Adventures on a Bike

October 12th, 2009

I started Team Climb On! almost two years ago and now it’s completely out of control.  But in a really good way.

In 2007, we were just 7 guys committed to making a difference in the fight against multiple sclerocis.  We blew away our own expectations by raising over $22k for the National MS Society.

This year, we decided to do every charity ride in San Diego.  We raised money for the American Diabetes Association, the Livestrong Foundation, Challenged Athletes Foundation, San Diego Rady Children’s Hospital, the Red Cross and of course, the National MS Society.  And the team grew and changed.  At our signature event, the MS Bike Tour, we had 17 team members who raised over $31,000 in the fight against multiple sclerosis! 

Sitting on the lawn in Mission Bay Park enjoying the sunshine I realize that I’m meeting some TCO team members for the first time.  People are talking about what we’re going to do in 2009.  Plans are being made to “go big”.  Wow.  A representative of the National MS Society wants our contact info to do a story.  Yep, things are completely out of control.  Team Climb On! has a life of it’s own now.

It feels so good.  Congrats Team Climb On!  Can’t wait to see what happens next year.

Team Climb On!

One of my first adventures after getting back on a road bike was riding last year’s MS Bike Tour.  It was my first century ride ever and my first exposure to charity bike rides.

With just a month to go before this year’s MS Bike Tour kicks off, I have to thank everyone who has so generously contributed to my fundraising campaign to fight MS!  Together we’ve raised $1,215 so far!  Both I and the National MS Society thank you.

Can you believe that my team (Team Climb On!) has raised $13,584 among just 16 cyclists?!  Everyone is doing a lot of riding to get in shape for the 150-mile course next month.  While I’m pretty confident about my ability to do the ride, I am still a bit short of my fundraising goal of $5,000.

So, if you would like to contribute there is still time.  Making a tax-deductable donation takes just 5 minutes.  Just click here to join the fight against MS.

http://www.biketofinishms.com/arlynasch

Donations of any size are greatly appreciated!

Last year, my friend Andrew invited me to ride the 2007 MS Bike Tour with him.  It’s a 150-mile event over two days that raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Wow - 150 miles!  The longest I had ever cycled in a day was maybe 40 miles - could I ride a full century followed by another 50-mile day?  I love a good challenge so I accepted and we started training in earnest.

I told another friend, Dave about it and he immediately signed up.  Then his friend Firger, who’s Mom struggles with MS signed up.  Firger actually signed up without owning a bicycle.  Next thing I know, we’ve got 7 people on the team.  We’re started calling ourselves “Team Climb On!“.

When you sign up, you commit to raising at least $400 for the National MS Society.  I was pretty nervous about being able to raise that much so I procrastinated asking for donations.  I had no real connection to the MS community and was happier focusing on the cycling challenge.  In the back of my mind, I pondered whether I would just pony up the $400 myself rather than ask for donations.

Then one day, it occurred to me that one of my best friend’s dad has multiple sclerosis.  His name is John.  John used to have a really active life, he was an avid skier, cyclist, hiker and tennis player. After his diagnosis in 1992 he had to use a cane to walk, then a walker, and now a wheelchair.  He’s unable to move on his own or even feed himself.  John considers himself very lucky that even though he has lesions on his brain typical of MS, they have not progressed and he maintains full mental capabilities.

All of a sudden, what really mattered to me was how we could help people like John live with MS.  I told this story and asked for donations and people gave far more generously than I could have predicted. I was inspired by their contributions.  As the summer progressed, Team Climb On! worked harder and harder to make a significant difference in the MS community.  We were all getting stoked by people’s commitment to do something good.  It drove us to go farther.

By the time the actual event rolled around in October, we had raised $22,047.01 to fight MS.  Each member of Team Climb On! was awarded Top Fundraiser and 4 of us were among the top 150 fundraisers, which is a special honor.  We were presented with a team award and I even won “Rookie Team Captain of the Year” at an awards banquet in January.

Oh, and I did the cycling.  It was a great ride, in fact.  But do you know what was so inspiring and what got me really passionate?  It was the difference we made in the MS community.  It was all the lives we touched.  From the riders on our team who were getting into cycling just for the event, to the people we inspired by our example, to all the people who would benefit from the money we raised.  I had no idea that contributing like that could be so rewarding, so fulfilling. I really got that life is the most rewarding when you are being a contribution.

This year we’re going even bigger.  We’ve already doubled the size of Team Climb On!, which was pretty easy - people want to be a part of making a difference.  We’ve also increased our fundraising goal to $50,000 which I think is actually pretty doable - with a bit of help :)  I’m not worried about the training anymore and there are 30-mile and 100-mile course alternatives for people who are more focused on the contribution aspects than the cycling.

I can’t wait to see how much we can accomplish this year. Visit my donations page, make a contribution and be a part of it.

ps: Would you like to be a part of Team Climb On?  Visit our team web site to see what we’re up to and drop me a line at arlynasch at gmail dot com if you’re interested in joining.  We’re always looking for people who want to make a difference.

Yesterday, I raced in the Scripps Ranch 4th of July fun ride race. That’s right, I raced it.  At this point, someone usually point out, “It’s a ride, not a race”, and to them I say flatly - baloney!  Among the 200 or so riders starting the 50-mile course, I’ll bet there wasn’t more than a handful who weren’t racing.

This was going to be a big test for me.  Not as much a test of my fitness as a test of my head and heart.  Do I have what it takes to race a 50-mile course with some of the strongest riders in all of San Diego county?  Do I have the mental and emotional fortitude to race?

There were a lot of shaved legs at the start.  Lots of categorized and club racers were there for the 7am start.  There were also a lot of grey-dogs.  Guys in their 40’s who are ex-olympians, ex-national champs or ex-ironmen and looking to prove they still have it.   Why do they come to this race?  I don’t know, but there they are, every year.

Last year, after yo-yo’ing off the back almost immediately, I got decisively popped at mile 22, on the first little bumps before Del Dios.  I did not have what it took.  This year, in the best form of my life, I would race as hard as I could and finish close to the front.  It was to be an ALL-OUT effort, leaving everything I had on the road.  Do I have what it takes to race?

Consider the flash of color, the sounds, the speed, the exhilaration of riding in a 7-across peloton. Racing happens really fast in the peloton.  At 27 mph, surrounding by racers, the peloton becomes an organic being of it’s own. A bit of my inner (and outer) monologue:

“Watch your position - move up! move up!”

“Ho hey! Ho hey!  Give me some room, buddy.”

“On your left, that’s my wheel!”

“There goes Mark, get his wheel!”

“Drink, drink, you gotta stay hydrated - how do you drink going this fast?”

“Where the heck is Voris going, better go with him…”

“Come on guy, fill the gap - hey, watch your line!”

We mostly stopped for lights, or just momentarily took them over after the cars stopped to gawk at us.  We took the entire first lane of whatever road we were on for the first half of the race, until the peloton exploded climbing Del Dios.  I recorded a top speed of 53 miles an hour flying down Calle Cristobal.  I was handlebar to handlebar with 30 other riders and I don’t know how many more behind me.  I was too afraid to turn around.

On San Dieguito Rd, the rider in front of me suddenly slowed - I had to brake to avoid hitting him.  People behind me shouted and the guy on my right was suddenly on me, our bars tangling.  We leaned on each other a second or two, got stable and kept going.  There was no stopping, there was no, “wow, we almost crashed” moment, this was a race.  A shout, a push, some grumbling and the race continues.

Taking a corner at 25 mph is really fun - now do it with 20 other guys.  The peloton becomes an animal and I am part of the animal.  I get a little vertigo sometimes with so much motion around me, but I focus on the other riders and keep racing.

Save your energy by staying out of the wind - but you have to move up, cause other riders are always swarming around you.  The best is to find some sucker in the wind, moving up and jump on his wheel.  Let him do the work.  Occasionally, when it’s important, you gotta get in the wind, move up.  Being on the back is death.  It’s pops-ville back there.  Somebody about to snap will let a gap go to the group and you’re done.  No, it’s better to be in the top 10 or 20 positions.  Once I was moving up with some guy who went straight off the front, so I followed, in his slipstream and barely working.  Then he pulled off to the side, exhausted. I was at no more than 80% hr max.  I coasted and let the pack pick me up.  Let someone else break the wind.

On the bumps in Rancho Santa Fe, where I snapped last year, I’m out of the saddle.  I stay with the group comfortably.  I don’t know where my heart rate is, I’m not looking down to check.  The peloton doesn’t slow down for little hills like this, they just power over.  I power over with them.  I’m racing.

We hit the base of Del Dios and I’m in the middle of a huge group with maybe 50 riders in front of me.  I focus on my tempo cause I know some will climb faster than I can and get away.  I have to let them go.  I can’t blow up here.  I will dig deep, give what I have to give and ride tempo.

Riders go around me, I go around riders.  I climb, I dig deep and I race.  I focus on just getting to the next little rise, then I hammer the downhills to make up what I’ve lost to the leaders.  I look down and see the shadow of a wheel behind me, it’s Voris - beauty!  I look back and he knows what I need - a break.  Voris comes around, gives me a push (like an angel!) and takes the lead for a bit.  I survey the damage as we approach the end of the climb.  There are two groups in front of us.  A lead group of about 15 and a chasing group of maybe 20.  Voris and I continue working together and at the top, we’re just behind the chasing group.

We can’t catch them by ourselves.  We need a team, willing to work together to claw our way back into the chasing group.  We find 3 other riders and do some quick turns on the descent to the 15 and onto Pomerado Rd.  The chasing group is just ahead - they’ve sat up a bit to take a break.  It’s now or never boys - when they start up again we better be on or we’ll never see them again.  I take a strong pull, so does Dave.  Someone else.  I’m hurting and the chasing group is still sitting.  We did it - we’re on the back of the chasing group.

I choke down a GU just as they get froggy and kick the pace up.  Thankfully we’re inside and I get pulled along, sputtering sticky gel and gulping down water.  The tempo down Pomerado is fast, but we let other people pace us, keeping a wary eye out for breakaways.  Too close to the end to let someone get away.  I chew down another GU because I know what’s coming.  Pomerado hill - one of my favorite hills in all of San Diego.  Short, steep and sweet, I know that I’m going to attack.  I can’t take 20 people to the line and that hill is where we’re going to separate the wheat from the chaff - I hope I’m wheat!

Dave’s knee is hurting and he tells me he’s not going to hammer up the hill.  Ok, I’m on my own now, but I know just what to do.  My focus narrows as we approach the bottom and I’m not sure how to describe the intensity in my head.  We hit the bottom and I’m off the front.  Nothing flashy, I just ride away from everyone else with a storm raging in my heart.  Goodbye.  Enjoy your “fun ride”.  I’m a racer and today, I’m racing.

Another rider catches me and slowly passes.  Yes, I knew he would.  He has a beard and is riding with a camelbak.  Those guys always catch you on the hills.  This is what they do.  Then a triathelete looking guy goes by slowly and a guy in a Blues Brother’s jersey along with a grey-dog in a green jersey.  At the top, it’s me and Blue Brothers with the Triathelete, Grey-dog and the Beard about 30 meters ahead.  We’re about to drop down the other side of Pomerado - this is where we should maximize the gap we created on the climb.  The gap between myself and the front three is dangerous.  I hammer past Blue Brothers and say, “Get on!  Let’s go!” and kick the pace as high as my legs will go.  I move over and Blues Bro takes a hard turn.  We catch the trio and now we’re a group of 5.  I look back and don’t see anyone.  With only a few miles left, it’s time to run like we stole something.

Grey-dog does a huge pull, he’s strong.  Then triathelete gets on and we’re absolutely flying. I’m trying to hang onto his slipstream - wow!  Blues Bro and I take more moderate pulls.  The beard hangs in the back.  I’m not the strongest one in this group, but I am going to be first across the line.

We fly around the Willow Creek turn and hammer up the hill.  Then we swoop down through the commercial park and dive into a turn onto Scripps Ranch Blvd.  I’m third and do a little prayer cause we’re not stopping and hopefully the cars will, but I don’t really care.  I’m racing.

We get to the little rises past the high school and give it a push.  Beard and gray-dog can hang.  Predictable.  Right turn onto Scripps Lake - it’s happening fast now.  We are in the final k’s to the line.  Just one last short and steep climb past the library.

Grey-dog goes off the front!  It’s all happening right here.  Now is the time!  Fuck this, I go after him.  It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!  I don’t care.  Everything I have is going into the pedals.  My legs aren’t working properly.  I ignore everything and focus on the rider ahead of me.  I will catch you!  I am catching you bastard!  I’m at 99% hr max.  Who cares, this is where it counts.  Out of the saddle, I hammer an impossible gear and catch him at the top.  We fly around the corner and dive into the neighborhood streets that lead to the finish.  There are pedestrians, runners, other (much slower) cyclists.  A woman with a stroller - jeez.

Grey-dog is faster through the corners as we descend to the park.  He’s taking just a little more risk than me.  We round the final turn and he’s got 10 meters on me.  I sprint all out and he raises his arms in victory.  I get second place.  Second place in the second group.  My best estimate (after comparing notes with others) is that I finished 17th overall out of about 200 riders.

I raced.  I didn’t win (yesterday), but I raced.

There are three course options at the San Diego Century. You can ride a 37, 66, or 103 mile course. The way the course is laid out, everyone starts together and at some point, the 37-milers take a right while the rest continue on. Later on, the 66-mile course turns right while the 103 continues.

It was at this crossroads, between the 66-mile and 103-mile courses, that we found ourselves yesterday morning.

I was willing to support the team and do either course, but preferred the 66 - this was supposed to be a “go-easy” day for me. I think Mark also preferred the shorter course, but was willing to go for 103 miles if the team was willing. Andy had signed up for the 103-mile course and didn’t want to quit. He was pretty nervous about the distance and hills and heat awaiting us and worried that he hadn’t trained enough and wasn’t fit enough for it - but he just didn’t want to quit. I realized that this is like many of the choices we make in life.

Do I take the “safe” road - confident that I can finish, but not terribly inspired by the prospects of “same-old” results? Or do I accept the risk of failure and venture boldly into the unknown, unsure if I can make it, but driven by the opportunity to grow and achieve something completely new?

It’s easy to let our “reasons” get in the way. It’s too hot, the hills are too steep, I haven’t trained for it, it’s getting late, I’d rather be at the Pizza Port, etc, etc, etc. And we know as we say them that our reasons make our lives smaller and limit what’s possible for us.

We continued on the 103-mile course that day. It was hot, the hills were steep and we didn’t make it all the way. But we ventured into the unknown, took the risk, gave it our best shot and in the process grew a little and gained something completely unavailable on the 66-mile course.

Congrats Andy.

Team Climb On! rode the San Diego Century yesterday to support the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

It is the mission of the Challenged Athletes Foundation to provide opportunities and support to people with physical disabilities so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics. The Challenged Athletes Foundation believes that involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence and enhances quality of life.

I really dig how CAF views people with disabilities as potential competitive athletes. They have certainly expanded my views of what people with disabilities can accomplish.

Mark, Andy and I rolled out for a late start at around 7:45am. I still feel like I’m in a rebuilding mode so I didn’t push the pace very hard, Mark and Andy were happy to oblige. Of course, there were the town signs… If you’ve ridden with Mark, you know he likes to sprint for any town signs we encounter. It’s a fun game and we usually go for them, trying to earn “green jersey points”. If Mark is anything, he’s a world-class sprinter so I don’t really win very many of them. If you get withing 500m of a town sign with Mark on your back wheel, you will lose the sign, guaranteed.

And, of course, Mark is always on your back wheel. It just doesn’t make sense to him to take turns at the front. So, my experience for a large portion of yesterday’s ride was riding at the front of the group, taking all the wind and having Mark jump out of my slipstream every so often to resoundingly beat me in a town sign sprint.

We dropped Andy off at Pizza Port to save us a table with about 5 miles to go. I had been helping Andy make it back so now absolved of my team responsibilities, I decided it was time to put the hurt on my sprinter friend.

I got back on the front and picked up the pace to 20-something. As we approached the Solana Beach sign, Mark jumped out for another 263mph sprint and easily took the sign (again). He sat up, waiting for my luscious slipsteam, but as I passed him, I went a little wide, put it on full gas and gapped him. I was going 31mph on the flats, crossing the lagoon and Mark did a fantastic job chasing me down and getting back on my wheel. As soon as I saw his shadow on my wheel, I eased up a little to get my HR back under control, crossed an intersection and went full gas again. This is how you beat Mark. He’s got tremendous power but can only use it a certain number of times before he must recover. I was not sprinting, just going to 95%+ HR for a much longer duration than his normal sprint. I only needed this second burst to pop him permanently. I put my HRM at 95% and zoomed the last couple of miles to the finish line alone.

I crossed the line in an easy gear without worrying about a roadrunner zooming out of my shadow for the “win”.

Team Climb On! Official Standings
San Diego Century Bike Tour

Yellow Jersey (overall): A. Asch
Green Jersey (points): M. Wineman
Red Jersey (most guts): A. Karydes

Other notables:
D. Mozealous: DNF
M. Firger: DNF
C. Wakefield: DNF
M. Colebank: DNF

I just came across another great charity ride in SoCal. Cycling for Sight is holding a 220-mile, 3-day ride from Santa Barbara to San Diego August 1-3.

What’s cool about Cycling for Sight is that it’s more than just a simple fundraiser. Not only will all proceeds benefit the Braille Institute’s mission to eliminate blindness as a barrier to a fulfilling life, but the whole ride is organized around giving an opportunity for the blind and visually impaired to have an experience of a lifetime - cycling down the coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego. This is pretty exciting and I dig how hands on CFS is in providing great opportunities to the blind and sight-impaired.

You can contribute in a variety of ways:

• Help a visually impaired rider make the ride of a lifetime by joining the Blind Stokers Club
• Raise money for the Braille Institute by riding as a single or tandem
• Ride with Cycling for Sight on the final day (Aug 3) and show your support
• Be part of the volunteer/SAG patrol
• And of course, you can donate to the ride and help make it happen for all visually impaired people

All I have to do now is decide which one is right for me.

I’m riding the San Diego Century Bike Tour next Saturday (May 17th) with Team Climb On! We’ve already got three riders signed up for the 103-mile course and I expect a few more for either the 37-mile or 66-mile courses.

The SD Century is a fund-raising event sponsored by the City of Encinitas to raise money for Challenged Athlete’s Foundation (CAF). CAF’s helps people with physical disabilities pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and athletics. CAF’s mission is clear: give those with the desire to live active, competitive lifestyles every opportunity to compete in the sports they love. By making a donation towards our fund raising goal you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

We’re always looking for new faces to add to the Team Climb On! peloton, so ping me if you’re interested to ride with us.

The Alpine Challenge is aptly named. Set in the mountains around Alpine, CA, the 72-mile Pine Valley course includes oodles of beautiful mountain roads and the famed Dehesa Grade ascent. By the time I crossed the finish line, I had cycled 72.28 miles and gained/lost 7,684 feet of elevation.

Alpine Challenge elevation profile

There must have been 200 riders queuing up for the 7am start at the Alpine Community Center. This would be the start for both the 72-mile Pine Valley ride and the slightly shorter (but still brutal) 62-mile Descanso ride. Mark and I lined up near the front with the half-dozen Descenders participating that morning. Mike and Dave V. we’re looking very sporty prior to the start and I knew they were both looking for a good performance.

I really didn’t know what to expect. Mark and I had ridden very well the week before at the Tour de Cure, but this was a different kind of event. There were a lot of “real” cyclists here, some traveling a long ways to test themselves on the difficult course. There were also quite a few pro and semi-pro riders in the peloton that morning. Our plan was to stay as close to the front as possible without blowing up by going out too hard too early.

The race started with the lead riders going way too fast for me. I’ve figured out that this is just standard operating procedure for competitive rides so I hung on the back of the lead group, gritted my teeth and waited for them to slow down a little. It’s quite a rude shock to the system to launch yourself cold into climbing 5-8% grade as fast as you can. Notice from the elevation profile that there is no warm-up area, it’s basically “go!” and then start climbing. The peloton quickly strung itself out from the early accelerations and Mark and I were probably 6-8 riders from the front when we decided to ease up a little, let the leaders go and save ourselves for the much bigger climb that was coming - Dehesa Grade. We picked a steady tempo and were passed by just a handful of other riders.

After screaming down the 10-mile long Harbison Canyon descent, we turned left onto Dehesa Rd. and began a 23-mile climb through Alpine, Descanso, Guatay, and finally to Pine Valley. Consider for a moment what it must be like to spend almost 2 hours climbing a 3,200 foot hill on your bike. Well, I actually had a pretty good time. Initially, it hurt a lot to match Mark’s uphill tempo, but as what usually happens to me, the more time I spent in the saddle, the better I felt. About 2/3’s the way up the hill, I was feeling really good. We were also slowly bringing back some riders in the breakaway who had bonked on the climb. We stopped for water just short of the top and the guy at the rest stop said there were really only a half-dozen or so riders in front of us. That’s all I needed to hear, for me it was now “Go Time!”.

Mark and I flew up the last bit of climbing, descended into Pine Valley and I went to the front to put on a steady tempo. As long as we didn’t crack on the remaining climbs, we had a shot at a top 10 finish. I couldn’t believe it - I honestly hadn’t expected to be doing so well. With these thoughts in my head and a breakaway rider just up the road, I picked up the pace a little more. Mark started having some difficulty staying on and he released me of my team duties saying, “you’ve got the legs, go get them.” I took off.

I caught the guy in front of me (”Google-jersey-guy”) and dropped him climbing out of Pine Valley. I stopped for Gatorade at the SAG stop at the top and he caught me again. It was a frantic moment watching him pass me as I tried to get Gatorade into my bottle. I soon caught him again passing Viejas and tried to work together a little. His advice was to take it easy so as not to bonk on the final 1,000 ft climb back into Alpine. No thanks, I dropped him on the descent and didn’t see him until the finish.

What goes up must come down and so I was on a 17-mile descent back the way I had come up. I caught up with a SDBC rider who was on the 62-mile course - he was positively flying. I tried to hang on with him to make some more time on any would-be chasers and to possibly catch another breakaway rider, but he was just too fast for me. Before I knew it, I was climbing again back into Alpine.

The last 1,000 ft climb into Alpine is where a lot of riders are destroyed. By the time you get there, it’s warmed up (it was 85+F), your legs have way too much climbing in them already and you’re already imagining the post-ride beer. I double-GU’d, drank most of a bottle of Gatorade and set a fast tempo. Since the 62 and 72 mile courses share much of the same roads, I passed dozens and dozens of riders. I had no way of knowing whether any of them were actually from the 72-mile breakaway group so I just kept hammering. By the time the course finally tipped downhill for the last couple of miles through Alpine, I was toasted. My legs hurt so bad that I actually GU’d with 1 mile to go - I was afraid of bonking on the last mile!

I rolled back into the community center with a ride time of 4:13:50. Mark came in about 4-5 minutes later. After conferring with some other riders about who was where, it was determined that I probably finished in 9th or 10th place among the 72-mile riders. To me, this was a FANTASTIC result. It validated my result at the Tour de Cure and proved to me that I’m on the best form of my (rather short) cycling career.

Next stop - Monster Climbs Trip in June. More on that later.

You can read all about the fun I had at this year’s Alpine Challenge here. I wanted to take a moment to say what a wonderful event it is. Aside from the course being fantastic and every bit as challenging as it is advertised, the event itself in wonderfully organized and supported.

The start/finish area in the Alpine Community Center has everything a rider needs. With your registration you get a free t-shirt, a swag-bag and most importantly, a free beer in the beer garden. It was really cool hanging in the beer garden with Mark, enjoying our “recovery beverages” and getting to know some of the other riders. We just wished that the line for the free massages was not so long.

The road support is also top-notch. The course is very clearly marked, usually with an actual person pointing the way with a big sign. Each SAG stop is amply stocked with bars, gels, water, gatorade, fruit - anything you need. The all-volunteer staff was super helpful - you’d be surprised how hard it is to get Gatorade into a water bottle when your heart rate has been 165 for the last 3 hours

Oh, and did I mention that they got Andy Hamptsen to ride with us? Yes, the winner of the legendary 1988 Giro d’ Italia rode with us and signed autographs, etc.

I’ve been to a few cycling events now and I can say that the Alpine Challenge is one of the best events I’ve participated in. Ride it next year.