The Wildflower Experience (may 4, 2013)

Prologue

What should I write here? Should I write about the 75yr old who raced past us in the run leg in his 5th (yes, only 5th) year as a triathlete? Or should I write about the one-legged athlete who did the long course? Should I talk about the super amazing Team Asha family support at the race or should I pen down my thoughts about the one-armed athlete who did the Olympic distance triathlon? Maybe I should talk about the camping experience before the race or, maybe, should I talk about the beautiful lake which brought us all together?

I should not talk about this OR that! I should talk about this AND that and all things around. It was not a race, it was a wholesome, extremely fulfilling and a much needed experience! It was the best of all and I feel so blessed to have been part of it!

Wildflower half ironman was going to be my first real race of the big year that I have planned. I was going for gold in 2013..... and so it started.. the race report that I started writing long time ago!

Wildflower race start location

The year, the plans

Now, when I sit back to start writing again, it all seems a blur! I am done with all the running, swimming and biking for the year and it is about time to take stock of what has been. It has been such a busy year, but not too shabby either. It's been just that so many things have happened that it is easy to forget some things! Like the one-legged athlete who did the long course (1/2 IM). So, I am glad I penned down the first paragraph when I did.

Coming back to the race -- so this was going to be my first real race of 2013. After running Morgan Hill marathon in Oct 2012 and riding Seattle-to-Portland in July 2012, my biking and running seemed to have the requisite foundation. But swimming could really use a leg up. I was excited about Wildflower, but what I "really" was excited about was doing Sharkfest. It is a swim from Alcatraz island to aquatic park in San Francisco. Yea, the name sounds so daunting that I had already registered for it twice before and was a no-show for it. And I was so eager to not repeat that again this year.

Gearing up for the year meant a lot of planning around the events, the timing of them, the training plan, etc. 2013 had a not-so-rocking start when I slipped off the stairs on a rainy day towards the end of December and hurt my back. Luckily, the injury was not a big deal after the first week or so. After a week or two of recuperation, I was ready to warm up with Advait and Manisha at the Surf City marathon early February. That race was probably what kick started the training for 2013.

Starting with the Wildflower in May, I had an event spaced about exactly a month apart (Sharkfest being the except and being 2 weeks after Wildflower). I knew I was needed to go into a higher gear pretty soon. And keeping up with the training for so long meant planning for sufficient breaks along the way. After all the planning, I was (finally!!!) ready to hit the pool towards the end of February. Not something coach Char would be proud of, as he found out at the Marin county swim end of March. He reckoned lot of work was needed for the swim, and I was willing to put that effort in.

After sufficient swims at the San Francisco bay and enough training on the bike and on the feet, I felt I was ready to give Wildflower a shot. And Wildflower was not just about the race, but also about all the people involved - the camping, the Wildflower planning parties, the whole lot.. :)

Vivek with the North Park gang

Eve of the race

After listening to previous year's stories from Venki, we figured the key was to get a nice spot in the open park. And Vivek, Venki and myself arrived early and were lucky to get a nice spot under a tree for everyone. Wildflower always welcomes us with searing temperatures, so, it is a blessing to find a shaded spot to minimize your risk of getting dehydrated even before the race started. :)

And it was a hot day! But probably little cooler than previous year (or so I hear). Lots of water-sipping (and feet-washing with drinking water, my friends would point out) ensued on Friday during the entire registration/check-in process. And eventually, the rest of the gang arrived. The best part of the trip though, undoubtedly has to be the part where Muthu and Protima took care of everything!! The big part of everything was the food. We did not have to lift a finger! :)

There was a big contingent of folks taking part in the race. Along with me, there was Vivek-Venki duo doing the 1/2 IM relay, there was the Amit-Jayant-Venkat trio doing the same relay, coaches Char-Naresh duo for the 1/2 IM relay again, few veterans Rajeev Shankar and Harpal Kochar doing the 1/2 IM - all on Saturday & Laukik for his first Olympic triathlon on Sunday. And none of us had to do ANY WORK on Friday (except of course a small training ride a few of us went for). It was all taken care of!!! :) Amazzzzing stuff!! I am sure, come 2014, it will be time to give back. :)

On the way to the campsite, having never been on the Wildflower bike course, I was getting a rundown of it from Venki's previous experience. As we were riding along, I was marking the course into speed zones. And by the time it was time to sleep, I was dreaming of some finish time expectations. Only problem was I actually said it out loud!! I think I was aiming for a 7:00 (7hr) finish and 6:30 (6.5hr) being the dream finish. :) And that's how Friday ended!

Race Day

The transition zone (the starting point) - what a sight!!! And so vastly different from how it looked the previous day. The whole place was throbbing with life. It was so exciting to see so many athletes and here I was, nervous for my first ever triathlon! Is this how triathlons are? WOW!! Now, that is something!

Transition zone (each leg - swim, bike, run ends here)

Swim
I started the swim first in the gang (all the relay folks were going to start after individual racers and Rajeev & Harpal were out somewhere else :) ). It was a nice warm day and some of us swimmers had a short warm-up before the official start. They had like a minute or two warm-up before each wave of swimmers started. I probably had enough time given the cutoffs were a little relaxed for individual finishers. The race started alright amongst the crowd and about half-way through the turn-around point, I was still bumping to other swimmers. At about the half-way point, my timing chip started to become lose and started to play on my mind. (At later races, I saw that they had replacement timing chips after the swim leg handy. :) ) After swimming few more yards trying to keep that in place, I found a support staff on a surf board. I quickly got on to the board and fixed my timing chip and got back into the water with a nice dive :) (yoo-hoo). Soon after, my left calf, or was it the right, hmm... one of them started cramping. Swim is considered the easiest part of the Wildflower half (it is flat too :) ) and here I was already cramping. I figured I had to slow down and not use the legs as much. I eventually completed the swim in about 1:12.

Bike
The bike leg, the most anticipated leg - the leg where we heard horror stories about heat and the hills - that was the next one! After an uneventful transition, I was off on my bike. As soon as we head out of the transition area, we head into a small hill I hear is about 10% grade. And we are greeted by a topless girl! Brought a chuckle but didn't make climbing any easier! After the initial hill was a section of rolling hills and rest stops where I had the first experience of being handed over water-filled bottles (happens in tris). I was going at a good clip and down to a flattish section around mile 19. I got a shot in my arm when I heard folks cheering my name frantically. It was Neha, Puja and Shashvat who drove in that morning. After some drama on whether they were coming or not, I was thrilled to have their company and was excited to see them at the end of the race.

The next portion of the bike leg was a slight gradient and a slight down hill before the Nasty Grade at around mile 40. I remember reaching mile 36 or so in about 2hrs or little more than that, with about 20 more miles to go and the Nasty Grade to contend with. There goes my 2:45 dream. :) I was already 3.5hr into the race. I got to meet Puja, Neha and Shashvat again at the rest stop before Nasty Grade. It was already getting quite warm and the aid stations were beginning to run out of water. And the water that my friends were carrying there had already heated up! This was the my first triathlon and one of the aims was to try and minimize the stop time. So, I did not bother stopping at any aid stations, eating and drinking on the bike (which is mostly the norm and not the exception at tris). However, it was my first triathlon and it was a different experience. Soon enough came the much awaited hill. As I was trudging along (on my bike), I watched so many folks struggling. Some walking up the hill, some looking devastated. I bore a thought or two for some asking how they were doing and relaying their information to support staff ahead. And soon, about 3/4ths of the way up the hill, I started cramping up on my quads. It was time for a break, finally. I stopped and pulled over to the side, massaged my legs, pleaded them not to give up on me yet and got back on the bike once they responded to my pleas.

After the hill was a steep downhill followed by some more rolling hills in hot pockets. As soon as I started descending, I saw a man sprawling in the middle of the road from a bike crash. Boy, that was close I thought and focus was back on the road. After the covering the remaining 15 miles or so, I completed the bike leg in little more than 4hrs. By the time I started the run, I was about 5:30 into the race.

Run
I had no idea what the run course looked like. I only knew the fact that it was a hilly course in hot weather but when I saw the first hill, it almost seemed like a hike. :) And that was nothing compared to the hill around mile 4/5. I barely trained on hills, so I decided to walk the hilly section. More so, it was a long season ahead and what was the point anyways. I had already got cramps on the swim and the bike. :)

As I was hiking up mile 5, Vivek caught up with me and gave updates on the rest of them. And from that point, he ran/walk alongside me for the rest of the journey. There would be sections where I would run, Vivek would cheer me by saying I was too fast and then my legs would cramp and I would have to walk. And then it felt like I ate/drank too much, so, I did not have a good nutrition plan for the cramps. You live and learn.

After mile 10 or so, Vivek and I are overtaken by a 75-yr old man. The age is etched in markers on one of the calves, that's how we know. As we speak to him, we figure he started doing triathlons at the age of 70. What an inspiration!! After walking and running through the remaining uphills and downhills, it was finally time for the finish chute. And Vivek decides to let me finish ahead and get the limelight! I mean, c'mon, who does that! Really?! It is a great thing to be surrounded by fabulous people! At little over 8:30, I finish my race.

Post Race

Soon after the race, I meet up with the rest of the gang. Jayant and Naresh had tough times on the bike leg but the rest did okay. And I get to hang out with the little tots and the rest of the cheering squad as well. And Laukik/Sampada had arrived by then for Laukik's Olympic triathlon the next day. Soon, I started having a nose-bleed (an indication of hot weather) but nothing serious.

There are so many little things that were learnt for this experience - the need to train more & the need for a better nutrition plan being the primary ones. I heard from somewhere that Wildflower (referred to as the Woodstock of half IM's) time is a good indication of a full-IM finish time. Just double it. So, I was pretty much looking at a 17-hr full ironman finish (which is just on the cutoff).

The real icing on the cake, however was being able to see the whole action from the sidelines the next day, cheering Laukik on at his Olympic tri. If participating in the event is one thing, cheering and being 'part' of the event is altogether a different experience! As the experience of finishing my first triathlon was sinking in, I was soaking in the whole atmosphere the next day again. As we were heading back to the tent, we see an athlete with just one leg who just completed the Olympic triathlon!

On a personal front, even though I came out with a less than perfect race and lots to improve, watching the elites and amateurs finish alike was memorable. And the sheer number of athletes present along with the aura and such inspiring stories made for an unforgettable experience! I could not have asked for anything better for my first triathlon, and I thank everyone present for being a part of it.

The cause

And not everyone is so lucky to be in the same position as I (and us). To be able to do what I please, I consider myself very fortunate. I like to think of it as - I do it for those who cannot. And I do my bit to help those underprivileged.

Being in the zone...

(If you thought I ride long, sometimes I write long too!)

Life is funny. You set yourself goals, and sometimes in setting them you push your own limits - physical, mental, intellectual - and after you have achieved them successfully, you sit and wonder: WAS THAT IT?! Really? What now?

That is exactly how I felt after having completed the Seattle-to-Portland bike ride, popularly called STP, in ~15:30 hrs.

That was definitely not what I had anticipated, not when starting out early Saturday morning at 5am. And that was far from how I felt the day before when we met the TA Seattle riders who were doing 1-day option @ STP. We had met to know each other (we had already eked out a plan which included riding @ 17mph average so that including the stops we would be done in 14hrs). The person who devised the riding plan, Sankar, was an STP veteran who had done the 1-day option at least 2 times before and knew the course well. So, it seemed sensible to stick to his plan although it was a little intimidating to hear from his fellow riders how it was difficult to catch up with him on the hills.. and here I was already wondering if we (or rather I) would be able to stick with him in his riding plan.

Leading up to July 14th 2012 (the D-day), inspired by Ryan Lochte's visualization of the perfect race, I had begun to wonder how my perfect STP would be. Buoyed by Sankar's expectations/target time for the group, I thought - would I be able to finish in 14hrs? Will we be able to do it faster if we felt better? As the D-day approached however, all that optimism was slowly giving away to a quiet nervousness. We had done all we could in regards to preparation, now, we just needed to see what lay in store for us on the actual race day. It had been quite a few hot weekends in Seattle leading up to the point, and the temperature was forecast to be in the 90s on race day!

Friday evening, we collected the race packets from Prema (at the gathering), and headed to my friend Akshay's home where we were put up overnight, with just one thing in mind -- complete preparations for the next day's ride and sleep as early as possible. After some catching up, preparation and some sumptuous dinner, and one last look at the weather forecast (which seemed to be getting better) we finally hit the bed @ 10:30, leaving us about 4hrs to sleep. I was lucky enough to fall sound asleep.

"I don't want to wake up!!! I want to sleep some more.. please." After some internal struggle in the head :), all of us were finally ready to leave home at about 3:30am, like planned. Just as we were about to leave, we hear a long hiss! One of the tires is going flat. It was Venki's front tire. We decided to get to the start point parking lot and fix it there. After a quick fix of the puncture, we were at the START!! @ 4:45AM. There were the two of us from TA SV (Venki & me, Prakash was going to do the 2-day option and start later) and three more folks from Seattle (Sankar, Sai, Aravind). We probably missed the first wave of bikers and were ready to leave at 5:00AM. It was exciting to see so many bikers tee off. If you get to the start point feeling fine, the atmosphere is almost always exciting. One thing firmly on mind though - be careful, do not crash!!

After negotiating the initial section safely (the crowd wasn't bad at all) and after having turned on the GPS watch, I finally caught up with the rest and we were finally riding!! Until the first food stop @ mile 24, we stuck together through the thick crowd, while enjoying the beautiful view of Lake Washington! At the stop, got a glimpse of a simple bike stand where all bikes were rested on a bar by just a single point underneath the saddle. It was so simple yet so effective! The day was getting brighter but there was no evidence of sun yet (thinking silently "the sun must be out anytime now"). God.. so many more miles to go!!.. is what I am thinking even as I am writing this blog.. and that was what I was thinking for a fleeting moment while getting out of the first food stop. Who in the right mind signs up for such a crazy endeavor? I have no idea, but when Venki casually asked in Feb if I wanted to do the STP, I did not think for a minute. Maybe that explains why I signed up. :)

Few more folks (Nahappan, Varadan) caught up with us at the first food stop. After grabbing some quick food, we headed out (we forgot about Varadan). The crowd had thinned as well which gave us an opportunity to paceline. We did that until the beginning of "The Big Hill" - it was not much of a hill really, about 1.5mi climb with 6% grade - and we regrouped again at the top of the climb. We were done about 45mi and that was regarded as the toughest part of the route. And still no sun! Well, this seemed easy enough and after having completed almost 1/4th of the total ride, the feeling was great and the next 3/4ths did not seem much of a challenge. We were off to our paceline again. I lagged behind the others initially but soon Venki helped me catch up with the rest and we stuck together till mile 54 where we stopped to refuel and refill.

And we were off again on such a beautiful section of the route. The roads were so smooth, the weather was perfect, the body was feeling fine and we as a group were racing ahead! Can it get any better? I have to say kudos to the organizers for taking care of us so well. We did not have to stop much and the cops (xoxo) controlled the traffic so that we got the preference. After the awesome road, we entered a flat bike trail that was wide enough to support two lanes. The group split into two in the crowd here with Nahappan, Sai and myself trying to catch up with Venki, Sankar & Aravind. We were within touching distance a few times but we eventually caught up with them only at the stop @ mile 87. Along the trail, there were volunteers at almost all stop signs giving us a "CLEAR" sign to go ahead! It was amazing!! Soon, Varadan caught up with us @ mile 87 as well. The group re-grouped. Meanwhile, Prakash started an hour behind us and was keeping the gap. We kept in touch through messages.

After refuelling ourselves, we got back on the road again, and again the whole group vanished in front of me! :) I was riding by myself when I managed to find this strong group of 3 riders. They were chit chatting and having fun and seemed to be going at a good pace. Not seriously pacelining - seemed more like my type. :) I caught on to them and kept up with them, sometimes me pulling but most of the time them pulling me from ahead. (Pulling is a technical term in biking when you are in the front, and rest of the group is riding (or drafting) behind you.) Thanks to them, I was able to catch up with my group (which had split into two by now) and then go past them. I stuck with them till lunch, feeling great and regrouped with the rest of them at lunch. 100miles, 7hrs, nice weather - things can only go worse! And so they did. The sun watlzed out and was blazing by now. The ice-cream being handed over by the volunteers was a blessing. There were sprinklers to keep us cool. After grabbing a meal made of quinoa and tofu, we were back on the road again.

This time again, I fell behind. But it would be hard to catch up now given tougher conditions - rolling hills, sun, headwind and some nice climbs. The group that pulled me to the half-way mark came by again. But this time I could not keep up with them for too long. My legs were tiring - is it lactic acid burn out or is it cramps? did I push too much before the half? What was a beautiful first half was quickly turning into a nightmare! I needed some help. It helped that the rest of the folks were waiting at the 110-mi stop. But the real boost was my magic pills - MUSTARD SEEDS! Sankar had mentioned that chewing on raw mustard seeds relieves cramps in ~5mins. I never tried that before. Popped a few. In no time, I was feeling great!! This is magic! Quickly realized that what I had for lunch was not enough at all.. grabbed a bottle of gatorade, had some electrolytes and was on my way again, this time with the rest of the gang.

Soon, it was becoming difficult to paceline along the rolling hills. Not everyone rides at the same pace or in the same fashion on rolling hills. It was hard to stay behind others while drafting on downhills. I could not resist any more - I took off. I quickly reached the next stop and pulled over my bike to the side so that I can capture the rest of the folks, but I was too slow in my preparations and the gang whizzed past me. And again I fell behind. And then came some more hills. I caught up with the rest before Sankar & Venki beat me on the hill. After having negotiated some reasonably tough climbs, the heat was soaring now as we approached the stop @ mile 140. Met with Venki & Sankar and some cold water at the stop. Refilled ourselves and looked forward to the food stop @ mile 146. I was in two minds whether to stop or not at what seemed like a food stop, but I wasn't sure. After going past it for a bit, I decided to turn around and fill my bottles at least in case there is no support for a while. All this while, we relied on Sankar's knowledge of the course and his guidance and I was least prepared to figure out when the next stop was. Anyways, I turned around and was happy to find the rest of the folks there as well. We knew we were behind out 14-hr target. It was now only about finishing it on time. It was time for a quick check with Sankar, our local guide, about the terrain that lay ahead. The news was not encouraging. Similar stuff, a climb on a bridge and few more towards the end. And by now the sun was in its full display and the weather was nowhere close to the first half. Phew!

We had done 46mi in like 4hrs and we had about 4.5hrs to get to the finish line before 9pm. That is ~60mi in 4.5hr. I felt we were cutting close! For the first time, doubt crept in my head - will I be able to do it? Now, we were on our own. I told Venki - take me along.. I am not sure if I would be able to do it otherwise! And then came a bridge. Bye bye, Venki!! He took off on the hill.. I put my head down and climbed it slowly, and after the bridge was an awesome experiece. I was actually taking a ramp to a highway!!! Wow! I had never taken a highway ramp before on my bike and getting on to US-30 on that ramp was awesome. Again, kudos to the STP organizing team!! And after that, the whole stretch of Columbia River Highway (US-30) was such a pleasure to ride and slowly, I was riding at low 20's and slowly started believing we are in the home stretch. Soon I caught up with Venki & Sankar as they took a mini-stop, and of course they took off again and I met them again at the last food stop, with about 30mi to go and 2.5hrs more!! In the back of my mind now, I knew the job was more or less done. I was feeling in the zone!

Now, it was all about enjoying the rest of the way. It felt good, really good. And to my surprise, I met the group that helped me get to 100mi mark. I did not think I would see them again after they went past me in the second half but there they were. I left the mini-stop again along with Venki & Sankar but they were out of my sight in no time. This time though, I was not going to chase them. One of my fears or my only fear all through the training was if I would be able to ride at someone else's pace, stick to someone else's plan. In the end, I was happy to have ridden my own race, at the same time managing to stick around with the group, regrouping every once in a while. And just like that I knew the end was nearing. Finally, when it did come, after a boring stretch of street roads and traffic lights, there was a feeling of blankness. Not awesomeness, but blankness, that made me wonder.. WAS THAT IT? Venki was waiting to give a high five! And an hour later, Prakash completed his amazing feat, having started out with 2-day in mind and completing the 200 in just 1-day! And then we wrapped the day with some solid & delicious home cooked meal @ Sanjay's place!

The important thing for me though was completing the race, without an accident! I think I am a better rider now. Stronger and wiser after the 2011 crash which ended my season. I managed it without breaking a bone! And I am elated about it. Does it make up for missing my 100-miler last year? Maybe.. maybe the 200 will count towards 2011.. maybe it just does!

I don't know what to attribute the feeling of blankness to though. This was "true happiness lies in the journey, not the destination" coming to the fore. Is it because the terrain was easy compared to the training home ground terrain of SF bay area? Or is it because of all the training since May, and the constant push from Venki? Or maybe it hadn't sunk in yet? Regardless, I have to thank Venki for all the training. This was probably the most I have trained for any event, and maybe that is how good training must feel. And thanks to the abdundance of inspiration and support from Team Asha!! Go Asha!! Just one word to TA - PHENOMENAL.

If you want to experience it, look no further, TA running season 2 is here!!

I am beginning to fall in love with training. On to my next immediate goal now - the SF half marathon. I look forward to it and the India vacation that follows!

And some pictures!

Sunday, what a Fun..day

I don't remember the last time I challenged myself as much!!

It was Ind vs. Eng on Saturday night - the first real match for India in the world cup. So, we had a little poker + cricket party at Bharath's place. We gathered at around 10pm and started playing and then the cricket match started at 1am. Thoroughly enjoyed Sachin's sixes :) and India's batting, but was a little disappointed with India's finish.

After India's innings, I headed off with 2 other friends (Jenny & Ishwar) for a ski trip to Tahoe. The weather forecast was sunny and there was supposed to be a lot of snow because it had been snowing the whole week. So, there was lot of anticipation about skiing on Sunday. While driving there, we had the luxury of watching cricket on Jenny's iPhone. That was something. It was awesome being able to do that. But India were terrible defending a huge score of 338 and we were glad we lost signal when the match was all but lost. And Jenny took over the driving. I predicted the match would be over with 2 overs to spare the way Strauss and Bell were going at it.

We reached Kirkwood a little bit before 9am on a beautiful sunny day and decided to check the score out. Surprisingly the match was still going on. England had dramatically collapsed and they needed 30 from 13 balls with 3 wickets to spare. Thanks to the technology, we were able to witness the drama and the thrilling tie!! Okay.. at least we did not lose the match. Not a bad start to the day we thought.

The weather was perfect, lot of sun and lot of snow. :) It wasn't snowing then and there was lot of fresh snow on the slopes. It was my first time skiing on so much powder (ski lingo for snow). This was my 3rd time to a ski resort and the first two times I had taken the beginner package with lessons and stayed on the bunny green slopes. So, the order of difficulty of ski slopes goes from green t0 blue to black (or diamond) to double-black (or double-diamond). After one run, we joined AP at the resort and the group I was with this time were regular skiers and Jenny and AP were daredevils, I heard from Ishwar. They would go on the blacks and the double-diamonds and also go off terrain. Whoa!! Anyways.. here I was with them.

I did not want to be on the green slopes skiing there by myself. The last time I was there at Kirkwood, I did that and was bored at the end of it and wanted to try something different. It was my first time with this group, so, they had no idea how I skiied or on which slopes I could ski. So, the first run with Jenny was more of an assessment. I think it was blue slope. There was so much snow and first time on a blue slope for me. I was intimidated. After a slow and unenventful run, we tried to find a run that I can go on repeatedly. I waited at the base of a lift while Jenny went up a lift to assess that run. In a few minutes, he had gone up to the nearest peak I could see and come down. And by this time, AP joined us. After deciding that would be a suicide for me, we went up a different lift. It was a difficult blue. It was a little steep and narrow at the top of the run and once I fell down I found it hard to get up on that slope. So, after trying in vain to get me back on feet, AP and Jenny went down the slope and promised to come back up that lift. I can't believe now that I just stood there at the edge of the slope waiting for rescue like a deer caught in headlights. I pretty much froze.

I stood there wondering if it was the shoes which had a bit discomfort. Or is it the excess powder on the slopes. Jenny was back in a few minutes and with his assistance I managed to come back down the slope this time. At the end of the run, I was more comfortable to negotiate that slope than before. I practiced slow turns & I also learnt new techniques to get up after a fall. After checking if I would be able to go on that run alone again, Jenny went off with AP to jump off a cliff, or ski down some precipice. That run was called "The Wall," so you can imagine how steep that could be. They had gone off to the highest peak I could see from where I was standing to do their stunts. I went back on that slope and after exhausting myself with some slow turning all by myself, I looked for company and that effort going in vain, I took the lunch break. As I finished up my lunch, I bumped into Ishwar & then caught up with the other guys too. During the break, I had refreshed myself and also adjusted my shoes.. so, I felt much more comfortable after it.

Post-lunch, I just wanted to stay with at least one of them. Well, I probably had to because my cell phone died. But either ways, it turned out to be tremendous fun. It was such a huge resort and Ishwar wanted to go a different side of the mountain. In order to get to those lifts, we either needed to walk up some slope a bit or go up a lift and ski down to those other lifts. We chose the latter and at that point these three guys wanted to leave me on the easier slopes while they were gonna tread some blacks. I refused to go to the green slopes and just stayed with them instead. :)

Best decision I made? Maybe Ishwar would not agree. Over the next hour or so, I negotiated my first few blacks and took umpteen number of tumbles. The first run was probably an easier one and managed to ski down it fairly comfortably falling only a couple of times. The second one was way too sleep and made me take a variety of tumbles -- on the belly, on the back, facing uphill, facing downhill, legs in a V position, legs in an X position. If there was a way to fall, I fell that way. Once I even lost the ski pole boarding the lift, and another time I lost the ski boarding the lift and had to hop off on one ski after that -- all sorts of adventure. Given the amount of discomfort I put my body to though I feel very lucky and thankful though not to have broken a bone or two. But after getting out unscathed through all the hell, I felt satisfied. Good workout. And enough for the day.

Few more blue runs and green runs, few more fast runs and fast tumbles later, I was back to the lodge, having explored lot of Kirkwood. It was a great day to ski - lovely weather and lot of snow. And a lovely experience overall!

After that, it was the drive back, to a sumptuous dinner @Ishwar's including mango lassi, parathas & kabobs all home made by Ishwar's & Jenny's spouses. Great way to end a great day. Now, if only India sneaked in on the victory, it would have been even more special. By the time I reached home at midnight, I had slept for an hour (on the way to Tahoe) in the previous 24hours and that was by far the fullest utilization of 24hours in a day I can remember.

The Faint Experience..

It took me 30 years to realize how it would be to faint! When it happened though, I thought the experience was surreal.

I had gone in for my routine physical exam which entailed giving some blood samples for tests. So, I went to the lab after having not had anything in the 12hrs prior. The last time I had gone for the blood test, I had felt dizzy and was expecting something similar -- guess signs of weakening body? -- when the phlebotomist (cool word for one's occupation heh?!) drew out blood out of my right hand, I did feel dizzy. Since he could not collect enough blood in the last sample, he had to take one more sample from the left hand. (By the way, this was the first time one 'could not' draw out enough blood from my hand.. I was wondering if the blood pressure was not high enough to push the blood out but the phlebotomist had other explanations as well.)

For a moment, I wanted to take a sip of water before he drew the remaining sample but since it was just mini test tube I thought I would sit through it and then go have my lunch next door. I do not remember how I started to go unconscious but what I remember thinking was that my brain had completely shut off. I remember asking myself where I was and what I was doing, and my brain had no answer!!! NO ANSWER - my head was totally blank. That was some feeling. I can only guess that it lasted a couple of moments before I started to gain consciousness. I realized one of my flip-flops had fallen off. And I saw the nurse was around too, and they were applying some ice at the back of my neck. As I was regaining my consciousness I was told that I had fainted. I was so surprised to know that they had noticed that I fainted. I was still sitting on the chair but had totally lost consciousness. And then the person drawing my blood actually knew I was gaining my consciousness back. How? He told me the paleness in my face was going away! Paleness!!?? Whoa! Until this time, that was only an academic word for me. I still had not seen myself pale but that was some kind of an experience.

I then quickly grabbed lunch, all the while feeling miserably cold, and finally got home to comfort! It made me wonder -- what would we be without our brains!!??And just how the whole body works is just mind boggling!

A never-ending century @ Davis

A culmination of training? Or a new beginning? Only time will tell. One thing for sure is that it was a job well done. And for that, hats off to TeamAsha coaches - Lyresa, Jeff & Stan - and all TA buddies. On my first ride, the very first ride, I had a nasty fall and scraped all my left side of the body. That I survived the entire season without another fall (well, there was one small one when I was stationary, but lets discount that) was surprising to me. And to think that at the end of the season I would have completed a 100miler would have seemed ridiculous at that moment!
Now for the Davis ride part..

Chasing Anshu

It's flat? Really? Sure, it was flat all the way till rest stop 1 @ 25mile but it wasn't easy. In all the rides so far, the roads were so smooth, the roads in Davis left a lot to be desired. :) It took almost double effort to tackle them. On top of it, the wind! After coach Lyresa's on-hands demo of cycle repair (no, she had a flat tire), we left in clusters. I took off & soon some more passed me. And then there was Anshu. For all his pre-race talk about him chasing me at Davis, I was the one left to chase him all the way to the first rest stop at mile 25. He caught on to a paceline and took off & just vanished. Looks like lot of people caught on to pacelines and had lot of fun. :)

I managed to get on to a paceline too towards the end of the first 25-mile segment (rest stop 1 was at mile 25). As we were approaching the rest stop, we had a right turn, and all of a sudden I realized how much headwind we were up against. As soon as we made the right turn, I felt the bike being displaced maybe a few inches. The girl leading our group was awesome! She was riding amazingly steady on her aero-bars and I just drafted behind her all the way to the rest stop.

Judgment time for Foxy's Century

Until the rest-stop, there was lot of support personnel on cars and bikes. And there were arrows on the road at every turn, which was awesome! No need to look at the route sheet at all. But our group was pampered on Tour of Napa Valley with food. :) Rest stops every 15mi with lotsa awesome food. So, the first rest stop was where I was gonna pass my judgment on the ride, and also set my expectations for the rest of the ride. Didn't leave a good impression. There were bananas and grapes, and some more food. But not enough stalls & not enough variety. I knew not to expect much support over the rest of the ride.

Chasing Lyresa & Sriram

After a lesiurely wait at rest stop 1, I started out with a bunch of other friends. The roads had changed for the better, and after a few short turns, I could see a long flat road straight ahead. I went on my aerobars and like cruise control, I was going at 80rpm cadence for I don't know how long. It felt awesome! Aerobars, you beauty! As I was going past lot of folks, I also passed coach Lyresa & Sriram who promptly started drafting behind me. After having pulled them for a few miles, I was passed over by a faster paceline and Lyresa & Sriram promptly jumped onto their group. :) I guess that should be the strategy. Get on to whichever paceline you can. :) After that point, I was chasing them until the second stop at mile 38.

Leaving them in the wake, or should I say, leaving them at rest stop 2 that was a fake?

As I was approaching second stop, I was passing a few TeamAsha folks. The second stop was at a dangerous junction with not much space for bicycles to stop. There was some water and porta potties. I stopped momentarily, filled water and started back again, leaving everyone while they had stopped at the water stop. Stop 2 (rest stop / water stop) lived up to the expectations! The next stop was 18mi away. The road was so rough, I was on a hunt for the path of least resistance. In one stretch, there was a small trip of good tar on the shoulder and I got on to it. It felt like I had got on to a pace line. :) After negotiating some hills, coach Lyresa caught up with me. And then we were playing cat and mouse for a few miles. It is always fun chasing Lyresa. I love going past her on an uphill, but again she eventually outrides me. Couple of miles before the lunch she passed me and went ahead.

Lunch? It was more like breakfast.. peanut butter and jam! But they had chips too! Yay. Finally some taste. :)

Chasing Pavan & Naveen

After re-grouping with everybody, I started out with Naveen, Mukul & Pavan. Or at least that was how it was supposed to be but Pavan led everyone else off. So, I started a few minutes after they left, and I was chasing them. I yelled out to Pavan but of course he did not hear me. The next 18mi was known to be a climb! I was in for the long haul. We were all in for it! After a time that seemed looong, I passed Naveen at the top of a small hill, and went ahead on the downhill. I love downhills but soon I started cramping. When you get cramps, I realized even downhills are a pain! :| After some time, I got some help from Naveen as he handed me 2 salt capsules. I meant to gulp a couple at lunch from Anshu, but forgot, and it seemed to be showing the due effect. After taking the salt, I started riding again hoping the cramps would go away. However, after a few minutes, I had to stop. I stopped by the road, took a little nap, stretched and massaged my muscles hoping the cramps to ease out. Soon, Lyresa passed me and waited for me to get back on the bike. I was on my bike again, and soon after that rest, I was ready to ride again! My cramps were gone after a bit, and I was so thrilled.

Counting Numbers Lots of water around, no where to drink Staying within limits

Hills are fun!

After a long climb (before I had gotten cramps), I was just curious how much we had done after lunch. I thought I would have had 6 more miles to go, but alas, I had done 6 miles! All of 6 miles. At least 9 more to go? Or was it 12 more? I had no idea, but I was going to go after them anyways. And after getting fresh legs post-cramps, I enjoyed the hills again. At least, they were scenic and had good roads. :) I charged at them when I could and when the longest climb stared at me.. I counted numbers. 100 pedals at a time. After the climb, I was looking for my reward (which was a long downhill) but it never materialized. There were downhills that I enjoyed, pedaled at 43mph(!!) but still was greedy for more. It was not just the cramps that put me within limits. It was also the road traffic. At one point I was cursing the truck in front of me for slowing me down on a downhill. :) I dug into my innermost reserves of mental fortitude but found the reward elusive.

After the cramps and uphills, I ran out of water and was thirsty -- and very eager for the next water stop. There was so much water in the scenic beauty around, but no place to drink. I kept looking for the waterstop or a lovely downhill. But soon I gave up on the water stop and stopped at the first store I found to buy some water. After I freshened up there, I found the water stop a stone's throw away. Stopped there again and found watermelon. Finally! Pickle too! Probably the best food of all the stops.

Riding with Sriram Riding without Sriram

Filled my water bottle & started the ride out with Sriram with a gentle climb. At the top of the climb though, I couldn't resist the downhill and took off. Sriram duly caught up with me and then we were pacing each other for some time until he found another paceline and I asked him to go ahead. After chugging along for some time, my mind shut off! Like it was telling me "that's enough!" As I reached mile 95, I heard someone say 7 more miles. I started counting again. I thought the finish would be 2000 revolutions away, but the organizers were teasing us. It just never seemed to end. And once I completed my 2000 revs (already close to 104mi done), I just decided to push on until the end. When it did arrive though, I had no idea that it was the end! Just another street, just another parking lot. Just like that, the finish was there! I almost lost it & rode right through! No fan fare, no finish line, it seemed like just another day in the park. And ironically, after having some pasta and freshening up, we (Pavan & I) were feeling fresh. It was a totally weird, yet, a happy feeling!

Maybe it was the familiar faces at the end, maybe it was the fact that everyone had a good ride, or maybe it meant that this is just a beginning!

Highlights

• The weather: Beautiful day to ride. Wouldn't want any other way! Gotta thank the Gods.
• The elements: Rough road. Wind helps, wind hurts.
• The dilemma: If I don't attack the uphills, they will eat me alive. If I don't attack the downhills, I can't get momentum for the uphills!
• The verdict: Cardiac hill is awesome! Hills rock, Flat roads in Davis suck!
• The weekend: Worth the wait, memorable.

Conquering hills?

http://beta.mapmyride.com/routes/detail/23270606/

Unexpectedly, just like that, we bumped into a long hill. After completing that, nothing seemed daunting any more for some reason. And then late into the ride, there was an optional climb. Of course I was gonna do it.

I was under the impression that the additional detour was 2.5mi. Now, I was not sure if it was 2.5mi round trip or one-way. :) Either ways, the total round trip was 7mi, and it was a fun hill. Long climb. And then at one point, I was even going up & down to stay with Kiran & Anshu. Wow. What was I doing?! It all seemed so easy at that instance. Hard to put how I felt in words. I felt I was conquering the hills!

This ride will probably remain my biggest strength in dire situations.

And you thought Ink Grade was painful??

Fifteenth toughest ride in Napa. In Napa, that too!

15) INK GRADE 247 ft/mi. Total distance from Pope Valley Rd. to White Cottage is 4.5 miles and 1110 feet of climbing. Very nice ride with plenty of shade, lots of breaks especially at the start. One of the longer climbs in Napa but not as difficult as most. Also part of our righteous Tour of the Napa Valley.

247ft/mi?? chhii.. not even 5% grade.

how about this for a climb?

2) SPRING MTN (starting from St Helena) 526 ft/mi. I rank this second even though there are two other climbs that are steeper, but this one is longer and there are essentially no breaks. Total distance (from Y in the road to county line) is 4.5 miles and total elevation gain is 1560 feet. The major pitch however is 1.9 miles long and 1000 ft with virtually no breaks. It is covered in shade which helps but I've only attempted this twice in 7 years just to give you an idea of how much I enjoy this one.

excerpt from here: http://www.eaglecyclingclub.org/hills.htm