On Tuesday I led my group ride, pinch-hitting for leader Kris who is on vacation. We rode up into the hills southwest of Morgan Hill then picked up the Gilroy bike path by Hecker pass highway and took it to the Gilroy Sports Complex, returning via Santa Teresa boulevard. There was a stiff headwind on the way back and I had my e-bike and offered to break the wind for them, but this was a strong group and didn’t need it. Wednesday I did a long brisk cruise out and back on the Coyote Creek trail, then finished up with some intervals and sprints. This was challenging but enjoyable. Thursday I did ..read more

www,Amazon.com/books This autobiography chronicles Brooke Wells’ inspiring journey, focusing on her remarkable comeback following a severe injury at the CrossFit Games. During the event, she suffered a dislocated elbow while lifting a heavy barbell overhead—a moment that could have ended her career. Without revealing too much, I can assure you that her story of resilience and determination is both compelling and motivational. This book comes highly recommended for anyone looking for a dose of inspiration ..read more

On Thursday I did my upper body strength training workout then did an easy ride on my recumbent. Friday I tried out the recumbent with a 28″ rear wheel and 20″ front. I did a little better on my two local short time trials, the digital loop and the “New Morgan Hill criterium” (that’s it’s name on Strava). These are good tests because they are shorter (one is about like running a quarter mile and the other like running a half mile) and easy to get to, so I think these will be my go to speed tests in the future. Thursday’s upper body workout is posted here, the ride is here. Friday’s rides are h ..read more

Tuesday was cool and mostly cloudy and we even had intermittent sprinkles, which were not forecast. It was also in sharp contrast to the warmer sunny weather we’ve had lately. I went with my group Southwest of Morgan Hill and up into the hills out Redwood Retreat road and back. There were only four of us, making for a nice intimate ride with good companions. Yesterday I rode my recumbent, trying out the higher-performance carbon seat combined with 20″ wheels front and back. This was easier to ride than the stock configuration (two 28″ wheels) but a bit slower. Later this week I’ll try 28″ rear ..read more

Saturday I took my upright bike on some local dirt and gravel trails nearby for some fun riding on a nice day. Sunday was hard day so I took my recumbent for a fast tempo ride down in San Martin with some intervals and sprints on the way back. Yesterday was hard upper body day. I modified my routine to work around my carpal tunnel diagnosis, because I noticed that my wrists flex and extend while arm-cycling. I could modify the grips to fix that, but for now I just omitted it. Instead I did a warmup walking with light hand weights, then did strength training with resistance bands. I followed th ..read more

http://www.Amazon.com/books Live to Ride: Finding Joy and Meaning on a Bicycle is a book by Peter Flax, a former editor of Bicycling Magazine. It is full of stories that celebrates the various kind of experiences we can have on bikes. It is also describes the diverse sub-cultures among bicyclists, such as casual riders, serious road riders, bmx riders, mountain bikers, gravel bikers, e-bike riders, etc. Peter argues for these groups all to be accepting of each other, with which I thoroughly agree. Throughout the book he also sprinkles tidbits of bike history, and descriptions of bikes and acce ..read more

On Tuesday my local group went on a nice loop ride on a beautiful spring day. I led this one, pinch-hitting for our usual leader Kris. We did a counterclockwise loop around Chesbro and Uvas reservoirs, with an extra out-and-back on Casa Loma road to Rancho Canada Del Oro open space. Because I was leading I took my e-bike which made it easier for me to be in the back or up front as needed. I also used enough assist so I didn’t have to push too hard, so this counted as an easy day even though we rode more than 30 miles. On Wednesday I did a solo ride on my recumbent. I experimented with leaving ..read more

On Sunday I took it easy because I was sore from using unaccustomed muscles working the rest stop Saturday, so I just went for an hour-long easy spin. Monday I did an upper body workout for 40 minutes (only 18 min shows up on Strava because I didn’t remember to start my timer at first). I followed that with a hard 90 min ride, with multiple sprints of 90 sec, 45 sec, 20 sec thrown in. That was a very enjoyable workout. Sunday’s ride is on Strava here, Monday upper body here, biking here. On Santa Teresa Blvd- Green dinosaur preparing to eat bus ..read more

Each year my bike club, Almaden Cycle Touring Club, puts on the Tierra Bella Bicycle Tour, yesterday being the 45th annual version. The weather around here has been superb lately, springlike and sunny. Until yesterday, when Mother Nature decided to have cold rain all day. I was volunteering at the Gilroy Hot Springs rest stop, which CalFire lets us put on at their fire station way up on Gilroy Hot Springs Road. This remote stop is reached only by riders who do either the 74 mile (120 km) or 100 mile (161 km) routes. As we were setting up in the rain in the early morning, I thought to myself th ..read more

I’ve gotten the headrest position dialed in on my recumbent, so I can ride it with it’s fast 700c wheels and the carbon seat in a pretty reclined position comfortably. For the first time this has made a notable performance difference. On Wednesday I road the Digital loop near home. My previous record was 94 seconds, and it is now down to 87. Then I went south to San Martin and did a 19k loop down there. My previous best time had been 45 min 17 secs and it is now 41:04. I rode an easy ride on Thursday, then in the afternoon I did a little tweak on the headrest adjustment and tested it on my tra ..read more