Three strikes rule...

Hello everybody!!! So like Joc, this is my first post of the season, and also like Joc, I can't guarantee that there will be much more of these, but i'll try my hardest to keep you all entertained! (No that doesn't mean I'm hopping back on my mountain bike!)

So you're probably thinking about why I named my post "the three strikes rule," well I just want you to pay attention to the strikes throughout this post and keep in mind that once you reach three, you're usually out, you quit, you give up, you turn around... but for some reason, we didn't.

So for me the day started out questioning my sanity. I had a party to attend the night before and didn't get to sleep till about 2:30 in the morning KNOWING I had to be up bright and early for our first organized ride of the season. Exchanging texts with Joc at 6:30 and waiting for her to say "i'm out!" But that never happened. We all met at the Mercer Island park & ride with the weather a blistering 32 degrees! We loaded the bikes and were off to Seattle, along with our newest member of the team, Carlos' brother in law, Earl.

The ferry ride was probably the best part of the day, for the simple fact that I had half an apple fritter. It was delicious. Joc got a little nauseus (of course) and we hadn't started to ride yet. Disembarking the ferry, Carlos took quite the spill (strike number 1). He collapsed going an amazing 2 mph and happened to take another biker out with him. Apparently the other biker started doing push-ups and I think Hillary pee'd herself a bit. After everyone composed themselves we were off!

From the get-go things didn't seem to going well for one of our teammates, our first downhill Carlos' phone flies off his bike. Not the way you would think where the velcro gives from a bump and becomes detached, I mean, the unthinkable way. The phone completely comes out of it's casing and crashes to the ground in the middle of the hill forcing Carlos to turn around and climb up an unnecessary hill (strike number 2).

After those two nightmares to start off the ride things started to look up. We were all expecting rain/snow and cold weather but the sun was poking out and the scenery was GORGEOUS! Wait, I spoke too soon. Our first big hill it started to snow... just a bit. And at first we all were mocking the weather. "Look!! It's snowing! Wouldn't be a chilly hilly ride without the snow!!!" I wish I could take back that mockery now because it kicked our ass for the rest of the day!

After about another 10 miles of complaining about the cold, the wet, the snow, the hills and whatever else you can possibly think of we were close to the half way point. Except Carlos gets a flat about 2 miles away (strike number 3, time to quit??? Nope!) He repeatedly fills up his tire with air about every 4 pedals and finally makes it to the halfway point. At this point I've been waiting for about 20 minutes hoping that I would warm my feet up. My toes felt like they were frost bitten. Earl gave me a pair of socks to put over my shoes to try and block the wind, and surprisingly they worked for a bit. We all got some snacks, tea, and Carlos fixed his flat. Off for the second half.

Hill after hill, rain and more rain, snow and slippery roads we muscled through the second half of the ride. More gorgeous scenery and wind from hell. It's as if the devil himself was throwing us EVERY curve ball in the book to prevent us from finishing this ride. Carlos' chain kept falling off (strike number 4) and Hillary couldn't change gears anymore (strike number 5). But we all muscled through it!

At the finish line, soaking to the bone and Carlos' jacket weighing in at about 367lbs due to waterlog we were all looking forward to some chili, but the room was tiny, and it was a small bowl for $7. I know it's going to a good cause, but the best cause for us at that time was to get somewhere warm, and that tiny room was not it. We rode the last half mile to the ferry where we endured probably the coldest part of the ride. Sitting outside, not moving, waiting for the stupid cars to unload... absolutely miserable!

Looking back on things, you usually forget the bad things and only remember the good. Like for me for instance, I remember marine corps boot camp as being fun although going through it was hell. As for yesterdays ride? I don't remember a single good thing! That's gotta mean something! The good thing is, we finished. We triumphed through the harsh weather conditions, the miserable hills, all the problems with bikes, our frozen extremities. 3,000 less people rode this ride than recorded last year, and we were part of that insane group. Now that we can say we've completed it, we'll never do it again... right team????????

Now for Vancouver!!

Chilly Hilly: My first blog of the season

So this is my first blog of the season and because I’m a commitment-phobe I can’t commit that it won’t be my last. Below is a breakdown of Chilly Hilly from my perspective. I hope you enjoy it and if you take anything away from this blog…take this: Never, EVER do Chilly Hilly….it is miserable, sick and WRONG!

1. Started the day with fresh snow on the ground in my neighborhood…this should have been my first indication that I should have bailed.

2. Hillary, Leo and I shared a few text messages early that morning…all of us looking for one of us to call off the ride. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We were gonna ride like champs, “In it to Win It!”

3. We met as a team on Mercer Island and everyone was on time…Let’s just say, this might have been the best part of the whole day!

4. The ferry ride was fine…although I did get a bit queasy.

5. Getting off the ferry was a bit tricky….Carlos fell while clipped in and knocked another rider over. That’s okay though cuz she dropped and did 20 (push-ups that is) right before hand…talk about obnoxious! This was the first highlight of the day…probably not for Carlos though. But we all had a good laugh seeing Carlos’ shoe still clipped in, as he stepped right out of the shoe to recover.

6. Off the ferry we headed up the hill, which was much better than I expected, except Carlos hit a bump on the way down and his T-Mobile MyTouch went flying and hit the ground. Don’t worry…because he had T-Mobile his phone survived the brutal crash. But poor Carlos, he seriously had a rough start…another indicator that we should have turned around and headed home.

7. The first few miles weren’t bad; although the weather was a bit chilly the scenery was beautiful. I’ve found my new dream neighborhood. As soon as I win the lottery I’m movin!

8. Then the rain came.

9. The more hills came.

10. Then the snow came.

11. Then Carlos got a flat…bless his heart for not quitting at that very moment.

12. Then we stopped for a quick break to warm up, fix Carlos’ tire and have a nice cup of Lipton tea.

13. About 20 minutes later we were back on our bikes and that’s when the pain came back to my fingers. The throbbing was intense, so much so that I had a challenging time shifting gears and fully clutching my brakes. We stopped a few miles down the way and I had tears welling up in my eyes because my fingers were soooo cold and hurting. I would have quit, but I was too embarrassed…didn’t want the team to see how weak I was

14. We all pushed through and continued on our way…another 13 or so miles to go.

15. The wind blew harder, the rain came harder, oh yes and the snow continued to fall off and on throughout the rest of the ride. There were points on the ride when I was pedaling with all of my power and yet the wind held me back as if I wasn’t moving at all. Talk about deflating.

16. Poor Hillary struggled a bit more than the rest of us on this ride. She is scared it is because she is still on her hybrid and the rest of us now have road bikes. I do believe the road bike would make it a bit easier for her…but I also think it was the miserable weather conditions and her gears…that didn’t seem to be shifting properly. I felt horrible for her because it truly sucks to struggle on a ride and feel you are holding the team back. But truth be told she held no one back and she rocked the shiz niz out of this ride. I’m impressed by her determination to push through!

Hold up…I’m gonna take a minute to say one thing…We have become a true team and no matter what happens, none of us hold each other back…we all have good days and bad days and we will ride together like the 3 musketeers, “All for one…one for All!”.

Okay…enough cheesiness...

17. Yes, I was miserable and on the verge of tears many times, but I have to admit I found myself having many “Cities of Angels Moments”…you know in the movie when Meg Ryan is riding her bike (no hands) and the sun is beating down on her face as if Heaven is opening its gates to her. No I’m not a bible banger…but I do cherish these moments when I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

18. Regardless of the ride conditions, we finished and we didn’t take the shortcut, so we truly “were in it to win it” and we did!

And on one final note…Hillary and I came to the conclusion that Leo isn’t as much fun now that he is riding a road bike and taking spinning 5 days a week. So we have decided he needs to ride his mountain bike going forward and lag behind to make us happy! Decision made and DONE!

Another note, Carlos’ bro-in-law, Earl, joined us. He was such a trooper and an awesome guy. This is a shout out to a new addition to our team…even if he never rides with us again.

One final note...the ride made the Seattle Times...check this out: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014352131_chillyhilly28m.html

Letter #1

Dear Mr. Pool,

May I call you Steve? First, allow me to start off by saying I usually complain about how wrong you are on a regular basis and I am sure hoping your forecast for today is REALLY, REALLY wrong.

You see, we have a big bike ride today, Chilly Hilly, the name says it all. But being a bit chilly on a ride is one thing, being freezing and fearing for your life on ice-covered roads is another.

So, what i am asking is for you to be wrong in your forecast. I am not asking for 60 and sunny but I am asking for it not to be 30 and icy. I guess I would settle for 40 degrees, just a little reprieve is all.

Oh please Mr. Steve, be wrong about your forecast one more time and allow us to have a pleasent first ride of the season.

Yours truly,

A nervous rider
Hillary

Where's Mike?

No post, just a question. I sure hope he pedals with us soon!

And the Snoqualmie wind got us again...

As Leo put it, "It is like the wind is laughing at us and saying, ha you can't beat me up this hill..."

The wind, on our final 3 mile climb, kicked our butts- it was in full gear as it only is in Snoqualmie. The day was truly beautiful. A balmy 39 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Leo's calves were numb as were my fingers and all of our feet felt like cement blocks but hey, if you don't ride in cold weather in the PNW when do you ride?

The loop (despite Carlos having to carry a full human extra) was pretty tame until THE HILL- but we had to get ready for our ride next week- THE CHILLY HILLY.

It was great to pedal with friends and listen to another hand crafted playlist this time courtesy of Carlos.... IT did sound a bit like a rave minus the drugs and glow sticks- and made us all want to go "clubbing" but the nice mixture of gLee tracks and old rock totally evened it out.

Seems like Joc is next on the playlist round and frankly I may never get there but will take what anyone else puts out (that's what she said).

Carlos is right, welcome to the team MISS IVY!

PS- I wish you had let me pull her, then I wouldn't feel so bad about the chips I just ate...

Best Teammates... EVER!!!

Just want to shout out to the entire World Wide Blog... I HAVE THE BEST TEAM EVER!!

I brought Ivy along on our 20 mile training ride through Snoqualimie and North Bend, and admittedly bit off more than I can chew. Each one of my teammates showed such a level of support that its very hard not to admire the kindness in each one of them.

From Mike & Jocelyn offering to have Ivy stay with him and his sister(sister in-law?) and watch Ivy with his own kids. To Hillary staying behind Ivy's trailer so that Ivy wasn't the last person in line facing the road. All three of them kept insisting on taking turns hooking up the trailer to their own bikes... Leo even wanted to ride my bike on the very last hill in order to share pulling duty (almost took you up on that offer buddy!!).

Everyone was just so awesome, hanging back, sticking together and tailoring their riding speed so that Ivy and I could keep up.

Thank you everyone! [Insert 'Hangover' best friends song here]

And a special thanks to the 'Trooper of the Day'... Ivy Mikayl Herrador, my 2 year old daughter. She hung in there through the entire ride and displayed the level of endurance that this team strives on. She definitely paid her dues to become the newest member of Team Jarlos!

Other things you should know about our ride

In addition to Hillary's post "New bikes, slipping gears, playlists and
snot-rockets"... here are some other fun facts for each of the team riders. Enjoy.

Leo: Was using a different style of road cleats this time around and was having issues clipping back into his pedals. The problem was compounded whenever stopped mid hill.

Jocelyn: Nearly took out a Honda Accord. Jocelyn is all of two seconds on her brand new bike and had a little trouble reaching the brakes coming out of the pathway from Hillary's house. Just a little too much downhill speed coming out the gates, but all is well.

Yours Truly: Nearly got side swiped by a Horse Trailer. Riding down Issaquah-Hobart road a Dodge Ram comes within 2 feet from me riding down the shoulder... thankfully I'm totally comfortable riding next to cars and did not react because the trailer he was hauling ended up inches from me. That trailer was so close I could see the horse inside of it... yeah, it winked at me.

Hillary: Has a sissy bell. Nuff Said.

Rising to the Occasion... TWSS!

Chilly Hilly... 33 miles. That pales in comparison to the 200+ that we completed last year from Seattle to Portland. And it should certainly not pose a problem for an experienced team like us.

So then why is that the 23 mile training ride we just did prove to be otherwise?

Two words...Muscle Atrophy. The loss of muscle due to inactivity. And belive me dear reader, the better half of this team just became very familiar with the effects of those words.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/28230414#climbs

Check the elevation charts on this ride and you'll see it certainly was no stroll through the park. Throw in the fact that we havent riden in 5 months and you'll see the reality we were in. Can I just throw in that a bike computer can be your worst enemy when you first start your training? There is nothing more discouraging than looking down at your speedometer and seeing single digits mid way through a 200ft climb... holy crap I could walk up this damned hill faster!

I'll tell you what though... we loved every minute of it. The fact that I can sit here, blog about how difficult it was and still be looking forward to the countless of hours (and hills) we have yet to ride should tell you all need to know about this sport. It's addicting. The constant rush of uncertainty followed by accomplishment is amazing.

The journey towards a Double Century has to start somewhere. This year ours started in Maple Valley. I'm just glad we all were there to rise to occasion. (That's What She Said)

New bikes, slipping gears, playlists and snot-rockets

Pretty awesome first team ride. We met on this thank-the-lord- sunny day at my house and set off on a 24 mile loop with tons of hills. As I should only speak for myself, here i go. It felt good. Damn good. It felt nice to breathe in the outside air and feel the wind. It also felt empowering to know that while it was harder than I thought it would be today, I could do it. And do it we did :)

We rode fast and hard (yes, that's what she said.)

I am sore and a bit tired but a good sore and a good tired. It reminded me of how much I not only like to ride but how much I like to ride with my friends. It was a damn good time.

Leo made us a playlist with everything from modern rock shit that I don't recognize to Van Halen and Blues Traveler.

I can't wait to see our elevation- Carlos has some super-duper cool program to download. As for my stats I know we rode 24 miles and averaged 12.6. I know our riding time was 1:44 and I know CHilly Hilly is in two weeks and i hope to god or whomever is up there that it is atleast a bit sunny!

As for my posting title

new bikes for Joc and Mike
Slipped gears for Carlos
Playlist courtesy of Leo
and Snotrockets from yours truly!