March 2010 – From San Diego to Vancouver, B.C. and Back Again…
Happy Easter Friends!
March was a month of training and preparation. It was a month of seeing new sights and meeting new runners, riders and having a week of training outside the U.S. as well!
Took a bit of a break from road riding this month and heeded the call of the Gary Fisher to take the HiFi out for a bunch of rides. I’ll tell you what, I’ve discovered that I’m not a very good mountain biker:) Back in 2005 when we first started mountain riding, there was a certain fearlessness to it all, and the more we did it, the easier it got for the technical sections, over the roots and rocks and through the sand. And then we started road riding…
The best part about road riding is the amount of distance a rider can cover in the same amount of time and the fitness and cardio you gain is immeasurable. The only downfall is the time you take away from the mountains takes away from all of those technical skills you gain with your balance and weight shifting, not to mention the short quick bursts that you need to power your way up the technical portions.
Becky and I got to do some traveling this month, and we made our way north to the winter wonderland of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Getting there, we flew from San Diego to Seattle and then jumped onto a twin propeller plane to Vancouver. What a beautiful place! Marking the first time Becky and I ventured into Canada, we were surprised to see the different influences that make up the Canadian culture, from the French background, to the ancestral Haida culture and the large Japanese and Chinese community that makes up Vancouver as well.
Arriving just a week after the Closing Ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics where our nations heroes like Apolo Anton Ohno, local San Diegan Shawn White and the many other olympic medalists that made history, we were delighted to see all of the Olympic decor that adorned British Columbia from Vancouver all the way to Whistler. At Whistler, not only did we get to ride on the Peak to Peak Gondolas that take you from the bottom of Whistler Village 6000 feet up to the top of the mountains on a gondola ride that takes over an hour, but we also got to sit in a bobsled, and also pay respects to the late Olympic Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.
As it usually goes for Becky and I whenever we visit new and interesting countries, we make sure to try all of the local foods, from British inspired shepherds pie and fish and chips, to Tim Horton’s donuts and the “Japadog” made famous on Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations”. But with all of this eating, I had to keep in mind that I’m still training for a marathon, and made sure to work out every day I was there, even if it was only to “break even” on all of the heavy eating that was to be expected from being on vacation. Logged about 24 miles worth of running for the week, including one 13 miler where I ran along the coastline of Vancouver, passing B.C. Place, Olympic Village and GM Arena, home to the NHL hockey team Vancouver Canucks.
One thing that absolutely cracked me up about our friends from the North is the Canadian “relax, eh” attitude. On one day at the gym, I got to witness a trainer spotting a dude on the bench press. Where your local 24 Hour Fitness trainer would yell “PUSH!” while you put up another painful rep, the Canadian trainer yelled, “PUSH, but don’t strain yourself. If you’re not feeling up to it, there’s always tomorrow.” Just classic.
After getting back, I weighed in a little heavy at 165, so I had about 6 lbs to get rid of last week to get back to my comfortable weight. The Sunday after we arrived back in sunny San Diego, Mark Estrada and I had a chance to do a mountain ride at Escondido’s Daley Ranch. For a quick history of Daley Ranch, this is one of those cardio heavy hill climbing days that absolutely kicked our butts when we first started mountain biking. On a normal day, we’d be looking at finishing the course in a little over 1 hr and 30 minutes. On this Sunday, we absolutely rocketed through the course in an hour flat! As another runner training for his first marathon, Mark and I agreed that training for a marathon does make everything easier:)
LESSON FOR THE MONTH
Yesterday, I had a chance to ride with the SWK Riders of the South Bay and the Mira Mesa Cycling Club on a 46 miler from Telegraph Canyon to 
Jamul, all the way up to Honey Springs and back. Excellent riders, great friends and great people. While the course, in and of itself, is nothing out of the ordinary and the heavy climbing through Honey Springs is a ride that I do quite often, the lesson for the month is a lesson simply in eating.
The afternoon before, I played basketball with my best buds up in 4S Ranch near Rancho Bernardo. After playing for about 3 hours (and being reminded that basketball uses completely different muscles and movements from running and cycling), I finally got home at just around 8 in the evening and was more tired than hungry, so I had a glass of orange juice and headed to bed.
The next morning, I was running late and forgot to have breakfast, so I did the ride with the only fuel coming from 2 GUs that I had along the way. After keeping a high pace to climbing up the hills of Honey Springs, my body felt okay, nothing out of the ordinary. But, by mile 38 or so, it all came crashing down as I got to experience my first feeling of BONKING, a cycling term similar to what runners call “hitting the wall.”
Its exactly as people describe it. One moment, you’re pedaling at full steam, pumping the legs, keeping the lungs burning and all of a sudden there’s NOTHING. And I mean nothing! Just like a light switch, your body just shuts off and no matter how unwaivering a will you think you have to push through pain, your desire to pedal is gone and your vision goes wall eyed. It was the first time that I’ve ever had to actually get off my bike and stop. Luckily for me, the Trek Store in Eastlake was close by and I headed in for two Powerbars that I had to down and wait for my blood sugar to rush back before getting in the saddle. And just like
that, after getting dropped by the group, I powered a 20 mph pace back to the start location. Some of the riders from the MMCC said that the best thing about bonking is that you know how awful it feels and learning from the experience.
So here’s the lesson for the month. Eat. If you have a ride the next morning, don’t skip meals, even if you’re too tired to eat dinner after a long day at work. And most importantly, always eat breakfast. It does no good to be a slim 158 lbs heading into a ride when you’ve got no food in your system to burn. Just like when QMDC’s 2009 Head Coach Mari Holden said to keep hydrated throughout the week to prepare for the summer rides to avoid dehydration, making sure to eat energy packed healthy foods 
goes a long way and keeps us from hitting our wall. So along with your helmet, I.D., cell phone, shoes and water, always remember to keep nutrition on your pre-ride checklist and you won’t experience bonking.
One last thing, this month, my buddy Pat Moneda and I finished the bike build for my brother Justin who will be coming down for our cousin Kristine’s wedding in mid-April. The bike build went well, and with the help of John Bailey of Bailey Bikes, Pat and I finished my brother’s Bailey D-503 complete with Ksyrium wheels and a SRAM Rival group, perfect for his new ride.
Until next time, have a Happy Easter with you and your family, and I certainly hope you were all safe during the 7.2 magnitude earthquake we all felt yesterday (not to mention the lingering aftershocks)!
-BB