Sunday, January 9, 2011

New Year, old resolutions

Part of the 2008 Team in Training Death Ride Team

Wow, it's been a long time since I last updated this - 18 months! Obviously, I'm not the best blogger in the world. Ok, resolution #1 - keep this thing updated at least every couple of weeks.

Resolution #2 is a familiar one - do the Death Ride with Team in Training. Yup, returning for another go at a really tough one day ride. This time around, I'll be an assistant coach. I guess the idea is that I've been through every kind of difficulty on this ride, so I should be able to help the participants through pretty much anything. More info on this ride is here: http://www.deathride.com/


Make your own Countdown Clocks

For anyone not familiar with Team in Training, they are a fund-raising arm of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, raising money that directly benefits patients and also helps fund research. Training programs and coaching is provided to enable beginner and experienced endurance athletes get ready for their events. More information can be found here.

I'll be putting my fund raising page up shortly, and will post the link soon. If anyone is interested in riding with us or maybe doing the Tahoe Century or Seattle to Portland rides, information meeting are happening throughout January. Our season starts up in February, and the training works. In my first year, I went from not working out or riding for 15 years to being in shape for the Death Ride in 6 months. The success rate of TnT participants is phenomenal - in general, a much higher percentage of TnT participants finish events than the overall average.

There will also be hiking, marathon and triathlon teams forming up. I'll be at information meetings on 1/19 at the Orinda Community Center and 1/20 at the Pleasant Hill Community Center. Both will start at 6:30 - come out and say hello and find out more! If you can't make those, there are other meetings happening all month - check out the TnT website for more information.

On a 2008 training ride with Michelle S.

I'll be dedicating this season to a Team in Training teammate from the 2008 Death Ride team - Michelle S. Michelle completed all 5 passes in her first try and is a great teammate. However, Michelle was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and is undergoing treatment. Michelle is always positive and a true fighter - she'll provide the kind of inspiration I'll need as we train on some of the toughest hills in the Bay Area. All the best wishes to Michelle as she continues her battle.

2008 TnT Death Ride Teammates
Michelle S. is on the right

Michelle is obviously a very special person, and I'll be proud to be riding for her this year. I'd also like to remember a couple of other very special people who are no longer with us. The first is Shira, a teammate from my 2nd Team in Training season, who died of complications related to the treatment of her leukemia last year. The other is Mary Buckley, my brother Matt's deceased wife. All will be close to my heart as I train with the team this year.

Resolution #3 - some of you (if anyone is actually reading this after the long break in posts!) may remember that I was getting ready to try my first double century, in Death Valley, back in 2009. That didn't go so well, as the desert conditions got to me and I suffered from cramps in my legs and only did 145 miles. However, I did the Solvang Double last spring and really enjoyed it so I'll go back and try another one this year. I'm thinking about the Central Coast Double, based out of Paso Robles wine country (anyone remember that movie Sideways?). If that goes well, I'll do a couple of more in the fall to get my triple crown (I wanted to last year, but since I was out of work spending the money to do these rides just didn't seem so smart!).

So, for anyone who actually reads this, please consider donating at my fundraising webpage!

JB