Laura and Abby cheered me on at the finish line.  As we sat in the back of her car, eating candy and waiting for Mike to finish, I couldn't help but think it had been a great day to ride for a great cause.

So I'm celebrating two things today, the first being that I'm able to walk today with only a slight pain from making an asphalt angel yesterday.  Secondly, I'm celebrating my amazing friends who do some really nutty things with me.  This graffiti I saw on the river trail best sums up my feelings about my friends:

30 Days of Celebration: Day 4

Today I'm celebrating doing crazy things for worthy causes.  I'm not a scientist who can research a cure for cancer or a doctor who can help cancer patients navigate through treatment.  What I can do is ride my bike and raise money for cancer research and treatment in a creative, if not a little bit insane way.

Right this very second I'm riding a 3 mile stretch of the river trail over and over again until my odometer hits 100 miles.  That's right it's the 100 Miles of Nowhere!  100% of my registration fee went to LiveStrong and I'm still collecting donations for my LiveStrong ride in Davis.  Maybe you're not a scientist or a doctor or a cyclist, but you can be a part of fighting cancer, too, by donating to my LiveStrong page.

Or maybe you have some other talent and some other cause.  Maybe you're a marathoner and want to Race for the Cure.  Maybe you thought you were a marathoner, but it turns out you just don't get that whole "runner's high" thing.  Frankly, I'm with you.  Why not take those slightly worn shoes and give them to Soles for Souls?  Shoot, maybe your only talent is that your hair grows really fast.  Go on, grow your hair for Locks of Love.

Me?  I'm going to keep riding because every time I do something for someone else, it makes the world feel a little bit smaller.  And that makes riding 100 miles worth every pedal stroke.  I leave you with these words of encouragement from a fellow cyclist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaIvk1cSyG8

Now, get out there, get creative and get involved!  I promise it will make you feel happy of yourself.

Cycling in May

Dear friends and family,

May was an incredible month to cycle in Redding.  Cooler temperatures gave us a real Spring this year and on days when the rain let up, I hopped in the saddle and pedaled my heart out.

411 miles

I've never ridden 400 miles in a month before and it was a fun goal to chase after this month.  From riding in my living room to climbing up to Shasta Dam to turning the cranks up to Shingletown, every circle of the pedals inched me closer to my goal.

1 Butterfly Kiss

On the first of May, I found myself riding out in Whitmore, enjoying the cattle ranches and volcanic rock fields that pepper the landscape.  I was riding along, pondering important things like world peace and ice cream, when a butterfly twittered on the breeze in front of me.  You may recall the Kamikaze butterfly that hurled itself into my helmet last month.  This time I was prepared.  I kept a careful eye on this beautiful creature, being careful to give it plenty of space to my right.  Just as I was coming up next to it, this butterfly launched a surprise attack and flew right up between my eye and the lens of my glasses.  Being trapped in between my eyeball and my glasses made this butterfly a bit hostile.  It was flapping and flitting and causing a big commotion.  Meanwhile I was flapping and flitting and causing a big commotion as I tried to rip my glasses off and stay upright at the same time.  As soon as I tore my glasses off, the butterfly winged away, leaving me shaking my head at this aggressive interpretation of a butterfly kiss.

1 Rescue

When my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer my little brother, Pete, felt called to join Team Fat Cyclist and raise money for LiveStrong by riding a century.  His generous friends and family emptied their pockets and Pete started joining me on rides.  His century ride was at the beginning of the month and I simply couldn't let him have all the fun, so I rode with him.

Well, I rode with him until we were climbing up to Shasta Dam he said "Something's wrong with your back tire."  Those are not my favorite words to hear.  Our step-dad, Chris, a remarkable photographer and graphic designer, snapped pictures of us up to the Dam.  Yes, I travel with my own paparazzi because I am a Very Important Cyclist.  Okay, maybe just an Important Cyclist.  Uh, maybe just a Cyclist.  Anyway, back to the story.  It turns out that what Pete meant by "something's wrong" was that my rear tire was so worn it split wide open, making it quite unsafe to ride on.

Enter Chris, my awesome paparazzi.  He popped my bike in the car and hustled me down to my favorite bike shop while Pete continued on.  We got there just before the bike shop opened and Chris plunked down the cash for new tires and then shuttled me out to where Peter was riding.  Chris gets the hero of the day award because Pete and I had a fantastic time together and seeing my brother cross the finish line of his first century made me so very proud.

100 Miles of Nowhere

 

It's no secret that I feel passionately about raising money for cancer research and so a week after I rode with Pete, I rode  The 100 Miles of Nowhere.  100% of the entry fee went to LiveStrong for Team Fat Cyclist.  All sorts of companies donated cool swag like t-shirts and seat packs and books and water bottles and lions and tigers and bears, oh my.  On a Saturday afternoon, 3 of us gathered in my living room, mounted our bikes on trainers, popped in a movie and went nowhere fast.

Conditions were excellent in my living room.  It turns out my living room is all downhill and the only wind came from the ceiling fan above us.  My mom came and cheered us on and fixed us snacks.  I'm proud to say that my time (3 hours and 6 minutes) made me the clear first place winner of the "32 Year Old Teacher/Writer Cycling In My Living Room In Redding" category.  It matters little to me that I was the only racer in that particular category.

1 Big Climb

 

I love riding around Redding because there are roads I know like the back of my hand, roads that are filled with history, and the Anderson metric century is a ride filled with these kinds of places.  It has the stretch of road where I tried a new sports drink and had a reversal of fortune in front of hordes of itty bitty soccer players.  It has the road wherein I discovered Creamsicle scented sunscreen attracts scads of flies.  It also has an incredibly steep climb.  I have faced this climb before.  And lost.  The last time I attempted this climb, I had pneumonia and a broken toe and I alternated between walking and riding, depending on which hurt my toe less at that particular moment.  This year I was determined to beat that climb, to take down Goliath.  Everything was working in my favor that day.  I'd applied regular smelling sunscreen, filled my bottles with water, and I wasn't fighting any illnesses.  Even the weather was a surprisingly cool 80 degrees.  I was having the ride of my life when I turned the corner, dropped into my lowest gear and started to climb.  I pedaled and breathed regularly all the way to the top of the hill.  I grinned as I rode through the pine trees and into the rest area to wait for a friend.  Several minutes passed and she did not show up.  Many more minutes passed and she did not arrive.  She was out of water and in need of a little help.  I filled my bottles with cold water and turned around, riding back down the hill until I found her.  After a lot of water and a banana, she was good to go.  We saddled up and then I faced the steep hill for the second time, a little unsure if I could do it twice in a row.  I tucked my head down and my strong legs and steady heart carried me to the crest again, and let me tell you, my teeth hurt from smiling so much.  Twice!  I'd ridden the hill twice!  As I coasted through the pine trees I thought about how blessed I am to be healthy, to have a heart that keeps time as I pedal through the beauty that rises up to meet me on each every ride.  Some days are perfect and I will always remember this as one of those days.

$828 donated so far

Thank you Amy H., Andrea H., Anita J., Betty C., Chris F., Christine W., Dale M., Diana P., Hayley L., Heather F., Jill S., John, P., Katie G., Katie L., MaryKay S., Patti L., Sallie C., Sara S., Stacey R., and Tracy H.  I appreciate your support and generosity.

$1,172 until I reach my goal

If you'd like to make a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation on my behalf, please go to: http://sanjose2010.livestrong.org/aliciamccauley.  You can donate in memory of a loved one's life cut short by cancer or in support of a loved one who is battling cancer now.  I look forward to sharing my June cycling adventures with you soon!

Fondly,

Alicia