Saturday, May 26, 2007

On not racing...

I decided not to race this weekend. There was a race I could have gone to, the flat Barry Wolfe criterium in Woodland Hills. It had a cat 4 women's race, and although I'm just barely eligible for upgrade now, I am still a 4. The start time is a lovely 7:31am or some early time like that. This was the kicker...I realized that I wouldn't be home for many many weekends in a row coming up....here is my schedule!

next weekend: The state TTT championships (Saturday) in Lancaster, and a dog show (Sunday) in Pasadena
Weekend after: Paris and Lyon! (and many many frequent flier miles to add to the account)
Weekend after: UCSB Graduation (now, I will be in town, but it will be filled with graduation parties, hooding 2 of my students who are getting Ph.D.'s, college dinners, etc. etc....busy but fun time)
Weekend after: Maybe a stage race in Oregon if I can get my act together (and my fitness peaking at the right time again)
And then it is nearly July! And I don't mention the at least 1 trip to the Bay area for work (Berkeley) and possibly a 2nd trip to Stanford in there!

So...I decided to bail on the race, try to sleep in past 5:45, and take my dog to the beach with a detour to our favorite bagel shop! I know I will feel a tad of remorse at 7:31am tomorrow, knowing I could have gotten up at 4:30 to drive to that bike race...but instead I got my favorite climbing ride this morning (3 hours, 5k climb, 44 mile ride, rode out of the marine layer and into a flat-out gorgeous day), and don't have to worry about my legs being a little toasted tomorrow. If I'm lucky, a ride will also come my way tomorrow!

So good luck all you so-cal cat 4's...you won't have to worry about me (Ha!)!

Ciao!

Postscript: I noticed the Kern results have been posted.... :-)

6 comments:

Itinerant Rick said...

drkim - always good to take breaks, from any endeavor. I was sitting on the sidelines at Mt Hamilton RR yesterday with another Kern alum taking a break.

If you drop in at Stanford you will be cruising near our 'hood. Lots of good hills nearby :-)

Kimberly (aka. DrKim) said...

I know..the riding is great there! I did a nice loop in December when I was up visiting folks at HP Labs... I went from Page Mill, up Kings Mountain (i think thats what it was called) to skyline, down a long ways (and it was frosty cold) dropped down on some highway to half moon bay, too the 1 a while south, and then wrapped back around up Tunitas Creek road (a beautiful climb i thought) and back to Palo Alto. It was a lovely afternoon ride, although it was chilly (frost on skyline that day).
Hope you had fun spectating at Mt. Hamilton...sounds like a good time.

Auffderbach said...

Kim,

If you happen to be up north during
the middle of July, come on up over
the Sierras for the Death Ride. As
you love climbing, we have a little
ride that includes 5 passes, all
over 8,000ft. altitude, with about
15,000 ft. of climbing.
Just a nice Saturday ride with about 3,000 of your closest friends.

Kimberly (aka. DrKim) said...

sounds awesome...my coach has already started in with the hype for the Everest challenge, but I think that race might just kill me! The Death ride might be a good alternative!

It's not that I'm the fastest climber...as I'm not. I just enjoy the scenery, and feel like i accomplished something after I've climbed a long way...

Thanks!

Itinerant Rick said...

drkim - If you want to ride the Death Ride better start checking the scalpers. It is a lottery draw event. Personally, I would go for Everest Challenge, and hope the weather is good. Those climbs roast in the heat, but late Sep. is risky for rain, too. The last climb, to Bristlecone, is brutal, but the last part of the (neutralized) descent is worth the ticket.

Tunitas is a gem for climbing, but never try to descend; 7 miles of pure torture!

Kimberly (aka. DrKim) said...

tunitas descent would be like one of the rides I do here sometimes...every time i get to the bottom I feel like my body is going to fall apart from all the rattling. It is a wonder my bike is still together! Tunitas was a joy to climb though...very senic and not too steep but steep enough!