World AIDS Day Ride

Today is the 26th World AIDS Day.  This morning I participated in a WAD ride sponsored by Positive Pedalers, an international cycling club that focuses on erasing stigma of HIV/AIDS by being a positive presence in that community (and to those outside that community).  The ride was followed by a ceremony at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park.

2014 World AIDS Day Ride in San Francisco

I was a young adult in the 1980s.  I worked in theatre during these years, a community especially hard hit in the early years of HIV and AIDS.  I distinctly remember my first friend who shared his positive HIV/AIDS status with me.  His name was Wayne, he bore a striking resemblance to David Bowie, and I had a terrible crush on him.  I haven’t thought about Wayne in many years.  As I feared, a quick google search yields no results.

Wayne and I worked together on a children’s theatre tour in the Washington, DC metro area.  For 10 months, the two of us, along with three other actors, toured schools 5 days a week.  We travelled together, performing at two schools each day, in a van packed tightly with costumes, sets, and sound equipment.  The five of us became very close.

One day, sitting in a Burger King on lunch break, Wayne told us he had tested positive.  I remember thinking it was a death sentence.  I cried openly.  So did everyone else.  I held him close.  I wondered, since we weren’t very educated about transmission in those early days, if I could contract HIV because I had shared sodas and cigarettes with him.  But mostly, I was devastated.  I mourned, because he was symptomatic and I knew he would die.

Over the years, I’ve had countless friends and colleagues who were HIV positive.  I’ve known countless others who have died of AIDS.  It’s been a part of my entire adult life.

More than a decade later, in 1998, I moved to the San Francisco area.  Wanting to find a volunteer opportunity, I registered to participate in the California AIDS Ride, a 7-day, 600-mile bicycle ride that raised funds and awareness for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.  When I registered, I did so because I wanted to improve my health and I wanted to feel a part of my community.  But, like many participants, as I trained and then completed the ride, it became more about HIV/AIDS than about me and my goals.  And what I learned through that experience was that there were many folks who lived with HIV and AIDS and also rode their bicycles in that event.  AIDS was no longer a death sentence.

There’s a prevailing feeling, especially among our youth, that AIDS is not dangerous.  It won’t kill you.  It’s a thing of the past.  There are drugs to treat it.  And that’s the demographic that’s seeing an increased diagnosis of HIV and AIDS.

So, today, I ask you to think about AIDS.  Remember that we’re still fighting this disease.  And, if you have the opportunity to influence a young person about the risks and prevention, please don’t hesitate to take action.

A Big, Fat, Hairy Goal

I rode my bike today and the internal dialogue went a little something like this:

“Yup, this sucks.  I should’ve taken a nap instead.”

“No, you need to get on your bike.  Be consistent.  You’ll get your fitness back.”

“That really old man on a mountain bike with sneakers just passed you like you were standing still.  Was he laughing at you?  You could always just turn around and ride home now.”

“Stop comparing yourself to other riders.  Maybe you can find some remote place to ride where there’s no one else on the road and no one will recognize you.”

“This is miserable.  Don’t you always say that if it’s not fun, don’t do it?  This is definitely not fun.”

“Whew!  2,000’ of climbing in 20 miles.  It sucked, but that’s a solid ride.  Stop beating yourself up and enjoy the cruise home.”

“I guess this is better than the ride this weekend.  Wait a minute, it might even be fun again.”

“That cute guy keeps talking to me.  Maybe I don’t look so miserable after all.”

“Wow, that was the best ride ever!”

I’m not a natural athlete.  I’m not a genetic freak like many of the riders I know.  I didn’t even participate in any sports or fitness activities for the first 30 years of my life.  In the past 15 years, since I started riding a bicycle, I’ve had to train really hard just to be a mediocre rider.  And now, after 3+ months off the bike, it feels impossible that I’ll even be mediocre again. 

I find it impossible to remember that just a few months ago I could climb mountains and ride my bike all day.  I think back to the awesome events I rode in the past 12 months (Furnace Creek 508, US Paralympic Track Nationals, La Vuelta Puerto Rico, the monthly Strava Gran Fondos, a ride around Lake Tahoe, and the Death Ride climbs, and can’t see myself ever being able to do that again. 

I often feel hopeless when I’m on the bike.  It really isn’t fun.  Honestly, it’s pretty miserable, both mentally and physically.  It seems like the road back to fitness will be impossibly long and difficult.  But I love riding my bike.  Just not right now.  I have to remember the love.  And I know that the best way to regain my fitness is to get out there and ride my limits (which are very low right now) consistently.  I need to log the hours.  I need to embrace the misery.  And I know, day by day, week by week, it will get better.

I turn 50 next year.  My friend Ren decided that we should push our limits and race the HooDoo 500 together to celebrate this milestone.  It’s a big, fat, hairy goal.  But it’s 10 months away.  Luckily, we’ve already chosen some milestone events to keep us motivated.  So today, I rode for Ren and her lovely wife, Tiffney, and their two beautiful daughters.  They’ve had a heck of a year, with the birth of a child, breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, and career changes.  So we’ll be celebrating them at HooDoo 500, too.

Thanks for getting me out there today, Ren (even if you couldn't make it out with me)!

My Christmas Confession

I’ve been lying to everyone and it’s time to make amends.  You see, when asked about Christmas, I always tell folks I “don’t do” Christmas.  And that’s true.  I don’t celebrate the holiday in a traditional way.  I don’t have family, so I don’t feel obligated to participate in any dreaded family get-togethers.  I haven’t purchased a single gift nor have I mailed even one card.  There are no candles in the window nor carols at the spinet.  And I’ve lived this way for close to two decades. 

But the reality is, I really do love Christmas.  Besides the stress that surrounds the holiday, I have some lovely memories of big family dinners, Christmas Eve midnight mass, our annual Christmas choir concert featuring “O Holy Night,” and Christmas morning with all the grandchildren.  I used to decorate a tree each year and I still have a box of ornaments (in storage) that I collected in the first 30 years of my life.  I used to send out hundreds of Christmas cards.  I used to bake dozens of cookies for family, friends, and co-workers.  I even used to host a Christmas caroling party at my home.  So, what happened?  How did I become the girl who didn’t “do Christmas?”

The transition happened gradually, shortly before I moved to California in 1998.  My grandmother, who had been the anchor of many of our family traditions, passed away.  My father picked up the reins and we started some new traditions without her.  And then my father died.  And then I moved to California.  The first winter I lived here, I travelled home to upstate New York for the holiday.  It was just me, my mother, and my sister (who also used to live in CA).   My other sister had estranged herself from the family, and, as the mother of the only grandchildren in the family, she deprived us of sharing the experience with children.  So we went from a two-day celebration filled with tons of family and friends to a depressing week where my mother didn’t get out of bed, my sister drank 2 bottles of wine each night, and I started to hate the holiday that I had always loved.  Although my mother lived another five years after this, that was my last Christmas in New York.

The following year, I started riding a bicycle.  I hooked up with three other riders (all training for the California AIDS Ride) and we rode together for 4 days over the Christmas holiday.  We called ourselves the “Christmas Orphans.”  We each had a different story, but what we shared was the fact that we were alone for the holidays and that we all rode a bike.  On Christmas morning 1999, we rode a 30-mile route in San Francisco.  We continued to be friends and this ride became a holiday tradition.  Over the years, the other three moved on to other traditions, I continued on, and today marked the 15^th Annual Christmas Orphans’ Tour of San Francisco.  In these 15 years, I’ve only missed twice:  once when we cancelled due to torrential rain and wind and once when I was recovering from surgery.

One year, there were only 2 of us on the ride (it was pouring rain).  One year, there were close to 100 riders (thanks to a calendar listing from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.  Everyone comes from a different place, many of them with connections to me, and they share the desire to participate in a fun, social ride on Christmas morning.  And, no matter what size the group, we bring smiles to the faces of all who see us, dressed in Santa hats, elf costumes, and riding decorated bikes. 

Alyson + Lorri at the Golden Gate Bridge

The Christmas Orphans’ Tour of San Francisco is a unique ride.  It’s not a long ride, totaling just 29 miles.  It’s not a hard ride, with less than 1,500’ of climbing.  It’s not a fast ride, since we keep the group together (no matter how slow the slowest rider is) and we stop to enjoy the view, take photos, and maybe even have a cup of hot chocolate.  It’s a social ride where old friends and new friends get to see the city in a new way.  On Christmas morning, when everyone else is sitting around their Christmas tree, you can see the random art in the city – the murals and mosaics, the sculpture and the architecture, and, on a clear day like today, the amazing views of the bay, the bridges, and the ocean.

It’s been fascinating for me to see how our beautiful city has changed in the past 15 years.  The infrastructure for bicycles has improved dramatically.  The ballpark was built and has changed names a couple of times.  Parts of the city have been developed while other parts have become less desirable.  I’ve noticed more folks are out and about running, bicycling, surfing, and walking (and today’s beautiful weather definitely contributed to this).  And I still see the homeless, the needy, and the hopeful on street corners and hidden in the nooks and crannies of the city. 

So, my reality is that I DO celebrate Christmas.  And I DO give gifts.  My gift is bringing together random strangers and friends to share in this amazing experience.  I give folks who might be alone the opportunity to spend time with others.  I give folks who don’t celebrate Christmas something to do on a day when many folks are busy with family.  I give myself the opportunity to continue a tradition that has been very meaningful for me.  And the other riders give me the opportunity to share this with them.

It’s amazing to me that I’ve continued this tradition for 15 years.  I don’t think I’ve ever done anything else in my entire life for 15 years.  But then again, I’ve never loved anything or anyone the way I love my bike.  And love is actually what traditions like Christmas are all about.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The Christmas Orphans at Fisherman's Wharf

It Takes Two, Baby!

Our awesome little team of six for the Furnace Creek 508 awoke at dawn, grabbed some Starbuck's for breakfast, and chamoised up for a shake-out ride on the tandems.  In addition to the four of us racing, our two crew members, Max and Andy, saddled up on the spare tandem at our host house to join us for a short spin.  How often do you see three separate tandems out riding together?

I'm pretty impressed with our ability to get up and running smoothly.  My pilot, Jim Ryan, is a very experienced rider, and we were able to start, stop, shift to an optimal gear, and communicate really well together.  We dialed in our bike fit (as much as possible within the constraints of the bike) and I feel confident we've optimized our positions.

The best piece of advice I received this morning was from our other tandem pilot, Paul Kingsbury (owner of Kingsbury's Cyclery in Elmira, NY).  He said the biggest adjustment as a stoker is that I will feel the bike do things that weren't caused by MY input.  I thought about that several times during our 9-mile ride this morning.

We rolled with my Cardo BK-1 bluetooth communication device.  It's a super-cool helmet-mount system that allows two riders to talk to each other.  I've been testing it out in training the past month or so and I'm sold that it's a really great system for two riders.  If our crew is really smart, we're also going to connect to one of their smart phones so we can communicate with the support van.

Communication will be key for this race.

Lorri, Jim, and crew member Max in the background

I've spent a lot of time in the past month thinking about the experience of riding a tandem and also being supported by a crew.  This is very different for me.  I'm an independent girl.  I live alone.  I run my own business.  I have no family.  I'm used to doing my own thing.  So, for the next couple of days I'm integrating into a six-person team and allowing others to advise me and take care of me.  It's a pretty neat experience.

There are so many funny soundbites about riding a tandem.  But here are my thoughts as I embark on a journey from the stoker's seat:

• Trust is key.  I need to trust in the bike.  The bike will do what it's meant to do if we don't screw it up.  I need to trust my pilot.  I couldn't pick a better pilot.  Jim is a super-experienced ultra-endurance rider with experience as a tandem pilot on this event.  He'll take good care of me.

• It's okay to let others lead.  I'm used to being a leader.  I'm not used to being a follower. Following can feel uncomfortable to me.  My role this weekend is not to be a leader.  But I can be the very best follower I can be.  

• I can be a contributor.  And that will be more valuable than being a leader in this situation.  I will pedal.  I'll cheer.  I'll help out whenever I can.  And I'll let others lead.

• Intuition is also very important.  A stoker can't be on auto-pilot.  I can use verbal and non-verbal cues to help guide me.  

We're all packed in the van now and transferring to the host hotel in Valencia.  We've got race check-in and safety checks on both the bikes and the support vehicle.  We've got the race meeting this afternoon, with all 700 riders and support crew.  And then it's off to the grocery store to stock up on 24-hours of food for riders and support staff.  We've been discussing nutrition options, ranging from all liquids to a variety of real food and sports nutrition products, to eccentric snacks like tootsie rolls stuffed with coffee beans.  

I won't likely update the blog until after the race is finished on Sunday, but you can follow our progress here:

If you'd like to follow along, you'll find the official FC508 webcast here:

http://www.the508.com/2013web/

You'll find time splits for our team (Northern Spring Peepers) here:

Northern Spring Peepers Race Page

And you can get live (well, every 20 minutes) updates here:

Northern Spring Peepers SPOT Tracker

Wish me luck!

********************************************************************************


Thank you again to Gary Brustin and Jan Medina for their sponsorship of my race.  I wouldn't be sitting in this 15-passenger van on the 5 in Los Angeles, discussing pickle juice and chamois creme if it wasn't for their support.

The Fastest Five Weeks In The History Of Time

This morning, I'm hopping on a jet plane (probably a prop plane, actually), bound for Los Angeles to meet up with my team for this weekend's Furnace Creek 508.  My journey leading up to this day followed a crazy, twisted road with a few bumps and potholes, but somehow I've arrived intact.

If you recall, five short weeks ago, I agreed to join the record-holding two-tandem 50-plus team, the Northern Spring Peepers, for this 508-mile race.  I knew it would be a challenge to ramp  up my volume to train for the event, but I was ready to take it on.  I had 4 weeks of available training time and then a week to recover and stay fresh for the event (what some folks might call a taper).

The first phase of my training was to increase both my duration and climbing.  I planned a series of three-day blocks with 10,000-15,000 combined feet of climbing with recovery between blocks.  My first two weeks were going as planned.  Well, maybe not quite as planned, as my teammate Pamela and I got a little carried away and rode 136 miles with 8,000' of climbing to start my second week of training.  But we survived, and I knew that I'd be able to complete my stages of FC508.  I totaled 24+ hours that week, with 321 miles and almost 15,000' of climbing.

The following week I planned another 20+ hours with 20,000' and was on track when tragedy struck -- I was hit by another cyclist while riding.  I was very fortunate that my injuries weren't too severe -- no broken bones, but lots of soft tissue damage and my right leg was deeply contused (and is still sore almost 3 weeks after the collision).  This basically destroyed my training plan.  I was conflicted:  I needed to train, but I needed to heal my injury.  I completed a few rides, feeling very slow and suffering with pain.  I cancelled my planned tandem training weekend with my partner, Jim Ryan, in Oregon.  I decided to be conservative, and let myself heal.

So, weeks 2 and 3 I only rode about 12 hours total (150 miles with 7,000' of climbing).  My 4th week, I climbed everything I could, knowing that would be the biggest bang for my training buck.  My leg still hurt, and I still felt slow, but I needed to do some damage control so I didn't completely lose fitness.  I was able to ride 17 hours, for a total of 200 miles and 17,000' of climbing.  My last long ride was a solid 75-miles with 7,000' of climbing.

This week my goal was to recover and then keep my legs fresh.  I'm feeling pretty good, so I guess I met my goal.  We'll see how I feel later today when I go for a spin with my tandem partner.

This year's Furnace Creek 508 has been a challenge for the race promoter, before we even hit the start line.  Apparently, two separate parts of the traditional course were washed out with flash floods, forcing a re-route of one section and a van shuttle of the other section.  Then, the federal government shut down.  Since the route goes through two different national parks (Mojave and Death Valley), the promoter hustled to find alternate routes (and obtain permits for those routes).  At this time, we don't know if we'll be permitted to ride the 508-mile course, or if the race will be shortened to 356 miles (an out + back route to Trona that skips all the really cool desert land).  While I'm certainly disappointed, I think we'll still have a great experience.

The modified route for my tandem team would be 177 miles total (instead of 240 miles).  We would ride stage 1 (107 miles with 6,000' of climbing) and stage 3 (70 miles with 4,000' of climbing).    The other tandem team (Paul Kingsbury and Wanda Tocci) would ride stage 2 (70 miles with 3,000' of climbing) and stage 4 (107 miles with 5,000' of climbing).  Wait a minute!  How did my team get more climbing?  So while the overall race distance has been reduced, the impact for each of our teams is not that significant.  We've still got our work cut out for us.

Of course, the logistics of changing from a 508-mile point-to-point race that begins in Santa Clarita and ends in 29 Palms about 33 hours later to a 356-mile out-and-back race that begins and ends in Santa Clarita less than 24 hours later means changing lodging and such, but our awesome team has handled all this without blinking.

So now, we just wait and find out which course we ride.  We all packed for the long course.  We have flights and lodging based on the long course.  But I'm guessing we'll end up riding the short course.

Later today we build up the tandems (they were shipped out from New York), go grocery shopping, have a test ride, and prepare the support van.  Today's also the day we all get to know each other.  Actually, the other three riders and two crew members all know each other already, so I guess it's the day that I get to know everybody else.  On Friday, the bikes and the vehicle both have to pass safety checks and we have rider meetings and dinner and spend the night in Santa Clarita.  And then on Saturday, we roll out @ 9:30am.

I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't a bit nervous.  Of course I'm nervous.  I'm jumping back in, still injured, riding 177 miles and 10,000' of climbing in less than 24 hours.  On the back of a tandem.  With a man I've never met.  I'm nervous and excited and feeling surprisingly calm.  I guess the reality of what I'm about to undertake hasn't sunk in yet.

If you'd like to follow along, you'll find the official FC508 webcast here:

http://www.the508.com/2013web/

You'll find time splits for our team (Northern Spring Peepers) here:

Northern Spring Peepers Race Page

And you can get live (well, every 20 minutes) updates here:

Northern Spring Peepers SPOT Tracker

Wish me luck!

********************************************************************************

I want to take a minute to thank a bunch of folks who've helped me arrive here:

Gary Brustin and Jan Medina for their sponsorship of my race.

Pamela Levine for being the best training partner ever.

Winnie + Dan Brehmer for loaning me a wheelset when mine was destroyed in the crash.

Annie Gianakos for scraping my broken body off the pavement, taking me to the hospital, and nursing me on the day of my crash.

Jason Pierce who dragged my tired butt around on the bike and shared all his accumulated wisdom about FC508.

And all my friends and teammates who've shared rides with me, listened to my stories, calmed my fears about being injured, and supported me on this crazy, bumpy journey!

Furnace Creek 508 Study Guide

I always love the anticipation associated with participating in a new event.  The interwebs make it easy to while away the hours viewing photos and videos and reading race reports.  Yeah, it's great to read the official data (maps, GPS, rules, etc), but I like the real-life stories of folks who've experienced the event.

Now that the reality has set in that I'll be riding my inaugural Furnace Creek 508, I spent some time today clicking around and sharing other riders' experience.  I thought I'd share with my friends + fans.

2012 FC508 blog from Jim (my tandem captain).  I'm happy to report that Big Bertha has been retired:  http://pancake508.blogspot.com/

2012 FC508 blog from Paul and Wanda the other tandem on our team:  http://www.kingsburyscyclery.com/?p=191


Stunning photos and time-lapse from Scott MacDonald Photography:  http://www.scottmacdonaldphotography.com/2012/12/06/the-furnace-creek-508/


FC508 YouTube Collection, because a video speaks a million words:  http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=03027EAC14FC9819



I can't thank Gary Brustin and Jan Medina enough for supporting me in my Furnace Creek 508 quest.  Without their support this wouldn't be possible.  I'm really looking forward to this event.  I can't wait to add my blog and photos to the interwebs for eternity.

Wondering how this came to be?  Read my original Furnace Creek 508 post here:

http://velogirlscoaching.blogspot.com/2013/08/this-just-got-real.html

This Just Got Real!

I've done some incredibly crazy things in my riding career.  Some really impulsive things.  Some things that, if a coaching client asked my opinion, I'd say "no way, Jose!"  Like what, you ask?  How about riding from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the California AIDS Ride when I hadn't been on a bicycle in decades.  Or the time I agreed to race a 24-hour mountain bike race even though I could barely ride a mountain bike (and had never ridden one at night).  Or building up a touring bike and riding solo self-supported around New York for 3 weeks.  Or attempting the Death Ride when all I'd been doing that season was road racing (and no long endurance).  Yup, these might all be considered crazy.....or stupid.  And sometimes the result is less than magical.  Once in a while it's amazing.  Let's hope the latter is true for my next challenge.

Less than a week ago, one of my cycling friends from my hometown of Elmira, NY, contacted me about an opportunity to join the record-holding two-tandem relay team at this year's Furnace Creek 508 on October 5th - 6th.  My initial reaction was that I would be happy to help him find someone to fill the team.  Both the riding and funding to participate in this event were beyond my grasp right now.  But somehow, over the course of a few hours during our discussions on Facebook, I agreed to do it, assuming I could find personal sponsorship to cover the expense.

So, I contacted my personal angels, folks who have supported me in my crazy dreams for many years, and thanks to the generosity Gary Brustin and Jan Medina, I funded this latest endeavor.   Now I had no excuse not to participate.

So, let me tell you what's crazy about this event.  It's called the Furnace Creek 508 (as in 508 miles).  The route begins in Santa Clarita, CA and ends in Twentynine Palms, CA, via Mojave, Death Valley, Stovepipe Wells, Furnace Creek, Badwater, and a bunch of other similarly significant-sounding desert towns.  It's one of the premier ultra-cycling events in the world.  I've known many folks who've done it in the past and they're all serious endurance bad-asses.  I see the crazy rides they do and think "why would you want to ride a bike for 20 or 30 or 40 hours at a time in the dark and the extreme heat and the rain?"  Luckily, as part of a relay team, I'll only be riding 230 miles with 17,000' of climbing.  Since I completed the Death Ride in July (125 miles with 15,000' of climbing), I could see that the mileage and elevation were within reach......if I'd actually kept my endurance up the past 6 weeks.  And, since it's a relay, there are breaks when the other team is riding.  So really, it's only 4 segments of an average of 65 or so miles, right?  I can ride 4 65-mile rides over the course of a day and a half.  No problem!

But, to add to the fun, I'll be riding this event on the back of a tandem.  With a man I've never met.  Maybe he won't notice if I'm not actually pedaling?  Yup.  A tandem.  Now, I've tandemed exactly twice in my cycling career:  once in 2002 with a man I'd gone on one date with (and decided there would not be another date after that experience) and once in 2006 with a man who was riding a tandem solo from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to the Panama Canal.  The latter filmed his adventure which was later featured at the Banff Film Festival, so I got to see myself on the big screen.  But that's not exactly the resume of someone who's ready to undertake a serious (or seriously crazy) endurance event as stoker of a tandem.

So, all the stars aligned and I just got an email welcoming me to the team.  And it all makes sense now.  I've got my work cut out for me in the next month, but I'm in good hands.  My tandem partner is the legendary Jim Ryan of Seattle.  He's a 9-time Furnace Creek 508 finisher (solo, 4-man, and 2 tandem).  He's a FC508 Hall of Fame member.  He's a FC508 record holder.  He's ridden other crazy endurance events like Race Across the West (RAW).  And he seems like a really nice guy.  In last year's race, he met his tandem partner for the first time the day before the race and they survived.  Heck, they set the record for their division.  Joining us on the other tandem are Paul Kingsbury (owner of Kingsbury's Cyclery in Elmira, NY) and his fiance Wanda Tocci.  They were the other tandem on last year's record-winning team.  I've ridden with Paul once before (not on a tandem) and he assures me we'll have a great time.  Joining us will be our support crew, also veterans of the event.  What could go wrong, right?

So, for the next month, I'll be logging the big miles.  I'll be climbing the long climbs.  I may even meet up with Jim in Oregon for a training weekend.  And I'll make sure to update this blog with training updates as I prepare for what might be the craziest, most impulsive event I've ever ridden!

Yup.  This just got real!  (gulp)

Where will you ride in 2013?

I'm always excited when I plan my annual calendar.  In addition to racing, coaching skills clinics, and directing camps, I try to fit in a few organized rides each season.  I started riding to participate in endurance events and I still love to participate in a big, fun event (especially if the food is good!).  It's always a great way to ride in places I don't typically ride, explore new roads, and have awesome support while doing it.  

One of the really cool things about Team Velo Girls is that we're a multi-disciplinary team.  Our members include road racers, mountain bike racers, cyclocrossers, and endurance road riders who lead all of our club rides.  These awesome women, ranging in age from 20s to 60s, are experienced endurance riders who focus their goals on helping you achieve your goals.  Each year they put together an awesome schedule of training rides to help you challenge yourself and prepare to ride in some great organized rides.  Each of our  progressive training ride series is designed to gradually increase your duration and climbing and to prepare you to ride your best events yet! These are members-only rides, so make sure to join or renew your Velo Girls membership for 2013.

ENDURANCE SERIES #1:  Cinderella Classic -- January 19th to April 6th

Join us as we prepare for the Cinderella Classic, a fabulous all-women's ride on April 6th. There are 2 options available - a metric century (63 miles) and the Challenge ride (90 miles). This popular event sells out every year so register early. If you don't receive a registration card in the mail, email cinderella@velogirls.com and we'll send one to you.

You’ll find details and RSVP for all Cinderella Progressive Training Ride Series rides + events at our meetup:  http://www.meetup.com/velogirls

 January 19^th – Cinderella Kick-Start Clinic  -- New for 2013!

January 20^th – Cinderella Shake-Out Ride (with Melo Velo) – 15 miles

January 26^th – Cinderella Ride #1 – Paradise Loop from Mike’s Bikes in Sausalito – 25 miles, rolling hills with one small climb. 

February 2^nd – Cinderella Ride #2 – Three Bears from Orinda BART – 21 miles with 1,500’ of climbing.

February 9^th – Cinderella Ride #3 – Los Altos Ramble from Woodside Town Hall – 28 miles with 951’ of climbing

February 16^th – Cinderella Ride #4 – Lagunitas from Mike’s Bikes in Sausalito – 37 miles with 1,850’ of climbing

February 23^rd – Cinderella Ride #5 – Edgewood, Los Altos, Golden Oad from Woodside Town Hall – 43 miles with 2,000’ of climbing

March 2^nd – Cinderella Ride #6 – Moraga Loop from Orinda BART – 45 miles with 2,100’ of climbing

March 9^th – Cinderella Ride #7 – Los Gatos from Woodside Town Hall – 45 miles with 2,500’ of climbing

March 16^th – Cinderella Ride #8 – Morgan Territory Loop from Heather Farms Park in Walnut Creek – 54 miles with 3,233’ of climbing

March 23^rd – Cinderella Ride #9 – Pt. Reyes Station from Mike’s Bikes in Sausalito – 60 miles with 3,900’ of climbing

March 30^th – Cinderella Ride #10 + Series Celebration! – Woodside from Burlingame Caltrain Station – 30 miles

April 6^th – Cinderella Classic

ENDURANCE SERIES #2:  Billy Goat Climbing Series -- May + June

Hills, you either love them or hate them, right?  But if you ride in Northern California, there’s no way to avoid them.  Join Team Velo Girls for this series of all the best climbs in the bay area, including Mt. Hamilton, Mt. Diablo, Mt. Tamalpais, and Old La Honda.  This series focuses on elevation gain (not mileage) so you’ll get a big bang for your pedaling buck!  Detailed schedule will be available in March.

ENDURANCE SERIES #3: Foxy's Fall Century Progressive Series -- August - October

Let’s keep our cycling fitness up through the fall months.  We’re going to prepare you for an awesome fall century – Foxy’s Fall Century on October 19^th in Davis.  Detailed schedule will be available in May.

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In addition to these series, check out the Velo Girls calendar for our other club rides:

• Melo Velo Beginners’ Road Ride
• First-Timers’ Mountain Bike Rides
• Midweek Madness Co-ed Road Rides
• Dirty Velo Girls Mountain Bike Rides

So what are you waiting for?  Pull out your calendar, pencil us in, and join us for a great year of riding in 2013!