I’ve fallen partially out of the training cycle, due to a loooong stretch (by Northern Californian standards) of wet, rainy weather. Cold weather I can handle; I’ve got arm and leg warmers, sweatshirts, a good windbreaking jacket, gloves, wool socks, and so on. Rain, though, is another story. Since there’s no shower facilities where I work, getting to work soaking wet is only going to lead to a miserable and uncomfortable day.

Splash a gallon of water on your screen to complete the illusion.

It’s not fun, so I’ve been wussing out and driving in to work for the last week and a half.

However, I braved one particularly nasty day last week to get my bike professionally fitted by Adrian over at iKon Cycles. For about an hour or so, he sat me down on a special device shaped roughly like a bicycle, but with many different adjustment points so that it can match a specific frame size, but also let a rider play with different saddles and handlebars and different crank and stem lengths until they find the combination that works best for them.

From Adrian, I’ve learned that I have a small “hook” in my right knee on my downstroke – when nearing the bottom of a pedal stroke, my knee jumps inward about half an inch. That I can live with, and hopefully by knowing it’s there I can work to correct it before it becomes a big problem. He also said my Raleigh Competition (posted about here) is a good size for me and that I’ve even managed to fit it rather well to myself, though there are some adjustments to make.

Since my handlebars don’t fit my large hands very well and my saddle is good for about 30 miles max, I got to try out some new drop bars on the fitting rig and we talked about saddle options. I’ll get into those more when my order comes in and I get the new parts installed and refitted.

In the meantime, the winter weather has cleared up for the time being, and I took advantage of the opportunity to bike into work today. My legs felt a bit rusty, my energy level was low, and my sunglasses were condensed-over, but I felt pretty good about the ride, even if I was a bit slower than usual.

It’s 2010 now, and AIDS/LifeCycle is closer than ever. Leading up to the ride, LifeCycle staff put on plenty of training rides to prepare riders, starting with slower, easier rides and gradually amping up the difficulty and length the closer we get to June. The problem a valley rat like me has, though, is that most of these rides are in the San Francisco Bay area, so I’d have to drive in and out, and I’m not sure I want to spend 4 hours in the car to go on a 3 hour ride, and definitely not if I’ve just burned out riding up Mt. Tamalpais.

Fortunately, a few of the Sacramento-based riders got together and put on a simple training ride this morning, from Watt and La Riviera up the bike trail to Sunrise and back, at a relatively mild pace for a 20 mile round trip. That ride started at 9:30 this morning, which I was thoroughly unprepared for. Instead, the usual crew at the Bike Kitchen (Emjay and Doug) met up there around 11:00 and took off up the trail for Sunrise. We hit the Guy West bridge across the river by CSU Sacramento around 11:30, where Jim caught up with us, and then we all continued on to Sunrise.

Since I was planning on biking out to the early morning meeting place anyway, I got the same ride I would have, but I got to sleep in and enjoy my morning rather than spend the early Sunday hours in a mad rush to get to the meeting place in time.

Overall, we had a rather fun ride. We logged roughly 19 miles to Sunrise from the Bike Kitchen, and we shaved off a couple by coming back home across the Guy West bridge and cutting through town. Though it was 50 degrees, it felt a lot colder – misty and dreadfully overcast conditions chilled us to the bone. And because we turned around and came right back the way we came with only a brief pause at a drinking fountain at Sunrise, it was a bit more tiring than a normal ride.

The length helped me figure out a few more things about how I ride, though. The way my bike is currently set up, I’m far more comfortable hunched over into the drops than I am sitting up and grabbing the handlebars with extended arms. I’ll have to be careful riding too far like that; after 35 miles today, my neck and shoulders are a bit tight. Also, I’ve found out that the saddle on my bike is good for about 30 miles at a stretch, so I’m going to have to replace that soon.

Still, I held a pretty solid pace over today’s ride, and I felt very confident and somewhat relaxed when I got home. Good signs, I think!

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Miles/time this trip:         35 /  2:25
Total training miles/time:   166 / 11:55

I feel I’m in a unique position as a AIDS/LifeCycle rider and donor.  I am not personally afflicted with HIV/AIDS, nor is any close friend or family member that I am aware of.  My nearest acquaintance I have with this disease is a coworker who himself rode LifeCycle a few years back.  As a result, I’m short on personal stories about the havoc HIV/AIDS can wreak on human existence.

The Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen was recently gracious enough to host a LifeCycle orientation meeting for Sacramento-area riders.   There, I got to meet about a dozen new people, many of whom had their own gutwrenching stories to tell about living with HIV/AIDS, watching a family member suffer, or comforting a friend in their last days.  I also heard about the programs my riding will help fund, from San Francisco AIDS Foundation staff and even some that had benefited from their programs.  The list is impressive (and this is by no means complete): rental assistance that helps maintain stable housing for AIDS sufferers, HIV testing and screening, financial counseling, counseling to navigate social insurance and benefits opportunities, needle exchange programs to limit HIV and Hepatitis C infection, and even drug treatment counseling to break the links between drug use and HIV-risk behaviors.

Over one third of SFAF’s total budget comes from AIDS/LifeCycle, so my $3,000 fundraising pledge is crucial to these programs and to everyone who relies on them.  It’ll keep people off of the street.  It’ll keep people fed.  It’ll help people avoid HIV infection.  It’ll let those that are infected live meaningful lives.  With polio’s eradication from the modern world, we have proven that coordinated action by dedicated people can eradicate a disease that causes so much suffering for so many.

I intend to help.  You can help, too, by donating here.