the team in training tent at the finish line of the tour de tucson

111 miles on a gorgeous saturday
the ride times are posted at the event site (i am down in the 3200s)
the pasta party the night before had Bob Roll as the guest speaker

all my images are posted over at flickr—some sent directly from the cell phone during the ride (although not as many as I would have liked)

thanks to everyone who helped me raise over $5200 for the Leukemia Society to find a cure.

we are off this morning and tomorrow at this time we will be in line with about 7000 other cyclists to begin our 109 mile journey around the perimeter of Tucson. thanks so much to all my friends and family who supported me during this effort and for contributing to find a cure for luekemia and othe blood cancers. lots of pics on my return.

The reason I have been less than prolific with the image making the last 4 months. Doing Team In Training has taken up most of my weekends and many days after work training. Today was our final long team ride—84+ miles. I managed to shoot one image of the larger group towards the beginning of the ride when we were all bunched up. In two weeks we head off to Tucson for the century—109 miles around the city of Tucson. 5 more days of fundraising left—so if you were thinking of donating now is the time!

this past saturday, we rode almaden valley reservoirs loop—calero, uvas and chesbro—a 45 miler. really beautiful cloud formations demanded I stop and take a few pics. i stitched these together from two shots looking out over the hills.

help me raise $3300 for the leukemia society. I am $1200 away from making my minimum goal. won't you consider a $25 donation?

upgraded to a road bike this last week and boy does it make a difference. if you can spare 25 bucks, won't you sponsor me and help me raise money to find a cure for leukemia?

my birthday today. 41. yikes—i don't really feel this old!
rode 30 miles in blazing heat down at coyote creek trail and picked up my new road bicycle this afternoon.

back on the bike a couple of weeks ago after a 4 month hiatus due to health. woah. I lost my bike butt but took this shot of some barren trees at the end of the ride.

there's always something new to see at shoreline. biking yesterday I passed this row of pylons and was intrigued by what the circular metal pieces were for.

Shot some Lomo shots out at Shoreline this past September. The grasses were beginning to turn, the pelicans were still around in large groups. The water is low and the rains are still a few weeks away. I like that the images have a painterly feel to them.

Alviso - the trails run through the marsh and the salt flats. The ride is great - windy and dusty but challenging. The wind makes up for the fact that it is super flat. I like riding out on the levys and feeling like I am taking my bike out into the bay, getting close to the water and the birds. The water is low this time of year and the algae and kelp floats to the top and is luminescent.

Sunlight in trees as I rest halfway in the long Coyote Creek ride. And then a trio on horseback pass by. This day has seen a bobcat, several dogs and now horses.

Hard ride out at Alviso trails this afternoon. The levys go out into the bay are much farther from land than the trails that run through Shoreline park. The wind makes riding difficult at best and challenging to say the least. It's a great workout - almost as hard as doing hills. The sun was at the perfect angle and there were Pelicans and large grey birds - Great Blue Heron? One was a baby still with the soft floppy feathers they have atop their crest before they get all slick and grown up.

Got my tire fixed - and purchased the right tools for next time so I can deal with it myself - and went out to Coyote Creek again this evening to do a ride. Did the full 18 mile, against the wind coming back. It was intense and I am tired - 25 miles today plus a walk. Shot these with the pencam and stitched them together to make a panorama. The light was intense. Check out the rest...

Sheila and I went for a long drive - San Jose up to Point Reyes - today via SF and the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a beautiful drive, some fog, lots of hills. We had our trail books and were seeking some new biking trails. We ended up at Point Reyes and went down this one trail that ended up only being 3 miles round trip and over a lot of sand. Tough to ride in. So we drove back up the road and parked outside the gates for Tamales Bay. We thought we would ride into that park. Needless to say, it was a serious downhill ride in and a kick butt (and I mean serious kick some butt) ride back up the hill. I had to get off the bike and walk a little bit of it. Along the way, on one of my rests, I stopped and shot these.

Biking out at Shoreline at the end of the work day. I am there at low tide and the water is out leaving lots of mud and funny birds looking for their next meal. This is a very peaceful place to be.

New bike, old trail, newly blooming mustard. The orchards are carpeted with the yellow flowers. I am riding my new bike today - recently purchased with lots of change saved over several years. Pennies do add up.

I rode the standard 18 miles at Coyote Creek but did it in a little over an hour. I cut almost 20 minutes off my time. Big difference from the mountain bike. Georgeous day today!

Rode the entire Los Gatos Creek trail today. Started at my house and just rode until I hit the big hill up to the dam and Lexington Resevoir past Los Gatos. Then I turned around and rode home - about 24 miles total. It was gorgeous, not too hot and slightly breezy. As usual there were too many people on the trail so there were times when I could have walked faster than I was cycling. But it was still a great ride.

Spent the rest of the day in the garden - working on the beds around the new patio.

Lomo images from around town over the last week. Guitars casting shadows on the orange wall, shots from my ride last Sunday at Alviso. Very flat and super windy but interesting topography. Shots from inside a barbecue joint in Campbell. They have pies, cool typography and neon. Finishing the roll out in the backyard with the dogs, trees and the pool.

One of the things I have come to love about living here in California, is the fact that in the winter everything turns green. The rains create this intense green on the hills and while the rest of the country is dogged down by snow and the bleakness of brown and bare trees, we are experiencing a touch of spring. Here are some shots, from my last ride out at Coyote Creeek that capture the intense green of the grasses. Can't wait until the orchard trees start their show. (shot with the Lomo)

Rode Coyote Creek trail today (17.5 miles). Windy and a little rainy but that makes for a less crowded trail. It is quite lovely this time of year as the hills are turning bright green while the trees and marsh grasses are browns, umbers and golds. Saw a bobcat and peacocks along the trail. This shot is facing west looking over the farmland and orchards that are left down in this area. Need to shoot this with another camera as the Pencam is not too great for landscapes.


Rode Los Gatos Creek trail yesterday from home (14.5 miles). Windy as ever but nice nonetheless.

I have been going out to Shoreline as often as possible to ride. I can get there from work easily - take the bike to work on the back of the car, and ride the one mile to the Stevens Creek Trail which hooks up with Shoreline park and the Baylands marsh trails. These are some shots from November.

The bike is back and in relatively good order - got a new back wheel and a mini tuneup. Took it out for a 17 mile ride yesterday and it seemed ok. Managed to stay on trails and off the roads and away from cars. Good mud out at Shoreline.

Always remember to wear your helmut and stay on the right side of the road. Biked today after lunch (15.5 miles) and managed to get hit by a car. I am ok - didn't even fall off the bike, but my bike is whacked. Either the back tire is not round anymore or my frame is bent. I am not happy. And the guy didn't look both ways before pulling out of the parking lot. geez. you are supposed to look both ways even when turning right - I would have been hit if I had been a pedestrian in the sidewalk, as it was I was on the bike almost past him when he ran right into me. I don't know how he didn't see me since I was almost past the car - in front of his face. stupid ass.

ok - I think I am done sulking.

Biking Coyote Creek trail yesterday in the rain was fun. No people and an intensity to the landscape with the grey sky. A little rain - not to much so I wasn't too wet. First time out there by myself. At the end there were a bunch of gravel trails and horse trails, so I explored them a bit. Must have been some of the old outbuildings from when this was a farm - now used to store equipment for the park rangers.

Went out for a relatively short ride on Saturday (13.5 miles) along the Los Gatos Creek Trail. It was the first time I had been on the trail with my new speedometer/odometer so I was able to see how far it really is. There were a lot of geese in the way at the lake area near the 17/85 interchange. When I was done I snapped a few pics of me in the side mirror. The last one turned out cool because I caught the reflection of the mirror in the window.

Sunday we went for a long ride out at Coyote Creek (18.2 miles). No pics here - too concerned with a hard workout and maintaining an above 15mph speed despite the mountain bike tires. As usual, Sheila was long gone and I rode by myself. Gotta get a new bike. It was foggy and cold when we started, but it probably was the reason why I saw a bobcat. Very cool. At first I thought it was a dog, then I realized it was a cat - a large cat with orange and tan and black stripes. Much bigger than a house cat, with a bobbed tail and big feet. I wanted to snap a picture, but I wasn't close enough for the PenCam and I ddin't want to scare it or provoke it.

It was a great ride and I am sore in my legs for the first time in awhile.

We rode today. A lot. We upped our mileage and our time and I thought I was going to die from the heat. Sheila and I did the Coyote Creek trail (trail map .pdf)- all of it - in a big loop from the car to one end, back to the car, out to the other end (only I didn't finish that leg) and then back to the car. For me, according to my new Odometer/Speedometer, it was 27.5 miles. That is 11-13 more miles than I normally do.

They say you shouldn't go out in the sun between 11 and 2pm. So what do we do? We ride from 11 to 2. In the heat, in the sun. Like I said, I thought I was going to die. Gotta get a new bike with slicker tires so I can go faster...

Need to get this book so we can find other trails to ride.

Biking out at Shoreline park today, I came upon the strange hill (that I have seen before but not really noticed) that was full of interesting elements. Pilings and concrete barriers guide you through the trails up and over the hill. All of this is on the descent path of the small airplanes coming into the Palo Alto airport. So you feel surrounded by the land elements as well as overhead by the airplanes and the birds. As always the Pencam provides an interesting and ethereal record to the landscapes.

 

 

The ride was great - if windy - and provided lots of views of many nesting birds. The last shot is at Starbucks where we went for caffeine replenishment after our hour long ride. Of course I only looked at the items in the case.

Have started biking the Los Gatos Creek trail with my sister. She started riding while in Texas this summer and now has gotten me to join her. I have been riding with her for a couple of weeks now. We get up and get out around 7:30 - probably not as early as many biker type people, but about as early as I can manage, since I am a late nighter. Although I find myself going to bed earlier and earlier. The ride is nice, quiet and serene. Lots of marshlands and ducks and geese along some of the ponds. We turnaround at Vasona Lake and ride back to Willow Glen. Works out to be about 16-17 miles round trip and takes me an hour or a little under.

 

 

Went biking today at Shoreline Park, actually slightly north of there in the Baylands preserve. It was fabulous and we rode until the sun set.