I need your help!

Help me reach my fundraising goals:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/solvFnst08/jhornbeck


Thank you all for the prayers and support!

Cycling makes you pretty

Thanks for the photos, Crawdaddy! Thanks for the riding together. Sorry I got grumpy about the green light--crankopotomus musta bit.

Deception

So, last week I mentioned that the 40 mile ride turned out to be 50?

This week the "buddy ride" was listed as 40 miles on the team calendar, with ride-out from Sports Basement in the Presidio. I rode over to SB in 15 minutes, got to the parking lot at 8 am sharp. No cyclists. Runners, but no cyclists. Called Sarah--oh, we're meeting at Mike's Bike's in Sausalito. I had half and hour to get over there. It was foggy and beautiful on the bridge and most tourists weren't out yet, so it was a smooth ride, but I was pushing hard to get there quickly, instead of warming up.

I rode with Sarah, Kieran and Molly to catch up with them, laugh and enjoy the scenery. They appreciated the Team Virgin jersey in all its glory! It was a beautiful ride into Fairfax, Lagunitas, and Samuel P Taylor (by accident). There were a few good climbs in there. Riding a little slower than you're used to has a bit of a disadvantage: more time in the saddle.






Even with my new saddle, this does not feel good. But we made it back to Mike's and they headed home in their cars. I rode on the 10 miles through the gauntlet of Sausalito tourists (it's truly frightening), up the hill, over the bridge, through the Presidio and into home--60 miles.

Last week I put in about 110 miles. This week only about 80. Shooting for a hundred this week, even with missing the team ride on Saturday.

Now, it's time to rest up for 5 baptisms and a youth bonfire tomorrow evening.

Pt Reyes

The schedule said Pt. Reyes, 40 miles.

The reality: Pt. Reyes, 50 miles. Yes, that's 25% more! But I can't complain.





I need your support! http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/solvFnst08/jhornbeck

Training in Teams

Thank you all for your support in my training for the Solvang Century through Team in Training.

How's it going?

This training season kicked off with a bumpy start: some great rides, then a trip to Colorado with no riding, back in time to ride out before getting a cold. I continued training with the cold, until I pushed it too far on a training ride and needed to recoup.

We're back on track, though. Training for time has added components of improving my time in the saddle. This includes making sure to get on the bike every other day, using a heart rate monitor to track my exertion and improve lactic acid flushing. There's a huge ego component of this training--people getting competitive with each other, putting added expectations and it's far more enjoyable when I ignore all of that and just enjoy the ride and celebrate the little victories: feeling healthy and strong at the end of a ride, getting out of the saddle sooner, being able to talk and tell stories, sing and encourage others.

Cycling comes fairly naturally to me. I love it. And it's easy to get lazy. Training for time has added a new challenge to commit to being on the bike and making training a priority.

We can't take being healthy for granted. Riding in honor of the father of a six year old, of the three year receiving chemo treatments, riding in hopes of our children not knowing the heart-rending pain of losing loved ones to these diseases makes every spin worth while. Thank you for your support. I'll be updating here regularly.