January 2010 – Month One of Marathon Training and Rides with Friends
Hello and Happy New Year Friends!
This month has been a change of pace for training, as I’m now switching gears not for a cycling event, but for a new focus: The Rock n’ Roll Marathon in June 2010!
In the previous months, the training had a 60:40 ratio of cycling to running, but with the months approaching, I have to set my game plan on tackling the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced, running 26.2 miles! So my new regimen is now more running focused, and the ratio has changed to 80:20 running to cycling.
While I definitely miss riding my bike as I only get a chance to ride either the Bailey or the Hi Fi once or twice a week, I know that I have to focus on the challenge ahead. So here’s my new schedule:
January 2010 – Mon/2-3 mile run; Tuesday/weight training; Wednesday/6 mile run; Thurs/Rest; Friday/16 mile run; Sat-Sun/Riding
February 2010 – Mon/3-4 mile run; Tuesday/weight training; Wednesday/7 mile run; Thurs/Rest; Friday/18 mile run; Sat-Sun/Riding
March 2010 – Mon/3-5 mile run; Tuesday/weight training; Wednesday/8 mile run; Thurs/Rest; Friday/20 mile run; Sat-Sun/Riding
April 2010 – Mon/3-5 mile run; Tuesday/weight training; Wednesday/8 mile run; Thurs/Rest; Friday/22 mile run; Sat-Sun/Riding
June 2010 – Mon/3-5 mile run; Tuesday/weight training; Wednesday/8 mile run; Thurs/Rest; Friday/18-20 mile run; Sat-Sun/Riding
I hope that my gameplan works well and I don’t burn out, and at the same time know that I’ve done enough to prepare myself for the long battle in June! I’ll tell you one thing about running. It’s perhaps the most miserable of endurance sports. On my long days, I leave my house with iPod, fuel belt, and running shoes and pound my feet into the concrete for 8 miles from Ocean View Hills all the way to the end of the Imperial Beach Pier and 8 miles back again in just under 3 hours. Have I seen any cool sites? Not really. Have I stopped to take a photo or two? Nope. Have I met some interesting people along the way? Maybe a couple of weirdos in I.B. But in and of itself, its not as social, scenic or fun as cycling. But it’s only until June:) Just as my buddy Mark Estrada and I agreed — after June, we’ll never have to run 26.2 miles again!
So what about the riding? Had a couple of great rides this month with some new friends and some old friends. 
Earlier this month, I had a chance to ride with the XX1090 riders, Qualcomm riders and the Church of Cycling for a QMDC Reunion Ride, which was an absolute blast. Riding alongside the friends I’ve made from June 2009 all the way to our amazing trip down the coast from San Francisco was a once in a lifetime experience, but more so rewarding when they become friends you keep well after the trip is over. We rode from our old stomping grounds of Solana Beach all the way to Del Dios Highway and back again. Big smiles all around, just they way it should be.
Mid January, I had a chance to ride with Mark Estrada, Edson Bandoy and newcomer Sam Magtanong on a loop from Poway to Del Mar and back around San Dieguito. Riding out with these fellas was a lot of fun and we’re all keeping the mileage up in preparation for the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure coming up again this April. Team Follow will be returning the same riders as last year along with new goals for fundraising to find a cure for diabetes. Along with the previous riders, we’ll be joined by a bunch of
new faces that we’re happy to have on the team. As a side note, Sam Magtanong did a great job hanging with speedsters like Estrada and Edson and his great cardio that he’s gained through torturous seasons of wrestling from RB High to Syracuse and military training definitely showed in his “no quit” attitude! Now all he needs is a pair of road shoes and road pedals so he can stop using his mountain shoes on his $2000 S-Works Tarmac:)
Had a great opportunity yesterday to ride out with the SWK Riders from here in the Chula Vista area along with the Mira Mesa Cycling Club on a 50 miler from Telegraph Canyon, up Honey Springs to Jamul and back. With about 30 riders there, I had an awesome opportunity to meet some new faces and ride alongside some great riders. My cousin Eugene and I took to the front as we usually do, trying to set the pace before the mountains, but as it usually goes, we always seem to fall into our own trap as taking too many pulls up front doesn’t leave a lot in the tank for the climb:) Luckily for me, I went into yesterday’s ride fresh off running a 16 miler
(with a hangover) the day before, so my legs felt pretty awesome already.
Among some of the folks I got to ride with yesterday, I had a chance to ride with Ron Evangelista and Dan Layson, who I always enjoy riding with. These two guys are training for the Gran Fondo coming up around the 
corner and are the kind of riders, where no matter how fast you think you’re going, or how great of a climbing day you have, they’re always right on your rear tire the entire way. Along with them, I met a beast of a rider named Curt Josh, who I found out lives just down the street from me. The dude’s a stud athlete and an officer in the Army, and riding alongside and getting to know this guy who’s going to be leading his Infantry Division in Afganistan in a couple months was a great experience. A big congratulations goes out to him and his wife who are expecting their first child in a couple of months!
Overall, it was a great month in the books, and had it not been for the Chargers sad defeat at the hands of USC alumni and “The Most Interesting Man in the World” Mark Sanchez, it could’ve very well been the Chargers against the Saints, pitting a plethora of storylines from Rivers vs. Brees to LT vs. Reggie Bush, but I suppose that’ll be a story for another time. Thanks again to Nate Kaeding for yet again being the most automatic kicker throughout the NFL regular season, but missing the uprights in the post season. Ughh. Another gut-wrenching way to end a Chargers season:(
Until then friends, have a great weekend, a safe February 2010, enjoy Valentines Day with your special someone, and keep on riding, keep on running and keep on pushing towards your next goal!
-BB
December 2009 – BACK TO ACTION!
Hello friends!
Well, the hand, shoulder, hip and pride are healed and I was back on the bike a week after the crash, all bandaged up but happy to get back on the bike! The very first ride after an accident is always a bit sketchy, especially when going at faster speeds — I could feel my feet wobble a bit at the pedals. The nerves didn’t last too long, however, and after a good 20 miles, my body felt like it was back to normal!
Discovered a new ride to add to my weekly venture, a ride that begins in Eastlake and heads eastbound towards the 5, heads north to the 54, eastbound to Bonita and from Bonita through National City and Eastlake, goes through 5 wicked climbs in less than 12 miles. Its one of those rides where you can wake up at 7 in the morning, get a good strong ride in and be back at your house by 1000. Love it.
I’ve made the decision to take the plunge and finally put something to rest that I’ve been thinking about for a long time since the AFC Half-Marathon back in August 2009 — and sign up for the Rock n’ Roll Marathon scheduled for June 2010. I am a bit nervous about the run as 26.2 miles is going to be quite the painful ordeal, and the training to get there will be rough, but I’m excited for the challenge and from all my riding buds who do double duty as runners including a number of great friends made from the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge, I’ll have a great amount of people who can give me great advice on my training over the next 6 months.
This winter, my wife Becky and I had a chance to head out to visit her family in Minnesota, which was a fantastic experience, getting to spend time with her family, who for the record, makes the best food, from prime rib, to lasagna, to homemade desserts that only the Midwest can offer. While I gained a hearty 7 lbs from the great experience, it would’ve been so much more had it not been for the snowshoeing I did with my sister-in-law Missy and her husband Scott and putting in time at my dad-in-law’s great home gym which allowed me to pop in 14 miles on the treadmill! And for the record, snowshoeing really is like cycling and it uses almost all of the same muscles and cardiovascular movements to hammer up hills and spin on the flats by taking short quick steps. It’s the perfect cross training for folks who don’t live in ideal cycling weather like us spoiled San Diegans!
I hope everyone has a great new year and I hope you take the opportunity to get back in the saddle, lace up the running shoes, hit the gym or pull out the yoga mat and burn off all those calories you gained over the holidays! Nothing brings balance like burning muscles and clearing your mind of all of the stress and challenges that we face everyday.
If you want to set some goals for future races/rides both on and off the saddle, now is the time to start training and put your goals in motion!
Gran Fondo Century Ride – 3/7/2010 – http://granfondosandiego.com/
American Diabetes Association – Tour de Cure – 4/17/2010 – http://tour.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC551018030?pg=entry&fr_id=6800
La Jolla Half Marathon – 4/25/2010 – http://www.lajollahalfmarathon.com/events/events5e3a.htm
Rock n’ Roll Marathon San Diego – 6/6/2010 – http://san-diego.competitor.com/
Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge – 10/17/10 – 10/23/10 – http://www.challengedathletes.org/news/events.htm
Happy New Year everyone and thanks for all of the great feedback along the way!
Also, as a huge San Diego Chargers fan, I speak for a bunch of San Diegans in showing both my excitement and support in the Bolts comeback from a 2-3 season record back in October, to finishing at an amazing 13-3 with an 11 game win streak heading into the playoffs!
As yours truly finally won his very first Fantasy Football Championship in 6 years, I’m hoping the “happy karma” can spread to my Chargers.
Hopefully this is our year to go all the way and bring home a championship! GO CHARGERS!
-BB
11/27/09 – Bike Crash on Way Home from Work:(
Good morning friends,
Yesterday marks the first time I’ve taken a fall on my road bike. Mountain biking? That happens fairly frequently due to the uneven terrain, rock gardens, roots and just plain old tricky handling. But road biking? Usually, one can see everything that comes into your path from quite a ways away. Yesterday, however, was not the case!
The thing that everyone who has experienced an accident says, including my friend and XX1090 teammate, Alex Hamlow, is that when it happens, it comes out of nowhere, almost in a flash, and next thing you know, you’re on the ground assessing the damage. If you remember correctly, Alex has experienced a number of crashes throughout his excellent cycling career, but experienced a bad crash when his front tire blew out while he was flying down Palomar Mountain and was brought to the nearby emergency room with a broken collarbone.
I was on my way home from work in Downtown San Diego, just passing the 32nd Street Naval Base and heading south towards the Marina in Chula Vista when I grabbed my waterbottle and took my hands off the handlebars to stretch my lower back. I was thinking about what I wanted to eat for dinner with my wife. Earlier in the morning, I mentioned to Becky that I wanted Vietnamese food for dinner and, as many cyclists do, we obsess over what we’re having for dinner during our rides. Laying off the handlebars to stretch my back wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. It was something I did every so often, but this time was the wrong time to let go of my handlebars!
All of a sudden, a pothole came out of nowhere and I went flying over the handlebars at 16 mph! Next thing I know, I slammed down on the asphalt and my bike went flying into some nearby brush. After bouncing off the ground, I found myself skidding across the street on my left shoulder and head until I came to a stop.
As curiously humorous as it is, all I could think about was, “Is my bike okay?” I got my sorry butt off the ground and limped over to my bike to assess the damage. Luckily, no damage, just a couple of scuffs and a front wheel that needs a minor truing. Things could’ve been worse, as carbon bikes are a tricky material. Unlike aluminum, titanium or especially steel, carbon fiber is more brittle and though extremely lightweight is also prone to “hairline fractures” and could be dangerous to ride on after a crash. Luckily for me, it wasn’t that bad of a crash and the Bailey is fine!
After my assessment of the bike, I made an assessment of my injuries. Starting from my head, I took a look at my helmet, checked my skull,
face, neck and went down the line. While my left shoulder and hip were absolutely burning from skidding on the street, I knew nothing was broken as I had full mobility of all of my joints including my hip and shoulder. The majority of my bleeding was coming from my hands as I used them to break my fall and had pretty good sized cuts on my hands and my left hand was pretty swollen.
I tried to get back on my bike and ride for another couple feet until I decided to call it a day and called my wife to come and pick me up. Becky was amazing, getting me in the car, the bike in the trunk and helped me with my cuts and road rash after I got out of the shower.
Needless to say, I never got my Vietnamese food, thanks to my stupidity!
So, word of advice for the day, don’t take both of your hands off your handlebars unless you’re certain there’s no holes or bumps on the road and immediately put your hands (or at least one hand) back on the bars. In addition, never take your eyes off the road, as you never know what’s on the road in front of you. Basically stated, use common sense when riding and don’t be a moron like me!
See you in a couple weeks when I get back in the saddle!
-BB
11/11 through 11/14/09 – Lion’s Valley and Laguna/Cuyamaca Rides!
Good afternoon friends,
Today has left me ill from the effects of the change of weather, germies spread from the sick kids at my wife’s work, a ride in 40 degree weather, and probably just plain old exhaustion. Slept about 6 hours today, but still feel pretty sluggish. And NO, it’s not the Swine Flu:)
Last week was a fun week with some great rides. On Wednesday, since many of us “govies” (Government Employees), had the day off for Veteran’s Day, we decided to take on the Lion’s Valley Ride in the Jamul area. This is a 45 mile loop and is an extension of the Honey Springs Ride where we take off from the Eastlake area, head east on Otay Lakes towards Jamul, make a right up the grueling climb of Honey Springs Road, then turn off to Lion’s Valley towards the Filippi’s at the top of the hill and loop back around again. 
Wednesday’s ride had Cardio-freak turned road biker Mark Estrada, Pat Moneda in his first road ride back from hiatus due to hardcore studying for an Engineering exam, and 
Mr. Alpe d’Huez himself, Ben Herrera joining in for the fun.
One of the best parts about Wednesday’s rides was the Lion’s Valley portion, where after a couple of rollers through the Jamul area, we got to take on some wicked downhill descents where we reached speeds of over 45 mph!
Now, here’s a lesson for the day for all of you readers from highly experienced road and mountain bikers to newbies just enjoying the weekend rides — ALWAYS MONITOR YOUR EQUIPMENT BEFORE RIDING AND IF ANYTHING NEEDS REPLACING, REPLACE IMMEDIATELY. So you might wonder what happened that sparked this issue?
On a part of the descent through Lion’s Valley where the switchbacks have you leaning as much as a 45 degree angle through some of the turns, I was leaning heavy into one of the left turns when I heard a loud POP and my right foot came flying off the pedal at 30 mph kicking my chain off! My buddy Pat behind me said he froze as my whole bike wobbled as I had to regain my balance with oncoming traffic flying by on the other side of this two lane road. What was the problem? I had a worn down cleat for my Look Keo pedals that needed replacing, but stupid me, I decided that I could switch the left cleat to the right foot and vice versa and buy myself “one more ride” before heading to the bike shop to pick up replacement cleats. When I pulled off to a safe spot on the road, I examined the cleat and the entire front portion of the cleat broke off. So, essentially, I could only pull up on my left pedal for the rest of the 15 miles of riding we had to do to finish up the ride. Not so much fun.
On Saturday morning, Pat, Ben and I ventured out for a 50 mile ride through the Laguna/Cuyamaca area. This ride went through portions of the previous QMDC – Pine Valley training ride that we did a couple of months ago. Tons of climbing. This was a brutal ride, but absolutely beautiful as it went though the mountains of Laguna and Cuyamaca leaving you with some breathtaking views that one normally doesn’t see on rides through the North County.
Saturday’s ride was completely different from the Pine Valley ride not only on the route that we took (we didn’t go through Cleveland National Forest), but was drastically different in terms of weather. Prior to the Pine Valley ride, all of the riders were given notice to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate throughout the week because of the high temperatures on this ride due to the sweltering heat that the valley portions had awaiting us. Saturday? Completely the opposite. When we
started the ride, it was about 40 degrees and was completely miserable. Armwarmers, knee warmers, high socks, Nike dri-fit underneath the jersey and wind vest were no match for these conditions.
Oh yeah? And remember how I hate wearing gloves on road rides? The Laguna/Cuyamaca ride was definitely my breaking point. Which brings us to the second tip for the day:
DON’T BE A MORON: Because of the fact that on the coldest of cold days on the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge when our brave Qualcomm riders and Challenged Athletes rode through the mountains of Big Sur, I shed my gloves off after the first five minutes of climbing, I made the idiotic decision that I never have to bring my gloves on any of the rides from here on out. WRONG. After the first descent of Saturday’s ride, my fingers weren’t only numb, but I could hardly clinch my hands on my brake levers making it not only hard, but painful to use my hands because they were frozen. Luckily for me, I have a great support crew, and my buddy Ben, the surly veteran he is, had an extra pair of gloves that he gave me only after my hardheaded will was broken and gave in to using gloves. It turned out that I had to wear them for the entire ride just to defrost my frozen fingers!
Overall, we had a great day. The cleats were replaced and we had an awesome time climbing through some great ascents up Cuyamaca and through the Pine Valley area and also got to enjoy some fun descents on the way back around. The winds were also quite a factor around Lake Cuyamaca and we definitely had to stay close through portions of the ride where we felt like we were pedaling a 19 mph pace, but were only going 12! After the ride, we were all happy to pack up, and jump back into Pat’s truck where we could enjoy the heater on our way back home.
NUTS AND BOLTS:
As a quick update to some other things off the bike, my wife and I celebrated our 2nd year wedding anniversary on 11/9/09 and we had a great time as we headed out to Mister A’s in downtown for a delicious lunch followed by a gondola ride through the Coronado Cays for a lovely day!
Last week I had a chance to check out an awesome movie that is only playing at select theaters at select times and documents the amazing feat for your hero and mine, Lance Armstrong who recently won what is perhaps the most grueling mountain bike ride in North America that takes place every year called the Leadville 100 – RACE ACROSS THE SKY. If you get a chance, definitely check this one out. It was so worth my $12.50 for a ticket and $15 for popcorn and a soda! Check it out at www.raceacrossthesky.com
One last thing, if you didn’t notice from the pics from the Laguna Ride, the Bailey got a facelift last week as the new Ksryrium ES wheelset came in! Not only are they gorgeous with their shiny red anodized hubs and single red spoke, but they’re absolutely “zippy” on the road as well. Maybe it’s the close to half pound difference in weight from my previous wheelset, or the shaved portions on the rims between each spoke, but these wheels made for some fun climbing on Saturday. I’m just happy the missus wrote it off as “YOUR ANNIVERSARY PRESENT” and didn’t give me too much grief for a new wheelset:)
Have a great week everybody and its back to bed for this guy.
-BB
11-6 through 11-7-09 – Around My Neck of the Woods
Good evening friends!
This weekend has been a blast for riding. While it was awesome to get in a bunch of great rides up around the North County for the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge training rides, there’s something comforting to revisit my favorite rides close to home. On Friday, I had a chance to ride out with one of my favorite riding partners, my cousin Eugene Brillo. Friday’s ride took us to Eastlake and started us on a fun 40 miler from the Trek Store in Eastlake all the way to Jamul and into the mouth of the dragon, a 2500 foot climb up Honey Springs.
Here’s a bit of history about the Honey Springs ride. This ride, for a very long time, was THE ride that I absolutely hated with a passion. For years, every time I took on this ride with my riding buds, it destroyed me. What’s more, is that because I couldn’t hang on the wheel with my buds, I constantly found myself emptying my tank just to catch up with them on the 15 miles of flats to get to the start of the climb only to be completely drained to the point of puking by the time the climb actually started. For this reason, I avoided doing this ride at all costs.
But this has been a great year. With a stranglehold on my diet, exercise at a priority, 6 
months of excellent training and coaching from the QMDC, wonderful experience at hitting some of the hardest climbs that not only San Diego, but California has to offer, and 40 lbs of weight lost, I’ve gained a newfound love for climbing and was excited to see how I’d do against this formidable Honey Springs opponent.
Here’s what I always enjoy about riding with Eugene. He and I took on cycling together over 5 years ago and we never looked back. In fact, he loved it so much, he got a job at Performance Bike, where he still works today. In fact, while we both started out with mountain riding, he was the one who took the plunge into road biking and eventually got me into it. Something great about Eugene is there is absolutely no quit in him. He’s a stud rider and has an unending willingness to push himself through an entire ride. Flats, climbs and descents, he gives 100% all of the time and doesn’t hold back at all. While a piece of it is due to the “Brillo” never say die attitude, it’s also based on the fact that while we treat each other like brothers, we’re also fierce competitors, which always makes for a great ride.
So how did I do against Honey Springs today? I pushed myself to the red zone and kept a 12 mph average riding up to the top! What a difference a year makes:)
This morning, I had an excellent adventure planned. I had a chance to give the Bailey a rest and heed the calling (more like incessant mocking) from my Gary Fisher Hi Fi, and went out for a mountain bike ride! This morning took me to pay a visit to one of my best riding buds, Patrick Moneda, where he and I, along with buds Art, Ben and Mike, had a chance to venture out into the wilderness and take on the Rockhouse Ride at Mount Miguel. For the geographically challenged, like yours truly, this ride takes place in and around the outskirts of the Sweetwater Reserve area and headed towards the Eastlake canyon areas.
We started today’s ride at 630 this morning, pretty early for a ride, but as weekends usually go, especially riding with fathers and husbands, we have to start early so we can all get home to take care of our “honey do’s” from the wives, watch the kids, or even catch our favorite college football games. The crazy part of the Rockhouse ride is that it starts the climb about 30 feet after you get onto the trail. The beginning of the ride is completely unforgiving. It’s a vicious climb that stretches through switchbacks for a good 45 minutes until you reach the summit. Furthermore, with the thick coating of fog all around the mountains today, you could hardly see what’s ahead, so with every switchback and every technical climb, it almost seemed never ending!
We all had our tough moments and had to get off our bikes to “hike a bike” some of the trickier sections or due to the fact that on an incline, it’s so frickin’ hard to get back on the bike, especially when you’re sucking wind!
One thing that I’ve learned from this ride, is that I’m a pretty awful mountain biker:) After sitting on my road bike for months and months with only a mountain ride here and there, its so hard to get back in the swing of getting all of the balance, technical aspects and just plain old bike handling confidence that comes from practice. The cardio? Nothing wrong with that, so every time I had to get off my bike, I made sure to sling the bike over my shoulder “cyclocross style” and run my sorry butt up the hills until I could find a flat spot to get back on the dang thing!
Riding with those guys was a lot of fun. This was a first for me to ride with Art and Mike. Art was our seasoned vet who was a sure-footed billy goat climbing up Rockhouse today. He’s a stud rider who has awesome bike handling skills. Mike is a workhorse, and on his Santa Cruz Heckler, he powered his way up the mountain today, with a great big smile on his face when he got to the top.
Ben is another great rider. He may not be the fastest, but he’s got skills and the dude’s cardio is amazing. If you want to know about some of the greater climbs he has in his resume, he’s done the Alpe d’Huez. Wowee Zowee. Pat’s another one. A super technical rider, Pat’s a student of the game and when it comes to either road riding or mountain biking, he’s got great balance and form. Today was a rough day for him based on a riding hiatus due to an engineering exam he’s spent the last couple months studying for. But there’s no quit in him, he pushes himself to his limits every time, all the time, and once he gets his cardio back, he’ll be back to his top form — on either of his beautiful steeds (his 14 lb Colnago road bike or his insane S-Works mountain bike).
At the top of Rockhouse, there was this massive pile of rocks waiting for us with a sign that said “DANGER, ROCKS AND WALL MAY FALL WITHOUT WARNING.” Yikes! Also up there is an actual rock house, a rock walled maze that looks like a house without a roof. We all got off our bikes, took in some food and water, smiled at our great accomplishment of reaching the top and took on the Rockhouse rite of passage — placing a rock on the the rock mountain, before getting back on our bikes for some killer downhilling.
That’s the best part about mountain biking; for every long, grueling and punishing climb, we always get
rewarded with some amazing downhilling where we get to fly down the singletracks, fearlessly fishtailing around all of the switchbacks and sweet turns. For this guy, I had a fun time flying head over handlebars when I completely overshot a turn and rolled into some bushes! But as it always goes, you have to get up and run to your bike as fast as you can so no one sees that you just ate it:)
All in all, this weekend has been an awesome two days of riding. With my wedding anniversary approaching, I’m gonna take a few days off to spend with the wonderful wife. Two years of a happiness and many more to come!
-BB
11/3/09 – The Bailey gets new shoes!
Good afternoon friends,
Thanks again for all of your support throughout these great experiences — from the Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association to the America’s Finest City Half Marathon to the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge, including all of the great training rides from June through October 2009, the fundraising for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and the Scott & BR Cycling Contest. Without your help and unending support, I would’ve never had the opportunity to be a part of all these great events.
With that said, cycling offseason paves new avenues for training, and I will continue to train, whether it be cycling or running to keep up the level of fitness that I’ve gained from the QMDC. What the cycling offseason also does, is provide us cyclists with a good opportunity to take care of our bikes, making sure everything is working and also upgrade anything that’s been pounded on over the hundreds of miles we’ve put on them.
While there a number of ways you can score great deals to pick up great items for your bike, whether it be going to your local bike shop and checking out their deals, browsing online at a number of great sites like “probikekit.com” or “nashbar.com”, or even checking out the deals on craigslist, there is a great event that only comes twice a year and it’s the SD Velodrome Swap Meet at the San Diego Velodrome just off Pershing in the Balboa Park area. If you have a chance, come out this Sunday from 0800-1200 for some great deals on everything from wheelsets, frames, components, saddles, helmets, accessories and clothing! It’s about $5 to get in and I guarantee you’ll walk away with some great items. Heck, if you’ve got some bike stuff to sell, you can certainly do that there as well. The bike swap meet is just one of those beautiful biproducts of cycling — where one person wants to upgrade, another wants to pick up his/her used stuff and at the same time, the person who wanted to upgrade in the first place, gets cash towards their new upgrade. It’s a vicious cycle that we cyclists do.
With that said, I’ve been searching for a new wheelset for the Bailey and I’ve located it in Great Neck, NY of all places at a bike shop called “Brickwell Cycling”. After much research and debate over what kind of wheelset I wanted to upgrade to (after checking out Spinergy, Reynolds, Flash Point, HED, Bontrager and Mavic), I’ve decided to go with the Mavic Ksyrium ES wheelset, for its bomb-proof durability, feathery weight for climbing, and easy maintenance.
This will be a big upgrade from my current wheelset, and I’m excited to see what these babies can do. My current wheelset is a 2003 Mavic Ksyrium wheelset with over 5,000 miles on them as I was the third owner of the wheels after my cousin Eugene purchased them from the bike swap meet a couple years ago and used them prior to handing them over to me.
As the new wheelset arrives in about seven to ten business days, I’ll be sure to post some pics of the Bailey’s new shoes once I’ve installed them. 1600+ grams from my previous clunker wheelset to 1400 grams for the new wheelset will shed almost a half pound from the Bailey! Someone is super amped and that someone is this guy!
Until then, keep riding, keep smiling and always remember to set goals for yourself – whether it be at work, at home, in the gym, or on the road. Goals keep us focused, goals make us stronger!
-BB
10-25-09 – CAF SD Triathlon Challenge
Good evening friends!
Today was a great day. To be honest, I didn’t think my body would be up to the challenge, but I’m glad I did. Before the QMDC, we were told at the end of the very last training ride that we had an optional 8th day to ride the bike leg of the SD Triathlon Challenge to support the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
What a great sight, all of the Challenged Athletes were in attendance to compete in the SD Triathlon Challenge. On stage, the CAF spokesman called up a number of the great athletes onto the stage and listening to their great stories. Then, Samuel, another Challenged Athlete who sang the national anthem for the Qualcomm riders in San Francisco sang his heart out for the crowd this morning!
A number of the Qualcomm riders were in attendance, and we all had our cameras out to see the
triathletes take on the swim portion of the challenge. All of the swimmers had their color coordinated caps to let each swimmer know which heat they were in. As an avid cyclist and rookie runner, I know first-hand how hard these two separate disciplines are, but to add in a grueling, cold and rough swim portion for 2.1 miles is just amazing.
The spectators were roaring as the crowd buzzed, cheering for their loved ones and flashing cameras at every turn. To see the look on families faces as their brother, sister, husband, wife or parent charged for the water was something I was proud to experience.
As we were getting ready to take on the bike portion to support our fellow riders and challenged athletes, we ran into a familiar face that we played shuffleboard with back in Newport Beach — our bud Floyd Landis. Me, Chin and Adam had a chance to snap a quick photo before taking to our saddles for the 56 mile ride!
Me and Adam took to the streets, hammering our way up the hills of La Jolla, through La Jolla Shores and up the nasty hill up Scripps Beach, around the Stephen Birch Aquarium and up to the University of California – San Diego to head to Torrey Pines.
While on the way, we got to ride alongside our buddy Fred, who we had a chance to ride with for
every ride from June through October. Just as we were getting into a rhythm and getting our legs back, Fred’s bike started having some issues with his strap that keeps him locked into the bike!
Me, Kip, Adam, Richard Whittington and Mark VD stopped to give him a hand, and Kip and Adam used their Macguyver skills to ziptie the strap back into place so that Fred could continue on with the ride! Then, I took hold of bars that are attached to Fred’s handcycle and bobsled pushed him to give him a running start! He yelled, “Whoa, is that me?” and when he realized I was giving him a ‘turbo-boost’ he yelled “THANKS BRIAN!”
Then, we all got out of Fred’s way as Fred absolutely flew down Torrey Pines as his handcycle got crazy speed plowing downhill! As Adam and I made our way up through Torrey Pines and towards Del Mar, our buddy Floyd pulled up to us and we made our way towards San Dieguito.
Riding 50 miles with Floyd Landis was hilarious. While we as cycling fans have followed his career from his time on the Phonak team all the way to his recent Ouch team at this year’s recent Tour de California, we’ve gotten to know Floyd as the dude who got pulled over by a cop for running a red light in Long Beach, getting lectured about citation numbers for running red lights while he carried Mari Holden’s Yorkie Mr. B in a backpack, a funny dude who talked smack over 6 straight games of shuffleboard in Newport Beach, and a guy who’s watched tons of movies and can almost (yes I said it) almost quote as many key movie lines as yours truly. While a guy like that could’ve easily raced ahead and dropped us average joes behind in a heartbeat, he told us he wanted to hang out because we were “cool as sh*t”.
We arrived back at La Jolla Cove for the finish line and had an awesome time seeing all of the
runners make it in from their 13.1 mile running leg that completed today’s triathlon. To see the look of amazement and joy when each runner, able-bodied or challenged, passed that finish line was something I’ll always remember.
I’m glad to have had this experience and will continue to be in attendance for future SD Triathlon Challenges for years to come.
-BB
10-23-09 – QMDC Day Seven – Newport Beach to La Jolla
Great Friends!
Well, the last day has come and the Qualcomm riders are exhausted from our long journey down the coast starting in San Francisco over 6 days ago. The time has come to bring this ride to a close and cross the finish line where our friends and family are eagerly awaiting our return from this weeklong trip of a lifetime!
All of the riders had a great time on the last night in Newport Beach, with the excellent festivities that we enjoyed at the last presentation, from the excellent food, presentations, slideshow and awards ceremony. Before the ride even started, we all had a great task before us — how to pack in all of the stuff that was given to us along this entire trip. From books, plaques, extra clothes and things we’ve all picked up along the way, we all had to stuff everything in our luggage as best as we can!
After a delicious breakfast filled with danishes, oatmeal, waffles and fresh fruit, I joined Adam Beck and Alex Hamlow on the last ride to finish up the QMDC. We left a little later than the rest of the riders, but we were told that we needed to meet up at La Jolla before 1:00 p.m. so that all of the riders and regroup to ride into La Jolla Shores together. Adam and Alex had a chance to get in some last photos and autographs from Christian Vandevelde. Adam had me take a picture of him and Christian while he was signing Adam’s helmet for “proof of authenticity.” Christian, jokingly asked Adam, “hey man, what’s the picture for, you gonna put your helmet up on Ebay?”
So we got in our saddles and I immediately felt all of the muscle pain rushing back full swing in
my quads, hams, lower back and especially my butt! Of course, as is usually the theme for every ride, the last ride began with a pretty hefty climb, which we flew up as fast as we could, only to leave us gasping for air at the top saying “why are you all racing!” Just when I thought we were going to keep a slower pace, we got to take the lead of Alex the clydesdale who pulled at an insane pace from Newport all the way to San Onofre!
Right as we were pulling up to the end of the San Onofre campgrounds and were getting ready for the challenge of riding on the Interstate 5 due to the shutdown of Camp Pendleton, we pulled up alongside Scott Kaplan who just arrived via car after finishing up the Scott & BR Show. Scott asked if he could join us on the ride down the coast, but with a caveat, mentioned that he wasn’t warmed up as he just arrived. We decided to take it slow to keep Scott with us, but Alex’s legs just wouldn’t stop spinning as we took it up to 24 mph down the I-5! Way to warm Scott up!
Just as we were making our way down familiar territory from Oceanside down the coast, we found ourselves swallowed into the peleton of the Garmin-Chipotle team, Mari Holden and Floyd Landis who were racing down the coast! Just then, Joe Weickgenant grabbed my lower back, yanked me into the pack and yelled “DO YOU SEE VANDEVELDE’S WHEEL IN FRONT OF YOU? HANG ON TO HIS WHEEL AND DON’T LET GO!”
“Holy crap”, I thought to myself, how the heck am I going to do this!
But while the pace was fast, I held on for dear life and rode down the rest of the coast with the group! They were all cool people, laughing and having a great time. Then, one of the coolest things happened. Maybe it was Don Parker’s Sheriff connections, but just as we started stopping at stoplights, we suddenly had a police escort blocking all of the stoplights all the way down the coast letting us fly by at full speed!
We arrived at the corner of Scripps Beach (which was coincidentally the beach that I proposed to
my wife at over three years ago), and cheered in our fellow riders as they were pulling in! Everyone was all smiles as they pulled into Scripps knowing that this marks the end of a journey as we were officially in La Jolla! All around us you could see hugs and smiles and high fives and many of the riders screaming “WE MADE IT!” into their cell phones letting their loved ones and friends know that they made it in safely to our final destination. The grassy park was emphatic, with cheers and smiles of exhaustion all around as we all gathered for one last group picture!
After our picture, we all listened to Scott Rhodes giving us last minute congratulations to all of the riders and instructions of how we’re going to proceed into the finish line! As we pulled into the finish line, the Qualcomm riders went through the CAF archway first and lined up followed by me and the XX 1090 TOP SEVEN and Scott Kaplan, followed by the Challenged Athletes and then Dean Roeper and Scott Rhodes. Then, we got to see something completely amazing that brought many of us to tears, seeing Luvo Fanqwela walk with his brand new legs through the archway for the first time.
This was an amazing experience, having an opportunity to ride with 99 of my friends and 
teammates all the way from San Francisco on October 17th, heading to Santa Cruz, to Big Sur, through Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, Marina Del Rey, Newport Beach and all the way to La Jolla on October 23rd.
It was an opportunity of a lifetime, making lasting friendships and being able to witness the most wonderful sights all the way down the coast as well as support the challenged athletes who did an amazing job riding along with us throughout this great experience.
Thanks to Scott & BR, XX 1090, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, my teammates (Alex, Adam, Joe, Joy, Rob M. Mark, Pat, Rob L., Efrain, Ofelia, Ron Pilon and Chris Glossner) all of my friends, family, co-workers and my loving wife for the wonderful support throughout this entire experience that started in June and ended on this beautiful day on October 23rd.
Without you all, I would’ve never had an opportunity to take on this journey. Thank you all very, very much.
-BB
10-22-09 – QMDC Day Six – Marina del Rey to Newport Beach
Good evening friends!
Today, we went from Marina del Rey to Newport Beach for a total of 53 miles. The ride in this area is always a bit slow, as we have to ride through the bike paths along the beach and through multiple signs and stoplights along the way.
As was the case for the entire week, the Scott & BR Show continued on, but on location. So, this morning, me, Alex and Adam went down to the ballroom where the Scott & BR Show had an on location set. Scottie, BR and Pratty were there doing the show and had a promo to give away “Flippy Floppies” Rainbow brand sandals to any QMDC riders who came down and said “GREAT FRIENDS!” We picked up our sandals and then Scott & BR interviewed me, Adam and Alex live on the air to share our experiences!
Today was particularly fun as Floyd Landis came into town to ride with us 
this morning. What was hilarious about it was that QMDC Head Coach Mari Holden made Floyd hold her dog Little B in the doggie backpack all through the ride. While Group 2 made their way through Marina del Rey and through familiar territory of Rancho Palos Verdes that we rode just weeks before on the back-to-back century days, we entered into the “not so much” fun area of Long Beach.
While in Long Beach, something unexpected and yet absolutely hilarious happened. Floyd (with puppy in his backpack) and Mari were at the head of the group and ran a red light on their bikes when the police pulled them over. I came to find out from Floyd later on that the cop didn’t give him a ticket, but wanted to lecture him about the penal code instead!
We pulled up to a great lunch in Seal Beach compliments of Steve Bryant of 
Bryant Rubber, which is one of the main sponsors of the QMDC at a restaurant called Schooner or Later! After having a great cheeseburger, me, Mark VD, Adam and Chin caught up with Josh, one of the Challenged Athletes and rode with him through Seal Beach. Just then, on the way, Mark hits this massive pothole and his rear derailleur popped upside down and into his wheel causing the chain to destroy the rear triangle of his frame! Luckily he wasn’t hurt, but his bike, which was scheduled to be replaced in a year or so with a new bike, was now dead and officially unusable. So, the great folks at Trek Travel gave him a bike to use for the rest of the QMDC!
After arriving at the hotel, we had a chance to get some delicious food followed by getting our rooms and massage work done. Today I was in dire need of getting my neck and lower back taken care of. The masseuse then went through some stretching and she said I was one of the most flexible people she’s ever worked with! Heck, I didn’t know I was that flexible! After the massage, me, Chin, Scott and Adam ended up hanging out with Floyd Landis and played a couple of games of shuffleboard with him. Turns out, none of us knew how the heck the game works, but as dudes with beer usually goes, we ended up just making the rules up as we went along and ended up using our beer cans as targets to hit with the shuffleboard pucks!
Afterwards, we all had our final QMDC dinner where we were all given 
plaques compliments of the ride with our own professional picture and group picture as a parting memento. Then, we had our last presentation, where CAF owner Jeff Esakow, Vikki Indermuehle, Challenged Athlete Rudy Garcia-Tolsen and Co-Chairs Dean Roeper and Scott Rhodes acknowledged all of the great people who helped make this year a great success. What a pleasure this was to be a part of this group and I’m excited to have a chance to ride down the last leg of the QMDC with them all tomorrow!
Stay tuned for the next update after we cross the finish line and finish the QMDC at La Jolla Shores! Also, if any of you readers want to make it out to the finish line, there will be a massive party there and we’ll be crossing the finish line at 1:00 p.m.!
Hope to see you there!
-BB
10-22-09 – QMDC Day Five – Santa Barbara to Marina Del Rey
Good morning friends!
Yesterday’s ride totalled 89 miles and headed from the beautiful coast city of Santa Barbara and ended just north of Los Angeles at yet another beautiful coast city at Marina Del Rey. Yesterday, me and Joe Weickgenant had an adjoining room with the XX 1090 champ, Adam Beck and we all had a great time laughing it up, talking about how our experiences have been over the course of the last 4 days and sharing each other’s great pictures. The surly guys that Joe and I am, we heard Adam hop in the shower so we decided to play a prank on him and mess around with his room.
While Adam was in the shower, Joe and I ran into his room, picked up all of 
his furniture off the floor and placed it on his bed. We piled the furniture so high that some of the chairs were about a foot away from the ceiling.
Once we heard Adam getting out, Joe and I ran back to our room and closed the door! When Adam got out of the shower, all we heard in the other room was “What the f*ck?” and when he walked into our room, all we said was “Hey man, good morning, do you think I can borrow some toothpaste?”
This morning my body felt great. A bunch of the ride leaders and QMDC veterans kept telling me to “conserve and leave some in the tank” and I definitely did that over the last four days. So today, I definitely wanted to open it up and crank out a fast day. This morning, in the parking lot, me and my buddy Joe Da Rosa had a chance to meet David Zabriskie from the Garmin team. Cool dude for sure. I’m not going to touch that guy on the flats! By the way, today was also Joe Da Rosa’s birthday. Believe it or not, the dude is 73 years old! How’s that for someone in great shape!
Rode today with Group 2 and I absolutely loved the faster pace. Got to hang
with Lisa Jennings and Alex Hamlow along with the rest of Group 2 and held a vicious pace through Coast Highway and made sure to take my pulls in the front, which felt great. Just when I think I’m holding a good pace at around 23 mph, Garmin rider Peter Stetina rolls up on my left, hardly breathing hard at all and said: “hey man lets pick it up” to which I said “screw you, you go ahead” or words to that effect. He laughed and we kept pace until lunch.
Lunch was hilarious. We pulled up to the lunch rest stop and everyone flocked to the table for snacks when an In & Out truck pulls up and starts taking orders compliments of the QMDC ride. So, 59 miles down and now you have 100 cyclists chowing down on Double-Doubles and Dr. Pepper before getting back in the saddle. Awesome!
After lunch, I got back in the saddle, and this time had a chance to ride along with Scott Kaplan and a bunch of the XX 1090 team who tagged along with Group 2. Next thing you know, the clydesdale, Alex Hamlow takes the pull and brings us to an insane pace. Lisa Jennings yelled “Brian, hold onto his wheel!” and I never let go. Up the rolling hills through Malibu, I hung with Lisa and Alex as the rest of Group 2 dropped off, and they definitely pushed me to my red zone as I arrived at the last SAG gasping for air, but with a big smile on my face!
Later in the evening, after meeting up with some of my best friends Matt and 
Ashley Cadle for a wonderful dinner at my favorite Cuban restaurant Versailles and hanging out with them for the evening, Matty took me back to the hotel where I had a chance to share some beers with a bunch of the team who were in the lobby. As I was at the bar, Lisa Jennings came up to me and gave me some awesome compliments, saying that I was one of the smoothest riders she’s ever ridden with and that even though we were holding a vicious pace, there was never any quit in me. I told her that I always listened to her directions and followed her and all of the other ride leaders advice. That’s one of the best parts about this whole experience. In the process of doing something great for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, I get to ride with some of the best riders I’ve ever ridden with. Oh, and the picture above? This is the product of not knowing where the heck your room is every night. I’ve given up entirely on trying to memorize my room numbers.
Hope you all are having a great day and stay tuned for the next update from Newport Beach!
-BB