Team Mortar ~ AIDS/LifeCycle 7

My Lifecycle Plot

I'm a hometown kid on my 'bmx' against the best in the world. At Helltrack [545mi sf-la]...the heat is on!

Mill Valley Out and Back

Renata and I just finished an almost 25 mile ride - a Mill Valley out-and-back. Beautiful weather, great Ride Leaders and we met some super AIDS LifeCyclers...

Renata's a might bit faster than I am, so we didn't ride together, but we did get a picture snapped at the halfway point. My best buddy Teresa stuck with me the whole way! Soon we will have a group ride shot of all seven members of Team Mortar, I promise!

I finally got talked into getting clips for my pedals, as my feet were slipping all over the place in the damp morning air. Now I just have to learn to clip in and out without falling over!

Map My Ride

If you haven't come across this site yet, check out Map My Ride. A very cool website where you can do the following:

Mapping and planning your rides is now easy! Draw your rides, calculate mileage, count calories, share with friends, and much more!

Use the form below to find cycling routes and trails locally or around the world! Includes elevation data and 3D views.

Keep track of your workouts, exercise routines, and training schedule! Monitor your weight changes, shoe mileage, morale, and more.

And if you haven't donated to Team Mortar, please do so now!  We have raised $4,120 as of this blog posting... almost half of our $10k goal.

Danville Peet's Ride... Well, sort of.

Teresa and I did a ride in the East Bay on Saturday. We followed the Lafayette-Moraga Trail for a lot of the ride, and some on the Iron Horse Trail. It was supposed to be about 30 miles, but after a couple wrong turns, it ended up being 40 miles. But we had a great time, and the weather was spectacular.

This is a Google Map Pedometer I made the route of the ride we were *supposed* to do. It can show mile markers, elevation, calories burned. Very cool...

Check it out at:  http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1632410

And here is another cool tool called Map My Ride that is similar, but a tad different: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/moraga/62267915

Testing them out to see what is better.
 

Next weekend is going to be a ride with the AIDS Training Group doing a Tiburon Loop just under 40 miles, but with some hills (ouchie-mama!).

First Bike Ride Completed

Well, I successfully completed my first bike ride in SEVEN years! [patting self on own back] And it was just over 20 miles... which seems like a really long way to me.

Starting at the Ferry Building, down Embarcadero, Crissy Field, up and over the Golden Gate Bridge. Down under the bridge and into Sausalito. Stopped for coffee and a break before heading back to SF.

The weather was A-freakin'-mazing! And I was shocked at how unpainful it was to ride. We will see what happens to the muscles tomorrow, but so far so good!

Thanks to Teresa for loaning me the bike and some gear for my training.

Here we go...

Well, no more excuses... time to hit the training wheel and start getting those buns in shape for the ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Too bad I strained my back hauling the dying Noble Fir down the stairs to place it sadly on the sidewalk. Nothing more tragic than a used up Christmas tree on the curb.

Yesterday was my first gym outing of 2008, and all I was up for was walking on the treadmill. Wasn't able to break a sweat even, but at least I was moving around.

Next step - get a bike, and get on it.

Ride, Mortar, Ride

Team Mortar is going to saddle up for the 2008 AIDS/LifeCycle, June 1-7, 2008. We will ride 545 miles through beautiful California from San Francisco to Los  Angeles. Want to join us?