8-30-09 – Torrey Pines Time Trial
Hello friends!
The Elite Eight arrived bright and early at Fletcher Cove at 615 am before the 700 ride for our next Immunity Challenge! So what’s the challenge you might ask? We had to name the seven cities that the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge will be stopping at along the seven day 620 mile journey in October.
Adam Beck walked away with a perfect score and won himself immunity this week and will have to put his own touches on the Immunity Pump!
This week, we had a great test ahead of us. For many of us including myself, this was our first Time Trial, so we were really excited to give it a shot. For the new cyclists or folks who aren’t familiar with time trials, they are just like any cycling events you might have seen, except they’re shorter in length and you attack it at full blast using 100% of your energy instead of conserving for the long haul.
Vikki and Mari had us at the start line and gave us all numbers to put on our helmets. They had us take off one by one in 1 minute intervals and clocked us at the beginning and at the end.
When Mari yelled GO! I clipped in an went like mad, hammering out a strong start. I stayed true to my 20:20 method all the way up Torrey Pines and my legs and lungs were burning by the halfway point. As I passed Mike Henderson, he yelled “DIG DEEP” and I gritted my teeth, hammered my way past Lisa Jennings and through the finish.
While I don’t know my time for the Time Trial yet, I know it was the fastest I’ve ever gone up Torrey Pines and was proud of my efforts and the efforts of my teammates who did a fantastic job today!
After the time trial, the Elite Eight met up in the Fletcher Cove parking lot to talk about how each of our fundraising events are going and how we can all work together to reach a goal of having all of the eight raise the funds to do the QMDC ride. While it may sound like a difficult task, we seemed to be positive that with hard work and promoting, we can accomplish this task.
Stay tuned for the next update as Elimination Wednesday approaches!
-BB
8-28-09 – Meeting with CAF and upcoming fundraiser!
Good evening friends!
Today I had a meeting with Vikki from the Challenged Athletes Foundation which is always a good time. As usual, whenever I meet with Vikki, I always end up leaving with a big bag of stuff, and today took the cake, as I got a big bag of CAF handouts and banner to display for next week’s fundraiser.
So, mark your calendars for WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 as I’ll be holding an Acoustic Night at L’Amour De Yogurt at 9975 Carmel Mountain Road in Rancho Penasquitos to benefit the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
I worked with Tuan from L’Amour De Yogurt and from 700-900 p.m., I’ll be singing and strumming the guitar for any and all guests who are in the mood for some evening entertainment and delicious frozen yogurt! What’s even better is 20% of the proceeds for the Acoustic Night will go to the CAF!
I’ll be posting a flyer shortly, so stay tuned!
-BB
8-27-09 – Boxing Promotion!
Good evening boxing fans!
Yesterday evening, I had a great opportunity to work with Efrain Arvizu, Rob Lindbloom and Rob Millum at a boxing event held at the Four Points Sheraton off Aero Drive. The promotion was awesome, with Coors Light sponsoring the event and great fights with excellent ring action.
But it was outside the ring that was of importance to us. Outside the entrance to the fight hall, we set up shop with Efrain’s bike on a trainer and a heavily decorated Challenged Athletes Foundation table complete with banner, flyers and donation box.
We all took turns on the trainer and talked to numbers of fight fans entering and exiting the building and even got some donations as well! Surprisingly, out of the more than 300 fight fans who showed up for the boxing promotion, we had an astounding amount of people who were either cyclists or triathletes as well.
Thanks to Efrain for putting together a great boxing promotion!
-BB
8-26-09 – Elimination Wednesday:(
Good afternoon friends,
Today was filled with a healthy serving of anxiety with your choice of two sides of pins and needles or stress-filled pacing as the Top Ten XX 1090 Finalists sat eagerly at their computers, radios or in their cars listening to who the Elite Eight would be.
After a great interview with Pat Thomas, who won immunity from his summa cum laude mathematical skills in guessing the amount of calories in a jar of Accelerade gels (I’m certain Pat is now officially sponsored by Accelerade), Scott & BR played the survivor song, which means that two of us would be eliminated today. Unfortuntately, Scott announced that Efrain Arvizu and Rob Lindbloom were eliminated.
While I will continue on this journey along with the rest of the seven finalists, let me first tell you about my friends Efrain and Rob.
Efrain, who lives close to me in the Chula Vista area, is an excellent cyclist, a family man and has a passion for boxing. In fact, tomorrow night, he’ll be hosting a boxing event at the Four Points Sheraton off Aero Drive at 730 p.m. with some of the proceeds going towards the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Here’s a flyer for the event, but if you need a larger version, let me know! 
One other thing to note about Efrain is that he gutted out a great effort in finishing the AFC Half-Marathon earlier this month as well, so he is certainly not a one sport athlete!
Now, let me tell you a bit about my friend Rob Lindbloom. Rob is a phenomenal rider. I’ve ridden alongside him on a couple of occasions and had such a hard time trying to stay on his wheel. The dude is flat out fast.
Not only is Rob a great cyclist, but he’s also quite the triathlete as well, and he’ll be taking the bike leg of the upcoming Triathalon Challenge for his company, DefenseWeb Technologies, and the race will benefit the Challenged Athletes Foundation. 
One thing to note about Rob is that not only is he quite the “techkie” with his swank Garmin cycling computer gear, but he’s also a great ambassador for the CAF, constantly providing updates and links to articles and meetings he’s had with veterans and challenged riders.
It has been an excellent journey riding alonside these great riders and I have no doubt that they’ll continue on the fundraising journey to make it to San Francisco in October!
In fact, if you’ve got some time, come on out to the Boxing event tomorrow night at the Four Points Sheraton at 730 p.m. and you can meet Efrain, Rob and a bunch of the XX 1090 riders there!
Hope to see you then!
-BB
8-23-09 – Circle R Vista Ride
Hello Friends,
Here’s the update on last Sunday’s ride. Before the ride even started, I had a great helping of stress and anxiety! 
Instead of taking the Mitsubishi Outlander where I can just throw my bike in the back, I decided to take my wife’s Toyota Corolla, where I had to put my bike on the trunk rack. As I was running later than usual, I had drive a bit faster than normal when all of a sudden, the bike starts flipping up and down in my rear view mirror and almost gets airborne! I pulled off to the shoulder to see that my bike was hanging on by a mere thread with only the top tube locked into the bike rack!
As I got to the Solana Beach parking lot, I already had my helmet and shoes on. Did I look ridiculous while driving, sure. But I needed to save valuable time! 
Before we got started, we had a number of announcements including some great CAF promotions headed by Joy, Efrain, Rob M. and Adam.
Then, Pat unveiled his new additions to the Immunity Pump completing the madness with a horn, pictures, mini license plate and toy lizard hanging off the side!
As we departed for the ride, we went through a lot of familiar territory, up the coast to Oceanside, eastbound towards Vista and then got to experience the hills of Lilac, which was very familiar from the Tour de Cure in April.
After some great climbs, Group 3 had to take a bit of break to take in some water and food when a distressed lady came rolling in with her Toyota Prius with a flat tire!
That’s when the XX 1090 pit stop team went to work. 
Pat took to the jack and jacked up the car and Joe went to work on the tire. I was on trunk assignment and gave Joe the spare to switch out and placed the tools, jack and flat tire back into her trunk. Colonel Mustard and Mark took to the Challenged Athletes PR route and had a speech so well done it had to have been rehearsed. The lady took a CAF business card, thanked us and went on her way. Another satisfied customer:)
The rest of the ride was smooth sailing with a couple minor rollers and minor climbs. An overall excellent day, the group rode back into Solana all smiles with a job well done.
As an update, it looks like Wednesday is Elimination Day where 2 of us final contestants are going to get cut. Though I’d certainly be honored to continue on this great journey, I’m proud to say that if Wednesday holds an elimination for me, its been an exciting adventure, making new friends, learning plenty of new routes, getting some great coaching and doing it all for a great cause. Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best!
-BB
8-16-09 – America’s Finest City Half-Marathon
Hello friends!
This morning we showed up bright and early at 530 in the morning to make it onto the busses that took us up to Cabrillo National Monument in Pt. Loma. The weather was gray, cloudy and overcast, perfect for a long run! There were tons of people, dare I say it, waves of people. The place was absolutely packed! I was proud to sport my CAF running apparel complete with cap, shirt and socks!
As we started going, my buddies Mark and Chris started out at a vicious pace, so I had to slow us down to keep a slower pace. It’s so hard not to go fast, because everyone was weaving in and out of the crowd racing one another. At one of the water stops, I saw fellow top ten QMDC XX 1090 finalist Efrain Arvizu and we yelled “GOOD LUCK” to one another as I passed!
As it usually goes, the first 3 miles getting started were the hardest and I knew that if we could control our breathing and relax, our systems would assimilate to the rhythm. Before we knew it, we were out of Pt. Loma and into Harbor Island keeping an excellent 9 minute pace.
Among many highlights, there were these “mister tunnels” where people ran through misters to cool off, which was awesome, except for the fact that the street underneath the misters were drenched which means I got the pleasure of running in wet shoes and socks for a couple miles.
Once we got into the last 3 miles of the race in downtown San Diego, I decided to pull ahead and make an attack for the hills on the way up to Balboa Park. Much like anything, proficiency in races and tests comes down to a 90:10 ratio of preparation to execution. It was times like these where all my previous hill climbing training over the last 4 months worked dividends and helped me attack the hills as hard as my lungs and quads would allow.
Going into Balboa Park and the finish line was an absolute blast – massive crowds yelling and screaming helps when your tank is nearing empty and gives you that extra boost for the finish line. This is what Lance probably feels like when he’s reeling for the finish after the Alpe d’Huez and seems to feed off the crowd!
Passed by my wife Becky who gave me a burst of energy as I pushed for the last sprint toward the finish line and ended up finishing at 2 hours and 4 minutes and then went from runner to cheerleader as I screamed and hollered for my buddies to drive it home!
So what’s next, Carlsbad and La Jolla Halfs to finish up the Triple Crown? Rock and Roll Marathon next June? Who knows. All I know is ice cream sounds fantastic right about now.
Congrats to Reynan Soriano, Chris Andres, Mark Estrada, Mark Joya, Charles Manalili, Patrick Moneda, Jen and Eric Sarmiento and QMDC XX 1090 rider Efrain Arvizu for a job well done!
Just knowing that over the last four months, all of the miles logged, hill training, dieting and sacrificing time with my family came to a worthwhile finish and that I did it with the support of my friends and family.
Thanks to all for your continued support!
-BB
Pre-AFC Half-Marathon meeting with the CAF
Yesterday I had an opportunity to meet with Anne and Vikki from the Challenged Athletes Foundation. I had a chance to pick Anne’s brain for a while as she’s an accomplished marathon runner and ironman athlete, so she had a number of great tips to give me!
Afterwards, Vikki came out and outfitted me with my CAF apparel that I’ll be wearing for the America’s Finest City Half Marathon tomorrow! Not only will I be rocking a running hat, Under Armor shirt and matching socks, but I’ll have plenty of giveaways like stickers and bracelets before during and after tomorrow’s race.
During my visit, I got to meet one of San Diego’s finest police officers who rode the QMDC last year and was an active fundraiser for the CAF.
Afterwards, I headed down to the Sheraton in Harbor Island to pick up my bib number and all of the goodies for tomorrow’s race. They had a pretty nice setup, with Roadrunner Sports having a big booth with a whole bunch of shoes and accessories, and even chiropractors and massage therapists for those poor souls who either overtrained or are recovering from injuries.
Of course, I played the “what’s this” game and tried every energy bar, sports drink and gel they had to sample.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s AFC Half Marathon update where my buddies Mark Estrada, Mark Joya, Reynan Soriano, Chris Andres, Charles Manalili, Patrick Moneda and I will be tackling 13.1 miles from Point Loma to Balboa Park!
For many of us, this will be our first half marathon, so there’s a sense of sheer excitement and of complete anxiety!
-BB
XX 1090 Cycling Update – Thursday 8/13/09 Live in Studio
Good morning all!
As an update, the top ten riders in the XX 1090 contest will be in studio for the Scott & BR Show from 0600-0900 tomorrow morning. I don’t know the exact time that we’ll be on, but I would assume we’ll be on around 700-800. I’ll try to send out a text message before we get on the radio.
If you don’t have a radio in your office, you can listen online at:
http://www.xxsportsradio.com/pages/main
Also, if your computer can support it, there’s also a live studio camera feed on the website as well!
Thanks again for your support!
-BB
QMDC Promotion at Bailey-Bikes.com!
Good afternoon friends!
As I’ve just built a gorgeous full carbon road bike with a frame from a local San Diego bike builder “Bailey Bikes” (see link on the top right of the page), I spoke with the owner John Bailey, told him about the CAF and QMDC and we worked out a promotion!
From August 13th through October 25, 2009 (last day of the QMDC), if you’re interested in a new full carbon cyclocross, time trial, road frame or carbon wheelset, just contact John Bailey at “www.bailey-bikes.com” or 858-458-8192! Mention “Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge, XX 1090 or CAF” and he’ll give you 20% off your next purchase!
And what’s even cooler is that a portion of the proceeds will go to the CAF.
I absolutely love this bike. It corners extremely well, rides excellent in the sprint, is exceptionally stiff, and at just over 15 lbs, climbs like a dream.
If you want a fantastic new full carbon bike from a local San Diego bike company at a great price, give John Bailey a call!
Here’s a shot of my Bailey D-503 with frame courtesy of Bailey Bikes!
-BB
8/9/09 – Kitchen Creek/Pine Valley Ride
Hello friends!
Cool and overcast, today’s ride had all the makings of a pleasant walk in the park. As the riders met up at the Pine Valley Post Office parking lot, I got to unveil “version 2.0″ of the Immunity Pump, which was, more than anything, a product of creativity through demographics. While Joy Muehlenbein brought the “bling” with her bedazzling, I got to add a bit of “South Bay” with lowrider handlebars complete with brake levers and reflectors. Smiles all around at the complete ridiculousness of the pump.
The ride today was no such “walk in the park” however, as this meager 50 miler on paper, turned out to be quite the challenge. The hills were nothing short of harsh and definitely gave many of the riders today a heck of a workout, especially the ones who attended Mari Holden’s climbing clinic just yesterday.
Mike Henderson, Adam Beck and Joe Weickgenant caught a case of the flats today and between them, probably went through 4-5 tubes in this ride.
More than anything, today’s ride taught me a valuable lesson in conservation. While the 20/20 technique worked as well as it should, my overzealousness to attack the hills in the first half of the ride proved to be my demise as I came up empty by the second half.
So, fellow riders, here we go for the tip of the day: If you’ve got a hill ride planned, don’t prepare for the ride a night before by throwing down a six pack, half a pizza and carne asada tacos at a UFC 101 party followed by 5 hours of sleep and then attempt to attack the hills like Contador the next morning.
Stay tuned for the next update!
-BB