SATURDAY ROAD RIDE

We got out for a short ride Saturday morning before we had to go to work. It was the first time I took the helmet camera on a road ride and discovered it's a lot easier to shoot while riding road than mountain bikes. Click HERE to check out the video.

DONNA'S FIRST TOMATO

After months of anticipation, Donna's back yard friend finally
produced a tomato. Of course it took $5 worth of water over the past
few months to get here so I'm hoping it tastes REALLY good. We'll have
to share it I'm sure... I can't imagine eating that whole thing by
myself, in one sitting.

MY FIRST HELMET CAM VIDEO

(click HERE to see the video)

After debating the purchase of a GoPro helmet camera for ages, I finally broke down and bought one. Nothing seems to be ideal for shooting video of our outdoor activities, but this thing rocks! It's waterproof, drop proof and has a really wide-angle lens. My maiden voyage with the camera yielded decent results, though I'm already getting better with it. Donna and I headed out to Agoura Hills for a mix of singletrack and fire roads.

BIKING ROCKS

(VIDEO LINK: CLICK HERE... NOT ON THE PHOTO)

I'm really enjoying my new helmet camera. This is the second video I've created with it and already I'm learning a lot about it. This was from a Thursday night ride with Bruce - we got out after work and managed to squeeze in 20 miles before we ran out of light (and energy). With the exception of the swarms of gnats, we had a great time.

TOGETHERNESS

Wednesday I was supposed to get out for a ride after work.
Unfortunately things went bad at about 5:15 which delayed me from
getting out of the office until roughly 7:15 - too late to still het
in a ride. The good news was that it provided to opportunity to run
out for a cup of coffee with Donna before heading home for dinner.

SUNDAY IN SANTA MONICA

Sunday (yes, I'm catching up) Donna and I went to Santa Monica for the day to meet up with an old friend of Donna's, who she hasn't seen in probably ten years. Although our plans were just to meet for lunch, Donna and I decided to make a day of it and even took a ride on the ferris wheel - very overpriced but also very romantic. It also turned out to be a great day for people watching.

STILLS FROM SANTA MONICA

The video from Santa Monica pretty much says it all, but here's a few
photos as well.

SOLO SATURDAY SINGLETRACK

Donna and I normally get out for a ride together Saturday mornings, but since Donna was making a short trip to the dentist thanks to a faulty temporary cap, I hit the trails by myself... well, sort of. In Donna's absence, the camera always serves as a great distraction, so I don't realize how much my legs hurt or how badly I'm sucking wind. All in all it was a great ride, though I got a lot of weird looks from people who couldn't figure out why I had a camera on my head.

THIS IS ONLY A TEST...

A VICTORIOUS RACE DAY

Sunday marked the second race of Donna's soon-to-be-professional career - at least that's what I'm hoping because then I could work full time as race support and a bike mechanic. We were anticipating gloomy weather but instead ended up with sunny skies and perfect temps for racing. The worst part of the race was before it even started... Donna went out on the course to get warmed up while I waited at the start/finish line. First call for beginner women was announced. Then came the second call, but no Donna. The final call was announced and still, Donna was nowhere to be seen. About three minutes before the start of the race she came rolling up. I was far more freaked out than she was - she felt great, having had the chance to get warmed up by riding the course one full lap. One hour and five minutes later, Donna was rolling across the finish line in first place. She looked great on the podium!

THE USUAL... THURSDAY NIGHT RIDE

Bruce, my usual Thursday riding partner, was busy with the Lakers game Thursday night so I ventured out on my own. I couldn't decide what to ride so I tried something new... something I had never seen before. So off I went. The first part was great. The climbing wasn't nearly as tough as I thought it would be. The scenery was great. I was having a great time then I hit the dreaded sign - 'no trespassing.' Long story short, I ended up riding the streets and sidewalks and Thousand Oaks, trying to get back into the park somehow. I finally figured out where I was and I new the shortest way back to the car would take me through some deep creek crossings. Given the light was diminishing fast I knew I had to get back so I headed for the creek crossings. With soaking feet I got back to the car and called it a night.

"THE" RIDE... THE CONCLUSION

Eventually we made it to the top, 4,000 feet above where we started our ride. I thought having all the downhill ahead of me would be the best part of the ride, but really, the best part of the ride was the sense of accomplishment I got from it all. Five-and-a-half hours after starting the ride, we were pulling up to the car. Whew!

"THE" RIDE, PART IV

Climb, climb, climb. The climbing of today's ride seemed it would never come to an end. The closer we got the top, the more the dramatic the sky became. The sceneery was absolutely breathtaking and made the hours of climbing all worth the effort.

"THE" RIDE, PART III

Once in a great while, a horizontal photo just doesn't work. Tilting that camera 'sideways' drives me nuts.

"THE" RIDE, PART II

Working out way up Gridley trail was a tough adventure. There's a few sections that really stress Donna's vertigo - open exposure with extremely steep drops off to the side. If the trail was more than 12" wide, it wouldn't be bad, but it isn't. We stopped abgout half way to the top, at a watering spot for horses, where a cool breeze served as welcome relief. We were anticipating dark skies and cool temperatures, packing jackets, leg warmers and arm warmers... what we really needed, and didn't have, was sunscreen!

"THE" RIDE, PART I

Monday we ventured out on a monster of a ride - 35 miles with 4,000 vertical feet of elevation gain. The ride started in Ojai... we parked as far at the bottom of the hill as possible so when we returned through town, we wouldn't have any vclimbing to do in order to get to the car. First off is the 9-mile Gridley trail. The nastiest stuff is right at the get go. A short hike-a-bike section and a few rock gardens that test your technical skills welcome you to the ride.