Final rest stop with Hawaiian theme.

lunch break. A very nice spread!

First rest stop. It warmed up enough to peel off some layers.

damn its cold. My cateye said 44 but if sure felt cold, at least to this wimpy Californian.

Across the street from Bike Attack. They had some very nice Lightspeeds there. Offering a hefty discount to Lifecycle 6 participants.

day of the ride

FDA Warns of HIV Drug Tampering

Combivir Bottles May Contain Another HIV Drug Called Ziagen

Medicine net article

HIV drugs 'still denied to many'

Just 28% of poor people with HIV have access to the antiretroviral drugs that could save their lives, a study shows.


Click here for BBC article

Winner of the Ipod raffle

Many thanks to all the generous people that bought raffle tickets!

mango picks the winning raffle ticket

Ipod raffle winner picked

Winner of the Ipod Nano is Gayle Woods, a teacher at Carousel School. There was a total of $500 in tickets sold. The full amount will go to AIDS/Lifecycle. I'd like to thank all the people that bought tickets. It went to a worthy cause.
I thought that Kiwi(African Grey parrot) would pull the winning ticket but he showed no interest at all in the bowl of tickets. I placed the bowl of mixed tickets on the counter and after a while Mango(African Grey Parrot) climbed on the bowl and picked the winner. We were surprised that Mango went to the bowl since she seemed to be afraid of it at first. I managed to capture the tail end with the digital camera. It's uploaded to youtube. I'll try to post it here.

Arrowhead route map with elevation

I mapped out the Arrowhead ride with routeplanner. I could see by the elevation plot why it was so difficult. I wonder if the climbing had been at the beginning of the route if it would be easier. I also wonder how much a compact crankset would help too. Last time I climbed the 18 that was all I did, about 2o miles. I was 10lbs lighter and wasn't carrying 15lbs of stuff up the mountain.
Click here for the full route.

We went for a short recovery ride and stopped at the only bike shop in Lake Arrowhead. They have always been real helpful. I asked if they would put up a fundraising poster and some business cards. Not only did they do that but Donny of Unified Ride Shop gave a donation! So if your ever in Lake Arrowhead and need anything bike related stop by here.
Their phone number is (909)33-3732
Address 330 South Highway 173, Lake Arrowhead. email unifiedrideshop@verizon.net

Arrowhead ride

This was the most difficult ride I've ever done. I've ridden 100 miles with more climbing than this so I'm not quite sure why this was so tough. A nice local stopped on Highway 18 when I was fixing the flat and offered me a ride, it sure was tempting.
There are pictures taken during the ride here and some taken on a short hike at the Lake here.
Still debating about riding the bike back. It should be a lot faster and easier.

patched and ready to go

a flat. an opprotunity to

a flat. an opprotunity to rest

Merciless sun, 87 at the bottom of the mountain. Damn this is tough!

This is where I hit the wall last time I tried this ride. mile 85 today. mile 90 last time due some backtracking.

mile 65

stainless steel Denny's. wonder if it makes the food better. I've been listening to Zen and the Art of motorcycle mechanics. Read it 25 years ago and forgot most of it. funny being that it had such an impact on my life. Suns breaking out. time to peel off some layers.

route 66 5 miles to baseline

Bridge to old Pasadena. I'll take moe pics with the camera and post them later. Beautiful day!

Eagle Rock Colorado blvd

ride

mile 15 at Tuhunga and Moorpark. Overcast is nice and cool.

Ride to Lake Arrowhead

This will be my second try. I failed on the first attempt. It was very hot and I did not handle nutrition very well. I hit the wall at mile 90, near the base of the Mountain leading up to Lake Arrowhead. This time it will be much cooler and I brought along endurolyte capsules. I'll post cellphone pictures along the way.

years total miles

4631 for the past year. Got the Cateye 3/21/06. Didn't hit the 5K goal but not that far off.

commuting to work

18.7 mph average to work today. I've been trying to figure out the reason for the slow down. No long ago I used to average high 18's to 20mph. Lately it's been in the 16's. Is it the bike or maybe the extra 10lbs of ballast I put on over the winter. After adjusting the rear wheel bearing it improved but that extra weight shows most on climbs. No change on the downhills but the climbs are much slower. That 10lbs feels like 100 on long climbs. Guess thats a good reason to be a data freak. It tells you when theres a problem.

saved by bicycle mart when my last tube went flat by a small piece of glass i missed before. He didn't have any CO2 cartridges so 1 more flat and I'd be pushing the bike. Luckily that didn't happen. 1st stop in Mount Washington to deliver a money order. It wasn't as hilly as I expected. Next stop the Gay and Lesbian center to drop off a couple of jerseys, then home. Total trip 62 miles.

hope it holds. one cyclist rode by and laughed. strange.

flat right before Griffith park. Grrrr

erands and training ride

I'm out to drop off a money order and some shirts, hope to stop by Griffith park on the way.

Ride

Made my training ride a ride to the Gay and Lesbian center on McCadden place to drop off a pair of bicycle shoes and pick up a jersey. I'll post pictures soon.

The pack loaded and ready to go. It was 20 fairly easy miles to the center. The way back was not quite so easy. I decided to take Mulholland drive figuring that once the initial climb to 1200 feet was done there wouldn't be much more climbing. Boy was I wrong. It seemed like ultra short downhills followed by long climbs.

The downhills are always shorted because of the higher speeds but this seemed completely out of proportion. Much harder than the Muholland Drive in the west valley.
The scenery was worth the effort. When it was done the Cayeye said 48 miles and 2400 foot of climbing. The polar said 2700 calories burned.

Urge Congress to Make Fighting HIV/AIDS a Priority

This was meant to be sent on World AIDS day, but every day is World AIDS day until this insidious disease is eradicated.

Click here to send a message to congress!

Stop Ann Coulter's Politics of Hate

Send a clear message to Lee Salem, Executive Vice President and Editor, Universal Press that providing a platform for Ann Coulter to spout anti-gay rhethoric by syndicating her column must stop now.

Please click here and send an email

Gabcast added

Voice recording added to the site. See the bottom of the page.

Lengthy battle seen remaining against AIDS

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- It may be possible to battle AIDS into a low rate of infection, but it will take a long time and elimination of the disease seems unlikely, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease said.

Currently there are 40,000 new infections in the United States each year with HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- and 4.3 million new infections around the world, he said.

CNN link here

ride

Home at just shy of 54 miles. Avg. speed 14.6, not Tour de France speed.

ride

Pepperdine without the condos in the foreground.

ride

Pepperdine. mile 39

ride

Sun faced Buddha. What a great day! Malibu feed bin on PCH and Topanga Canyon blvd.

ride

Santa Monica pier

ride

Beautiful day for a bike ride.

Donations at $2390!

Thanks to Shawn's generous donation the funds are only $110 from the minimum. With the proceeds from the ipod raffle that will put it over the minimum. We hope to sell a few more tickets for the raffle since the total tickets sold are a little short of the amount we spent on the ipod. I was hoping to double the cost of the ipod, now I'd be happy to go $50 over. If your interested in raffle tickets email me, the odds of winning are considerably better than the Lotto.

Drug 'stops HIV's entry to cells'

Drug 'stops HIV's entry to cells' click for BBC websites story

A new HIV drug shows promising results in people for whom other treatments no longer work, a study suggests.

The Cure for Cancer Might be: HIV

Found this on Slashdot, seemed to have some verasity when the link is followed.

"Wired News has published that Scientists have successfully modified the AIDS-causing HIV in such a way that it can attack metasticized melanoma (cancer cells). The impact of genetic research on cancer research is in and of itself amazing. To mix this with the strategy of using one strong enemy against another is brilliance! Research will continue, obviously, but they are already reporting success on living creatures."

beautiful tree and sky on Mulholland Highway. Ended up being a 35 mile ride with 2300 feet of cimbing. Started sprinkling just as I was getting home. More pictures at web album

Another short ride. Westlake Village. Some threating skys behind me.

ride

Short ride today. Gotta get back in shape. Had the cat scan yesterday, should know about whether the cancer soon. 52 degrees but it feels colder. Better adapt to the morning 30's since it looks like it's not warming up anytime soon.

invasive tests tour update

Had the Cat Scan this evening. Drinking the barium was the worst part, the I.V. iodine was no problem. The unpleasant test on Friday eliminated the possibility of bladder and/or prostrate cancer. Great news. I won't know about the kidney for a couple of weeks. I feel good. Prepared for bad news but expecting good news.

Raffle

We set up a table on the UCLA campus to sell raffle tickets for the RED Nano. Not much luck today.

1st commute by bike in a while.

New Donations!

Davilee Bruce thank you very much for the contribution and words of encouragement.


Karen, what a wonderful Valentines gift, love u.

short ride

Street near my house that gains 200 feet in 3 tenths of a mile.

after the days tasks not much time is left for a ride. Hanging out with Kiwi and Mango.